Sun shines on Woodstock class
Toolbox
By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: June 13, 2009
WOODSTOCK — "We don't usually start graduation with a prayer, but in light of the turn in the weather I think a silent prayer might be in order."
Woodstock Union High School Teaching Principal Greg Schillinger might have been kidding Friday night, but after a solid week of rain, the class of 2009 and their friends and family could not have asked for a more beautiful evening for graduation.
As the 94 graduates entered the playing field behind the school — girls draped in white and boys wearing gowns of green to signify the school's colors — the opening strains of "Pomp and Circumstance" evoked the Pavlovian response seen at graduations everywhere — waving, crying and parents on one knee snapping pictures.
The class of 2009 was not the only one to receive diplomas. In Woodstock, it is an annual tradition to look back and honor the graduating class from 50 years before.
Before naming the grads, class of 1959 representative David Doubleday reminded his fellow alums to not think of their graduation as something that happened half a century ago.
"Think of it as 18,237 days ago you graduated," he said.
While it was nice to look back on a past class, Friday's ceremony was about the class of 2009, and no graduation would be complete without speeches from the students.
Salutatorian Noah Gray said he was feeling a sense of duality, being neither part of high school nor yet at Yale University, where he plans to study ethics, politics and economics.
"Today I feel an unbearable urge to scream with joy and also cry, and I sense the same feelings in my classmates," he said.
Gray urged his class to seek a life of service in whatever profession they choose, and he highlighted his peers' past service — building schools in Peru, planting trees in the rain forest and playing cards at the senior center.
"We can be passive riders of time or take control and direct our lives," he said.
Valedictorian Mary Griffin talked about the effect growing up in Vermont has had upon her and her classmates. The Green Mountains have taught them to expect the unexpected — whether it's snow on a playing field in October or deep mud in May, as well as learning to appreciate the beauty of their surroundings.
"A Vermonter will always have time for a second glance," she said.
The unexpected sun during graduation looked like a sign of the bright futures each of the graduates has before them.
josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com
Woodstock Union High School
Class of 2009
Alexander Abraham, Ashley Acuna, Alexandria Allen, Sophie Anderson, Megan Atti, Chelsea Austin, Blake Barker, Kimberly Barr, Timothy Barrett, Callie Bellimer, Andrew Bontrager, Katherine Borsh, Jerrica Breault, Courtney Bridge, Emily Bruyn, Ethan Bumps, Susan Chamberlin, Cailey Clark, Amnesty Clogston-Rushford, Michael Cox, Candace Cripps, Jacqueline Croft, Cal DeRosia, Brandi Devine, Claudia Eckrote, Alexander Ellis, Galin Foley, Dustin Frazier, Jacob Gambone, Holli Garrett, Molly Garvey, Anthony Giampa, Sean Glover, David Goodhouse, Kara Goudreau, Jeremy Gravell, Noah Gray, Mary Griffin, Marcy Hall, Mackenzie Harrington, Charles Harris, Danielle Hazen, Zoë Isaacs, Gretchen Kaija, Sean Kennedy, Charles Kimbell, Jacob LaPan, Alexander Lavanovich, Suzannah Leiter, Brian Lewis, Danielle Lewis, Lyndsie Lord, Samantha Manning, Benn Mapes, Nicholas Maura, Amy McClure, Kelly McGinty, Eric Miles, Shaun Miller, Nicholas Morley, Gunnar Nourse, Caleb O'Connell, Tabitha O'Connell, Alexandria Pierce, Kyle Poretto, Daniel Powell, Heather Rameau, Michael Ricci II, Joshua Robinson, Alan Rousseau, Brian Rowe, Alexandra Roy, Charlene Ruane, Hugh Ruane, Roy Salguero, Zachary Sawyer, Samuel Scheu, Adam Sprague, Jacquelyn Stiles, David Taylor, Kirby Walsh, Jacob Wayler, Loren White, Brittany Whittaker, Dillan Wilding, Kelley Willis, Katherine Winsor, Thomas Wisner Jr., Brittany Wonsor, Amy Wood, Dino Zampini.
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