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Caption, page 1:
Woodstock Academy's Commencement was June 8. More photos on page 6 and an expanded photo gallery Wed. night on our FB page: Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger. Linda Lemmon photo.
captions, page 6:
Ava Hovestradt's family
The Manchester Pipe Band and the First Company Governor's Foot Guard
Message of courage
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
WOODSTOCK — The thread woven through the 134th Woodstock Academy Commencement was courage.
Poet laureates Emily Smock and Lilah Jefer-DeCesare, in their poem “Courage,” urged classmates to leap swiftly into the days to come. “No matter how small your steps are, do it. Take a step even if it’s small.” “Be brave and have courage and take the first step.”
Claire Beck, in an adaptation of her first-place Kathryn Robertson contest essay, “Our Tapestries,” recounted her father and what she learned from his death. When she was 8 her father went on a trip and she asked him to bring back Big Foot. He brought home a chicken because that’s what he found. Upon his death, she remembered the goofiness in the family, her father’s philosophizing, and more. Our tapestries are continually woven – never finished, she said, and each thread is a human life and you can’t tamper with one thread without affecting the others.
She told her classmates they should leave high school with no regrets.
Winston Churchill said: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Beck told her classmates, “May you all find our Big Foot, too, whatever that may be.”
The Woodstock Academy celebrated the graduation of over 230 students.
Senior class president Piper Sabrowski of Canterbury welcomed classmates and guests.
Kayleigh Murray and Sean Gasperini were honored as the Valedictorian and Salutatorian of the Class of 2024. “We’ve learned lessons. Not only to achieve goals but to create positivity in the world.”
Corrine LaMontagne and Evan Rhault received the prestigious Yale Honor Cup and the Donald and Hope Williams Scholarships; Sean Gasperini and Kayleigh Murray received the Donald and Hope Williams Scholarship.
Claire Beck addressed her fellow graduates with an adaptation of her first-place essay, “Our Tapestries,” from the Kathryn Robertson Essay Contest.
Lilah Jafar-DeCesare ’26, The Woodstock Academy’s third Poet Laureate, and Emily Smock ’25, the 2024-25 Poet Laureate, presented their original poem “Courage” together.
Graduates: Austin Adams, Ethan Adams, Jordan Aleksjuks, Delaney Anderson, Kyle Anderson, Nicole Apicelli 14, 16; Carleh Avery 4, 9, 12, 14; Aidan Bain, Jaiden Banton, Annemarie Barrette, Eben Beauchene, Claire Beck 3, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, 17; Natalie Bell 4, 6, 14, 15, 16; Peyton Bentley 4, 12, 13, 14, 16; Addison Bergin, Soap Bergman, Maria Fernanda Bertolucci 19; Elizabeth Bishop-Klee, Kerry Blais 10; Amari Blanco, Thomas Blevins, Briana Botelho, Charlie Bourbeau, Ryan Bradford 18; Charles Bragg 19; Waylon Breault, Kenneth Brown, Madison Brown 14; Anthony Buckner 4; Nathan Budd, Conner Buell, Zachary Bunker, David Bunning 13; Danielle Cabassa 3, 7; Corey Cady 18; Charles Caggiano 3, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16; Nova Caissie, Logan Casteen, Caitlin Chandler 3, 16; Casper Collette, Lillian Conway, Emily Cournoyer 3, 8, 17; Daniel Covelli 4, Jasper Cox 4, Julia Coyle 3, 12, 13, 15, 16; Teodora Curcic, Jacob Cutler, Kelvin Da Costa, Benjamin Da Silva, Leah Danis 4, 7, 10, 17; Troy Daviau, Ana Davis, Lucas De Pedro Sanchez, Jason Denham, Dominic Dennett, Kambryn Dexter, Sydnee Dingwell, Ahir Dixon 4; Dao Do 5, 11, 12; Duy Do 3, 7, 11, 12, 14; Grace DonFrancisco; Matthew Dumas, Riley Dupont 3, 8, 12, 14; Hunter Eddy 3, 11, 14; Jillian Edwards, Timothy Engstrume, Summer Espeseth 3, 6, 7, 16; Aaron Evangelista, Calvin Field 19; Aiden Finch 4, 12; Hayden Fontaine, Joaquin Fraga 5, 17; Jaliyah Franco, Campbell Fraser 3, 12, 17; Abigail Gagne, Aiden Gagnon 18, Benjamin Gagnon, Hailey Gagnon, Arianna Garnsey, Sean Gasperini 2, 3, 7, 11, 12, 14; Frank Gaug, Alexander Gessner 3, 8, 11, 13; Nicholas Gohn, Nicolas Goncalves, Victoria Gonzalez, Gavin Grant 4, 12; Judd Green, Allison Griswold 15, 16; Leonardo Guidi 5; Kathryn Guillot, Ignacio Hahn 19; Alex Harris, Caroline Harris 5, 7, 12, 14, 15; Hannah Hart 18; Angelos Haveles 3, 12, 14, 16; Amelia Haynes, Hunter Haynes 18; Jada Hernandez 14; Sophia Hernandez 3, 7, 12, 14, 15; Saige Hibbard, Madison Hill-Rickell, Thi Tuyet Mai Ho, Ava Hovestadt 4, 7, 12, 15, 16; Tyler Hudson 18; Clyde Jackson, Cade Jones 3, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16; Jelani Kelly, Emma Kerr 3, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16; Kobe Khounvichith, Dayeon Kim 3, 11, 12, 14; Christopher Kirkconnell, Luke Kirkland, Madyson Knox 6; Joel Koleszar 4, 13; Avery Kollbeck, Zhen Kong, James Koproski 3, 11; Katelyn Kosior, Aiden Kudla, Keon Lamarche, Morgan Lambert 18; Corinne LaMontagne 3, 6, 11, 12, 14, 16; Taylor Lamothe 3, 6, 7, 12; Victoria Lanoue, Hunter Larson 3, 12, 13; Taylor Laskoski, Vincent Laurens, Ethan LeBoeuf, David Lee 4; Sten Lehmann, Kayla Leite 3, 6, 7, 13, 14, 15, 16; Samuel Lescault 13; Dylan Lewis, Kevin Lin 3; Jacob Lizotte, Giovanni Lopez, Maeve Lusignan 5, 14, 16; Connor MacLeod, Phoenix MacRae 5, 6, 11; Zachary Majewski 18; Gavin Malbaurn, Max Maneke 19; Jasmine Martin, Emma Massey 3, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16; Eric Mathewson, Mason Matthews, Sarah McArthur 4, 16; Kendall McCormack, Samantha McDowell 8; Madison McMahon 3, 6, 7, 12, 15, 16; Cameron McNally 5, 7, 14, 15, 17; Aidan McNamara, Karley Medina, Hendrix Mota 3; Kayleigh Murray 1, 3, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17; Elliotte Nagy, Rebecca Nazer, Cang Nguyen 3, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16; Jared Nielsen 3, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16; Rayne Norman-Fitte 18; Riley O’Brien, Timothy O’Sullivan 10; TJ Osborne, Yuelin Pan; Mia Pannone 4, 10, 12; Kaylie Parmeter, Dominic Pascale 5; Kyle Pazienza 8; Lillie Pendleton 18; Noah Pepin, Amber Pepper 3, 6, 7, 9, 14, 17; Brynn Perry 6, 14, 15, 18; Sophia Petrella 3, 10, 15; Jessie Phan, Scarlett Pierce, Margaux Reck, Elizabeth Reynolds, Reegan Reynolds 4, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16; Owen Reynolds-Dyer, Evan Rhault 3, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16; Lillian Richardson 6, Theodore Richardson, Joshua Rilling, Ryan Rivera Cabrera 3, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16; Apollo Ruoppo 17; Riley Russell 5, 16; Piper Sabrowski 5, 12, 14, 15, 16; Carla Sagues Laguna 4; Summer Saine, Noah Sampson 13; Jordan Sands 17; Deven Santa Cruz, Olivia Saraidarian 4; Matthew Saunders, Nicholas Saunders, Apphia Schley, Gracie Scott 16; Skylar Scott, Finn Scribner, Zachary Shead 4, 7, 8; Ava Simoes 3, 6, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16; Nicholas Sivertsen, Isabella Siwko 4, 7, 17; Abigail Smith, Elijah Smith, Megan Smith 3, 10; Nox Smith, Zachary Soper, Arthur Soucy 3, 11, 14, 15; Kaelin Soukaloun 4, 17; Don Sousa, Jordyn St. Laurent 10; Ethan Staples 3, 14, 15; Simon Steendam 18; Sawyer Stewart 3, 7; Maddox Stott 6; Boyuan Su 3; Thea Sullivan, Jack Sumner 4; Lana Syriac, Olivia Tetreault, Lucas Theriaque, Antonio Therrien, Sumi Tran 4;Lucas Travinski, Talia Tremblay 5, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16; Addison Tyimok 4, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16; Josiah Vadeboncoeur, Harrison Vail 19; Marco Valdes Cosenza, Lilly Verraneault 4, 12, 13, 16; Shaun Wall, Ryan Wallace 3, 12, 13, 16; Olivia Wardwell, Madison Whitehouse 3, 11, 14, 15, 16; Zoe Wiggin, Madison Williams 5, 7, 12, 15, 17; Eric Wilson, Henry Wotton 13; Songxuan Wu 3, 11, 12, 14; Alicia Wynkoop, Alessandro Zannoni, Christian Zellweger 5, 10; Mathew Zheng 4, 10, 14.
Honor Codes: 1. Valedictorian, 2. Salutatorian, 3. Summa cum laude, 4. Magna cum laude, 5. Cum laude, 6. Art National Honor Society, 7. English National Honor Society, 8. German National Honor Society, 9. Italian National Honor Society, 10. Latin National Honor Society, 11. Math National Honor Society, 12. National Honor Society, 13. Scholar-Athlete Honor Society, 14. Science National Honor Society, 15. Social Studies Honor Society, 16. Spanish Honor Society, 17. Tri-M Honor Society, 18. Military. 19. Post Graduates
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