An Evening to Remember

By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT- On Thursday, June 9, 2022, Stevens High School celebrated its 150th graduation ceremony. It also marked the first graduation ceremony to take place within the high school in three years.

“There is a special kind of energy being here in this building, I’m glad we could be here in person,” said Stevens Principal Patricia Barry in an opening statement to the audience.

After Stevens’ staff and faculty were announced and seated, Class Marshalls Ty Theriault and Jesse Foote led the procession of graduates to their seats.

In a patriotic showing, Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Benjamin Courchesne was then brought up with his recruit, CJ Naugler, to lead the gymnasium in the Pledge of Allegiance. Shortly thereafter, graduating senior Kaydence Ward performed the National Anthem.

Principal Barry also took time to honor and show recognition to members of the faculty and staff, something that historically has not been included in graduation proceedings. Included in the staff was School Resource Officer Crystal Simonds for whom Barry made a short speech.

“As SRO at Stevens High School she plays an invaluable and extremely difficult role in working with students in crisis, who are often escalated, scared and angry. On the other hand her role requires she engenders trust and creates a comfort level among these young adults,” said Barry in her speech for Simonds.

Next Barry gave thanks to two educators, Daniel Decker who started teaching at SHS in 1994 and Scott Pope who started teaching at SHS in 1988. With a combined 60-plus years of teaching experience, both will be retiring at the school year’s end.

“They say everyones replaceable but I’d have to say with confidence that these two gentlemen are not. What these two have been able to give us is generations of students that have benefited from their teachings,” Barry said.

A moment of silence was then held for Noah Osgood who passed away on May 16, 2021. He was posthumously awarded his diploma, which was accepted by his mother Jaime Miller and grandmother Janet Osgood.

“Let’s not have a moment of silence for Noah, let’s have joy and happiness, remember his smile, his laughter and his night time street dancing,” said Janet Osgood.

Alyssa Rioux, an English Teacher at SHS was asked by both the Salutatorian and Valedictorian to introduce them both. Rioux gave warmhearted speeches about not only each student’s academic achievements but also celebrated each of their personalities. The first of which was Salutatorian Olivia Churchill followed by Valedictorian Sarah Wood, each gave impassioned speeches to their class.

“We’ve been through a lot, yet each of you seated before me today has persevered in the face of these challenges. So for that you should be proud,” said Churchill during her speech, which focused on the ticking clock of each of their lives.

“One of my conditions for writing a speech was that I wasn’t going to lie. I didn’t want to come up here and talk about how wonderful these past few years were and how we all got along, because that isn’t really true. For many of us this wasn’t a great experience,” began Wood in reference to the difficulty students have faced in the last few years, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I know I spent much of my time here trying to power through assignments without much concern for how I would look back on these years. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. During my time at Stevens I was so focused on overcoming obstacles, meeting deadlines and reaching goals that I forgot to enjoy myself along the way. I lived with the expectation that if I kept powering through with the end goal in sight I would naturally feel a sense of peace and accomplishment at the end. That isn’t true. There is no happy ending waiting for you when you’re done with the bad stuff. The bad stuff never really ends. There will always be new challenges and obstacles waiting for you. There’s not enough time to wait until you overcome them all to let yourself be happy. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, not because the world is a miserable place, but because you have to create it for yourself,” said Wood.

After the speeches, a musical selection of “Over The Rainbow” was performed by clarinet player Matthew Eagan, saxophone player Lilly Besserer and Jayden LaPierre on euphonium. This was followed by Olivia Churchill receiving the Edgar L. Lord Faculty Award. Then, Michael Petrin, School Board Chairman, certified the Declaration of Diplomas.

“It is truly a pleasure to join you tonight. It is my honor to certify to be named individually and called forward at this time have successfully completed the requirements making them eligible for graduation. Congratulations,” said Petrin.

Co-Assistant Principals Christopher Pratt and David Bailey read off the names of students to come up and receive their diplomas. Once each student had been given their diploma the Class Advisors Raymond Curren and Matthew Hammond gave speeches of fond memories of the students they had spent the last four years advising. Barry gave her closing remarks on tradition and transition. Then, finally, the students were allowed to adjust their cap tassels from the right to the left and celebrate, throwing their caps into the air.