Layout 1 (Page 1) - Southbridge Evening News

2 • THE VILLAGER • Friday, June 6, 2008
GRADUATION
2008
BAY PATH REGIONAL VOCATIONAL
Hope and memories mark Bay Path graduation
BY GUS STEEVES
NEWS STAFF WRITER
WORCESTER — Clad in
their school colors of purple
and white, 193 young men and
women got their chance to be
royalty for the evening at
DCU Center Friday as Bay
Path Regional Vocational
High School graduated its
Class of 2008.
Within the day’s honors
were some bittersweet memories
of two classmates who
didn’t make it — Amanda
Martin and Jeffrey O’Brien.
The two received their diplomas
posthumously, with their
parents collecting the documents
to widespread
applause.
Although she didn’t specifically
mention them, it was
clear they were what Class
President Jamie Cloutier was
referring to when she said
this class “came together in a
way some classes never do,”
to develop a bond and “a new
respect for life” from the
class’s losses.
Their memory lived in
Salutatorian Oceana
Montalvo’s reminder that
“every moment we spend
should be lived to the fullest”
and in Pupil Personnel
Services Director Tim
Gilrein’s reminiscences of
his time with the students.
“I have fought with them. I
have cried with them. I have
supported them,” he said,
adding the students have
become “resourceful” and
“learned they have integrity.”
For Superintendent David
Papagni, the path this year’s
graduates will take depends
on their choices, but he summarized
it using a book from
their earliest pre-school days
— the Dr. Seuss classic, “Oh,
the Places You’ll Go.”
Reading a fairly lengthy
section of that tale, he praised
them as being, “‘Too smart to
go down any not-so-good
streets,’” and reminded them
they now have “the educational
tools necessary to fulfill
your dreams … [and] the
skills to be successful.”
“There are no goals that are
not achievable,” Papagni
said. “ … I want to challenge
you to use these talents not
only to provide for yourselves,
but to provide for others.”
Noting the students now
have the chance to “build
upon your years at Bay Path
to become responsible members
of American society,”
School Committee Chairman
Ben LaMountain reminded
them they all will see “great
successes and disappointing
failures” during life. How
they embrace those successes
and learn from the failures
will determine where their
life goes, he said.
With graduation, Cloutier
said, “the old finish line ends
and the new start line begins.
… You always have a choice
and the choice can be power.”
To Valedictorian Amy
Haley, that path of choice
started even before coming to
Bay Path. She recalled being
the only member of her
eighth-grade geometry class
who stayed until the end of
her school’s presentation on
Bay Path. Despite knowing it
was where she wanted to go,
she said she listened to
friends and peers telling her
she was “too smart” for the
school and went to Wachusett
Regional High School.
“From the first day I
walked through Wachusett’s
doors, I knew it was the
wrong choice for me,” and
applied to Bay Path, Haley
said.
Haley was one of the 110
students who received awards
the previous night, and
Gilrein noted the students
collectively received “hundreds
of thousands of dollars
in scholarships.” Although
all of the seniors passed their
MCAS, he said 44 percent are
college-bound, while 52 percent
are headed into the work
world straight from high
school.
Gus Steeves may be reached
at (508) 909-4135, or by e-mail
at gsteeves@stonebridgepress.com.
Rachel Snyder holds her diploma
close.
Senior girls flowed into the hall from one side to meet the boys at the
middle aisle en route to the stage.
BAY PATH HIGH SCHOOL 2008 GRADUATES
AUBURN: Alex Chviruk,
Roselynn Cleveland,
Andrew Delage, Cassie
Deleo, Edward Dubois, Jr.,
Hector Figueroa, Nicole
Fraser, Krystal Gokey,
Brian Gosselin Jr. (NHS),
Tiffany Jaworski, Arielle
Johnson, Tyler Johnston,
Matthew Landry, Nicholas
Latuga, Daniel Maciolek,
Christopher Newcomb,
Candice Pierce, Nicole
Smith (NHS), Jorden
Straub, Justin Tatro,
Elizabeth Totaro, Jacquelin
Valentine
CHARLTON: Meghan
Anderson, Emily Budge,
Nicholas Choiniere, Jarod
Christiansen, Sean
Comptois, Tiya Cote, Isaac
Danna, Nathan Day, Carissa
Dupuis, Brittany Early,
Ryan Gaboury, Sean
Hallihan, Anthony
Johnson, Colleen Martin,
Sean McCann, Kaitlyn
Miller, William Miller,
Michael Nardone, Timothy
Pageau, Brooke Provost,
Adam Rivett, Wayne
Rocheford, III, and Joshua
Stevens
DUDLEY: Timothy
Brayton, Caitlyn Ciasullo,
James Ciasullo, John Corsi,
Jacqueline Dieppa, Jason
Fournier, Jacob Freedman,
Annemarie Giroux,
Dustin Kane, Kyle
Lamica, Benjamin Lyons,
Kaitlyn McLaughlin, Jesse
Mondor, Ryan Murphy,
Kasey Perreault, Amy
Richert-Berry, Seth
Southall (NHS), Elisha
Wood
EAST BROOKFIELD:
David Blom, Josh Duquette,
Christine Krikorian,
Victoria
Robbie,
Christopher Varney
LEICESTER: Patrick
Almstrom, Jordan
Barriere, Francis Benoit,
Michelle Borowski,
Matthew Duxbury, Kylle
Higgins, Jeffrey O’ Brien*,
Emily Nourse, Christopher
Rondeau
OXFORD: Lisa Amoroso,
Kevin Anderson, Jill
Berthiaume, Joshua
Bridges, Zachary Cairns,
Corey Caracciolo, Steven
Croteau, Timothy Derie,
James Dufresne, Jr.,
Brittany Gemme, Brittany
Germain, Daniel Guilbault,
Sarah Hann, Shayne
Hurley, Derek Marois,
Joseph Martinelli, Brittany
Matthews, Oceana
Montalvo (NHS), Justin
Mosher, Brittany Mossey,
Catherine Mulvey, Lauren
Openshaw, Jeffrey Proffer,
Jezabel Ramirez,Jason
Raymond, Shaun Schofield,
Anthony Sgariglia, Jr.,
Jessica Slauenwhite, James
Torteson, Julie Toupin,
Kimberly Trimby, Evan
Turner, Cory Vienneau,
Nickolas Zollo
NORTH BROOKFIELD:
Kyle Atchue, Mathew
Boudreau, Scott Campbell,
Glenn Coonan, Evan
Desplaines,
Cody
Thomasian
PAXTON: Nicole Hansen,
Christopher Lulu, Marc
Messier, Edwin Nowak, III
RUTLAND: Leighton
Borowy, Misty Bove,
Jonathan Brown, Kevin
Connors, Deanna Gemme,
Amy Haley (NHS), Matthew
O’Connor, Bryan Ponte,
Joseph Poulin, Christopher
Welch
SOUTHBRIDGE: Douglas
Adams, Allison Alicea,
Brandon Baldyga, Sarah
Birchenough, Justin
Boucher, Phillip Bush,
Daniel Catino, Joshua
Chenevert, Lillian
Clemmey, Daniel Cloutier
(NHS),
Jamie
Cloutier(NHS), Albert
Colon,Jr. Jeramie Cooper,
Darren Dodge, Melissa
Earnest, Cassara Ferschke,
Samantha Fontaine, Ashley
Forcier, Juliana Forcier,
Briana Galli, Kanwon
Garley, Jasmine Gonzalez,
Andrew Gresenz (NHS)
Corey Jacques, Katrina
Johnson, Erica Lamoureux,
Justina Larocque, Sean
Lemire, Shuqing Liang,
Paige Livernois, Nicholas
MacDowell, Eliaab
Maldonado,
Juan
Maldonado, Amanda
Martin*, Jasmin Martinez,
Justin McCullough, Tyler
Melendez, Anthony
Menard, Zachary Morin,
Brendan Murphy, Shawn
Parks, Jacob Piehl, David
Rivera, Geraldo Rodriguez,
Maria Rodriguez, Carol
Santos, Christian Serrano,
Jacquelyn Smith, Taryn
Smith, Kayla St. George,
Elizabeth Surprenant, Brett
Thomo, Daniel Tokarz,
Neal Tremblay, Samantha
White, Kirsten Wilson
SPENCER: Jonathan
Austin, Nicholas Comeau,
Samantha Derosier, Trevor
Dillon, Christopher Dyer,
William Fournier, Gary
Johnson, III, Matthew
Kennen, Amber Landry,
Jeremy Larcheveque,
Shanna Mullens, Margerita
Otano, Cassandra Richards,
Rebecca Seymour, Nicholas
Shute, David Torres
WARREN: William Ritzer
WEST BROOKFIELD:
Marissa Robinson
WEBSTER: Courtney
Beardsley, Bruce Beland,
Matthew Bergeron, Bianka
Bryington, Jason Burt,
Megan Butkiewicus,
Andrew Carrillo, Jodi
Charest, Siobhan Comeau,
Heather Costello, Matthew
Delgado,
Jeffrey
Dowgiewicz, Robert
Engstrand, Erik Guiou,
Sean Harvey, Jr., Benjamin
Howe,
Danielle Jolly, Jason
King, Lindsay Labonte,
Angela Lincoln, Ryan
McGeary, Kenneth Ricard,
Lindsey Savino, Rachel
Snyder, Dennis St. Laurent,
Lean Thammavongsa, Ryan
Turner, Brittany Woodruff
*Posthumous
National Honor Society
Members (NHS)
NEW HOURS
Mon. & Tues. 5 a.m. - 2 p.m. • Wed., Thurs., Fri. 5 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Sat. 5 a.m. - noon (breakfast only) • Sun. 6 a.m. - noon (breakfast only)
Annie’s Country Kitchen
Rt. 131, 140 Main St., Sturbridge
508-347-2320
Congratulations
to all
the area graduates
and a “special”
congratulations to
Emily
graduating from
Pathfinder
Regional Vocational
High School
CONGRATULATIONS
CLASS OF
2008
from all of us at
942 Main St., Southbridge, MA
508-765-9824
Rte. 131, Sturbridge
Congratualtions
to the Class of 2008!
And best wishes
for a bright future
Emily Arnone
REMEMBER TO ORDER
YOUR GRADUATION
PLATTERS
508-347-9228
Fax (508)347-3930
Hours:
Mon-Fri. 7-6 Sat. 7-6 Sun. 8-5