Emily Hays Photos
Rev. Quavon Newton reveals “winner’s mindset.”
Rev. Quavon Newton spoke Wednesday at the James Hillhouse High School graduation he never had.
Newton told the 170 Hillhouse seniors assembled on Bowen Field how he found his way from expulsion from their school … to graduation this year from Yale Divinity School.
“Everything I was chasing was attainable through education,” Newton said.
Newton grew up in New York and New Haven as the son of a preacher.
By tenth grade, his search for power and influence found him hanging out with the wrong crowd.
“I wasn’t a good student like you. None of you ever missed class, or left your camera on and did something else,” Newton said to laughter.
Newton asked the family members filling the bleachers whether any of them remembered a particular Hillhouse administrator. A dozen or so raised their hands.
In Newton’s day, the administration handed out suspensions generously — a policy that New Haven Public Schools has reversed in recent years.
“I had so many suspension days that if you counted them all up, I would probably still be suspended today. I shouldn’t even be here,” Newton said.
Newton would have graduated from Hillhouse in 2005. Instead, he was expelled his junior year. He earned his GED through New Haven’s adult education program.
This was around the time of his four felonies. Still a juvenile, he spent a few days behind bars before going home on house arrest and serving four years of probation.
His life changed when he found a job as a part-time teller at Bank of America. He quickly moved up the ranks to become branch manager.
This feeling of success helped him to see the lessons he highlighted on Wednesday: Education is the most sure path to success. Every moment counts. Failure is part of growth.
“What would you learn if you never failed?” Newton said. “A winner’s mindset is: Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.”
He spoke about the power of Black history as a source of inspiration, from the stories of Africans before they were enslaved to the African-Americans who invented the ironing board, the first home security system and the modern microphone.
“When you know our history, you will refuse to be treated as if you don’t matter,” Newton said. “Can’t nothing stop you because there’s royalty in your DNA.”
Today Newton is the senior pastor at Rush Temple A.M.E Zion Church in New York City. He earned his master’s in divinity from the Yale Divinity School with the Class of 2021.
Valedictorian Jesús E. Santana Colón.
Newton’s lesson about embracing failure was particularly relevant for a class of seniors that have faced social isolation, personal tragedies and more during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jesús E. Santana Colón (pictured above), Wednesday’s valedictorian, saw his straight As plummet in quarantine. He realized how much he needed to see his peers in hallways and ask his teachers questions offline. In the first week of school last fall, he was already struggling to submit assignments. He worried about what his parents would think about his C in AP Calculus.
A conversation with his guidance counselor, Christine Scaccia, helped Santana Colón realize that imperfection is human. He started seeing a therapist and decided that he could not take all Advanced Placement classes. He’s grown in the process and can now take a step back in moments when he doesn’t meet his own expectations.
“Today, [how I gave] my speech has me down. I’m glad though that I was able to have that experience,” Santana Colón said.
Santana Colón plans to study medicine at Southern Connecticut State University next year.
Salutatorian Kayla Rountree.
Track star and salutatorian Kayla Rountree couldn’t train during much of the pandemic. For a while, she did home workouts with her team over Zoom. Then other athletes returned to in-person training during indoor track. Rountree’s mother worried about the safety of that option, so walks with her mom replaced the rigorous training she would have undergone with her team.
Despite these setbacks, Rountree helped her team win the outdoor state championships. Each member of the small team had to do well. Rountree placed sixth in shotput and fourth in javelin throwing, each time beating around 20 competitors.
Responsible brother Ty’jair Bember, far right.
Ty’jair Bember, 18, has taken on parental responsibilities since his mother passed away from cancer this February. He and his grandmother are raising his 11-year-old sister together.
He was particularly proud of graduating on Wednesday, because it was something his mother always wanted.
Bember’s next step is to study plumbing at Porter & Chester Institute in Hamden. This allows him to stay near his sister and fulfill his longtime plans to become a plumber.
Darien Williams, 18, walks the stage.
As each of the 170 Hillhouse seniors crossed the stage, families and friends cheered and shouted. They hugged, shook hands or bumped elbows with Principal Glen Worthy, Newton and other New Haven notables on the stage.
Dinasty Campbell flips her tassel.
After the last Wrights and Youngs took their diplomas, Hillhouse alum and Board of Education member Darnell Goldson helped Worthy tell the Hillhouse seniors that they could switch their tassels from right to left — because they were now Hillhouse graduates.
Congratulations to the graduates! You have proven you can rise above whatever difficulties life hands you to succeed in attaining your dreams. May you continue to persist and provide role models for the others in your community that hard work and persistence pays off.
Thank you to Rev. Quavon Newton for showing it's never too late to right your wrongs and succeed in life after leaving the negative influences of the street behind. You are truly proving that you can rise above if you put your mind to it.