Grads Urged Not To Forget School's Teachings

Published on 6/11/2007 by The Day

Michael Whalen, Student Council president, returns to his seat among the members of the graduating class at St. Bernard High School after delivering his speech Sunday at commencement.

Alyssa Curcio walks a hallway at St. Bernard High School in Montville as she prepares for the school's 49th commencement exercises Sunday.

Mary Lallier prepares herself in room 114, about 15 minutes prior to St. Bernard's graduation.

Geoff Smith, right, of St. Bernard, peers out a hallway window into the courtyard, about five minutes prior to entering the auditorium as Saint Bernard School conducts its 49th Commencements exercises. His friend since sixth grade, Faraz Siddiqui, stands with him as graduates line up in the hall.

Montville — The graduation ceremonies at St. Bernard High School were a reverent affair Sunday morning until one student, in a spurt of excitement, hugged Bishop Michael Cote of the Norwich Diocese after he handed the graduate her diploma.

That bit of impetuousness drew a roar of laughter and burst of applause from the otherwise somber audience as well as a wide grin from Cote as he rearranged his robes.

In his address to the school's 82 graduates later in the high school's 49th commencement ceremony, Cote would echo a theme raised several times during the graduation exercises when he reminded the graduates that the school is like a family, one that has nurtured and prepared them for whatever future awaits them.

He also said the spiritual education they received at the Catholic school should guide them throughout their lives. Success, he said, should never be measured by possessions and the positions they ultimately achieve.

“It is my hope and prayer that you measure your success ... by the content and the strength of your character,” he said. “Who you are, in the core of your being, is more important than what you are.”

About 250 family and friends of the high school graduates attended the ceremonies inside the school's auditorium.

Michael Whalen, the senior class orator, told his classmates that facing the future might be a frightening prospect for many of them, but their experiences at St. Bernard has prepared them well to face that future.

“We all feel the underlying anxiety of 'What's next, what will I do?' ” Whalen said. “The only true question we can answer is 'Are we prepared for this future?' ”

They will be, he said, because of the love and support they have gotten from not just their family and friends, but from the faculty and staff at the high school.

“This wasn't just about school, this was about family,” Whalen said. “The sense of family at St. Bernard gives you another leg to stand on.”

In his address, Joseph Shifrin, the senior class president, credited the school's faculty and the students' families for their support.

“We are the future of our nation and we are the products of our faculty and family,” Shifrin said. “Our school has always tried to embrace every unique ambition of every student.”

The graduates were:

Michael P. Aldrich, Jillian Elizabeth Antonino, Timothy J. Baillargeon, Carolyn Elizabeth Barriere, Erin Mary Bartholomew, Kevin Michael Bentley, Raquel Ashley Blonshine, Peter A. Bove, Kyle James Brahm, Hope McCarthy Howley-Brigham, Kevin R. Burke, Kaitlin Marie Butler, Axel Roberto Calle, Kathryn Mary Carta, Patricia Marie Costa, Alyssa Kaithlyn Curcio, Jeffrey David Daley, Christopher Paul DeLucia, Neil Cyr DeVoe, Daniel McQueen Eagan, Suzanne Marie Evola, Fernando Luis Franceschi, Raegan-Lauren Garside, Robin Geier, Bradley Clifford Gehan, Robert E. Gingerella, III, Lily Blackwell Grant, Rachel Elizabeth Greene, Charles Brendan Halloran, Stephen A. Hamel, Meredith Lynn Hamler, Anne Elizabeth Jensen, Brittany Michelle Jullarine-Quinn, Yu Sun Jung, Morgan Christopher Kainz, Sean Patrick Keefe, Jacob Edward Kniska, Mari Teresa Lallier, Name on Diploma, Alfred Martinez-Vernell Lane, KeunHyang Lee, Emerald Deanne Littlejohn, Grant Charles Livingston Jr., Noah Isaac Michael Lussier, Peter Leon Machnik, Jillian Kate Mador, Julie Rose Malerba, Felicia S. McGarry, Ryan Christopher Menner, Justine Marie Miller, Joseph William Minton, Emily Margaret Nassetta, Karen Evangeline Navarre, Patrick Edward Naylor, Ellen Marie Nixon, Benjamin Peter Nossek, Michael Charles Pettini, Molly Catherine Pitluck, Michael A. Pounch, David Robert Pugsley, Kathleen Ann Rapp, Katherine Noel Raunig, Kaitlyn Michele Roesler, Samantha Lacey Rose, Emma Marie Savitsky, Joseph Salvatore Shifrin, Faraz Ahmed Siddiqui, Geoffrey Frederic Smith, Konrad J. Stawicki, Amanda Elizabeth Stazick, Timothy Peter Tartaris, Joseph Richard Thibeault, Ian P. Thiel, Nathan R. Tobaygo, Tyler Jon Turgeon, Amanda Lucia Vallario, Corinne Marie Wargo, Andrew David West, Michael Christopher Whalen, Kaitlin Marie Wieczorek, Anastasia Elizabeth Wishka, Wesley Charles Wollschlager, Zachary Jeffrey and Zack Young.

Montville