RutlandHerald.com - We Are Vermont

'Go far, not fast'

Rutland High School graduates 258

They raced down the slopes and won. They lost their beloved guidance counselor and thanked their fathers for timeless advice. They scored the winning touchdown and got the "A" they worked so hard to earn.

Each Rutland High School class of 2009 graduate has their own story of what the four-year experience meant to them.

But Tuesday at the Rutland Regional Fieldhouse, the 258-member class was a whole.

[ See photos from the graduation at www.rutlandherald.com/rhsgrad ]

"Regardless of how each of us chooses to continue our lives from this point forth, tonight will be the last night we all spend together as a class, so make the most of it," said salutatorian Ethan Peterson at the evening ceremony. "Relax, plan ahead and enjoy the ride because in life the most important thing is to be happy with who you are."

They are students who worked to preserve the biking and hiking trails near their backyards and shed tears while aiding the underprivileged in their communities.

They will go on to schools such as Fordham University, Syracuse and Harvard.

And they may come back to Rutland some day, just like the class 50 years before them, who received their golden diplomas at the ceremony.

Those grads came back to Rutland from 15 states to receive their anniv-ersary degrees.

"They always come home," said Rutland Superintendent Mary Moran.

The well-choreographed graduation didn't skip a beat with Principal Peter Folaros bidding farewell to the last class he would reign over at the school before his departure by year's end, and valedictorian Elizabeth Kirby telling her fellow peers to be guiding stars, like the men in her life were to her.

Kirby named her guidance counselor, Joe Flory, who died earlier this year, and her dad.

Citing a Greek proverb Kirby said, "A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they will never sit."

Commencement speaker and former graduate Kenneth Donahue told the students to remember to create four new virtual groups on Facebook or better, start them in real life: "I went to public high school and I am proud of it," "It is just as important to do good as it is to do well," "If we each had a friend from every other country, there would be no war," and "Go far, not fast."

"Carry it (your diploma) proudly with you as you encounter all of life's challenges and overcome those challenges to realize your dreams," Donahue said.

"Remember that if you do good along the path to doing well you will be a source of goodness in the community … if you search for commonality between you and the seven billion people on the planet before you see difference you will be a force for peace in the world," he said. "If you go far and not fast, no single hurdle will prevent you from achieving your goals."

Beach balls flew high through the air before being deflated by administrators.

The celebratory symbols reemerged just before the grads turned their tassels, threw their caps and began filtering out of the fieldhouse, transformed from students to young adults.

"It went too fast," said graduate Juliann Tordonato of Rutland, who will attend Syracuse University in the fall in hopes of one day getting a master's degree in European history. "It doesn't feel like we're here."

cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com