Lake Placid High School graduates Alexander Wright, left, and Andrew Scanio are seen interacting with family members in the audience during the commencement ceremony Friday, June 23 at the Olympic Speedskating Oval. Wright was the valedictorian, and Scanio was the salutatorian for the Class of 2023. (News photo — Lauren Yates)

LAKE PLACID — Thirty-nine graduates from Lake Placid Middle-High School’s Class of 2023 threw their graduation caps in the air at the Olympic Speedskating Oval on Friday night, June 23, marking the end of their grade school careers and the beginning of the rest of their lives.

Andrew Scanio, the Class of 2023 salutatorian, said in his salutatory address that he and his classmates had one of the “wonkiest” high school careers in recent history — they were freshmen when the coronavirus pandemic first swept the nation, and the last class to know what high school was like before the pandemic.

“Man, what a week these past four years have been,” he said.

Scanio described high school as a roller coaster — first the fearful climb to the top of the ride, then the culmination at graduation, and the end of the ride that comes after the graduation caps fall. Now, he said, the Class of 2023 is moving onto another roller coaster: The rest of their lives.

Valedictorian Alex Wright described the Class of 2023 as a small-town family that he learned many lessons from — how to be supportive of others, how to tap into his own creativity and stick up for himself. He encouraged his peers to cherish their own lessons as they move on to college, careers or gap years.

Lake Placid Middle-High School’s Class of 2023 pours down the front steps of the middle-high school on Friday, June 23 as they head toward their high school graduation ceremony on the Olympic Speedskating Oval in Lake Placid. (News photo — Lauren Yates)

“We all take with us pieces of each other as we move forward to our adulthood,” he said. “Graduates, you may not recognize this, but we’re all one big family. And as a cohort, we’ve grown to become the amazing people we are today.”

Though the future might be scary, Wright encouraged his classmates to pursue their passions, even if it means eventually changing course from the path they take right after high school. He told the Class of 2023 to be brave, ambitious, and to always seek help from professionals and adults when needed.

Lake Placid philanthropist, businesswoman and former skier Caroline Draper Lussi gave this year’s commencement speech. She told the Class of 2023 that she’s followed their successes in sports, theater and science with interest and awe.

“Wow, what talent!” she said.

Lussi set up an endowment fund for the school in 2016 that ensured eighth graders would have a chance to visit Washington, D.C. every year in perpetuity. Later that year, Lussi was inducted into the Lake Placid Hall of Fame.

Lake Placid High School Class of 2023 valedictorian Alexander Wright gives a speech in front of his classmates on Friday, June 23 during the graduation ceremony at the Olympic Speedskating Oval. (News photo — Lauren Yates)

Also during the graduation, Scanio sang the National Anthem and the Lake Placid High School Ensemble sang a rendition of Ed Sheeran’s “Castle on the Hill” under the direction of Lake Placid Middle-High School Choir Director Taylor Prosper. Lake Placid Central School District Board of Education President Daniel Cash presented students with their diplomas as family members cheered and whooped with excitement, and after students received their diplomas, Sydney Lawrence — the Class of 2023 president — recited the Graduates’ Creed. Graduates Abigail Gavin and Cody Montagnola topped off the ceremony with their rendition of the school’s alma mater song.

Monica Mzese holds up her new high school diploma as she walks across the stage during Lake Placid Middle-High School’s Class of 2023 graduation ceremony on the Olympic Speedskating Oval in Lake Placid Friday, June 23. (News photo — Lauren Yates)

Caroline Draper Lussi gives the Lake Placid High School commencement speech on Friday, June 23 at the Olympic Speedskating Oval. (News photo — Lauren Yates)

Charles Draper, left, holds his infant daughter Caroline before the Lake Placid Middle-High School graduation ceremony at the Olympic Speedskating Oval on Friday, June 23. Not only was Draper’s son, Grady, graduating that day, but Charles’s aunt — and his daughter’s namesake — Caroline Draper Lussi was that evening’s commencement speaker. (News photo — Lauren Yates)