ConVal’s Class of 2021 completed their COVID year on Friday night with an outdoor graduation ceremony on the high school football field that saw the Cougars’ 178 graduates receive their diplomas.
It was ConVal’s 50th commencement ceremony and the first for Principal Heather McKillop, who lauded her “first-class” students for navigating the difficult changes of this school year.
“The class of 2021 is certainly a first-class act,” McKillop said. “You did not ask to be dropped in the middle of the pandemic. You did not ask for many of the changes that occurred inside and outside of school in response to that pandemic. However, you responded with patience, care for others, empathy. You found ways to persevere. You responded with a first-class demeanor.”
History buffs Brigham Boice and Jason Bergeron detailed how Peterborough High School responded to the influenza pandemic of 1918, holding up an aged copy of the Peterborough Transcript and a present-day Ledger-Transcript to illustrate the importance of applying lessons learned from history to modern times.
Class valedictorian Madilyn Cilley, who’ll study dance at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, quoted everything from the Indigo Girls to Despicable Me in her address.
“I’ve determined that everything is easier when the motivation behind it is fueled with love and passion,” Cilley said. “What matters in life isn’t what you do, but how and why you do it, and that you do something.”
Umbrellas went up here and there as a spatter of rain swept through during salutatorian Aria Frehner’s speech, which detailed a walking path through the ConVal hallways that takes her past murals added by students over the years, the art connecting classrooms physically and students spiritually.
“ConVal’s art is ConVal’s joy,” the Mount Holyoke-bound senior said. “ConVal’s art is ConVal’s support. Not only does art connect the people in the building, but the generations past…Each class left their own mark.”
Choir singer and drama enthusiast Abby Theberge was overcome with emotion after being surprised with the annual faculty award.
“You’ve contributed so much to the culture of ConVal,” said choir teacher Brian Moore. “You’ve been a leader with honor through the performing arts and academic excellence.”
Senior class president and ski team star Reid Wilson shared an outlook familiar to anyone who’s been on the slopes: You’re going to fail and fall a lot in the early going, but if you keep getting back up again, you’ll eventually succeed.
“This process may sound intimidating,” Wilson said. “No one ever enjoys defeat, but eventually we will all need to take a leap, and we may not know where we’ll come down. But I promise you, you will land on your feet.”
“Going into this new part of our lives where we will have energy and confidence but little experience, I suggest to you: minimum skill, maximum send,” Wilson said, slipping on a pair of sunglasses as he capped off his speech.
A full list of graduates follows:
Adkins, Armon Dean
Ahern, Chloe Catherine
Aho, Sierra Rose
Anderson, Emma Rose
Anderson, Nisse Lauren
Anthony, Aiden Michael
Armstrong, Owen Patrick
Ball, Kyle Mae
Bartsch, Anna Velinda
Battaglia, Isis Julia
Batty, Alanna Rose
Bell, Nicole Alexandra
Bennett, Carter Scott
Bergeron, Jason Pratt
Bernstein, Henry Malachi
Blohm, Zachary Andrew William
Bohl, Ian Ulrick
Boice, Brigham Robert
Boisvert, Michael Denis
Bolduc, Savanna Lynn
Bond, Annastasia Elizabeth
Boyd, Zackery Charles
Braby, Amy Rebecca
Brace, Adam Leonard
Calistro, Kaylee Joy
Caron, Hailey Diane
Cattigan, Molly Beth
Charlonne, Ethan Cole
Charron, Angelina Marie
Chisholm, Anna Elizabeth
Cilley, Caden Mark
Cilley, Madilyn Lorraine
Cleary, Grace Marion
Clough, Fiona Elizabeth
Coburn, Alessia
Colby, Aaliyah Katherine
Cole, Anthony Michael
Cole, James Allen
Conway, Kenneth Joseph
Conway, Steven James
Cook, James Russell
Coppo, Malcolm Jeffrey
Couto, Gabriel Joseph
Craven, Emerson Dutton
Cresta, Rosalie Jean
Crooker, Jared Steven
Danforth, Kayla Rose
Davis, Austin Kobe
Davis, Wyatt Daniel
Davison, Burkley Dean
Decker, Logan Burton
Derujinsky-Rizzo, Maxwell Alexander
Deschenes, Haven James
Dick, Jessica Shelby
Dishong, Ella Mary
Donovan, Emily Cahoon
Donovan, Julia Blake
Drew, Zander Valentine
Ducharme, Rowan Alexander
Earle, Ethan Joseph
Edwards, Serena Elizabeth
Engaldo, Caleb Anthony
Ewing, Liberty Chouinard
Fagiano, Thomas Lucio
Ferry, Sienna Elizabeth
Filaski, Griffin James
Finley, Tyler Allen
Forster, Zoe Renae
Frehner, Aria Margrit Mann
Fulton, Rachel Elizabeth
Gapp, Lauren Anne
Gaudette, Ally Nicole
Gilcreast, Matthew Alan
Goohs, Ava Marie Rose
Goss, Elizabeth Rowshan
Gray, Orion Meade
Groom, Kayla Jean
Guy, Devin Paul
Hall, Kyra Ann
Halliday, Chloe Murphy
Hamlin, Benjamin James
Harris, Keegan Matthew
Hatmaker, Jonathan Jackson
Heinselman, Cole Ardell
Herne, Hailie Jade
Holland, Elizabeth Lauren
Holmberg, Perrine Grace
Hull, Elizabeth Mary
Hull, Sarah Jane
Hunt, Brayden Patrick
Hutchinson, Breanna Pauline Leigh
Hutchinson, Tristan Allen James
Ingalls, Jaxen Alan
Ingram, Jonas MacWilliam
Johnson, Kylie Mae
Kamieniecki, Anthony Joseph
Kazlauskas, John Thomas
Kekuewa-Colon, Luca
Kelley, Quinn Shea
Kendall, Wylie Connor
Keough, Brandon Toby
Kingsbury Evans, Sage Kiele
Koester, Jack Brian
Kotula, August Noble
Kriebel, Benjamin James
Langa, Malani Jeddah Queen Bernadette
Laro, Ayla Mae
Laskey-Rigrod, Olivia May
Laurent, Evan Matthew
Lessard, Tyler Richard
Levesque, Travis
Lussier, Jacob Albert
Lustenberger, Casey Lee
MacKay, David Ye Chan
MacKay, Sandra Mariel
MacKeigan Shevonne Ruby
MacLaren, Madison Paige
Martin, David Joseph
Martin, John Liam
Martino, Emma Gabrielle
McGuiness, James Edward
McLean, Aidan Burke
Michaels, Isaiah
Mills, Alexander Davis
Mills, Jackson Davis
Montgomery, Evelyn Michelle
Morris, Richard Fallon
Morris, Sydney Anne
Oja, Gabrielle Elizabeth
Opland, Avery Taylor
Patrick, Nicholas Geoffrey
Petrakos, Timothy Richard
Petroules, Lillian Meredith
Pettine, Matthew Richard Bartholomew
Phillips, Grace Bozosi
Plourde, Madelynn Frances
Pope, Philip Goodell
Proctor, Brady Kevin
Putnam, Ryan Taylor
Pywell, Kaila Marie
Quackenbush, Elaina Vaughn
Riffle, Mary Reagan
Robbins, Blair Aradia Karina
Ross, Brian Bennett
Rugg, Madeline Jean
Salisbury, Isaac Aaron
Sanborn, Connor Craig
Schofield, Jeremiah Joseph
Sennett, William Arthur
Shattuck, Kaden Joseph
Shay, Savannah Lorraine
Shippee, Grace Dorothy
Shumway, Maxwell Baker
Siegel, Jacob Daniel
Simmons, Evelyn Mae
Skillings, Cale James
Sloan, Austin Riley
Smith, Anna Grace
Smith, Madalynn Marie
Soares, Pedro Noe Monteiro
Stacy, Emma Elizabeth
Stapelfeld, Lillian Hunter
Suchocki-Sulborski, Edward William
Taylor, Anna Jane
Theberge, Abigail Grace
Tinkham, Jacob Charles
Towers, Abigail Grace
Tyler-Wall, Emeline Leigh
Tyne, Lorien Sage
Vasco, Megan Nicole
Veverka, Daniel Charles
Visingard, Mary Emily
Wheeler, Jonah Orion
Whicker, Ella Vaughan
Whitaker, Ryan Spencer
Wilson, Nathaniel Reid
Wing, Sierra Bleu
Wright, Lorien Silas