During the Senior Awards Night at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School on May 31, Superintendent-Director Aaron Polansky surprised Rochester Police Chief Paul Magee with an award honoring him for all the years of community building and support he provided the school during his tenure as chief.
Magee will retire on September 14, but will take an early leave in just a few weeks to spend the summer down south.
“We greatly appreciate his work and dedication to Old Colony, and we thank him for his dedication,” said Polansky.
Before handing out the awards to seniors, Polansky also thanked and honored Assistant Principal/Vocational Coordinator Jackie Machamer and Principal Karen Guenette who are both leaving Old Colony at the end of the school year to continue their careers, as Polansky put it, at the “much bigger” Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School.
Polansky pointed out a typo on Guenette’s plaque that improperly displayed the number of years Guenette has been at Old Colony, saying, “And I thought to myself, maybe that’s a sign – maybe she should stay.”
The school recognized Valedictorian Rebecca Dawicki and the rest of the Top 10 ranking students: Erin Taylor, Thomas Dawicki, Noah Cavallaro, Elana Sargent, Heather Medeiros, Tara Butler, Paul Ashley, Keira Perryman, and Kaitlynn Lurie, while acknowledging student Richard Bishop, who is joining the U.S. Air Force. National Honor Society pins and cords were then handed out before the remaining achievement awards.
State Representative William Straus addressed the seniors, saying, “This school has a superb reputation because of what the graduates before you have done.”
“And they did great things because of what they learned here,” Straus said. “And the same is ahead of you.”
Graduating from Old Colony, Straus told them, “…is already a great accomplishment.”
By Jean Perry