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Pittsfield High Names Speakers, Scholars for 2025

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The senior class at Pittsfield High School has elected Helen Makdisi and Caroline Sherman to speak at graduation this Sunday, June 8, at 4 p.m. The ceremony will be held on the grounds of Tanglewood. 
 
Makdisi and Sherman will represent the voice of this year's senior class, who have worked diligently through their four years.
 
Pittsfield High School recognizes students who have achieved the top 10 cumulative grade-point averages in the senior class. The PHS 2025 Top Ten, in alphabetical order, are Ayla Irene Better, Laura Reagan Bronson, Lisa Chen, Connor Devine, Jack Harvey Farkas, Kyren Alexander Hanson, Olivia Michele Holcomb, Helen Makdisi, Andrea Ofori Safo, and Caroline Elizabeth Sherman.
 
Academic departments also give awards to honor the most outstanding students in their respective disciplines. The following are this year's outstanding students:
 
Art: Kendall Davis
Band: Dominic Ott
Jazz band: Aiden Hyatt
Business: Aiden Ferris
Computer: Oleksii Kotofan
CVTE: Connor Mack
Drama: Isabella Brown
Engineering: Caroline Sherman
English (Edward J. McKenna Award): Lisa Chen
Multilingual: Yahanely Espinal Liriano
Mathematics: Andrew Tullock
Orchestra: Lisa Chen
Physical education: Zoe Ruth-Brizan
Science (John P. Leahy Memorial Award): Joey Roccabruna
Social studies: Emma Goetze
Unified sports: Rosajulia De Jesus
Vocal: Dennis Hermanski
World languages: Aiden Hyatt
 
The Seal of Biliteracy recognizes graduates who speak, read, listen, and write proficiently in another language in addition to English with a seal on their high school diploma. The Seal of Biliteracy movement has the goal of promoting long-term foreign, native, and heritage language study, documenting achievement in biliteracy, and producing a biliterate, multicultural workforce. 
 
Pittsfield High School is proud to be one of the first schools in Berkshire County to recognize our seniors for this achievement. The students who received this distinction are:
 
Spanish: Ayla Better, Samara Chaires, Kenny Davis, Kevin Esquivel, Victoria Monsalve, Dania Villanuevo Portillo
Spanish and Portuguese: Gustavo de Oliviera
Portuguese: Leonardo Kirian
Russian: Oleksii Kotofan
 
This year, Pittsfield High School continues to offer rigorous courses for Pathway graduates. Davis Albayeros has successfully completed a rigorous course schedule in his chosen pathway of performing arts.
 
The AP Seminar and Research Diploma is granted to students who earn scores of three or higher in both AP Seminar and AP Research and four additional AP Exams. 
 
Helen Makdisi successfully completed the diploma in her junior year and Joyce Makdisi and Mia McCluskey completed the AP Seminar and Research Certificate for earning scores of three or better on both exams. This year, multiple candidates for this certificate have pending scores from tests taken in the spring.

Tags: graduation 2025,   PHS,   val & sal,   

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Companion Corner: Fox at Berkshire Humane Society

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There's a sweet and energetic dog at the Berkshire Humane Society waiting for his new family.

iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.

Fox is a 3-year-old Pomeranian who has been at the shelter for about a month.

Canine caregiver and adoption counselor Simone Olivieri told us about Fox. 

"He's a bundle of joy. He would love a family who's home with him a lot, because he's just, he's very social and wants to be with his people a lot. And he would be fun to bring out and about, bring a lot of places, because he's very happy to go anywhere," she said.

When Fox enters the room he is immediately a puffball of energy that goes around and around the room.

He came to the shelter after his former owner could not take care of him anymore. 

"The owner was just not able to care for him anymore. Had he came in with another dog, Wolf, and she already did find her forever home just last week," said Olivieri. "The two of them were left with a friend of the original owner, and the owner did not come back to pick them up, and the friend had too many animals in the house, and too much going on, and she just couldn't continue to look after them, so they did end up coming to us."

Fox can go home with cats and children but is not recommended to go home with other dogs as he gets too excited.

"He would love a home where people are home quite a bit to give him all the attention that he so desires. He loves kids. He absolutely adores children. So he would like a home with kids to play with. He could live with cats. We are saying that he should not live with other dogs. The only reason is that he gets very humpy, and he does not leave the other dogs alone," she said.

With his energy it is recommended he goes to a home that can keep him active whether walks or hikes and even fetch in the yard.

Fox does need to learn more about walking on a leash and has a tendency to mark in the house but he was recently neutered. Olivieri said belly bands will be sent home with whoever adopts him to help prevent marking and managing it.

"He would like an active home. He really does like to go for walks daily. He likes to run around in the yard. He does need a little work on leash walking. He sometimes gets a little tangled still under your feet, and he's learning how to walk on a leash," she said. "So, someone who's got some patience and some time to work on some training with him."

"He also is not fully potty trained, so he does know to go potty outside. However, he will still mark, urinate in the house sometimes, and he might poop here and there in the house."

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