SHELBY ASHLINE
Recorder Staff
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GREENFIELD — “I love each of my classmates like they were my siblings and my teachers like they were my parents,” said Amanda Zabawa.
Kai DeLorenzo called his 32 Four Rivers Charter Public School classmates his heroes, and Neva Newcombe called them her family.
“I miss you already,” said Cheyanne Ennis through muffled sobs. “I don’t want to say goodbye.”
Many teary-eyed student speakers stepped up to the podium outside Four Rivers Charter Public School Saturday to say goodbye to their friends in the Class of 2016.
Throughout the ceremony, the speakers emphasized the sense of community at Four Rivers.
The connection felt between the students was further explained by Ceridwyn Carlton when she said, “We’ve been through more than school together … We picked each other up when we fell, and carried on.”
While the students have plans to attend college or join the workforce, Neva Newcombe asked that her classmates never forget the time they shared at Four Rivers and what it meant to them.
“This matters,” she said. “This place and the time I spent here matters to me.”
As for the future, Newcombe said she only has hope that her fellow graduates reach their goals and find happiness, while Carlton reminded her classmates to take care of themselves. Ennis, quoting the movie “Finding Nemo,” concluded her speech by telling the class to “keep swimming.”
Scholarships
Celia Bales: Adams Scholarship.
Aidan Belanger: Adams Scholarship, The Mary
Stuart Rogers Foundation Scholarship, Kiwanis Club of Greenfield Scholarship.
Aidan Braverman: Adams Scholarship.
Ceridwyn Carlton: Adams Scholarship.
Quinn Cusimano: Adams Scholarship.
Kai DeLorenzo: Adams Scholarship.
Sara DiPaolo: Kiwanis Club of Greenfield Scholarship, Adams Scholarship.
MatthewFreeman: Adams Scholarship.
Chester Hardina-Blanchette: Adams Scholarship.
Emory Ketch: Adams Scholarship.
Nicholas Koncz: Colrain Community Church
Scholarship, Adams Scholarship.
Kylie Kuhn: Adams Scholarship.
Sarah LaCoy: Adams Scholarship.
Doran McMillan: Plainfield Community Church, Adams Scholarship.
Robert Naranjo: Adams Scholarship.
Neva Newcombe: Adams Scholarship.
Kenneth Olchowski: Adams Scholarship.
Graduates
Nicholas Altimari, South Deerfield; Celia Bales, Gill; Aidan Belanger, Greenfield; Allison Boswell, Greenfield; Aidan Braverman, New Salem; Sophie Brown, South Deerfield; Ceridwyn Carlton, Turners Falls; Courtney Crafts, Greenfield; Quinn Cusimano, Shelburne Falls; Kai DeLorenzo, Shelburne Falls; Sara DiPaolo, Greenfield; Jacob Dwyer, Erving; Renna Earp, Shelburne Falls; Ella Elliott-Saakvitne, Florence; Cheyanne Ennis, Greenfield;
Matthew Freeman, Millers Falls; Jasmine Gomez, Greenfield; Annaleah Gregoire, Greenfield; Chester Hardina-Blanchette, Northampton and Shelburne Falls; Seamus Hawks, Greenfield; Emory Ketch, Turners Falls; Nicholas Koncz, Colrain; Kylie Kuhn, Greenfield; Sarah LaCoy, Montague; Erica McAnn, Northfield; Doran McMillan, Plainfield; Robert Naranjo, Montague; Neva Newcombe, Wendell; Tyber Oborne, Chesterfield; Kenneth Olchowski, Greenfield; Tessa Perry, Greenfield; Amanda Zabawa, Greenfield.