Williams School Graduates 49

Eschewing caps and robes in favor of suits, white dresses, and corsages, 49 seniors at the began the next stage of their lives with a graduation ceremony on Wednesday afternoon.

The main speaker was Bill Furgueson, a history teacher at the private high school. Fugueson said he considered several possible angles for his speech, such as respect for parents and adults and his own boarding school experience. He said that one possibility, given his love for history and fishing, was the tale of how Calvin Coolidge spent three months of his presidency fishing in South Dakota. Furgueson joked that he didn’t want to impart the lesson that hard work would allow the students to “shirk your duty and spend three months on vacation.”

Furgueson said Coolidge did have a role in dedicating the Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, and said that in speaking with another faculty member he heard about the idea of creating one’s own version of the monument: a slate of personal heroes. He said the graduates should embrace these people and learn from them.

Class speaker Howard John Haronian said he was nervous about going to college, but confident that his experience had prepared him for it. He said he wanted to start with a simple message to ensure it wouldn’t get lost during his speech: “I love this group to the left of me. Each and every one of them.”

Mark Faber, head of school, recognized alumni who have given back to the school by returning as staff members of volunteers. He said the graduating class had proven its ability to help the school and community through actions such as helping to prevent the math department from flooding during a storm and acting as tutors. Faber said he was honored to be “a small part of this incredibly important phase in your life, and I’ll never forget you.”

List of Graduates:

Emily Jessica Benson

Hilary Michelle Bokoff

Alice K. Bradley

Jeffrey Bachelder Brodie (class president)

Ryan William Cairns

Lee Austin Cattanach

Adam Anthony Cibarich

Michael Alexander Ciulla

Daniel A. Coffey

Catherine h. Cook

John Trowbridge Cottrell

William G. Davidge

Isacc A. Davis

Michelle Cyr Devoe

Benjamin Warner Dorr

Hadley Warm Eichengreen

Spencer Thomas Esty

Katharine Redmond Evans

David Benjamin Gibson

Alicia Rose Goncalves

Duncan Finley McNaughton Grimm

Anton Gudz

Jackson Andrew Hallberg

Howard John Haronian

John Peter Harsh

Connor D. Hilton

Heather Holmes

Paul Leon Isaiah Hunter

Adam Iglehart

Trevor D. Klee

Emily Marie Malcynsky

Emily Garretson Maroni

George Carey Matthiessen II

Matthew Lee Mooers

Claire Juliet Nelson (co vice-president)

Grace Rae Elen E. Nepomuceno

Daniel Putnam Nickerson

Ana Mariah Schavoir

William N. Simon

Zakiya Ameen Thomas-Keyton

Katelyn Tyler

Olivia-Jane Mather Ureles

Rachel Elizabeth vanDyke

Frederick Adriaan Austin Haven, Prins van Eck

Veronica Lynn Vesnaver

Brooke Catherine Watson

Spencer Lucas Whitelaw

Cody Max Moffett Williams