MONTAGUE — Franklin County Technical School celebrated the latest 50 graduates from its Career & Technical Institute on Thursday, honoring the accomplishments of another cohort of adult learners furthering their knowledge in the trades.
The Career & Technical Institute, offered in partnership with the MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center, is a Commonwealth Corporation grant-funded program that allows qualified candidates to apply for training in skilled, in-demand trades without paying for tuition or the cost of materials. These classes are taken over a period of 12 weeks for five hours per day, four days each week.
“We are here tonight to celebrate the accomplishments of the folks who have spent the last 12 or so weeks here,” Justin Lawrence, Franklin Tech’s adult education coordinator, said at the podium. “There is no timeframe for finding success.”
In this iteration of the program, five shops were offered, with welding, electrical, horticulture, carpentry, and plumbing and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). This spring’s plumbing and HVAC students are the first class of that trade to graduate from the Career & Technical Institute.
“This group is the biggest cohort so far,” Beverly Behrmann, Career & Technical Institute program assistant, told the graduates. “I was always so inspired and pleased after visiting the shops. I want to thank you, the students.”
Four graduates were presented with awards, with the first being the award formerly known as the Spirit of Excellence Award, now renamed the Dr. Richard J. Martin Spirit of Excellence Award in honor of the retiring superintendent. This award was given to Greenfield resident Mike Corona, a student in the electrical program. Lawrence said he was always blown away by Corona’s drive and he was always a student who stood out, saying that “it’s hard to tell if he’s a CTI student or studying for his Ph.D.”
Other awards included the Community Impact Award, given to a student who always came in with a smile on their face and tried to make life better for the people around them. This honor was given to Margaret Rivers, a student from Greenfield in the carpentry program.
The last award presented was the Jocelyn Croft Award for Perseverance. Lawrence introduced this award by saying that the two recipients are from Lowell and have traveled “over 7,000 miles” to complete the program. The recipients are Taiger Matos and Celso Santana, both in the plumbing and HVAC program.
In closing, Lawrence said he is excited to continue the Career & Technical Institute in the fall, and gave the graduates one piece of advice before leaving the gymnasium.
“You have chosen a path with many demands, but I encourage you all to dig deep and stay resilient because the benefits and quality of life that await you as an industry professional are well worth the effort,” Lawrence said. “You are worth the effort.”
The graduates are as follows:
Carpentry
Timothy Adan of Erving, Robert Bosworth of Athol, Samantha Forton of Greenfield, Charles Gerard of Northampton, Christopher Morin of Turners Falls, Zacharias Rivera of Greenfield, Margaret Rivers of Greenfield, Emmet Sexton of Orange, Tirzah Skelton of Montague and Noah Zobel of Northampton.
Horticulture
Danica Davis of Montague, Timothy Hanrahan of Wendell, Elsie Jordan of Turners Falls, Rosina Levasseur of Gill, Max Neiberg of Templeton, Jose Eduardo Reyes Samilpa of Shutebury, Robert Smalley of Orange, Henry Walker-West of Shelburne Falls and Leann Wilson of Northampton.
Electrical
Robert Byrd of Greenfield, Mike Corona of Greenfield, Jesse Dubreuil of Shelburne, Tyrese Ellis of South Deerfield, Sean Hamilton of Greenfield, Kyle Hubbard of Northfield, Grace Jenkins of Greenfield, Robert Skyler Lambert of Greenfield, Sheri Levesque of Shelburne Falls, Gregory Massa of Leverett, Joshua Moghaddam of Belchertown, Ryan Reeves of Leverett, Aaron Rockwood of Holyoke and Joel Smith of Greenfield.
Plumbing and HVAC
Luis Alicea of Lake Pleasant, Guems Cajuste of Greenfield, Michael Hanson of Longmeadow, Taiger Matos of Lowell, Alvaro Millan of Greenfield, Calvin Murphy of Greenfield, Celso Santana of Lowell, Michael Shearer of Northfield and Robert Skyler Simard of South Hadley.
Welding
Ruben Baker-deKater of Sunderland, Christopher Courtemanche of Orange, Stephen Kalinowski of Turners Falls, Deegan Kelleher of Shelburne Falls, Bradley Kreger of Huntington, Sarah (Merrow) Ragan of Florence, Thomas Ratte of Warwick and Ryan Sanborn of Athol.
