MGRHS graduation: fond memories, blunt recollections
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Mount Greylock Regional High School graduated 114 seniors on Sunday in ceremonies that combined fond memories and blunt recollections with the traditional awards and celebrations.
Student speakers told classmates to face life's challenges with confidence and determination, and, to persevere when faced with life's inevitable unfairness.
The ceremonies, the school's 42nd graduation exercises, were a festival of red and white,the school colors. The graduating seniors wore red and white gowns - young men wore red, young women wore white, and the class marched onto the John T. Allen athletic field through a gigantic arch of red and white balloons.
The school's surroundings — the velvety green hills of the Taconic Range — formed a spectacular backdrop for the annual commencement. The overcast sky gave protection from the sun and, perhaps as a sign of favor, did not rain on the participants and their assembled family and friends.
This class is slightly larger than last year's 108, but about average for the past few years, according to the school guidance office.
Kathryn Anne Smeglin, the speaker selected by the faculty, turned her "Fear of Spiders" into an appeal to classmates to face the future with confidence.
"None of us can say that we are not afraid of anything in our futures," said Smeglin. "A few days ago, even as I gathered up my dog to take him outside in payment for my brother's heroism [in removing a spider from her room], I shuddered and said I hoped there were not any spiders outside. My brother laughed and said, 'Well, outside is a pretty big place.' So I laughed, too, because I know no matter where I go there will be spiders to face. I, however, also know that like my classmates, I have the confidence to face them and the determination to beat them."
Smeglin recalled a successful encounter with a spider at the rear of the school auditorium when she willed it to leave, and it did.
"Small victories like this have characterized my time at Mount Greylock. Things like being able to walk down the hallway without tensing up as upperclassmen passed me. Being able to win a Western Massachusetts even after being scared off the track team my first year by an intimidating teammate. Being able to assert my beliefs in a public debate despite an opposing audience. More than any academic course, I remember these little triumphs that one by one have turned an uncertain 12-year-old girl into a confident, mature young woman."
Class speaker Andrew Joseph McKeever urged classmates to live for the moment and to persevere. In a talk remarkable for its forthrightness, McKeever said, "... to say my time in high school was the best experience of my life would be a lie. Some students got treated better than others. Some students got all the breaks. But that's life. Life is unfair. Mount Greylock has done its part in preparing us for the future. We know we will lose friends, it has already happened. We know we will be looked down upon by others, we already have been. We know unfairness is out there, we've experienced it. When we move on to college or a job, we know that we will have to struggle. Life is no easy ride, and it doesn't matter who you are."
"We have made this school, this field, and these people, our home and our family for the past six years. Those years are gone now, we cannot get them back. I don't want them back anyway," McKeever said. "In the last six years, I have learned many lessons. Not only have I learned biology, geometry and history, but I have learned that life can be cruel, and life can be unfair. The only way to get by in this world is to set goals, reach them, then set new goals and never, ever, give up."
Class President Johanna Larson thanked teachers, administrators, staff, coaches, family and friends for their support during the class's high school years. Spanish teacher Susannah Murray was honored as their teacher of the year, and in her response, noted that she had supervised all class activities except the meeting at which they chose teacher of the year. She and guidance counselor P.J. Pannesco were ceremonial marshals for the class.
The Class of 2003 gave two gifts to the school, a propane grill to use for outdoor events, and a scholarship to be given annually to a graduating senior. Students, while all wearing the regulation caps and gowns, adapted them, and used accessories and personal adornment to express their individual tastes.
One turned up all four corners of his mortarboard hat, one wore a lei, and one wore trousers in a flamboyant African print. Several wore flip-flops on their feet, and one goatee'd graduate went barefoot. Superintendent Mark Piechota urged graduates to question authority and to maintain skepticism.
"Ask 'says who?'" said Piechota. "Question authority, question politicians' claims, question the media."
He urged them to maintain the habits of citizenship, to keep informed on local, state and national issues, to ask themselves 'Where do I stand?' and to vote. He urged them to engage others with tolerance and respect for their differences and contributions, and to be courageous, to ask "is that fair?" and to speak out against injustices toward themselves and others.
School Committee member Thomas McHugh presented diplomas to the graduates. Piechota presented several awards at Sunday's graduation. They were: The Faculty Association Award for Academic Excellence, Emily Hogeland; English award, Tessa Marie Kelly; History award and the Alfred J. Leonardi Prize in mathematics, Christopher James Parkinson; John D. Gill Jr. Science Award, Emily Hogeland; Class of 1950 Foreign Language prize, Audrey S. Langlois; Elizabeth S. Piper Memorial Latin Award, Chloe Puanani Paisley; Clara Well Alpert Memorial Art Award, Mary Katherine Lynch; music award, Sarah Elizabeth Heslip and Chloe Puanani Paisley; business technology award, Michela Preite; technology award, Francis Victor Derby; health and physical education, Christine Mary Aherne and Jeremy Andrew Casey; and the John B. Clark Scholars' Awards for four-year academic records, Chloe Puanani Paisley, Nathan Herr, Emily Hogeland, Tessa Kelly and Kathryn Smeglin.
