Mount Greylock Graduates Take Memories Into Future
.jpg) School Committee Chairman Robert Ericson handed the diplomas to the students, including one to his daughter Marissa Ericson. |
"The number 11 has represented us for all these years and finally, in this moment, we realize what it stands for. It's not a simple wave goodbye to the building or to each other but a date that signifies our dedication, our leadership and our diversity," Kimberly Houston, the student graduation speaker chosen by the faculty, said. "We are great. But I ask you that you fight until we are greater. After today the number 11 does not define us anymore. We become the class of 2015 or the face of our respective workplaces."
While outside it was raining, family and friends filled the high school gymnasium to celebrate and cheer the student's graduation — snapping plenty of pictures and reliving stories.
Principal Tim Payne said the students left a lasting mark on the school's history starting with the tale of the morning he received a call from a custodian informing him that every piece of furniture in the school — except that in the classroom of the class's adviser Susan Murray — was gone.
"As my uncaffeinated mind processed this information I asked the obvious question 'where did it go?' I arrived at school shortly thereafter and confirmed that yes, the furniture was gone and it was now stacked neatly on the tree line on the back of the property. Students would be arriving soon to the building and there was more than one staff member who asked me the following question, 'what is the plan?'" Payne said. "I promise you that there is no solution for this scenario in the small pamphlet they give you when you become a building principal."
He continued the story by saying he gathered the students in the morning and sent the first-period classes off to collect the furniture and then later punished them by making them clean up the rest of the property. However, the students never complained and took responsibility for their actions, he said.
"Within an hour every desk, chair and table had been returned to the building if not the correct classroom. Students and teachers working together, sharing the responsibilities of cleaning up while enjoying a sunny start to the day," Payne said. "The class of 2011 reinforced a number of lessons for me that day. Expect the unexpected, be flexible, work well with others, be responsible for your actions."
.jpg) The graduate's family and friends filled the gymnasium armed with cameras, flowers and a voice to cheer. |
"It's going to be weird not seeing everybody everyday," Renzi said after the ceremony. "We were only 80 students and everyone was so nice and so close to each other."
Renzi will be attending Berkshire Community College next semester for a liberal arts associate's degree before transferring to a different school so she expects to keep in touch with most of the class. But that does not quell the sadness. Renzi said she would be "lying" if she said she was not nervous for the next step.
Where the classmates go they can always look back on their high school days for inspiration, said class speaker Jude Dircks, who was chosen to speak by the students.
"These years have been learning experiences; allowing us to feel consequences but also successes," Dircks said. "If you find yourself lost, just remember to look back at these years. In these memories, you will find answers, guidelines, warnings and lessons."
Math teacher Patrick Stanton echoed the same sentiment after being presented with the Teacher of the Year Award. Stanton said he did not realize how strong of a foundation the school gave him when he went there.
"Pause every now and then to reflect on Mount Greylock and the start it gave you," Stanton said.
The class will be off on various paths but the students will now share a common past when they all relayed on each other, Dircks said.
"We are a class of individuals representing ourselves as one," Dircks said and listed an array of accomplishments the students achieved. "No matter who you are, you have a place and duty in this class."
For Jeremy Galib his path will take him to Pennsylvania, where he will study physics at the University of Pittsburgh.
"It's good to finally have this all over," Galib said after the ceremony and in between shaking hands with friends and posing for pictures with family and before adding that the school's class gave him a strong foundation. "The fact that we're so small but so competitive. You get a lot of opportunities to do different things."
More photos can be found here.
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