The Exeter Township School District awarded diplomas to 346 graduates at the Santander Arena in Reading on Thursday, June 4.
“No matter who you are, where you come from, or where you’re headed, we share this floor tonight with so much to be proud of,” Adam Cooke, class president, said to the Exeter Township Senior High School Class of 2026.
Exeter Township School District awarded diplomas to 346 graduates at the Santander Arena in Reading on Thursday, June 4. (Photo courtesy of Exeter Township School District)
Cooke said numerical values measure their lives and their futures. For him, Nov. 10, 2019, stands out as the date he nearly ended his own life at age 12.
“But evident by my presence on tonight’s stage, I stayed.”
Adam Cooke, class president, said the class of 2026 will be missed at Exeter Township Senior High. (Photo courtesy of Exeter Township School District)
To track his progress, he and his mom created a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being no desire to hurt himself and 10 conveying immediate harm. His mom regularly asks for his number.
“I felt heard and loved, felt a new meaning in life, and I had hope.”
If he hadn’t used his voice at the dinner table on that autumn night, he would not be graduating.
Help from his parents and years of therapy were aided by the pandemic, which Cooke used as a reset button.
In recent years, he redefined himself as a passionate sports broadcaster, finding his voice through calling sports.
“Your voice is your greatest ally.”
Cooke advised the graduates to speak out, get help and be there for others.
“It takes just one person to save someone.”
Cooke urged the graduates to find their people, not be afraid to advocate for themselves and be the person who offers a hand.
“You are loved. Whether you realize it or not, you will be missed here at Exeter,” Cooke said in his closing remarks.
“You are not a burden, but instead capable of achieving incredible things. You have so much potential in the one life that you’re given. So use that potential to make your numbers count.”
The graduation ceremony for the Exeter Township Senior High School Class of 2026 included emotional moments on Thursday, June 4. (Photo courtesy of Exeter Township School District)
Energy and excitement were high during the Exeter Township Senior High School Class of 2026 graduation ceremony at the Santander Arena in Reading on Thursday, June 4. (Photo courtesy of Exeter Township School District)
The class of 2026 entered the Santander Arena in Reading with excitement for Exeter Township Senior High School graduation on Thursday, June 4. (Photo courtesy of Exeter Township School District)
Exeter Township Senior High School Class of 2026 gathered at the Santander Arena in Reading for graduation on Thursday, June 4. (Photo courtesy of Exeter Township School District)
Exeter Township High School graduates celebrated during a ceremony held at the Santander Arena in Reading on Thursday, June 4. (Photo courtesy of Exeter Township School District)
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The graduation ceremony for the Exeter Township Senior High School Class of 2026 included emotional moments on Thursday, June 4. (Photo courtesy of Exeter Township School District)
Class speaker Shaun Rathman discussed perseverance over any harmful force in life.
“When you look at me, you see him, too,” said Rathman. “He lives beside me in my mind.”
Personifying his battle with obsessive compulsive disorder that joined him roughly four years ago, Rathman made a pact, giving control over his body and mind in exchange for his knowledge and power.
“Claiming he could help me, he said he could make me smarter, stronger and live the best life that I could live. He said he could make me perfect.”
Class speaker Shaun Rathman discussed perseverance over any harmful force in life during the Exeter Township Senior High Class of 2026 graduation ceremony on June 4. (Photo courtesy of Exeter Township School District)
At first benign, he helped Rathman go the extra mile, but his power quickly escalated.
“He told me that I had been defiled by gluttony and that the key to improving my intelligence was about willpower over primal urges,” said Rathman, who felt he had lost control over himself.
Studying came first before friends and family. He stopped eating, believing starvation would strengthen his academic performance and stopped sleeping to instead study.
“My grades soared. He took 13 AP classes, won several major scholarships, and got a great score on my SAT,” continued Rathman. “But all of his success came at the cost of my life, the life that I wanted to live.”
Rathman lost his friends, was diagnosed with an eating disorder and was so tired that he fell asleep and totaled his dream car.
“He soaked up all the praise and agilation of what were supposed to be my accomplishments, leaving me with nothing besides mistakes and failure.”
Wanting to escape, Rathman thought about killing him, but ending him also meant ending himself. He told his parents, and the doctors called it obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Rathman still refers to the condition as ‘he’ because of the stigma. It is more than just being a germaphobe or putting things in order, he said.
“Everyone battles some sort of monster. It could be external, or like me, it could be from within.”
This monster makes you feel inadequate, worthless, unloved or weak, but all of those are just feelings, and you can overcome any critic, he said.
“Nobody should be able to infiltrate your mind and defile your dreams.”
He said life is not meant to be lived based on the opinions of others.
“Life cannot be enjoyed unless you take control of it and make it yours,” said Rathmam.
Even if you feel lost now, never give up hope.
“I stand before you as a lesson. Although my voyage is not over, I have righted my mental ship. I can live again. I can laugh again. I can love again…” he said. “When you listen to yourself, you win back control.”
Rathman urged the graduates not to be afraid to defy their monster.
“Now is the perfect time to start living for yourselves,” he said.
Class speaker Dynastie Feliciano urged the graduates to thank their heroes.
“The ones who shaped you. The ones who stayed when things got hard. The ones who believed in you when you didn’t fully believe in yourself.”
Her heroes are her dad and grandma.
Through significant health challenges, her dad kept going, never letting his struggles turn into excuses.
“He never stopped showing up for me, never stopped pushing for my future, even when his own journey was difficult,” said Feliciano.
Her father never had the chance to graduate.
“This moment right here represents something he once dreamed of but never got the opportunity to experience,” she said.
Her grandma helped raise her and supported her in ways that don’t always need words but are felt deeply.
Class speaker Dynastie Feliciano urged the Exeter Township Senior High Class of 2026 to thank their heroes. (Photo courtesy of Exeter Township School District)
“My story is not unique. Many of you are here because of your own heroes who sacrificed for you,” said Feliciano.
Graduation is not just about finishing school. It’s about endurance, perseverance, every moment of wanting to quit but pushing through, and every setback turned into progress, said Feliciano.
“None of us got here alone. Someone’s love, sacrifice, patience or belief carried us further than we can go on our own.”
Feliciano thanked her grandma for being there.
“To my dad, every step I took was built on your strength and your resilience,” she said.
To her classmates: “We all come from different stories, but tonight we share the same achievement. We have finally made it to the end of this chapter.”
She urged the class of 2026 to welcome this new chapter with grace and open arms.
Members of the class of 2026 toss their caps following their graduation from Exeter Township School District on Thursday, June 4. (Photo courtesy of Exeter Township School District)