By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Nearly 450 seniors graduated from Staples High School on Thursday evening in a graduation ceremony that was a bit different than most Staple graduation ceremonies, following four very different years of high school.

It was the first time in 135 years that Staples High School commencement ceremonies included three valedictorian speeches. And it was the first time that graduating students had endured the fallout from a pandemic for almost all of their high school careers.

The ceremony took place on the football field, with family and friends filling the bleachers on both sides of the field.

“You have been thrown challenges your way over your career that not one other class in the 134 previous classes can say that they’ve had to deal with.” Staples Principal Stafford Thomas, Jr. told the class in his opening remarks. “Not only have you survived but you have thrived,” he said. “No one has had a high school career like you.”

What followed were valedictory addresses by three students. Every year, the student with the highest grade point average is named valedictorian, but three were chosen this year because their grade point averages were so close.

Two of the Staples valedictorians, Natalie Bandura and Julian Wang, gave speeches, while Zach Bishop offered his own composition he played on his viola.

Julian, co-president of the debate club, will head off to the University of Pennsylvania in the fall.

“I’d like to thank the teachers and staff of Staples High School for putting up with us for all four years … not just in the classroom but through Zoom meetings, unexpected school closures and facial masks. … through unprecedented times,” he said.

“We lived through a global crisis in one of the most pivotal times in our lives,” he said.

Zach, a musician and composer, played with several state music ensembles during his high school years, and will be attending Williams College.

“We’ve assembled here today to celebrate our departure from a place which … has become a home for us,” he said. “This piece, like all goodbyes, is bittersweet.”

Natalie, editor in chief of the school newspaper Inklings and captain of the math team, is also one of the first high school students appointed to the Connecticut Board of Education. She hopes to work on the college newspaper when she enters Harvard College in the fall.

“I’d like to thank my teachers for all the valuable lessons you taught us and for all the real-world advice you’ve given us,” she said.

“Each one of us is in part a combination of all the people we’ve interacted with so far in our lifetimes,” she told her classmates. “When you go off to college or to work, no one is going to know the people and the moments that helped shape you, but you will. And you will know that Staples High School left its mark on you.”

Diplomas were awarded to the students by Thomas, Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice, and Lee Goldstein, Board of Education chair.