Graduate: A lot has changed in Newport in last century

By ARCHIE MOUNTAIN
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NEWPORT — The threat of rain held off Wednesday evening and 64 members of the Class of 2018 received their diplomas on the Newport Common gazebo with several hundred spectators viewing the ceremony.

The featured speakers were the top three scholastic students in the class and this year they were all female, something that didn’t go unnoticed by Class Essayist Molly DiPadova.

In her presentation DiPadova went back into Newport’s history and reported conditions that exited when the Class of 1918 graduated from high school, according to information in the Newport Town Report.

“One of the primary concerns in the school system in 1918 was making sure girls learned the skills of cooking and sewing early in life in case they dropped out of school,” she related.

“The report said these were critical things for all girls to learn. If I had been forced to cook and sew throughout school I would probably have dropped out,” she continued.

DiPadova’s next statement brought a rousing cheer from the audience. “It is also interesting despite the fact that there were only 10 graduating seniors in Newport’s 1918 class, all of the top three were male. A century later, the top three are female.”

The ceremony started promptly at 6 p.m. with the welcome provided by class president Olivia Rasmussen.

“Congratulations, this is an incredible day, this is your day,” she told her classmates. “Take time to appreciate the tight-knit community that surrounds you and never fails to show its support and love.

“I hope you now realize the endless thank you’s we could give out tonight, for none of us would be here today without the loved ones in the audience, so use this day to remind yourself of these people and thank them.”

Salutatorian Anna Caccavaro, heading to the University of the Arts, talked about the team effort she has been part of at Newport High School.

“Maybe I do belong to a team, we all do,” she emphasized. “Take ownership of your actions. Newport has provided more players on our court,” she said.

Caccavaro praised the teachers at NHS. “The whole team has always been here for us. They are the ones who make up our team. Above all we are all team membrs. We made some good and bad choices but we stood by each other,” she continued.

Valedictorian Anna Pysz who will be heading off to the University of New Hampshire, had plenty of advice for the underclassmen and also her fellow members in the Class of 2018.

“Live in the moment. They aren’t kidding when they say high school goes by fast. The past three years I’ve been in the band playing the same tune I’m now marching to and wondering where has the time gone? Savor it. These memories will last you a lifetime.

For her classmates, Pysz suggested they don’t forget to send mom and dad a text every now and then. “Just like we are nervous about being on our own, they are too. So give them an update every now and then.”

Pysz also said there is no need to have everything figured out right now. And those of us that look like we do are faking it.

The program opened with the singing of the National Anthem by Mia Caccavaro, Kirsten Hurd and Jenna Maheu. The class poem was read by David Stark.

At the end of the evening diplomas were presented by Linda Wadensten, school board chairman; Cindy Gallagher, superintendent of schools; Shannon Martin, high school principal, and Kayleigh Durkin, senior class advisor. The Confirmation of Graduation was announced by Gallagher.