The Fountain Valley community gathered on the graduation lawn on Saturday, May 24, to celebrate the Class of 2025 at the School’s 95th Commencement Exercises.

In his introductory address to the Class of 2025, President of the Board of Trustees J. Greg Osborne '81 noted the importance of Fountain Valley School's five Core Values—Courage, Compassion, Curiosity, Open-Mindedness, and Self-Reliance—and how each senior should strive to embrace these characteristics even after becoming alumni. "Never forget the values we have been committed to practicing here," he said. "Go forth with Godspeed and raise the bar on expressing FVS’s Core Values in every venue of your life."

Touching on two important values—Curiosity and Compassion—in particular, this year's class-elected speakers Kent Seto '25 of Tokyo and Brynn Jensen '25 of Denver encouraged the graduates to stay curious and compassionate as they meet new people and learn new things. Despite hailing from every corner of the globe, Jensen also urged her classmates to stay in touch across all distances. "I've been taught about so many new and different cultures and traditions, and I am grateful to my friends for showing me," she said. "They brought bits of their home to me through food, music, and dance, and I was able to offer them a home when they couldn’t travel the thousands of miles back to theirs during breaks."

A talented journalist and author, Principal Speaker Ben Ryder Howe '89 offered the perfect blend of knowledge and humor in his address to the Class of 2025. His advice: expect surprise, embrace it and never be afraid to take chances. "Right now, although you’re thinking about the world beyond and your future, the experiences you’ve had here will soon start to tug at you, and surprise you with their strength and power, and you will feel that rubber band attached to your waist pulling you back here no matter how far away you go," said Howe, who received a standing ovation as he concluded his speech with this final piece of wisdom: 

"You’re about to exit this community physically and embark on a wildly exciting journey, but the relationships you began here will continue and I can promise you they will surprise and delight you."  

In addition to granting the J. Philo Nelson Award to Spanish Faculty and Director of Interim Programming Missie Alley, Harlan recognized 11 seniors—Victoria Arroyo Aguiar, Sofia Bedoya-Correa, Sophia Carson, Lily Christofferson, Lucas Fassman, Alexander Haberl, Axelle Mengin, Madeleine Soteres, Braulio Valenzuela, Adelaide Wise, and Xiyu "Angelina" Zhang—for going above and beyond the requirements of the traditional FVS curriculum to earn Global Scholar / STEM Diplomas this spring. She also proudly presented departmental awards and the School's highest honor awards* to the following student-recipients:

Congratulations to the entire Class of 2025.

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