HADLEY — Beneath rows of glowing lanterns and string lights, students of the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School bustled about Wednesday evening — untangling multicolored cords, securing pins and caps, and taking photographs with both the families they live with at home and the family they built during their time at the school.

With a graduating class of just over 30 students, members of the PVCICS Class of 2025 were able to form close bonds with their peers, making the graduation ceremony under the pavilion at the Young Men’s Club of Hadley both a celebration of what’s to come and an emotional farewell to the tight community that would disperse shortly after their tassels were turned.

But despite the more than 20 separate colleges and universities the students are soon departing for, there is a strong connection — forged through rigorous IB (International Baccalaureate) coursework, Chinese classes and even water balloon battles — that will keep them connected to one another, and their school, for years to come.

Before taking the stage at PVCICS’ ninth annual graduation, Eloise Tuleja and Chelsea Chartier talked excitedly and beamed for the camera as they took photos with family members.

“After you finish the exams, it’s just a big sigh of relief,” said Tuleja, who will be attending the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

“It feels great to be finally graduating,” Chartier agreed.

But while being free from IB exams and high school stresses is a welcome change, both Tuleja and Chartier said they would miss the classmates they’ve come to love during their time there. Chartier, who will go on to attend Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, recalled their senior skip day, during which the seniors all went to a trampoline park instead of class.

A few rows of chairs away, Gaius Turner worked on putting on a gown, stole and cords to display the accomplishments the past years had brought.

“I’m glad to finally be here after four years of working for it,” said Turner, who will attend UMass Amherst.

That work wasn’t easy either. Like Tuleja and Chartier, Turner acknowledged how challenging completing the IB program was at times, saying with a laugh, “I think we’re all a little burnt out.”

Nearby, Amirah Chabi-Yo received some additional graduation garb from a classmate: pins representing time dedicated to varsity ultimate frisbee and basketball.

“I’m feeling great,” Chabi-Yo said with a smile. “I’m happy that it’s finally over and I can start a new chapter.”

Mingled with that relief and excitement was a bittersweet element as well though, because for Chabi-Yo, going to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois will mean moving miles and miles away from the strong relationships built within the walls of PVCICS.

“Even though our cohort is pretty small, we do have a tightness among us,” Chabi-Yo said.

Principal Kathleen Wang told the crowd of graduates, faculty and loved ones that the students are ready for their next chapter.

“Maybe around January you showed signs you were kind of done with high school … so I think you’re ready,” Wang said, garnering some laughs.

Wang added that the number nine is an auspicious one in Chinese culture, which bodes well for this ninth graduating class.

“It represents the maximum level of happiness, longevity and good luck,” Wang explained.

Charles Bagley, a member of the school’s board of trustees, applauded the graduates for completing a “rigorous, global education” that has rendered them “uniquely equipped to lead within an increasingly complex world.”

“Go forth from our halls and transform our world,” Bagley encouraged the graduates before him.

Faculty member Kevin Brown also harbored no doubts that the 2025 graduating class would go on to change the world for the better — not just because of their hard work, but because of their fun-loving spirit.

“As a class, your enjoyment of life is infectious,” Brown said.

Like Wang, Brown told the graduates that the roller coaster of life beyond PVCICS will have its low moments, but it will also be full of so many wonderful new experiences and memories, it makes the hard times worth it.

“You have to get on that roller coaster to enjoy those moments,” Brown said.

Similar to many of their fellow students, senior speakers Quinn Speek and Sarah Fardal were already feeling a mix of emotions as they addressed their graduating class.

Speek, who has been at PVCICS for the past 13 years, recalled many firsts that occurred during that time — first exams, first crushes, first true friendships — as well as lasting memories made, like re-enacting the Battle of Bunker Hill with water balloons or singing “Mr. Brightside” together at prom.

“This is where I grew up … here is where I found more than an education, but a family,” Speek said.

Speek encouraged the class to go boldly into their next chapter, reminding them that “life’s greatest gifts rarely come from the plans we make, but from the detours we could have never seen coming.”

Fardal also acknowledged the “unique” experience shared among students at PVCICS, saying “only a PVCI kid knows what it’s like to be a PVCI kid,” and that experience will continue to bind them together long after they depart for their next adventures.

“Each and every one of us has a connection that I think will not go away, no matter how far we go from this place, and I, for one, really hope that it stays, because the faces that I see in front of me right now — these are the faces of the future leaders of our world,” Fardal said. “That means that each and every one of us will have friends in high places, and that is something so incredibly valuable. But we will also just have friends. Lifelong friends.”

Fardal also gave thanks to the teachers and parents that got all of the graduates to that stage on Wednesday evening, and as the class walked up to receive their diplomas, they were also given two flowers to share with a mentor or loved one who supported them on their path.

Graduates ventured into the crowd, offering flowers to parents, friends, siblings and others while exchanging often tearful embraces.

As they concluded their senior song and departed from the pavilion, they took their first steps into the world as PVCICS alumni.

Alexa Lewis can be reached at alewis@gazettenet.com.