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BArT Charter School graduated 31 in its Class of 2018 on Saturday.

Star Power: BArT Graduates Class of 2018

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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Caleb Duffy tells his classmate that they are about to embark on a journey, starting at the bottom of a 'mountain of dreams.' See more photos here. 
ADAMS, Mass. — For years, the members of Berkshire Arts & Technology Public Charter School's Class of 2018 walked into school across a sidewalk emblazoned with the school's ubiquitous star-shaped logo.
 
Before walking out of the school one last time on Saturday morning, the graduates heard just how appropriate that logo really is.
 
"Many other elements are inside of us," the school's Executive Director James White told the graduates at the start of Saturday's commencement. "They're in the food that we eat. They're in the drinks that we have. They're in the air that we breathe.
 
"As the years advanced, I've learned that all … those heavy elements, besides hydrogen and helium and a little bit of lithium, were not made in the big bang. There was only one place where those heavy elements were made. One place. They were created inside the terrifically hot, deep interiors of big stars.
 
"Graduates, billions of years ago, everything that you are now was rolling and cavorting and moving inside a massive star. Billions of years ago, that's where you were. And look at you now."
 
White, an astrophysicist, opened the ceremony with that bit of cosmological history but assured the 31 members of the Class of '18 that the day's main theme is what comes next.
 
"Today, is not a celebration of ending," White said. "It is a celebration of beginning — one where we reflect only a little but stare firmly and confidently into the future."
 
Graduate Caleb Duffy picked up on that theme right away by providing a metaphor for the future that awaits him and his classmates.
 
"We see this as an entrance to the 'real world,' to get a degree, to get a job," Duffy said. "But where we are today is not a 'cliff to adulthood.' Rather, we stand at the bottom of a hill, of a mountain of dreams.
 
"Up that hill, there are sights to see, worlds to experience and journeys to begin.
 
"Today, we start that journey."
 
Principal April West shared a little about her journey, which took her from a small town in northern California to Bennington (Vt.) College when she was the same age as the graduates before her.
 
"My grandma had bought me a plane ticket to get me from California to Albany [N.Y.] for move-in day, but I didn't even know when I set out how I was going to get home after the first term of college ended," West said. "What I did know was that I had big things to do, a mark to make and I was one step closer to beginning that journey."
 
West told the crowd in the school's gymnasium that she had dreams of being either an architect or an actress, "or maybe both." But, as the members of the Class of 2018 are soon to find out, life sometimes takes you in directions you never expected.
 
"I stumbled through the end of my teens and my early 20s rediscovering myself and discovering new truths," she said. "I realized that what was most important to me is people, relationships and what it takes to expand opportunities for youth.
 
"I've come to learn it isn't what you do with your life but how you live it and what questions you ask while you're living it that are most important. Your 'how' will directly affect the 'what' of what you do."
 
Of course, not all of the day's festivities were about the future. In addition to honoring the graduates' accomplishments — including the fact that all of them are moving on to college — the ceremony continued a BArT tradition of letting the graduates honor their teachers. Early on in the festivities, each member of the class presented a single red rose to a member of the faculty who has particularly impacted his or her life.
 
And the faculty member students chose to speak at the ceremony, commencement speaker Nicholas Caccamo, reminded the grads that while today may not be entirely about nostalgia for those moving forward, those who stay behind are entitled to a little nostalgia of their own.
 
Caccamo, a guidance counselor, talked about the way each of the graduates inspired the entire school when he or she brought news of acceptance to college, something that happened 156 times — an average of more than five per student in the Class of '18.
 
"Almost every morning, one of these students walked into the office, bright and early, with big smiles on their faces, saying to whoever was there at the time, 'Guess what? I got in here or there or there or there,' " Caccamo said.
 
"The outward expression of pure joy by our students is why we teachers show up every day. The late nights of planning, grading essays and the difficulties that come with classroom management are all a distant afterthought. It means that we teachers did something right, that our collective commitment to your education resulted in something positive for you."
 
The graduating class of 2018
 
Gerardo Antonio Aguilar Quintero
Mark Vincent Borelli II
Xaida Dahlia Brazeau
Kyle Robert Brooks
Hayley Rianne Caufield
Rena-Marie Simone Clairmont
Morgan Spencer Covert
MaiLee Marie Daignault
Ari Edison Drayman
Caleb Desmond Duffy
Timothy Paul Durocher
Crystal Yvonne Harrington
Casey Madeleine Jackson
Andrew Alan Kerwood
Jordan Renee LeSage
Jacob Robert Mack
Chase Lee MacPherson
Ashlyn Carol Marcil
Trinity Cassandra Peets
Heather Gamelia Perkins
Kimberly Alayne Perkins
Reagan Jenee Phillips
Pamela Lyn Pixley
Amber Therese Pizani
Caelin Laryssa Rod
Emily Isabelle Taylor
Harrison Jack Todd
Jamie Lee Vachula

Tags: BArT,   graduation 2018,   

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Hoosac Valley High School is Moving and Shaking

There have been some major shifts within the Hoosac Valley Regional School District recently, all of which have focused on enhancing the student experience to make it a place where ALL students can find their path.
 
In 2023, Hoosac Valley High School was designated an Innovation Pathway School by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and has since restructured the Program of Studies, utilized creative scheduling, and expanded internship opportunities. Part of this transformation includes participating in a "Portrait of a Graduate" cohort alongside four other Berkshire County schools to determine a collective vision for student success, in partnership with the BARR Foundation.
 
The Innovation Pathways at HVHS are designed to give students coursework and experience in a specific high-demand industry, such as technology, engineering, healthcare, or life sciences. Currently, Biomedical Science & Healthcare and Environmental Studies have received official state IP designation. In addition to the IP designated pathways, HVHS offers programs in Engineering & Technology, Business & Entrepreneurship, Arts & Entertainment, Education, and Sports Medicine. The result is that students have an opportunity for a transformative experience – enabling them to build essential skills, gain awareness of future career opportunities, and make informed choices about post-secondary education in promising fields.
 
Principal Colleen Byrd notes, "What makes our program special is that entry into the Pathway of your choice allows a student to access Advanced Placement and dual enrollment college courses, as well as internships in the community to set them up for success after high school."
 
The Portrait of a Graduate initiative consists of a team of Hoosac educators and students who exemplify the essential skills, practices, and beliefs that define learning experiences across the district. They work to outline the competencies, values, skills, and knowledge that define our vision for student success – keeping in mind that not every student's pathway will look the same. The District's goal is to ensure that all students graduate as responsible people, prepared individuals, lifelong learners, global citizens, critical thinkers, and thoughtful communicators.
 
Another recent change district-wide in grades K-12 is the "Crew" culture. Teachers and students now have time each day to create positive connections and build authentic relationships with one another. Through Responsive Classroom at the elementary school and Crew at the middle and high schools, students and staff gather for 30 minutes each day to engage in meaningful experiences rooted in mutual and shared interests. 
The Crew block is a prioritized structure that allows staff to support all students socially, emotionally, and academically – anchoring them and promoting the Portrait of a Graduate competencies. Crew takes many forms at the high school, such as gardening, bird watching, yoga, and sports talk with visits to college games.
 
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