News & Events

Olivia Reid '25 and Leo Tang '25 won the Bible Awards as valedictorians this school year. During Graduation on May 19, they gave their addresses to the family and friends at Wynne-Darden Stadium.

Olivia Reid '25 will attend Johns Hopkins University. In addition to the Bible Award, she won the High Honors Award; Mary McCulloch Moore Mathematics Memorial Award; and the Country Day School for Girls Award.

Here is Olivia's speech: 

Good morning. First, I would like to start by giving thanks to the many people who have helped build the Class of 2025 into the people we are today. Thank you to the Board of Trustees who dedicated their time and resources into making Norfolk Academy an incredible place to learn and grow. Thank you to Mr. Larrabee, who tirelessly works to improve the experience of everyone here at NA. 

Thank you to all our teachers, advisors, and coaches who took the time to answer every question, stay for one last rep, and teach us not only how to succeed in the classroom but also how to succeed in life. I am so grateful to all of my teachers and coaches who have helped shape me into the person I am today. 

And a huge thank you to all the parents, grandparents, and siblings who supported each of us throughout our time here. Whether it’s driving us to sports practice or extracurriculars, showing up to each game or production, or providing us with all these amazing opportunities, you all have poured so much effort into getting the Class of 2025 to this moment – and a special thank you to my family for their love and support.

When I first began to write this speech reflecting on my time here at Norfolk Academy, I wanted to say something about our class and who we are as people. I wanted to say something personal and true, so I asked others how they would describe our class. Friendly. And we are a friendly class — but as Mr. Craig said, our grade is also kind, filled with people who go out of their way to smile, or wave, or hold a door open. It’s small, but the small moments are the ones that matter, the ones that make a team more than a team, a class more than a class.  

We’ve spent a lot of time together. Not just in class, but in the in-between moments: Being able to talk with anyone and strike up a conversation. Going to watch each other’s games or to see the theater productions. Cheering on teammates while running around Wesleyan. Walking into Chick-Fil-A for a track team breakfast and seeing four other teams already eating together. These were the moments that created the version of our grade we see now: connected, familiar, easy to be around.  

More than just a friendly wave in the hallway, we are there for each other in the hardest moments. Moments where we need more than kindness but also care, compassion, and understanding. Receiving a hug after a tough game or meet from a teammate who noticed you were feeling low. Taking the time to talk to a friend struggling with something even if you’re busy. Cracking jokes on the way to practice after a long week at school. It’s in these sincere actions that our connections deepen and we come to trust that we will always be around for each other.

Even when we aren’t around, Norfolk Academy won’t vanish when we drive off campus. It'll still be here. At the next homecoming football game. At the 10th. But staying connected won’t happen on its own. It takes effort: texting someone when you think of them. Showing up to a reunion. Asking how someone’s doing—and listening when they answer. Those habits—those choices—are the ones that make a community last beyond high school. 

Second semester in Dr. Kidd’s Philosophical Literature class, I read a line that spoke to me: Live, or die: mere consequences of what you have built. What matters is building well. As a class, we have built well. We have led clubs, sports teams, and productions together, made memories on bus trips, Maymester, or just in the lounge, and most importantly established close friendships that will make saying goodbye even harder. 

The past 12 years have set this foundation of community, and it will take intentional acts of reaching out to maintain it. What else makes the grass grow but trust, care, and commitment? 

We’re about to meet new people, build new routines, and start from scratch in a lot of ways. But that doesn’t mean we leave behind the people who knew us before we knew who we were becoming. I hope we will keep choosing to be the kind of people who hold the door open. Who check in. Who take the time to listen and who notice when a friend needs more than that. Who remember where we come from, and why it matters. 

 Home isn’t the dorm room you’ll sleep in every night for the next four years, the apartment you’ll share with roommates, or even the first house you’re going to buy. Home isn’t a place you’re passing through: it’s the place you’ll always return to. 

So thank you for being more than just classmates. Thank you for being the people that make Norfolk Academy the place I want to return to, the place filled with treasured memories, the place that I can call a home.  

Thank you. 

Leo Tang '25 will attend Yale University. In addition to the Bible Award, he won the John H. Ingram Memorial Award; John H. Kepchar Science Award; Music Award; and Robert Gatewood Fellowship Award.

Here is Leo's speech:

Wow, Olivia—incredible speech. That’s going to be hard to follow.

She made it look effortless. But, when I sat down to write this speech, I only had a hazy idea of what I wanted to say—but one thing stood out clearly: I had to start with acknowledgements. 

Now, I know, every speech you’ve ever heard, whether at the Oscars, a wedding, or graduation, starts with a round of rapid-fire thank-yous. But standing here today, I promise this isn’t just routine or formality. 

To the board, thank you for dedicating yourselves so fully to Norfolk Academy. Your leadership, generosity, and commitment—reflected in places like the Batten Library, the Johnson Theater, the Massey Center, the Landmark room, and Wynn-Darden Stadium, where we gather right now—form the very foundation of our school. 

To Mr. Larrabee, thank you for leading our school with unwavering warmth and energy. Managing 1,206 students day in and day out cannot possibly be easy—I know there are days when just one of us is too much for our parents—but you do it all, with your beaming smile and firm handshake. 

To Mrs. Goodson, thank you. Thank you for sharing the wisdom you gained from Japanese martial arts during our first week back, for daily reminders after chapel, and for always finding time to say hi and chat when we passed by in the hallways, no matter how busy your schedule. Even though it’s your first year as director of the Upper School, you’re absolutely crushing it. 

To the faculty, thank you for guiding us with patience, wisdom, and humor. You’ve forgiven the emails sent at 11:30 p.m. and answered our questions on the homework due at 11:59. You’ve taught us far more than the Nernst equation and how a nephron works—you’ve shown us resilience, integrity, and empathy. As our coaches, you’ve proven that some of life’s greatest lessons happen not just in classrooms, but on athletic fields, courts, and courses. And, you’ve made us laugh innumerable times at the advisory lunch table, I just hope that we can say the same.

To the staff, thank you for working so tirelessly to feed us, protect us, and take care of us. And thank you for working so diligently to maintain this campus. Also, I think I speak for the entire Class of ‘25 when I say–we’ll miss the turkey flatbreads. 

To our parents, thank you for every sacrifice, seen and unseen. From cutting the corners off of the PB&J’s because we didn’t want to eat them to waiting in the car while we scrambled to get ready, and then driving us to school, practice, rehearsals, and performances just in the nick of time, for organizing celebrations big and small, and for showing up, time after time, just to be there. 

I’ll admit—I wasn’t entirely sure how to capture what makes our class, and this place, special. So, in classic Leo fashion, I ran a little data analysis. I took every Instagram post from the Class of 2025, plugged it into a Python algorithm, and identified the words and phrases we used most. 

The most common word: friend.

At first, that felt too simple—of course, we all make friends, no surprise there—but as I read through each response, something clicked. The word friend showed up everywhere: on the lacrosse field under the floodlights, during late night winter track practices, backstage in Johnson Theater, or in the dusty scene shop behind it. It showed up in stories about friends we’ve known since our first day in August of 2013 to memories with classmates we just met this year. From Leadership Lab, to Maymester, to the Batten Leadership Program, the Arts and our-first grade buddies, we had made friends everywhere. Again and again, I saw the same thing—not just how many friends we’ve made, but how tightly connected we’ve become, not just to each other, but to our teachers and to this place. If I was going to use one word to describe our institution, it would be that, connected.

That spirit is what makes Norfolk Academy unique. This is a place defined by and, never limited by or Here, and connects opportunities, no matter how unrelated they seem. 

It’s where the pitcher from the baseball team can throw 80 mph fastballs and step onto the stage, don a gold lamé shirt, grab a guitar, and become Conrad Birdie. It’s where the cross country captain can lead a championship team and design, simulate, and construct model rockets for the American Rocketry Challenge. It’s where a coding whiz can intern with local companies and become the shot putter who breaks a 42-year-old school record, continues to set new records, and wins a national championship title. It’s where the robotics captain can build autonomous robotics and occupy center-stage as a UPS Delivery Man during the Winter Musical. It’s where you can explore more than fifty student-run clubs, seventy athletic teams and still choose to start something entirely new—and if you do, the school will enthusiastically back you; parents, you might even recoup some of that tuition. 

At this point, I’m supposed to share some grand lesson—but honestly, I learned how to take an integral before learning how to ride a bike, so I’m probably not qualified for life advice. But I’ll ask this: take a second, right now, close your eyes and picture something you want to accomplish. A dream, a goal, an ambition—whatever it is. Do you have it? Now, go do that thing. Audition for that show, record that album, try out for the team, apply for that job, pick up that hobby. 

We all know what we should do—the challenge is actually doing it. So don’t put your dreams in someone else’s hands. Don’t wait for instructions from a source of authority, politician, valedictorian or guru. Be your own guru. Hold onto that power. 

If our time at Norfolk Academy has proven anything, it’s that we already know how to use that power. We’ve demonstrated this countless times—in dress-down days supporting dozens of causes, from Operation Smile to local food banks; through thousands of volunteer hours across Hampton Roads, from nearby ForKids shelters to farms on the Eastern Shore; and in the countless small ways we've cared for each other every single day. Our class consistently demonstrates kindness, perseverance, and a readiness to stand up for one another. Wherever we go next, we’ll carry that spirit with us. 

Before I conclude, let me offer one final thank you. Without everyone here today, and many others who couldn’t join us, Norfolk Academy simply wouldn’t exist. We are here because of the faculty, staff, administration, parents—and most importantly, because of each other. 

So here’s to every connection we’ve made, every risk we’ve taken, every dream we’ve chased. Class of 2025—congratulations. This is only the beginning. 

Thank you.