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FILE PHOTO | SPENSER HASAK
Lynnfield has been named as a Tree City USA community by the Arbor Day Foundation, marking
more than 10 years of this special designation for the town.
From town to Tree City USA
TREE CITY
From page 1
Michael Garabedian
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This year, the high school’s
new Environmental Awareness
Club celebrated Arbor Day
by planting 16 new trees near
the entrance to the teachers’
parking lot. Approximately 20
members of the club rolled up
their sleeves and successfully
completed the project, which
club members say is only the
first of many the club plans to
undertake.
Club leaders Georgia Milne
and Jordan Lavey said the
project has been in the making
for nearly a year.
“I just got fed up with people
not doing anything, there’s been
too much talk and not enough
action,” said Lavey, who plans
to major in environmental science
at Virginia Tech. “Georgia
and I came up with this idea
last August. We had to take action
and thought this would be
a really nice way to help the
community, to make a tangible
difference.”
“It feels great that this is all
coming together and people are
just as excited as we are,” said
Milne, who plans to study politics
at St. Anselm College this
fall. “We are just trying to be
kind to the planet and use our
voices and actions for kindness.
The greatest thing you can do is
plant trees.”
Club Advisor and Science
Department Chair Scott Gordon
said the club will continue to
plant more trees at the high
school, citing the many benefits
that come from trees.
“The students realized that
a very large amount of trees
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 781-593-7700 JUNE 9, 2022
have been removed on campus
and around the campus over
the last decade,” he said. “They
didn’t talk about planting trees;
they did it. We will benefit
from these trees for teaching
purposes, their positive effect
on local ecology and the sheer
beauty they provide for students
and staff who may want
to spend a few minutes of mindfulness
sitting among them.”
The Arbor Day Foundation
says that other benefits associated
with trees include increased
property values from as
low as seven percent to a high
of 20 percent. Trees also positively
affect the local ecosystem
by helping to clean water and
create animal habitats to encourage
biodiversity.
More information on the Tree
City USA program is available
at arborday.org/TreeCityUSA.
Sales: 978 396 6090
Direct: 844 720 9034
mgarabedian@northreadingsubaru.com
GRADUATION
From page 1
“I wish I listened when
people told me high school
would fly by,” she said. “I never
believed them until now. That
distant dream of graduation has
become a reality.”
“Today we close a chapter of
our lives, one full of memories
and experiences we will cherish
forever. Yet, this is the beginning
of the rest of our lives,”
Grava told her classmates.
Grava also spoke of the ways
in which the COVID-19 pandemic
disrupted her class’s four
years at Lynnfield High, their
sophomore year suddenly interrupted
and their junior year
defined by masks and remote
learning.
“No matter what we were
faced with in high school we always
persevered and made the
best of our time … our experiences
brought us together and
we had to deal with so much
more than we could’ve imagined,”
she said.
“Now that we’re back in
school and everything is back
to normal, we learn to appreciate
what we have and never
take anything for granted. …
Through the years we became
role models for the school,
leading by example because of
what we’ve been through.”
The school’s principal, Robert
Cleary, encouraged graduates
to use their experience navigating
not just a pandemic but
also the death of a classmate,
Patrick Gary Moroney, who
died suddenly before the start
of the 2021-22 school year, to
remember that time will always
move forward.
“They have learned a valuable
lesson of perseverance.
They have also learned that
time moves on, time really
doesn’t care about pandemics
or masks … or remote learning.
Time just keeps winding on and
you can either watch it go by or
jump in and get to work,” he
said.
“Well, this class chose to
jump in and get to work. And
through it all, they have persevered
and they have been successful.
And because of that, I
am confident they will continue
to be successful in whatever
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they choose to do in the future.”
Cleary’s remarks were followed
by Class Valedictorian
Lauren Lim and Senior Class
President Caitlin McCormack.
Lim began her speech with an
unattributed quote — “I raised
my everlasting glory on the
palms of my hands” — and she
encouraged the rest of her class
to do so.
“Write your everlasting
words, whatever they may be,
read the ones you already wrote
and keep going. Write everlasting
words … that care for
the ones who have been discarded
for so long,” she told her
classmates.
“Write something everlasting.
I want to read the palms
of my hands and see that the
etchings of my life have created
a beautiful piece of art. Pieces
of art that I show to the world
on concrete slabs, not to reach
fame or renown but because I
am proud of it.”
In her remarks, McCormack
told her classmates to remember
the highlights of their
time together — pep rallies,
concerts, proms, and at Friday
evening’s commencement —
and to not let the negative experiences
define their four years at
Lynnfield High.
“With a time defined by uncertainty
and loss, it is easy to
get caught up with a negative
attitude towards this period in
our lives, but it is up to us to
change the narrative, and walk
away from this time embracing
its best moments,” she said.
“As we move forward, always
remember this place that we
have come from, the kindness
we showed it, and the kindness
it has shown us.”
Just before graduates received
their diplomas, Superintendent
of Schools Kristen Vogel offered
three wishes for the class.
“I wish that you believe in
yourselves. Celebrate what
makes you unique and special,
learn from and embrace the differences
you have from others,”
Vogel told the graduates. “I
wish that you all find joy, peace,
and a sense of belonging wherever
you go. I wish you knowledge
and wisdom to guide you.”
Vogel’s final wish for the
graduates was that they strive to
make a difference in the world.
“Together I wish that all the
world has to offer. I wish that
you, as you go out into the
world, that you think of the
greater common good instead
of individual gratification.”
Then, finally, the graduates
took their place in line
and walked across the stage
to claim their diplomas. When
Moroney’s name was called, a
faculty member accepted the
diploma on his behalf, and one
student stood up from his seat
holding a picture of Moroney
and crossed himself before
pointing at the sky and sitting
back down, in what was the
only somber moment in an otherwise
joyous celebration.