MEMBER SIGN IN
Not a member? Become one today!
         iBerkshires     Williamstown Chamber     Williams College     Your Government     Land & Housing Debate
Search
McCann Tech Graduates Asked to Keep Berkshires In Mind
By Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
10:56PM / Wednesday, June 08, 2016
Print | Email  

The McCann class of 2016 celebrates graduation at MCLA on Wednesday night.


Valedictorian Amanda Vallone told the class that challenges can be overcome through perseverance. See more photos here. Scholarships and awards can be found here.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — McCann Technical School sent 119 graduates out into the world on Wednesday night. And asked them to consider coming back.

"You're really an impressive group of young people and you're all capable of accomplishing a lot," said Principal Justin Kratz, speaking the class of 2016 in the crowded Amsler Campus Center at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. "This group is off to do amazing things."

While some will be staying right here to make their futures, most of the class will be scattered across the nation — headed for college, postgraduate training, jobs and the military.

"The McCann graduating class of 2016 is exactly what Berkshire County needs," he said. "We all hear about the declining population and one of the pieces of the solution sits right here in the front of this auditorium tonight."

Kratz said he wasn't saying the graduates must or should return to the Berkshires, he was just asking that they "keep it on the short list.

"Go off, see the world, see new things, have new experiences but at least consider bringing your talents and your experience back to this wonderful area," he said. "We can use people like all of you."

Indeed, this class had excelled in a number of areas, including SkillsUSA, Business Professionals of America, athletics and in producing the school's first Presidential Scholar.

"One of the things you've done in the last four years is make yourselves and you've made us proud," said Superintendent James Brosnan. "We're proud of you because of your loyalty to yourselves, to your school, to your technical natures, to your pursuits of excellence whether it was SkillsUSA, or BPA or community service or athletics ... you worked together."

Together and individually the class had learned to overcome challenges, said class valedictorian Amanda Vallone, referring to her years of overcoming her social anxiety.

"If we hadn't persevered we wouldn't be sitting here today ... each challenge we faced helped shape us into who we are today," she said, adding that if obstacles are easily defeated, life would be boring. "No one wants to read a book where everything is accomplished really easily."

Rather, the graduates should rise to the occasion but also not be afraid to fail.

Oftentimes overcoming obstacles doesn't happen on a first try and that's OK," Vallone said. "It's OK to take time to get it right. ... Not being able to overcome a challenge doesn't mean you never will, it just means you try harder the next time."  

Salutatorian Samantha Dorwin, also the Presidential Scholar, took her classmates back through the recent "chapters" of their lives: freshman, sophomore, junior and, finally, senior years.

"Tonight we sit here excited for our accomplishments, nervous of the future, but most of all, we've reached a day that we thought would never come," she said, describing it as a bittersweet moment that arrived slowly and all too fast. Now the graduates would have to pass their previous accomplishments as they left their predictable lives for new journeys.

"I hope that you continue to have excitement in your future, and confidence in yourself to achieve all that you dreamed of," Dorwin said, encouraging them to "live each moment to the fullest," but not to wish their lives  away.

"I have confidence that you will achieve all that your heart's desire," she said.

School Committee Chairman Thomas Mahar and Brosnan presented the diplomas as the crowd in the campus center jockeyed for photos and cheered on the graduates. Kylie Burns sang the national anthem accompanied on the keyboard by Robert Davis, who is retiring this year as an instructor in the electrical program. Davis has played the keyboard at the school's graduations for more than 20 years.

The ceremony also included a video of a McCann take on "The Breakfast Club," full of inside jokes and done in Spanish with subtitles. The class tribute featured photos of class members over the years.

The ceremony ended, as usual, with cheers and Silly String and confetti poppers, a singing of the alma mater, and a tossing of caps, before exiting the gym.  

Before they scattered to the wind, Mahar offered some advice.

"Making your mark on the world seems like such a monumental task," he said. "But you don't have to be the person who cures cancer to make your mark ... making your mark is something you chose to do every day, mostly in small ways and if you're lucky, you make it in a very big way."

It's about making a decision every day to be a productive member of society, Mahar said. "Be kind, be honest, always treat everyone with respect, these are the things that everyone can do to change the world and make it a better place ...

"Go out and change the world," he said. "We'll all be watching."

 

The graduates are:

Cheyanne Marie Alcombright
Cameron Richard Anderson
Abbigail Love Andrews
Emma Jean Andrews *
Jeffery Ernest Baribeault, Jr.
Lauren Elizabeth Bartlett
Michael Edward Bloom
Charles Arthur Bohl, III *
Adriana Eleanor Bolte
Taylor Janice Borey *
Justin Lee Brassard
Bradley Richard Briggs Jr. *
Matilda Lorainne Hunkler Brule' *
Justin Anthony Bryant
Kylie Marie Burns
McKenna Marie Burzimati
Owen Geoffrey Canales *
Keigan Daniel Case *↑
Dante John Cellana
Nathan Mark Champagne
Nathan John Charon
Tessa Rose Christman *
Henry Lester Churchill *
Elizabeth Catherine Clifford
Alyssa Renee Cook *
Ryan William Cote
Jake Louis Crowley
Noah Patrick Curran *↑
Samantha Lynn Daniels *
Lindsay Allison Darling
Maria Rose Deblois *
Evan David Delmolino *↑
Lauren May DeRose
Nicholas J. DeRose* ↑
McKayla Simone DiGennaro *
Kelly Lynn Dobbert *
Samantha Ann Dolle *
Samantha Nicole Dorwin ++*↑
Daniel Alphonse Duda
Adam Zachary Dufur
Mitchell Gary Dunn
Justin Edward Dupee
Daniel C. Elser
George Maxwell Farrance
Danielle Marie Felten *
Emily Rita Field
Rosemary Sheila Fortin
Colby William Sherman Fortini
Griffin George Gageant
Cory James Hartley
Dakota Lee Hazell
Eathan Karol Heller
Arianna Nichole Hilchey
Dylan James Howes
Faith Lynne King
Kyle Robert Kleiner
Jonathon Lawrence Koch *
Lindsey Noel Kurek
Alexander Steven Kusick
Jacob Michael Lesnick
Zachary William Levesque*↑
Nicholas Stephen Lillie
Nicholas Christopher Lincoln *
Jacob Edward Litchfield
Alexa Ashley Little
Martin David Loughman *
Abbigail Lyn Luczynski *
Haley Ann Malloy
Kyle Anthony Marcoux
Monique Aimee  Martel
Jerald Thomas McCarthy
Matthew A. McKinney * ↑
Tristan Arthur McNay *
Ryan Eric Meehan *
Abigail Valerie Megaro
Alexander Oliver Michalenko *
Brendan Matthew Mickle
Austin Steven Miller
Mackenzi J. Mitchell *
Julia Rose Mole
Michael Javier Moreno
Joseph Michael Norman
Courtney Jean Oleskiewicz
Bryce Aaron Oliverson
Jacob Stanley Ostrobinski
Nicholas George Ostrobinski
Sarah Marie Pansecchi
Tanner  Parrino *↑
Christopher Michael Perin, Jr.
Skyler Joseph Poplaski
Collin John Racette
Jordan Emily Reinhardt *↑
Elliot Howard Richardson
Adam Antonio Rodriguez *
Nico Jeffrey Romano
Layla Marie Rougeau
Austin Michael Salem
Marcus Julian Sanchez
Christopher Jacob Santella
Jordan Andrew Sartori
Kristin Emily Schneider
Taylor Joseph Shepard
Mackenzie Balbina Soto
Winter Sparehawk Steele Spencer
Alexander Timothy Sutliff
Spenser Harley Tanner
Brianna Leigh Tassone *
Brittani Anne Tassone *
Benjamin Robert Thomas
Evan Robert Thornber
Joshua Timothy Toole
Zachery Thomas Topper
Matthew Austin Tovani
Madison Elizabeth Vadnais *
Amanda Elaine Vallone +*↑
Dylan Michael Waschak
Hannah Rose Woods
Lukas Anthony Yelle *↑
Olivia Whitney Zaleski *

+Valedictorian ,++ Salutatorian ,
* Honor Society, ↑Project Lead the Way
 

Comments
More Featured Stories
Williamstown.com is owned and operated by: Boxcar Media 102 Main Sreet, North Adams, MA 01247 -- T. 413-663-3384
© 2011 Boxcar Media LLC - All rights reserved