Canton High graduates class of 2011

Canton High School class president Josh Sheehan and vice president Kevin Connolly soak in the moment.

It wasn’t their first choice for a venue, but it was perfect nonetheless as the 197 members of the Canton High class of 2011 bid farewell to their younger selves in a moving and reflective graduation ceremony held last Thursday in the CHS Morse Auditorium.

For the second straight year, the graduation had to be moved indoors due to rain; however, aside from a few lighthearted cracks about the weather by CHS Principal Doug Dias, the focus remained solely on the graduates and their memorable journey to the brink of adulthood.

To class valedictorian Michelle Anand, the ceremony itself was akin to a breakup — between the senior class and the high school that had nurtured them throughout the past four years.

Speaking on behalf of her classmates, Anand did her best to let the school down easy. “Dear CHS, there’s really no easy way to express this, but I’m breaking up with you,” she said, adding, “It’s not you, it’s me. While you have remained consistent and reliable during our time together, I’ve changed considerably.”

Anand went on to thank the school for all of the “good times” and for helping the seniors to become “stronger, smarter and more confident” versions of themselves. Yet she also made it clear that it was time to move on.

“I need to be challenged and inspired in new and exciting ways,” she said. “I need a change.”

As for her advice to the graduates, Anand said she was initially stumped but settled on the following: “Find the best possible ways to care.”

CHS valedictorian Michelle Anand

“Care about the earth, care about those less fortunate than you and even those more fortunate than you,” she advised. “Care about neighbors and strangers … Like superheroes, our power to care gives us both the ability to help or harm, the ability to create or destroy. So, my fellow graduating seniors, I urge you, as always, to use your power to care for good.”

For class salutatorian Teagan McClintock, graduation night was not the singular, “life-defining” moment that it is often portrayed as, but rather the “culmination of four years that somehow manage to seem both too short and extremely long.”

Comparing high school to a journey, McClintock reflected on his own personal growth over the past four years, from terrified freshman in a new town to a confident young adult with diverse interests and a deep appreciation for the relationships he has fostered.

McClintock concluded that life, like high school, is a journey to be savored — a “stream of experiences that surrounds you, pulls you in, and can make you a different person.”

Like McClintock, class president Josh Sheehan also reflected on the high school experience – what he called a “great four years” in which the class realized its potential and then some.

“Do you remember what our reputation was coming from the middle school?” Sheehan asked, as classmates laughed in acknowledgement. “You know what? Look at us now. We probably have the most academically advanced class of all time. In addition to being one of the kindest and warm-hearted groups I’ve ever seen, we also are probably the sexiest.”

Although filled with humorous lines and the occasional inside joke befitting of his personality, Sheehan’s speech had a softer side as well.

“Think about the memories that you’ve shared,” he said, “the smiles, the tears, the laughs, and the infamous school cookies. Know that they do mean something; they have shaped our lives so far.”

Nostalgia also found its way into the remarks of various school and community leaders, with Selectmen Chairman John Connolly reflecting on the lessons he learned as a student at Canton High School, and School Committee Chairman John Bonnanzio sharing what it felt like to sign his daughter Sophie’s high school diploma.

“When I did, I can tell you that 18 years of fatherhood rushed past me,” said Bonnanzio, adding that “from her very first moments of her life, to last week’s prom night, when she appeared before my eyes looking like an angel … well, like all parents tonight, I simply can’t account for where these amazing years have gone.”

High School Principal Dr. Doug Dias also geared his remarks toward the proud parents in the audience, as he compared the graduation ceremony to two other memorable “transitions” that occur on the road to adulthood: learning to drive an automobile and the “time when your child first pulls their hand from yours, or refuses to take it.”

Casey Donahoe

“Tonight is another of these moments,” said Dias. “It is designed to help you, the parents and guardians, to celebrate the growth that your child has made, but also recognize that there is sadness as well.”

However, like Anand’s breakup speech, Dias made it clear that the graduates were “ready to move on.” And for new superintendent Jeff Granatino, it was a lesson he learned firsthand in his many interactions with members of the senior class.

“Meeting these young men and women has given me strength,” he said. “It has given me reason to smile, and it has made coming to work for the town of Canton a wonderful experience. Most of all, it has instilled in me a sense of what this graduating class is all about. The class of 2011 is a group of bright, hardworking, dedicated, caring, and talented young men and women.”

In addition to the speeches, the commencement featured performances by the CHS chorus, which sang “I carry your heart with me” by e.e. cummings/David C. Dickau under the direction of Sarah Collmer, and the CHS band, which played “Whither Must I Wander” by Vaughn Williams under the direction of Brian Thomas. The ceremony also included a moving invocation delivered by Reverend Philip C. Jacobs III of Trinity Episcopal Church, as well as the third annual presentation of the Paul Matthews Senior Cup, which went to seniors Kate D’Orazio and Kevin Connolly.

The ceremony concluded with the conferral of diplomas, but it was Sheehan’s choice of a quote that seemed to capture the essence of the evening: “I want to linger, a little longer, I want to linger here with you. It’s such a perfect night, it doesn’t feel quite right. This is goodnight but not goodbye.”

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Posted by Jay Turner on Jun 15 2011. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.