Lamoille graduate: Find the courage to stand up

Two bars of service finally flashed across the screen of the nearly dead smartphone as Clancy paddled to the middle of the lake in search of a signal. Holding the canoe as steady as possible, Clancy pulled up the College Board website to look at the scores.

Any reasonable student would have waited until they arrived home the next day to check, but not Clancy, she said.

After all of the work with history teacher Sara Reed, she had to know the end result.

Both girls received a four (out of five) on their AP world history exams.

“We started jumping up and down in our canoe. We were so proud of ourselves and almost flipped the boat over,” Clancy said.

All those hours of hard work paid off between studying, going to class and holding emergency classes during lunch in order to cram in everything needed for the exam.

Education, life is about moments

Every experience can teach you something new, said valedictorian Madeline Waterman. “There’s always more to learn,” she said.

“Graduation is a time to remember, but it’s also a time to look ahead,” said Catherine Gallagher, superintendent of schools.

Some will begin programs in a trade, head to college, enter the military, or join the workforce, she said.

No matter what path students choose to follow, courage — which has been ever present over the last year — will be key.

Over the last year, national events have rocked the community — including a school shooting in Parkland, Fla. — pushing students to stand up and take action for changes to gun legislation.

High school history teacher Eric Hutchins was diagnosed with human papillomavirus and tonsil cancer in March, and faced the unknown with a clinical trial in New Jersey.

Despite a rough week, Hutchins attended graduation on Saturday to see his students off and hopes to return to school in August.

Hutchins went through his final radiation treatment a month ago.

Two weeks ago, as the Lamoille Lancers boys baseball team faced the Div. 2 state championships, Hutchins was at home receiving a play-by-play from Principal Brian Schaffer.

“While the score did not reflect a win for Lamoille, it was the most winning game I’ve seen,” Gallagher said, as fans poured in not just from the Lamoille County community, but across the state.

Education is about all of these moments. It’s not about learning facts, it’s about learning to think, Gallagher said.

Teachers leave last pearls of wisdom

Special educator Kelly Keefe and math teacher Polly Vance wanted to leave the class of 2018 with a few final facts to ponder:

• “Dunkin Donuts in Morrisville must be quivering, and wondering how they’ll stay open, because this graduating class drinks so much coffee. We estimate you’ve spent $79,000 on coffee over your four years in high school,” Keefe said.

• The class also “owes” registrar Christine Cooney $189,000 based on the amount of her work time they’ve taken up over the years and her hourly rate.

• Each student has borrowed an estimated $6,000 from their parents.

“Borrow usually means you intend to pay it back,” Vance said.

“They’ll expect a check tomorrow,” added Keefe.

“Hear, hear,” yelled a parent from the audience.

Vance and Keefe reminded the class, too, that they will mess up, and it’s easy to blame others, but it’s important to own one’s mistakes.

“You can Google for an answer, you can Google for a mate, but you can’t Google what’s in your heart,” Keefe said.

Vance left the class with this: “Stop whining and suck it up, Buttercup.”

Also, take a chance, and try something new.

Vance and Keefe were joined by English teacher Doug Boardman to try something new themselves, and sang “Humble and Kind,” by Tim McGraw to the exiting class.

Diplomas were received, tassels turned and caps thrown into the air as the Lamoille Union class of 2018 left the field to greet their families.