2022 Military Graduates Recognition Ceremony

On May 31, we held a ceremony to recognize our graduating seniors entering military service or attending a military academy. At least 14 of our graduates are planning to serve – as of this writing, some have already shipped out to basic training.

Among the speakers at the ceremony were New Hampshire’s Adjutant General, Major Gen. David Mikolaities (a Memorial graduate), Mayor Joyce Craig and Superintendent Jenn Gillis. Of the graduates, four will serve in the Army, three in the Army National Guard, three in the Marines, one in the Navy, one in the Coast Guard, one in the Air Force Reserves, and one will attend the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. In her remarks to students and their families, Superintendent Gillis drew on her own experience as part of a military family.

“As a family member I can place myself in your shoes a bit as I supported my husband during two deployments,” Gillis said. “To those of you serving, thank you from the bottom of my heart and for the families supporting your servicemember: Please know you are not alone. Over the time my husband was deployed I found the resources and supports available from my family support network to be invaluable.”

“As you head off in the coming weeks and months, I want to make sure that you know that our community is incredibly grateful for your decision to serve,” Gillis told the students. “You are leaders and role models, and we could not be more proud of you.”

We want to once again thank Major Gen. Mikolaities and Mayor Craig for joining us to address our students. We'd also like to thank the Manchester Masonic Community Center for hosting this event free of charge and Manchester Public Television for providing video coverage.

You can watch a video of the ceremony here. You can view photos from the ceremony here.