GILL — “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all,” recited Rev. Lee-Ellen Strawn, Northfield Mount Hermon’s chaplain.
Strawn stated that the Emily Dickinson quote was not only appropriate because Dickinson lived nearby, but because of the hope that students felt leading up to their graduation.
“We call upon hope to humble our pride and open our souls to gratitude,” she said.
Each proud graduate wore a black cap and gown, and each female student clutched a bouquet of red roses.
As of this year, the boarding school welcomed students from 57 countries and 33 states. Some graduates represented their respective homes by wearing flag stoles on top of their gowns.
Naomi Christiansen addressed her graduating classmates as the class orator, admitting that she hates graduations.
“They’re too emotional,” she laughed, explaining that the day is full of so many expectations. Nevertheless, she expressed great pride for her graduating peers who worked so hard.
“We’re too old for our parents to stick a certificate of congratulations on the fridge,” she said. “Today, we get to congratulate ourselves.”
Gemma Ester Borra Paley, Ashfield; Kathryn Taylor Byrnes, S. Deerfield; Lena Marie Carr, Northfield (winner of the Piscuskas Day Student Prize); Chianna Li Collins Cohen, Northampton (cum laude, winner of The Gordon Paul Smith Prize for Excellence in History or Social Sciences); Taylor Mackinnon Donnelly Minshall, Gill;
Peter Francis Dowdy, Mount Hermon; Gavin Christopher Biggie Flynn, Greenfield; Ethan Shane Foster, Northfield; Laura Angelica Franceschi, S. Deerfield; Seamus Fuller Garland, Northfield; Heidi Lucinda Leeds, Mount Hermon (cum laude, winner of The Cambridge Prize, The Arthur D. Platt Mathematics Award, and The Richard H. Valentine Award); Isabella Natalie Lombino, Ashfield (cum laude);
Katherine Ann Majewski, Mount Hermon; William Warren Martin, Jr., Northfield; Kylee Autumn Monkiewicz, Greenfield; Dalton Robert Rice, Northfield; Amanda Rose Savinski, Montague; Jack Charles Shearer, Mount Hermon; Katerina Bushuyeva Stone, Conway (cum laude, winner of the Nancy Angell Rickenbacker Art Prize); Max Antonius Harrison van Baaren, Bernardston (cum laude); Logan Akbar Waien, Greenfield
Reach Christie Wisniewski at: 413-772-0261, ext. 280 or
cwisniewski@recorder.com