MONTAGUE — They waltzed into the gym, one-by-one, taking a slow step at every other beat of the band’s rendition of “Pomp and Circumstance.”
Some wore blue gowns, some white, but Friday all 55 were united in becoming Turners Falls High School alumni.
With thunderous applause from family and friends, the class of 2018 seniors marched toward the stage and their futures.
“This is one of those days we’ve had circled on our calendars for months, maybe years,” said Class President Chloe Ellis. “I woke up this morning and thought, ‘Today is that day’.”
The seniors seemed joyful for the occasion, smiling and waving to cheering parents as they made their slow walks.
But the student speakers also couldn’t help acknowledging that moving on can be bittersweet.
“In a school as small as this one, you really get to know everyone around you,” Ellis told the crowd. “Some will stay in touch, some will get distant.”
Salutatorian Snejana Lashtur said graduating almost felt unreal.
“Many of us grew up with each other since elementary school or even preschool,” Lashtur said. “It’s hard to believe tonight ends it all.”
Valedictorian Simon Lorenzo put succinctly into words the sense of accomplishment and hope that also filled the room, accompanying the nostalgia.
“Whether you look back on these years fondly or with a cringe on your face, don’t let them be the best four years of your life,” Lorenzo told his classmates.
“Save lives, write stories, draw tattoos or program computers. I want each of you to go out and be yourself.”
Anna Garbiel Scholarship: Maya Hancock-Pezzati; Bill Petravage Memorial Scholarship: Maya Hancock-Pezzati; Brian Boguz Athletic Scholarships: Hannah Bogusz; Amanda Cooke; Peyton L. Emery; Abigail Loynd; Cohn & Company Scholarship: Hannah Graves; Comcast Leaders & Achievers Scholarship: Javoni Williams’ Community Foundation of Western Mass. Scholarship Michael A. Smiarowski Memorial Scholarship: Snejana Lashtur; Donald Maynard Scholarship: Abigail Loynd; Edward Brown Memorial Scholarship: Peyton Emery; Erving Teachers Association Scholarship: Abigail Loynd;
Erving PTO Scholarship: Samantha Kolodziej; Franklin County Rotary Club Scholarship: Hannah Graves; Fred R. Whitcomb Scholarship: Chloe Ellis & Kyle Kucenski; Friends of Gill Scholarship: Kyle Kucenski; Gilmond Lamore Memorial Scholarship: Abigail Loynd; Gill-Montague Education Association Scholarships: Amanda Cooke; GMEF Enrichment/Scholarship: Chloe Ellis & Nicholas Taylor;
Greenfield Kiwanis Scholarship: Nicholas Taylor; Greenfield Permanent Firefighters Local 2548: Nicholas Taylor; H. Royer Collins Student Athlete Scholarship: Snejana Lashtur; Harriot E. Tidd Memorial Scholarship: Kylee Mason; Madeline J. Carlson Scholarship: Amanda Cooke, Peyton Emery, Taela Luippold, Emma Miner, Aliyah Sanders; Mary Stuart Rogers Scholarship: Kylee Mason; Mary Valley Forest Scholarship: Kylee Mason.
Massachusetts Association for School Business Officials Presidents Business Scholarship: Snejana Lashtur; Mery O’Brien Scholarship: Sienna Dillensneider, Chloe Ellis, Maya Hancock-Pezzati, Samantha Kolodziej, Abigail Loynd, Aliyah Sanders, Nicholas Taylor; Molly Baxter Photography Scholarship: Sienna Dillensneider & Nicholas Taylor; The Recorder Scholarship: Samantha Kolodziej; Tobin Scholarship, Hannah Graves;
TFHS All-Sports Booster Scholarship: Peyton Emery, Kyle Kucenski; TFHS Alumni Scholarship: Nicholas Taylor; TFHS Class of 1957 Bernard Plaza Service Scholarship: Maya Hancock-Pezatti; Turners Falls Athletic Club Scholarships: Chloe Ellis; Sienna Dillensneider; Peyton Emery; TFHS Student Government Service Scholarship: Abigail Loynd; Wells Trust Fund Scholarships: Amanda Cooke, Peyton Emery, Hannah Graves, Kyle Kucenski, Snejana Lashtur, Nicholas Taylor, John Wheeler; William Connelly Memorial Scholarship: Chloe Ellis; Women’s Club of Turners Falls Scholarship: Taela Luippold, Kylee Mason; Women of the Moose Chapter 316 Scholarship: Nicholas Taylor
Chase Oakley Blair; Hannah Briann Bogusz; Branden Michael Chapin; Madison May Chmyzinski; Amanda Marie Cooke; Noah Daniel Owen Courchesne; Alora Gabrielle DeForge; Seinna Kells Dillensneider; Adrianna Leigh DiMaio; John Driscoll; Sahaley Paige DuPree;
Chloe Elizabeth Ellis; Peyton Laura Emery; Kylie Madison Fleming; Hannah Christine Graves; Tabitha Hamilton; Maya Nicole Hancock-Pezzati; Destiny Eve Hubbard; Kamal Stephen Hardwick Ketcham; Samantha Kolodziej; Carlie Elizabeth Kretchmar; Kyle J. Kucenski; Snejana Lashtur; Zachary Ryan Lastowski; Simon Edward Lorenzo; Abigail Loynd; Taela Jade Lea Luippold; Mekhi Maratea;
Ian Walter William Marron; Kylee Nicole Mason; Kayli Sumer Messinger; Justin Conner Mikalunas; Emma Mae Miner; Joshua Thomas Obuchowski; Hadyn Patenaude; Kirsten M. Sager; Aliyah Sanders; Colin Clifford Senn; Tallyn Rose-Marie Shaw; Madison Aurora Renne St. Marie; Tyler M. Smith;
Nicholas Cote Taylor; Skylar P. Thompson; Tatyana Lynn Torres; David Tricolici; Rachel Marie Tucker; James Roy Vaughn; Riley Watroba; Samantha Marie Wegiel; John Mark Wheeler; Mason Hunter Whiteman; Alexis Jean Wickline; Javoni Jacob Williams; Samuel Yolish.
Most Valuable Players
Baseball, Riley Watroba; Boys Basketball, James Vaughn; Girls Basketball, Chloe Ellis; Field Hockey, Samantha Kolodziej and Snejana Lashtur; Football, John Driscoll; Football Cheerleading, Kayli Messinger; Golf, Kyle Kucenski; Basketball and Competition Cheerleading, Kayli Messinger; Ice-Hockey, Mason Whiteman; Softball, Peyton Emery; Swimming, Nicholas Taylor; Boys Tennis, James Vaughn; Girls Tennis, Carlie Kretchmar; Girls Track, Amanda Cooke; Volleyball, Sienna Dillensneider; Girls Soccer: Tabitha Hamilton; Boys Track: Chase Blair.
Class of 1945 Joseph J. Sheff Memorial Award: James Vaughn. Marston Baseball Award: Riley Watroba; Nate Lucas Award: Nicholas Taylor.
Academic and Service
Excellence In Art Award: Alora DeForge; Excellence in Communication Design Award: Samantha Kolodziej; Excellence in Film Editing Award: Rachel Tucker; Excellence in Filmaking Award: Chase Blair; Excellence in English: Samantha Kolodziej; Excellence in French: Carlie Kretchmar; Excellence in Latin: Madison St. Marie; Excellence in Life Science Award: Maya Hancock-Pezzati; Excellence in Mathematics: Snejana Lashtur;
Excellence in Physical Education: James Vaugh; Excellence in Physical Science Award: Simon Lorenzo; Excellence in Social Studies Award: Snejana Lashtur; Music Excellence Award: Chase Blair; Marine Corps. Athletic Award: John Driscoll; Marine Corps Academic Award: Carlie Krechtmar.
The President’s Award for Academic Achievement: Kyle Kucenski; Abigail Loynd; Hannah Graves; Madison St. Marie; Chloe Ellis; Amanda Cooke; Aliyah Sanders; Nicholas Taylor.
The President’s Award for Academic Excellence: Simon Lorenzo; Snejana Lashtur; Maya Hancock-Pezatti; Hannah Bogus; Samantha Kolodziej; Sienna Dillensneider; Carlie Kretchmar.
The Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators Association Award: Javoni Williams; Turners Falls High School Class of 1947 English Award for Outstanding Effort: Snejana Lashtur; Class of 1953 for Excellence in Drama Miss Alice Teed Award: Rachel Tucker; Society of Women Engineers of Boston: Sienna Dillensneider, Maya Hancock-Pezzati; Turners Falls High School American Citizenship Awards: Chase Blair, John Driscoll, Samantha Kolodziej, Carlie Kretchmar, Javoni Williams; Turners Falls High Service Award: Chloe Ellis; Ellen T. Wrightson Memorial Award: Abigail Loynd. Turners Falls High School Class of 2018 Scholastic Merit Awards: Simon Lorenzo, Snejana Lashtur, Maya Hancock-Pezzati, Hannah Bogusz, Samantha Kolodziej;
The Valedictorian Award: Simon Lorenzo.
The Salutatorian Award: Snejana Lashtur.
National Honor Society
Amanda Cooke, Sienna Dillensneider, Chloe Elllis, Hannah Graves, Maya Hancock-Pezzati, Samantha Kolodziej, Carlie Kretchmar, Kyle Kucenski, Snejana Lashtur, Simon Lorenzo, Abigail Loynd, Madison St. Marie, Nicholas Taylor.
Junior Book Awards
Bay Path College Book Award Mireya Ortiz; Rensselaer Medal Scholarship Anna Kochan; Saint Michaels Book Award Samantha Bocon; Smith College Book Award Jenna Jacobsen; Swarthmore College Book Award Victoria Veaudry; Wells College 21st Century Leadership Award Cassidhe Wozniak; Western New England University Book Award Sarah Waldron; Williams College Book Award John Putala.