The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
GRADUATION CHEERS
High school sends 142 students on their way
CROMWELL » Many of the athletes among them had heard cheers before in the Jake Salafia gymnasium at Cromwell High School.
But the cheers last week were deeper, more emphatic and more emotional as families and friends alike saluted the graduating Class of 2017.
In the face of Friday’s iffy weather forecasts, school officials erred on the side of caution and held the graduation in the gymnasium. But the location didn’t dampen the accomplishments of the 142 graduates or the sense of community they had forged with one another.
The class got what in essence was a “seal of approval” for their success from Dianna R. Wentzell, the state commissioner of education, who was the guest speaker for the evening.
Wentzell asked the students to keep in mind the people who helped get them to this point, be they parents, or a special teacher. These people, Wentzell said “are our superheroes.”
Wentzell also asked the graduates to look around them, and realize, “This is a shared experience. No one ever truly achieves anything ‘alone.’ You have achieved this together.”
“You are the future of our community, our great state and our nation,” Wentzell said.
In a very short while, the graduates will become the people who will help a next generation achieve much, “because you will be our super-heroes.”
The graduates were not the only people taking their leave of Cromwell. So, too, was Superintendent of Schools Paula M. Talty, who is retiring.
Graduation “is a time for reflection and appreciation,” Talty said, as she wished them “great success” in the next chapters of their lives.
The graduation had a theme: “Keep it Real.” The motto was modified slightly in the 65-foot long corridor that leads from the library media center, where the class assembled before going into the gymnasium.
The Project Graduation team turned the walkway into a “Keep it Reel” celebration, with a movie theme — Now showing: the Class of ’17 — and individual casual portraits of each graduate on oversized film rolling along the wall.
At the end of hallway closest to the gym, there was a message for the impending graduates.
“Just because the past didn’t turn out like you wanted it to... Your future can’t be better than you imagined,” it read.
As they gathered in the library, school resource officer Jason Tolton climbed on a table to address the students.
“I’m extremely proud of you guys,” Tolton said, adding, “Be safe!” to appreciative cheers from the class.
“It’s been very up and down,” student Jennifer Salce said of her four years at CHS. “Overall, it was a good experience and something I will never forget.”
In particular, she said her fondest memories of the friendship she has made during the past four years.
Salce is a member of both the National Honor Society and the Music Honor Society. She plays the clarinet and will be off in the fall to the University of Connecticut. There, she intends to study music education.
In 10 years, it was suggested, she could be back at the high school teaching a new class or students.
“That would be great!” Salce said.
Like Salce, Kayle Novoa said the past four years had been had its share of “both easy and hard times.”
“But overall, it’s also been fun,” Novoa said. “It was a good four years, and it went by fast.”
Novoa, whose brother Kevin also graduated Friday, is headed to Central Connecticut State University in the fall where she hopes “to do something in science.”
Various students were adorned with various ropes, like the golden rope Salce wore for the National Honor Society.
Nate Michaud wore both a red, white and blue rope and a white stole emblazoned with the globe and anchor and the word “Marines” in bold red letters. No one in his immediate family had served in the military, Michaud said.
“But I always wanted to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps,” Michaud said.
There’s a certain allure to it, he explained. But, more than that, “I want to challenge myself,” Michaud said.
“There’s the pride in belonging to an organization like that, and I want to help out - and I want to give back to the country that has given me so much,” Michaud said.
Unlike his classmates, who won’t be heading off to their next adventure until fall, Michaud should be en route to recruit training at Parris island, South Carolina, by the time you read this.
Michaud was surrounded by any number of female classmates wishing him good luck.
Michaud was one of five members of the class of ’17 who have enlisted in the military.
Principal Frances DiFiore introduced all five during the ceremony, and the audience responded with a standing ovation to honor of their commitment to serve.
Board of Education member Jay Fletcher, standing in for board Chairman Michael Camilleri, said he has been on the board since 2003.
“You were just starting T-ball,” Fletcher told the graduates.
Now, and not just for one night, “You are a very special group of young adults,” Fletcher said.