Students record while turning their tassels.
Hillhouse Principal Antoine Billy hands off diplomas.
For newly minted Hillhousegraduate Zamira Williamson, her final year of high school wasn’t just about grades and extracurriculars. It was also about consistency — and proving to herself, her grandparents, and her 2-year-old daughter that she could stay the course despite life’s many obstacles.
Williamson was one of 234 James Hillhouse High School graduates who crossed the stage at the Floyd Little Athletic Center Monday afternoon to receive their diplomas. Families, staff, and fellow students celebrated the high school grads at the 480 Sherman Pkwy. venue.
Signs picturing students’ faces, flower bouquets made up of dollar bills, and air horns and bells filled the room as families gathered on the field house’s bleachers.
In a blue cap and gown, Williamson looked out into the crowd nervously and saw her grandparents and daughter cheering her on.
Williamson had to deal with the loss of both of her parents during her high school journey. Her mother passed in July 2019. Her father died in September 2022. After their passing, she began smoking and skipping school.
“Without them I thought nothing was going to go well,” she said. “But when I saw people by my side, I started doing better.”
When pregnant, Williamson had the support of her grandparents and siblings to remind her that “even though times get tough and stressful, I can get through anything.”
She stopped smoking and began going back to school more often. “I’m proud I got through everything. Not just my parents but the relationships and heartbreaks. All of it stopped me from even thinking about school,” she recalled.
After graduating Monday, she told Hillhouse library media specialist Malcolm Welfare that she plans to come back to visit because the library was a safe place for her. She also thanked Principal Antoine Billy and staffer Ms. Russell for “reminding me I have somebody.”
Monday’s lineup of speakers included Mayor Justin Elicker, who reminded the Class of 2026, “we as a city love you.”
New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Supt. Madeline Negrón told the graduates that their diplomas represent not only their academic success but also their ability to balance life and extracurriculars. “New Haven public Schools believes in you,” she concluded.
Board of Education member Andrea Downer, who is also a 1989 Hillhouse alum, said that the diplomas are a “declaration of everything you’ve worked for and everything you’re becoming.”
Hillhouse 2004 alum, New Haven youth commissioner, and NHPS attendance specialist Donald D. McAulay Jr was Monday’s commencement speaker. He said that Hillhouse is not “just a place where athletes go” but a place that builds up leaders who “dare to dream big.”
Billy, the school’s principal, told the graduating students that “you are prepared to face the world because you are a Hillhouse Academic. A student from Hillhouse can and will achieve absolute greatness.”
Alejandro Gallardo, who also graduated from Hillhouse on Monady, celebrated crossing the stage despite Hillhouse being the third high school he had to attend after his family relocated from New York. He said that while he was being offered baseball scholarships in New York, in New Haven he found that he had kinder teachers.
Izaiha Velazquez said that crossing the stage on Monday was a “huge relief.” He plans to head to New England College next year with a football scholarship.
Velazquez transferred to Hillhouse after spending his freshman and sophomore years at Notre Dame High School. “There weren’t many people that looked like me so I wasn’t comfortable,” he said about why he decided to transfer.
At Hillhouse, he said he quickly made friends who supported him in making it onto the honor toll. “I got more comfortable so I could finally thrive,” he said.
He thanked Hillhouse staff and especially his football team for teaching him how to study and be a good student. Football athletes need to maintain at least a B average in order to remain on the high school’s team. Velazquez said that motivated him to succeed in school. “I never really won at life until now, thanks to football,” he concluded.
Hillhouse valedictorian Basmina Noor Badshah: Class of 2026 asked for help and showed up. “This is for the girls of my country, Afghanistan.”
Commencement speaker Donald D. McAulay Jr.
Gradaute Izaiha Velazquez next headed to New England College.
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