SHS Class of 2006 makes the next step
Published on June 7th, 2006
While the weather didn't cooperate fully late Friday afternoon as a consistent drizzle forced the graduation ceremonies from the football field to the gymnasium, another Stoneham High School class of seniors finally moving on from the small pond of SHS to the deeper and more expansive ocean of possibilities awaiting them in the "real world."
The Spartan Chorale sang the Star-Spangled Banner to open the commencement exercise, and SHS Principal Dr. Thomas Ryan, who did a fine job of moving the program of events along in record time this spring, took a moment to recognize a host of names that had great influence on the graduates.
The names represented the members of the Stoneham school system retiring this year, and they included: Al Lanni, Estelle McDonough, Ronald Peterson, Anne Rutkowski, Karen Stahle, and Barbara Talanian.
SHS senior Class President Marc Picariello then made the welcoming address and talked about the high esteem with which he holds his cherished classmates and their support systems that helped foster them through the high school experience - a journey that saw them go from uncertain freshman to confident and able seniors.
"I would like to welcome to you and thank you for coming to a night of diligence, great achievement and the start of a new beginning," said Picariello. "Individually and collectively, our class has demonstrated an outstanding desire to succeed in overcoming challenges and breaking down the walls of adversity. One might say that our class has class.
"It is also with extreme gratitude that the Class of 2006 expresses toward the faculty, our friends and, most importantly, our parents for providing direction, motivation, goals and values," added Picariello. "It is because of you that we are gathered here on this momentous occasion."
The Spartan Chorale then performed "You Raise Me Up" and Stoneham High Senior Marcelline Prevllon followed that by performing a Desiree song called "You Gotta Be."
SHS standout scholar-athlete Amber Wantman then followed with the Honors Address, where she celebrated each senior's movement from childhood to adulthood during the symbolic graduation ceremony.
"Here we are in caps and gowns, and until now every fiber in my being has told me nothing has changed and we'll be returning again in September as we have for so many years," said Wantman. "But my pounding heart has not let me escape reality. I asked myself 'why are we all so nervous?' We have arrived at a new door and boundless opportunities wait for us on the other side. Our childhood must remain behind us, and with each passing second our innocence goes farther and farther behind until it almost becomes a mirage.
"No matter how far we reach, we won't get any closer to childhood...no more lockers in the corridor, no more passing to classes with the sound of a familiar bell and no more eating in the same cafeteria with the same faces we've been seeing since adolescence," added Wantman. "We are nervous because we are breaking routine and leaving the comfort to which we are accustomed...and ahead is the vast unknown. Though we may long for the days of innocence and no responsibility, our hearts tell us we are ready for a great challenge."
Bryan Miner then sang Josh Grobin's "To Where You Are" as the second musical selection.
William Mucica and Richard Mongeau then presented the McDonald's Medals to Stella Barth and Ross Pustell in honor of 19th Century Stoneham Principal James Wallace McDonald, an award that was first bestowed upon graduates in 1915 for "excellent in scholarship, possessing of high character, and outstanding in their good service to their school" by a group of students that remembered their educator fondly long after he had left Stoneham High School.
"Were Mr. McDonald alive today, I am certain he would recognize the humble and unassuming acuity of Stella Barth: scholar, athlete, mentor, thinker, philosopher...a true renaissance woman," said Mucica. "Stella Barth is who English Author Thomas Hardy had in mind when he wrote "Fate is character. In a rare few, personal excellence shines through no matter how unassuming, no matter how humble, no matter how unfeigned someone may be...true character radiates from someone just being themselves."
"He has an outstanding work ethic and a true thirst for knowledge," said Mongeau. "This is evident in his success in the most rigorous courses here at Stoneham High School, as well as his success in cross country and track. He's a young man that distances himself from the "Me" Generation, by exhibiting care and concern for all of those around him."
"He also displayed his sense of humor by translating my rather lame and dated jokes to the rest of his classmates, so they could understand how truly unfunny the joke really was," added Mongeau.
Rocio Valles and Alycia Sacco then sang "For Good" made famous Stephen Schwartz.
Dr. Joseph Connelly and Joseph Casey then announced the senior awards and scholarships captured by Stoneham High School seniors headed off to college in the fall.
Previlon then presented a senior class gift of a donation for the upkeep of the SHS auditorium, and presented the gift to School Committee member and SHS Class of 1989 graduate Kristin Russo.
"Seventeen years ago, I sat at graduation and wondered what my future held for me as I sat here at Stoneham High School graduation," said Russo. "Looking back, I realized that not all of my decisions were the correct ones, but that the education I received at SHS had given me the tools to succeed in the world, and had me prepared for the roads that lied ahead.
William Nadeau and Wendell Horton prizes were awarded to Jill Bradford and Kris Ingersoll for "character, citizenship, concern for others and active involvement in their community."
With that the graduates were called to the stage to receive their diplomas from Marie Christie and Vice-Principal Donna Cargill, and another generation of SHS seniors ushered their way into beckoning worlds of college, work, and family and - somewhere in there - adulthood.
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