'Wherever Life Takes You, You Are a Montville Indian'

The clouds hang low over Montville High School Friday as graduating seniors gather, black gowns stirring in the humid breeze.

The ceremony has moved inside, and families and friends and seniors are gathering, excited and nervous, happy and sad.

Josh Barrie seems to have no mixed feelings. He’s graduating, and he’s happy about it.

Today, he’s not sure what he’s going to do, though it’s not going to be college, he says. He might want to be a diesel mechanic. He might want to be a crane operator.

He wants to be a graduate.

Nathan Franklin has some ideas about his future. A member of the Norwich Assembly of God, Franklin wants to be a preacher. He's heading to Zion Bible College in Haverhill, MA.

Nick Connors and Brandon LaPierre arrive, pulling their gowns on.

Connors is on his way to Eastern Connecticut State; LaPierre, to Three Rivers. Connors hopes to study movie production; LaPierre, computer science.

LaPierre says he feels good, and a big smile crosses his face.

“It’s refreshing,” Connors says.

Inside the school, it’s madness. The graduation was scheduled for outdoors, but the weather brought it indoors. Students are milling around. Teachers are milling around. Families are milling around. Little kids are crying. A loose sort of line has formed to get into the auditorium, but the doors remain closed. The noise level rises. The excitement rises. More people pack into the school.

Chris Zyrlis has been teaching business classes at Montville High School for four years. He is monitoring one of the doors to the auditorium, making sure people don’t sneak in early.

“It’s very exciting,” he says, about the graduation. “It’s more exciting every year.” He says that getting to know the students, and watching them learn and grow and achieve makes graduation more and more special.

Zyrilis says he’d advise the grads to take a little time before jumping into the rest of their lives. He earned his associate degree right after high school, then took 10 years to figure out what he wanted.

Going into teaching, he says, “is the best decision I ever made.”

Inside the auditorium, Richard and Dawn Sweet carry bouquets large and small for their daughter Ashley. “We are so proud of her accomplishments,” Dawn says.

When they look back at high school, they will think of all the joy she had with her friends, Dawn says, and all they joy they created.

Tiffany and Bruce Williams are waiting to see their son, Devin, graduate. Tiffany says they’re proud of Devin. “He did a really good job,” she says.

When Bruce thinks back, it’s not high school that comes to mind, but on this afternoon, he finds himself thinking of a time when Devin threw his lunchbox up on the school roof.

“It was the only trouble he ever got into,” Tiffany says.

Kayley Green and Kayla Brown (yes, really) are best friends. They’re both going to Three Rivers.

Today, when they look back on high school, they’re thinking about all their friends, all the fun memories, Kayley says, and “all the crappy grades and good grades… the smiles and the cries…”

The graduating seniors are told to gather in the cafeteria, to get ready. The room is loud with talking and laughter and nerves.

Jackie Jaskiewicz, the great-niece of Mayor Joe Jaskiewicz, smiles broadly. She is going to George Mason University, to major in law and society and minor in Spanish.

“I think back to all my friends,” she says, “and all the hard classes I took – and making it through them.”

And then, the ceremony takes shape. The graduating seniors are herded into folding chairs in the cafeteria. The teachers, administrators and politicians who are participating in the ceremony are lined up at the door. The students are given their final instructions.

And then they are standing, and lining up, and walking into the auditorium for the very last time.

Ashley Sgandurra, president of the Class of 2011, is the first to speak. Her voice carries, small but strong, through the auditorium, as she speaks of what the Class of 2011 has achieved. She talks about the soccer teak, the track team, the football team, the baseball team, and their remarkable victories. She talks about Tashi Lhamo and the Gates Foundation scholarship she has received.

“These are only a few of the accolades,” Sgandurra says. Achievements like these come from talent, hard work, determination and perseverance.

She asks the graduating seniors to close their eyes, and think about the challenges they’ve met, the distances they’ve covered, the consequences they’ve seen.

She asks them to think about their parents, and how they guided and pushed and led them.

She asks them, then, to think of this moment and all that it means, all that it is.

“We are here because we have earned it,” she says.

Sgandurra’s grandfather always told her to stand up against what was wrong, she says, and challenge herself to be a better person.

She challenges her classmates to do the same, to “be the ones who stand up and make a difference.”

Melissa Smith, the salutatorian, talks about Daniel Ruettiger, Rudy, who ignored everyone who told him he was too small to play football, and ended up on the Notre Dame team, in spite of all the naysayers.

His passion for football motivated him to excel in all areas of his life, Smith says. While the delight of tangible things might be sweet, the pleasure in a new pair of shoes – no matter how cute they are – is transient, she says. The sort of passion that Rudy had, a love for learning and for achieving, she says, should allow all the graduating seniors to enjoy their lifelong pursuits.

“Now, with high school behind you, this is your chance to find what will motivate you to excel,” she says. “The future is ours.”

Valedictorian Chelsea McDermott rises next, and, as Smith and Sgandurra have, thanks the teachers and staff of Montville High School, and thanks her family, and all the families.

Her voice breaks a little as she remembers how her mom and aunts followed her on her first day of school, and hid in the bushes to watch her.

She talks about responsibility, and how you are the only one who is responsible for your own life.

“You are the only one who can mold your future,” she says.

“I am proud to say I am a Montville High graduate from the class of 2011.”

Principal Chad Ellis is next, and he walks up on the stage, turning his back on the audience and addressing the graduating seniors.

“Each of you stands at an exciting time,” he says. “My one hope four you is that you will find the courage to embrace your future.”

He recalls a mentor who once told him that “There is dignity in risk.” The thought has stayed with him, he says.

“Speak your mind,” he tells the graduates. “Stand up for what’s right.”

Kristen Varjas is the keynote speaker. A graduate of the class of 1987, Varjas is an associate professor at Georgia State University, with a doctorate of psychology. She  says she can barely believe that she is old enough to be speaking at graduation.

“It was here that I found the courage” to go to school on the west coast, and to travel the world, she says.

It was here that she first participated in sports, and grew to understand and appreciate the value of education. It was here that she learned that knowledge was power.

“Today,” she tells the graduates,  “marks the glorious end to one chapter and the beginning of another. …

“Walk proud, be an example,” she says, and remember that

“Wherever life take you, you are a Montville Indian.”

                     CANDIDATES FOR GRADUATION

Kenneth Mark Adair

Michael Thomas Angelus

Gisselleivy Morones Aragones

Danielle Marie Autencio$

Harold Dillon Babcock

Tyler Stephen Babington

Joshua Michael Barrie

Sonja Baulecke

Brian Austin Belair

Christopher Cody Bellefleur

Richard Omar Bergman

Cody Evan Bigelow

Bianca Asia Briggs

Elijah Maleek Brown

Kayla Yenei Brown

Alexis Danielle Buck*

Catherine Jeanne Chapman

Andy Chery

Kyle Allen Choate

Allie Elizabeth Clark+

Dyllan Francis Clark

Christian Thomas Joseph Colella

Matthew James Collin

Nicholas James Connors

Tyler Daniel Contillo

Brian Joseph Courville

Gloria Anne Creamer

Donte’ Darion Dantzler

Ninoshka DeJesus-Rivera

Travis Andrew Deskus

Catherine Marie Dion+$

Darnell Jermaine Dixon

Sarah Rose Dodson*+

Cassaundra Emyle Dole

Hannah Marie Domahowski

Courtney Marie Duff$

Cristina Maria Eberhart+

James Leon Emming

Andrew Orson Evans

Tyler Gather Evrett

Tiffany Ann Favro

Megan Dorothy Fitzgerald

Nathan Andrew Franklin

Kevin Alexander Fratoni+$

Louis Erhardt Gaedt, II

Kelsey Lynn Gallup

Jamie Lee Ganley

Stephanie Ellen Gauthier*$

Samantha Phebe Gervais$

Alicia Catherine Gilbride

Michael Gillespie

Tyler Jordan Girard-Floyd

Amanda Catherine Gladue

Angela Grasso

Richard Enis Gray, III

Kayley Krystal Green$

Arjoemel Andrada Gutierrez

Alfonso Guzman

Zachary Nathaniel Hall

Sean Michael Hanrahan+

Sundrene Marie Heller

Morgan Ann Hillhouse

John Derek Hills

Gerald Sherman Hood, Jr.

Cody William Horton

Clifton Jack Garrett Iler*+$

Emily Corinne Impellitteri+$

Antoinette Patricia-Marie Irvin

Heather Lynn Japp

Jacqueline Susanne Jaskiewicz$

Ryan Nicholas Jennings

Emily Elizabeth Johnson$

Robert Lee Johnson, Jr.$

Zachary Daniel Johnson

Stephanie Catherine Jones

Amanda Katherine Joyce

Sean Patrick Kelley$

Christopher Mark Kiczuk

Kevin Anthony Kneeland

Matthew Ryan Kobelski

Gabriella Gail Koeppe

Nicholas George Kollias

Peter Wei Lam$

Brandon Christopher LaPierre

Garrett Joshua Lee

Tyler Robert Leeman

Jacquelyn Elizabeth Lenhart

Nicholas Leroux

Tashi Lhamo*+

Tsering Lhamo

Shing Yan Li$

Chelsea Ann Lorraine*+

Wah Ming Luong+$

Arti Maher

Zaria Lee Margolis

Julian Michael Markovitz

Josh Michael Mattia

Colby Erin McAdams

Joseph Edward McDaniel$

Chelsea Meaghan McDermott*+

Thomas Elis-Poe McGarry

Brian Thomas McMahon

Sean Patrick McMahon

Skyler James McNair

Ellen Elizabeth McNamara*+

Ian Andrew McNatt

Chelsea Nicole McQuown$

Amber Maria Mercado

Andrea Nicole Mertz

Steven Alexander Michel

Bennett John Middel$

Lacy Nicole Miles

Jonathan Robert Mowan

Timothy William Nott$

Troy William Nunes

Brian Charles Oettinger

Ileishka Angelie Ortiz

Wenjing Ou$

John Charles Pedone

Courtney Nicole Pedro

Emilee Nicole Penman

Elizabeth Marie Petrosus+$

James Joseph Philopena, Jr.

Megan Leigh Podeszwa

Austin Alexander Politowicz

Michael William Preble

Jonathan Nidal Reyyashi

Brianna Lee Rice

Tyler Douglas Richards

William Lawrence Rickards

Eric Ryan Riley

Brett William Robinson

Jasmin Rodriguez

Jeremy Michael Rosen

Michaela Marie Sampson

Alexis Maria Sanchez$

Daniel Santos, Jr.

Chelsea Ann Savignac

Alec Jacob Scarpa

Zachary Joseph Scovish

Karissa Lee Sease

Jessica Emily Semmelrock

Ashley Alyce Sgandurra*+$

Kristy Lynne Shaughnessy

Joshua Mitchell Shedd

Kayla Christine Simon

Rachael Elizabeth Skinner*$

Chelsea Elizabeth Smedberg

Melissa Ann Smith+

Merlin Wayne Sohl

Sarah Ann Stankiewicz

Johnathan Christopher Stapienski

Courtney Ann Stefano

Jacob Christopher Stevens

Kevin Michael Stoodt$

Jamie Michael Sullivan

Ashley Marie Sweet

Ryann Wyatt Tagle$

Phillip Kenneth Taylor

Caleb Matthew Terry

Patrick Quinlan Therieau

Jillian Lynn Thomas

Thomas Samuel Todd*+$

Matthew Lee Torres$

Matthew Marra Troillet

Ciara Anne Utz

Jordan Nicole Varley

Jorge Luis Verde

Marco Antonio Verde

Cindy Lynn Walden

Nathan Patrick Wasilko

Jeffrey Dana White

Alina Renee Williams

Devin Bruce Williams

Caitlin Elizabeth Winkler$

Virginia Marie Witherspoon

Kellie Ruth Wong

Dayvon Michael Wynn

Casey Edward Zalagens

Adult Education

Michael Steven Bernier

Andrew R. Bohlmann

Katelyn Marie Cullen

Lauren Marie Droesch

Brenna Ashley Edwards$

Jonathon Michael Flatley

Angela M. Hary

Mark A. Ingves

Kelsey C. MacCracken

Michaela Alexis McLaughlin

Jossian Olmo

Derek Christopher Patton

Elaina Morgan Pierce

Heather N. Price

Cody James Schlais

Audra Marie Tefft

Michael J. Torres

Rebecca L. Westerberg

Academic Distinction

*National Honor Society

+CAPT Scholar

$ Recipients of Isaac Emerson

   Palmer  Scholarships