fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Holiday Gift Subscription
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Saugerties High School graduates 236

by HV1 Staff
April 2, 2016
in Education
0

IMG_4183MEDIA-s

With diplomas in hand, the encouragement to live their dreams, and a reminder of their “star power,” the members of the Saugerties High School Class of 2015 celebrated their big moment on Saturday morning, June 27, becoming the school’s 119th graduating class.

Wearing caps decorated with everything from helium balloons to symbols of their career dreams, the 236 graduates said goodbye to high school with bright smiles that more than compensated for the gray skies overhead.

“The tutorial is over. The game has finally begun,” said class secretary Matthew Urrutia.

SHS students Cory Backus and Ana Alarcorn shake hands at graduation as a sign of peace at the urging of Superintendent Seth Turner. Lauren Ball looks on with a smile at left.
SHS students Cory Backus and Ana Alarcorn shake hands at graduation as a sign of peace at the urging of Superintendent Seth Turner. Lauren Ball looks on with a smile at left.

The graduates received advice and encouragement from seven of their classmates, their principal, Thomas Averill, Superintendent Seth Turner, and Board of Education member Angie Minew.

“Stop and look around you. You will never get this gathering of people together ever again,” Turner told the seniors before asking them to shake hands with the person next to them as a sign of peace. He urged them be kind and find the strength within themselves to overcome adversity.

“Be brave enough to push yourself,” Turner said, then quoted professional wrestler “Cactus Jack” Mick Foley in reminding the students to “never let anyone define success for you.”

The students who spoke wrapped their advice in metaphors from science to the arts.

Class President Phoebe Defino explained that there are many dying galaxies in the solar system that can be brought back to life by the explosion of a single star.

“There’s not that much difference between you and the stars,” Defino told her classmates. “Every one of you possesses the capability to bring the world back to life with your talents, your ingenuity, and your star power.”

Vice-president Marissa Hogan took inspiration for her speech from a creative writing assignment about a dying pen. She explained that, unlike pencils, which come with the power to erase mistakes and be sharpened when they get dull, pens “must be bold, sharp, and tenacious. We are pens, really. We are not wimpy pencils. We are pens, ready to start our journey.”

Salutatorian Audrey Trossen addresses her classmates during graduation ceremonies Saturday.
Salutatorian Audrey Trossen addresses her classmates during graduation ceremonies Saturday.

Salutatorian Audrey Trossen said that graduating and “teetering on the threshold of adulthood” made her feel much like she did when she started preschool. “I’m not good at saying goodbye,” she said, but added, “No goodbye is goodbye forever. You will never lose these people and you will never lose this place.” She urged the seniors to return to their memories of high school later on in life to “feel better in a world that will feel far too sharp and too cold.”

John Senko, the social director for the Class of 2015, said that as they look back, he and his fellow students “will not measure time in periods, semesters or years but in friendships.”

Of the 236 graduates, 90 percent received Regents diplomas or Advance Designation. Forty percent of the class maintained an average of 85 or better and the class as a whole received many thousands of dollars in scholarships. Sixty-one members of the class also graduated from the Ulster BOCES Career & Technical Center, among them the Career & Technical Center Valedictorian, Lucas Hufnagel.

With a helium balloon tied to his mortarboard, SHS graduate Bradley Brandt shakes hands with Superintendent Seth Turner after receiving his diploma.
With a helium balloon tied to his mortarboard, SHS graduate Bradley Brandt shakes hands with Superintendent Seth Turner after receiving his diploma.
With a decorated cap that says it all, newly graduated Saugerties High School students celebrate their success with a hug.
With a decorated cap that says it all, newly graduated Saugerties High School students celebrate their success with a hug.

 

Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

“The Stories We Tell: Hudson Valley Artists 2015” at the Dorsky Museum in New Paltz

Next Post

Jazz sax great Jane Ira Bloom plays Marlboro’s Falcon

HV1 Staff

Related Posts

Ulster BOCES serving up culinary class for sweethearts
Education

Ulster BOCES serving up culinary class for sweethearts

February 6, 2023
Saugerties Junior High School announces its second-quarter Honor Roll
Education

Controversy ensues as KCSD walks back Black History Month opt out language

February 4, 2023
Onteora faces “unfathomable” choices as district’s enrollment dwindles
Education

Parents voice concerns over plan to send Onteora sixth graders to middle school in Boiceville

February 2, 2023
Trump’s taking back trans kids’ protections won’t change local approach
Education

Committee works to ensure that every Saugerties student has the opportunity to succeed 

January 31, 2023
News & notes (4/21/21)
Education

Kingston School District weighs priorities as federal COVID funding set to expire later this year

January 30, 2023
“The School will be shot up” written on Miller Middle School’s bathroom wall
Crime

“The School will be shot up” written on Miller Middle School’s bathroom wall

January 30, 2023
Next Post

Jazz sax great Jane Ira Bloom plays Marlboro’s Falcon

Trending News

  • Saugerties to host inaugural Snow Moon Festival February 3 to 5 2k views
  • Visit Kingston’s 12,240-square-foot squat, centrally located with wood-burning fireplace 1.8k views
  • Neighbors protest Ulster County Veterans’ Cemetery flagpole spotlights 763 views
  • Enormous collection of historic Woodstock art opens this Saturday in New Paltz 706 views
  • Dog rescued from Wallkill River’s icy grip 649 views
  • Controversy ensues as KCSD walks back Black History Month opt out language 568 views

Weather

Kingston
◉
23°
Clear
7:01 am5:18 pm EST
Feels like: 16°F
Wind: 7mph NNE
Humidity: 64%
Pressure: 30.34"Hg
UV index: 0
WedThuFri
48/27°F
39/37°F
54/32°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Holiday Gift Subscription

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing