Eighteen years of hard work and dedication to education boiled down to one two-hour ceremony on June 4 – the day seniors walked across the football field to proudly accept their diplomas.
The week before graduation was full of festivities and celebration for the seniors, kicking off with prom on Tuesday, May 31. Promenade began at 4:30 pm in the high school auditorium. The stage was decorated with sparkling strings of lights dangling from the ceiling, an arch draped with soft white fabric and lights, and an arrangement of leafy plants skirting the edges of the stage. Prom attendees paraded their elegant gowns and handsome tuxes in front of an audience so full that many people were forced to stand at the back of the auditorium.
After the conclusion of Promenade, students piled into party buses, limos, and personal cars to make the trip to the Biltmore Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. Awaiting the students inside the hotel was a candy bar and a soda bar; dinner was a choice of either chicken with green beans and mashed potatoes, or mushroom ravioli. After a night of dancing, students returned to their vehicles to either go home or to an after-party.
The next big senior event was Awards Night, held on Thursday, June 2, in the high school auditorium. The soon-to-be-graduates entered, all wearing red caps and gowns as the band played “Pomp and Circumstance.” The night began immediately with the announcement of department awards and certificates from almost every class offered at ORR, with a total of over 50 awards being distributed. Students were recognized not only for their academic achievements, but also for achievements in the arts, community service, early childhood education, and much more.
After all of the awards were announced, ORR Principal Michael Devoll individually introduced each member of the class of 2016. He included their post-high school plans and any scholarships received, and he asked one personal question: “Who is your favorite teacher?” or “What advice would you give to your ninth grade self?” The latter question produced both serious and funny responses.
“The secret to dealing with stress is to break things up and stay calm” was Shawn Perreira’s serious answer.
Samantha Lizotte took a more comical approach when she advised, “Do your makeup better and focus on algebra.”
The night came to an end, and the graduates proceeded out, only to return to the school the next day.
Friday, June 3, was the last time the seniors would step foot in Old Rochester as students. After two shortened classes, the school community piled into the gym. Everyone rose to their feet as the seniors entered and the assembly began. Bailey Sweet, the senior class president, opened with a speech that thanked teachers and parents, as well as her fellow students in the senior class.
“We’ve had our crazy moments and our up and downs, but together we got through them all,” said Sweet. “Thank you for this great year, and it was an honor to be your class president. I wish you all the best of luck.”
Maggie Wiggin, senior class secretary, was next to speak as she recounted the class history, chronicling their rise from naive freshmen to top-dog seniors. The most important achievement of the senior class, according to Wiggin, was their ability to support one another.
“At the end of the day, we have all stuck together, and that is what has led us to today.” she said.
Scattered throughout the assembly were 13 small performances by seniors. Highlights included original songs that were performed by student-created band Skinny Moth and the Prospect, as well as Isabella King, who plans to attend college for songwriting. Both the chorus and band performed for the last time with the seniors, and even the creative writing class all learned how to play the ukulele to sing “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz together. The Bernardi twins – Isabella and Julianna – pulled out their guitar and banjo to play a beautiful cover of “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie. The assembly highlighted the talents of the senior class.
Brooke Santos, the junior class president, gave a goodbye to the seniors on behalf of the underclassmen. Her speech focused on the bitter sweetness of leaving, and how the word ‘last’ was used this year by the senior class with the same bittersweet tone: the last physics test, the last time performing with my best friend on stage. But most importantly, she highlighted the hole left by the departure of the seniors.
“Walking into school this year won’t feel the same way it has these past three years. It will feel like a part of this place is missing,” said Santos. “Your talent and intelligence will be hard to lose, but not seeing you guys every day will be the toughest part. You inspired our school, and you made us better than we are, and I thank you for that.” She wished the seniors well and reminded them that this community will always back them up. “Wherever you go and wherever you end up, just know you will always have us, this school, and this community to come back to.”
The assembly came to a close when the senior slideshow, created by senior Kyle Costa, was shown, which included pictures and videos from the highlights of senior year. Costa, who will be going to college for filmmaking, was happy to create the slideshow.
“I felt so honored to make that video,” Costa said. “It felt great to be a part of it and to make quality content and showcase what our class was like, and I’m going to miss this class so much.” He continued, “I’m very honored that I got to give them that one last gift.”
Seniors proceeded out and went on the first annual “Senior Walk,” in which they processed through the Junior High, and took one of three buses to visit their old elementary schools for, presumably, the last time as students. The seniors really seemed to love the new tradition, as explained by Zenobia Nelles.
“The new senior walk is a really sweet idea and I think it’s nice for the kids to remember where they came from and it puts the whole thing in perspective,” said Nelles.
Natasha Shorrock felt similarly. “The senior walk was really cute. You got to see all the teachers who helped you complete stepping stones in life.”
Finally, the day everyone had been waiting for finally rolled around: June 4, Graduation.
The ceremony started at 12:00 pm and included speeches from Superintendent Doug White, Principal Devoll, Class President Sweet, Valedictorian Paige Watterson, and many more seniors.
As is customary at graduations, each graduate was called alphabetically to receive their hard-earned diploma. The band played the national anthems of the three exchange students graduating as they stood to receive their diplomas. The seniors then got together in one large circle to throw their caps in the air as the one final act they would perform together as a class. And in that moment, the seniors were no longer students of Old Rochester, but their mark would remain on the school forever.
Old Rochester left its mark on the seniors as well. It taught its students lessons they’ll never forget, and not just academic ones. Zenobia Nelles explained, “The most important thing high school has taught me is to just be kind and accepting to everybody because you just don’t know what’s going on in their lives and everyone’s different.”
But Old Rochester taught more than just kindness to the class of 2016 – it taught self-love, as Emily Faulkner explained.
“Don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself because that’s how you make friends,” said Faulkner.
Emily Savino agreed with the sentiment to be what makes you happy when she said, “I learned that I shouldn’t really care about what other people think.”
Old Rochester is a school, and teaching is what it does best, especially academics. Going through ORR has taught the graduates not only ways to study and what ways they can learn the best, it taught them how to utilize the information they’ve learned and continue to try their best throughout their lives. Nicole Mattson said she learned that “effort is extremely important.”
Old Rochester will never be the same for the underclassmen who had this year’s seniors to look up to and who are now expected to fill big shoes. The ORR community will look back on the class of 2016 with warmhearted fondness, as the seniors left their mark on the school as much as the school left its mark on them.
By Sienna Wurl
