Waterford grads look back a final time before facing future
Waterford - In her farewell address at the 51st Waterford High School commencement Thursday, valedictorian Hannah Schenk took stock of key events in the Class of 2010's final year at the school.
Schenk recalled the achievements of the soccer, baseball and softball teams as well as her class's victories during Spirit Week.
She remembered the spring floods, the school's "rain day" and the charity work the class did for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.
But most of all, Schenk pointed out the changes her 219 classmates, clad in blue academic regalia for the ceremony, went through in the past year, and how they are now looking toward the future.
"I have faith in all of us," Shenck said. "The future will be good."
Scheck implored her classmates to never lose their "unique idealism" and "quality of optimism."
In his remarks, class salutatorian Joseph Steady thanked "the teachers and coaches who defined the types of individuals we've become."
"I know it's a cliché," Steady said. "But today is the first day of the rest of our lives."
The commencement, held at a packed Alumni Field, was the final ceremony for outgoing Superintendent Randall Collins, who is retiring on June 30.
After listing the superintendent's professional accolades, class President Nina Sullivan introduced him as the man who called the snow days.
"When you go down the road," Collins told the students, "the important things you'll do, you'll do for your fellow man."
Sullivan also asked for a moment of silence for classmate Scott Goldman, who died in July 2008.
"If there is one word to describe Scotty, it would be 'kind,'" Sullivan said.
Before the ceremony, the class gathered in the gymnasium one last time before proceeding onto the football gridiron.
Students hugged each other and snapped photos.
Taylor Zaldivar, 18, who's headed to Mitchell College in the fall, remarked that graduation is the final time he'll be seeing some of his classmates.
And at the end of the line of female graduates, Qiaomei Zhang, alphabetically the last graduate of the Class of 2010, reflected on the time she's spent with some of her fellow students.
"They've been with me for 12 years," Zhang said. "And now it's graduation."
s.chupaska@theday.com
THE GRADUATES
Bianca Rene Abreu, Reece L. Adamson, Michael Joseph Albaine, Katherine Ann Angelopoulos, Alexander D. Anisimov, Kurt Thomas Balinski, Amanda Sophia Ballassi, Rockwell A. Barrett, Zoe Elizabeth Basso, Shane R. Battista, Thomas John Bernhard, Audriana Marie Black, Sarah L. Bodnar, Jacob Ryan Bolling, Ryan N. Bramlett, Patrick Keith-Eugene Brayne, Mattie Ellen Brett, Zachary N. Bridgham, Sara Lotte Brother, Taylor Elizabeth Brouwer, Taylor Kristan Brown, Zachary Scott Bushwack, Ashley Marie Cabral, Rachael Elizabeth Capozza, Joshua Henry Carson, Alyssa Katherine Castagna, Jeffrey Francis Champlain, Jonathan Robert Champlain, Christopher Nicholas Chappell, Amber Marie Coburn, Jonathan Clifford Conderino, Abigail Rebecca Corrado, Bronson Lee Coscia, Paige Katherine Crump, Christine Marie Cunningham, Vincent F. Dacimo, Nileen Dagata, Albert Dahl, Stirling Richard Danskin, Chelsea Deedy Dazzi, Jesse Daniel Dean, Taylor Antonina Deedy, Mackenzy Zane Deer, Zachary Mason Deer, Angela Carmen Grillo DeJong, John James DeMarco, Caroline Margaret Dempsey, Marcus Kenneth Dipollina, Sydney Rose Donovan, Connor Quincy Doucette, MacKenzie Kathleen Driscoll, Patrick Kelly Dulin, Krista Elizabeth Duranti, Tyler James Dyer, Amber Jane Dzurenka, Madeline Elias, Zachary Thomas Elliott, Ryan Zachary Elphick, Peter M. Eshenfelder, Kyle Patrick Estey, Phillip Aleksandr Estrin, Terence James Farina, Jason Patrick Farnum, Marielle Elaine Fernando, Maegan Lee Ferreira, Megan Elizabeth Foster, Alberta C. Fountain, Bailey Marie Frankewicz, Katelyn Claire Gale, Michael Scott Gallie, Meghan Gallivan, Nicholas P. Genung, Samuel Gleit, Jason Goddu, Jacob Alexander Goldstein, Dré A. Goode, Geoffrey Jay Gould, Lauren Christine Goulet, Corey James Gran, Rachel A. Gregoire, Alexander R. Gregory, Michael Andrew Gross, Andrew D. Guay, Amanda Lynne Hamilton, Morgan Elizabeth Harran, Jermaine Harris, Carolina Hernandez, Javier M. Hernández, Ryan M. Hesney, Heather M. Hodges, Chrystina Jami Holloman, Jennifer Anne Holmes, Alisha Howe, Sarah Diana Huang, Chester Eugene Humbert II, Katie Hunter, Ahmed Iqbal, Michael Alan Jones, Lorna R. Kaiser, Anna Kaminski, Andisa Karanxha, Helen Jean Keipp, Sara James Kelly, Caitlin Michaela Kennedy, Lindsay Beth Kenyon, Solinda Keth, Sotana Keth, Jenna Rose Krepcio, Rachael Elizabeth Kuhn, Corey Scott LaLima, Gavin Jeffrey LaLima, Timothy Lalonde, Jason Quinn Lance, Phillip A. Landry, Amanda G. Larder, Joan Rebecca Laureano, Joshua Evans Law, Gillian L. LeBeau, Timothy Leonard, Emily Nicole Levanti, Sarah Gwyn Levine, Brittany Mae Liebenthal, Christine Elizabeth Lillis, Ryan Matthew Lincoln, Brittany Ann Littlefield, Cy James Logan, Alexa Rae Long, Stephen Anthony Losty, Chelsey Kristin Macrino, Margaret Ann Malia, Usman Manzoor, Landon Joseph Marino, William Scott Martin, Colin Nicholas McBrearty, Kiera McCarthy, Tyler Joseph McDonald, Joseph Edmund McEvily, Zachary J. McKay, Alana B. Meardy, Anzia Laren Mendez-Neff, Gabriel Isaac Meshekow, William J. Metzermacher, Chloe Marie Meucci, John Thomas Millaras, Thomas F. Miner, John Claude Mirabito, Jennifer Anne Mitteness, Kasey Erin Mortimer, Trevor C. Murallo, Marina Ruth Besier Nuttall, Colin King O'Keefe, Evelyn Mary O'Regan, Kylea Sage Paradis, Marikka I. Perkins, Zachary Robert Perkins, Samantha Lee Perry-Cushing, Anusha Lakshmi Perumalla, Lucia Pezzello, Jeffrey Wallace Piascik, Justin M. Picard, Justine Lori Podurgiel, Loryn Noel Princevalle, Jean Melanie Pullman, Emily Y. Qian, Stephanie A. Ray, Spencer McGregor Roby, Corey Luis Rocha, Christine S. Rochester, Hudson M. Rollinson, Luis Diaz Rosa, Taylor D. Rose, Solomon Lee Ross, Shannon L. Rossi, Catherine Marie Rucci, Travis Jason Sage, Zachary P. Sanders, Marc Anthony Christopher Scalia, Dante Salvio Scarano, Hannah Lynne Schenk, Taylor Michelle Shannon, Tyler Shefer, Maxwell P. Shellman, Maya Devana Sheppard, Andrew Patrick Simon, Nicole G. Skinner, Lindsey Taylor Slater, Alexa Marie Slattery, David Sandor Smith, Rachel Carmella Smithson, Joseph Evan Spera, Joseph H. Steady, Joseph Stoy, Nina Marie Sullivan, James Christopher Summers, Brittany Anne Sutera, Joshua Brandon Tewksbury, Ryan C Theis, Nicole Thurlow, Joshua Allen Todd, Alexander Edward Tuneski, Beth Victoria Turley, Stephanie L. Turowski, Conrado Macapabal Valido, Jr., Taylor Ryan Vallas, Rosemary Theresa Venditti, Chelsea Marie Verity, Adam J. Virga, Jessica Sara Walter, Nicole Renee West, Brennan R. White, Schuylar C. Whiting, Luke James Wiggins, Stephen Alexander Wilcox, Elizabeth Claire Wilensky, Tomasin Williams, Derek Thomas Edward Wiseman, Victoria Miriam Wiseman, Daniel P. Wood, Taylor David Zaldivar, Julia Paige Zeppieri, Qiaomei Zhang.
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