LENOX, Mass. — The cheers and accolades inside Tanglewood's Shed on Sunday reached their crescendo as Monument Mountain Regional High School class of 2026 yelled "Go Spartans," turned their tassels and toss their caps. 

 

The 105 graduates from Great Barrington were sent off to solve the world's problems, but not before hearing some words of wisdom from their teachers and classmates. 

 

Valedictorian Sadie Honig-Briggs said the idea of giving them some wisdom made her deeply uncomfortable. What could she tell them that they had not already learned together? 

 

"Instead, I am going to state the obvious," she said. "I am going to tell you about some things you might need after today as you go off into the world, and I'm going to tell you about the people who can help you get those things that you need."

 

Honig-Briggs had done some research on her peers' future aspirations and they were delighted and applauded as she called out who to go for medical care, child care, education, computers, automotive repair, therapy, legal and financial, energy and entertainment. 

 

"You might catch the flu or break an arm, and when you get to the doctor's office or the hospital, you can look for nurses like Heidi or Ashley," she said. "You will need firefighters like Griffin Touponce, FBI agents like Dominic ... You might need people to help you with your finances, though. Let's hope you don't need that much help, but accountants Emily and David will be able to keep you on track."

 

And that was just a small fraction of the people in the class, Honig-Briggs said.