Mount Greylock Grads Told: Don't Stop Complainin'By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
08:55PM / Saturday, June 06, 2015 | |
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Mount Greylock Regional School graduated 86 on Saturday night at the school. The graduates also recognized Matthew Fisher as Teacher of the Year. See more photos here. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The teacher chosen by Mount Greylock's senior class as the Teacher of the Year encouraged the graduates to never stop complaining.
"I love that you talk," Matthew Fisher told the class. "For the past three years, I've never had a quiet class. ... If I ask a question, I get 12 responses. You are spirited, you're well-rounded, you're active and, lastly, you complain.
"I love that you complain — constantly."
Fisher recalled the words from a commencement exercise in his past, where one of his fellow students said, "Complaints are the key. That incites change."
"So keep complaining," he told the soon-to-be-graduated seniors.
Ian Brink, who was chosen by his classmates to speak at Saturday evening's ceremony, was one step ahead of Fisher.
Brink's remarks, titled "The Greylock Experience," were a collection of anecdotes and inside jokes and good-natured gripes about the students' last six years at the junior-senior high school.
Brink touched on the revolving door of administrators that coincided with the class's tenure at Mount Greylock, the institution of "stricter policies" and the removal of a morning sack cart that went away before the class's junior year.
"They exchanged our croissant sandwiches with the smallest, blandest, toughest bagels we had ever eaten," Brink lamented.
Not that it was all bad.
Brink also talked about the things that the graduates will miss, and at the top of the list is teachers like Fisher.
"Teachers have been flexible, but they have also pushed us to make sure we reach our potential, and without them we would not have made it to where we are now," Brink said. "We've been lucky enough to be blessed with such an amazing staff here at Mount Greylock.
"The amount of time and effort that each and every single one of them exert ... every day is truly incredible. Anytime I have ever needed help, every teacher has not been hesitant to give me the help I needed as soon as possible."
Saturday's graduation exercises included the awarding of the school's top academic honors. Sixteen graduates walked out of the ceremony with more than just a diploma to show for it.
They included: Miranda Dils, English; Jake Kobrin, history; Judah Devadoss, math; Andrew Whitaker, science; Christina Butcher, foreign languages; Jake Foehl, Latin; Alexandra Gilardi, art; Kobrin, music; Taylor Carlough, business technology; Laura Galib and David Majetich, wellness; and Dils, Foehl, Joseph Gais, Galib and Whitaker, the John B. Clark Scholars Award, indicative of outanding promise of success in higher education.
All of the graduates received ample reminders that success — in academics or in life — is not guaranteed.
Jacqueline Van Slycke, who was chosen by the school's faculty to speak, told her classmates to look back on the good, the bad and the monotonous about their high school days. Van Slycke encouraged the grads to reflect on past failures when confronted with future challenges.
"Go back to that time you failed a test," she said. "And remember those days where high school had nothing interesting to offer. Because ahead of us, in the 'real world' lie many scary things, many great things and many, many days of doing the same thing.
"The truth is, we don't know what our future holds. But we know what our past has been like, and we have all managed to succeed thus far. So when you come to a bump in the road, look back at a similar bump you had in high school, and use that experience to propel you in the right direction."
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Graduates |
Speakers |
Scholarships & Awards |
Photos |
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Samantha Avery Adams
Kevin Michael Aliberti
Patrick David Archibald
Hannah Elizabeth Backiel
Lucy Elizabeth Barrett
Rachyl Ellen Bazonski
Ariadna Raquel Benito
Ryan Kendrick Benoit
Jake Matthew Benzinger
Noelle Marie Berry
Celia Paige Boté
Ian Scott Brink
Benjamin Scott Burdick
Joshua Nickolas Burgos
Ross Patrick Burnham
Christina Anne Butcher*
Taylor Michael-Thomas Carlough*
Liam Xavier Chenail
Nico Alexander Clarke
Dana Kasey Clement
Emma Louise Culver*
Carter Albert Cummings
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Nicholas Edward Darrow
Katherine Jean Davis*
Judah Tien-Tze Devadoss
Jesse Joseph Dilego
Miranda Jennifer Dils*
John Cook Driver
Desiree Bonnie Dufur
Caitlyn Marie Durant
Kylie Rose Fields
Daniel Kelley Flynn
Jake Bennett Foehl*
Joseph Allen Johnson Gais*
Laura Helen Galib*
Alexandra Catherine Gilardi
Thomas Frederick Graf
Ian Thomas Greenhalgh
Connor Charles Hadley
Alexander Pierre Harrington
Zachary James Harrington*
Eric Daniel Hirsch*
Matthew John Hogan*
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Elijah Ross Holland
Cole William Hughes*
Jonah Michael Kelley
Jaclyn Rose Knysh
Jake William Kobrin*
Sam Stewart Kobrin*
Amy Michelle Larabee*
Geneeva Lillian LeSage
Abigail Tyler Little
Samantha Anne MacWhinnie
David James Majetich*
Colby Michael Masse
Michael Thomas McCormack*
Mark Stephen Messina
Stacey Nicole Neveu
William Joseph Nolan*
Catherine Elizabeth Nowlan
Kelsey Paige Orpin
Jacob David Kendell Paul
Delaney Norton Pudvar
Grant Gibbons Raphael
Tyler Anthony Reale
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Tristan Taylor Reinhard
Andrew Stanley Rickus
Jacob Walter Rossitter
Sara Noel Rudd*
Emily Mae Sabin,
Thomas Joseph Schoorlemmer*
Emmett Michael Shepard
Nyein Chan Thet Soe*
Nicholas Richard Sorrell
Carter Elliot Stripp*
Michael Dennis Strizzi
Dakota Wesley Sunskis
Sadie Elizabeth Sylvester*
Jacob Robert Torra
Bryanna-Lee Pearson Utz
Jacqueline Elizabeth Van Slycke*
Louise Josephine Verter
Nicholas Joseph Vlahopoulos
Miranda Rose Voller
Rosalee Polinsky Walter
Andrew John Whitaker*
*National Honor Society
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