NEWMARKET — Students from Newmarket High School seem to share a sense their tight-knit community has been transformative in helping them achieve success.

Sixty-seven students graduated Friday. Among them was Emma Walkowiak, senior class president. She’s attended the Newmarket school system since first grade. She said that since she and many of her classmates have grown up together, she took on a leadership role early and stuck with it.

“I think Newmarket is the perfect place for me, because we’re honestly, so much so supported, compared to other schools in the area, and that, I think has a huge impact on how we end up,” said Walkowiak.

Walkowiak said she could point out a teacher for every year who “has just supported me entirely.”

“We’ve had so many administration changes in the past few years, and the current team kind of stepped in and talked to the students and finally asked us ‘What do you see your Newmarket as?’ and supported us in our endeavors,” she said.

Walkowiak shared how impactful the unwavering support has been.

“I [also] feel like the staff is also so supportive. That you can point to a person every year who has had your back and kind of pushed you along to your potential. And I think that’s so special here,” Walkowiak said.

A high school memory she’ll always remember is winning the school’s first girls soccer state championship with her sister in 2021.

“Being in that moment with my sister was so special. I’ll never forget that,” said Walkowiak.

After graduation, Walkowiak will attend Bucknell University in Pennsylvania with an intended major in sociology, and an interest in exploring their pre-law advising program.

A piece of advice Walkowiak offers her graduating class of 2024 is “I would tell them all to kind of put themselves out there because there’s people that can do a lot, and they just kind of stepped aside in high school. So I feel like they just need to go out and find themselves and put themselves out there, and they’re all capable of great things.”

Soumyan Dillip, the class salutatorian, said knowing all of the teachers personally and being a part of a tight-knit community “helped me when I needed it and really just made my high school career enjoyable.”

Dillip said a person who truly shaped his high school experience was Silas Richards, his ninth-grade history teacher, and track coach. Richards introduced Dillip to the stage to give a speech.

“He was just there for me. [He] was my first teacher in high school and he was also the first coach I had in high school.” “He helped me get past some roadblocks in academics and also while running track,” Dillip said.

A memory that Dillip said he will remember from high school is his last race a couple of weeks ago, where he ran sub-12 seconds in the 100-meter dash, and sub-25 seconds in the 200 for the first time.

Dillip will attend the University of Central Florida to study aerospace engineering with a minor in computer science.

Jon Tudor, student body president, said the best thing about Newmarket is on any given day, he can go around and name every single person in his class of about 70. Tudor’s attended Newmarket schools since pre-k, and he said that he’s still best friends with many of the kids he’s gone to school with his entire life.

“That’s just an unbelievable thing to have. It’s such a tight-knit community, you know, having all that, being able to see someone in the hall and knowing them, knowing what they’re doing, knowing what they’re doing next year, it’s just so close,” said Tudor.

More: Meet Newmarket High School’s top 10 students in the Class of 2024

During his sophomore year, Tudor said that many teachers and students said he should run for student body president. During that time, he said to himself “You’re crazy. Why would I do that? That’s for seniors.”

“But you know, I got egged on, and I did it and took it seriously, and it’s just gotten me so much, and it’s something I couldn’t have gotten anywhere else, ya know,” said Tudor.

He said Newmarket is an example of a high school with excellent academics that preps students for college, and you don’t need a private education to go to an excellent university.

Tudor will be joining the class of 2028 at Northeastern in the fall and is going to study molecular biology, with an interest in studying virology. In addition, he will be joining the ROTC program at Northeastern.

Class valedictorian Matilde Sala said during her valedictorian speech “We will forget our past selves in the sense that we are creating something new.” Sala will be headed to the University of New Hampshire in the fall.

Newmarket High School Class of 2024

Abigail Alexander Morrison

Charlie Michael Ambrogio

Hanna Antoinette Anderson

Morgan Ryleigh Atwell

John Belanger

Acadia Bloodlane

Morgan Rylee Boucher

Carson Boulden

Roman Brovdi

Allison Grace Burke

Jadyn Carey Kyes

Joshua Lambert

Ava Loui

Isabella Rose Lulek

Ariyanna Christine Marshall Hartford

Hunter McGraw

Samuel Drake Nolan

Jillian Orsi-King

Sadie Elena Pasquale

Charles Pynn

Orion Raczek

Dylan Michael Burns

Kate Connors

Delaney Eileen Corbin

Avery Julia Richards

Alexia Desilets

Derek Scott Rudert

Satbani Dhariwal

Matilde Sala

Soumyan Dillip

Avery Dobberstein

Makayla Edgerly

Sidra Ann Folsom

Alexander Foltz

Gabrylle Noelani Santiago

Emma Schaub

Ashley McInnis Shelton

Owen Stefanowicz

Kathleen Sullivan

Parker Sweitzer

Kara Elizabeth Gilbert

Olivia Lou Grundy

Issac John Wolfgang Hadrych

Alanna Susan Hagen

Anna Ruby Harding

Ethan Harter

Madelyn Ann Hartman

Michael Anthony Haye

Lisa Hull Hegarty

Alexander Henry

Alyssa Hernandez

Victoria Lynn Ann Hoffman

Brian Hoover

Aurora Fayth Horner

Chelsey Elizabeth loia

Isabella Jaime

Haiden Olivia Joe

Savanna Jean Kersnowski

Vadsana Jody Khounnasenh

Jonathan Perry Tudor

Aiden Valcancick

Sean Tyler Vincent

Emma Grace Walkowiak

Emma Rose Weick

Carl Zheng

Georgios Zygouris

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Newmarket 2024 graduates say tight-knit community means everything