Families crowd GMUHS for graduating Class of 2015

By Leah M. Cunningham
©2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC

On Friday, June 19, overcast and rainy skies cleared in time for the evening’s ceremonies, as Green Mountain Union High School awarded 57 diplomas to students heading to either college, the work force or the military. (See photo gallery below)

Despite adding 200 chairs to bring audience seating to 500, some family and friends still had found themselves standing among the throngs to witness the milestone. Green Mountain Principal Tom Ferenc later said he expected that next year, he would be adding even more chairs.

During the speeches, salutatorian Madeleine Fulkerson reflected on the class’s first day at Green Mountain to draw on the importance of graduation. “We made it. Some days we may have complained that these years were going by slower than they should have, but tonight it feels like they have flown by,” she told the overflow crowd.

In her speech, valedictorian Alecia Rokes emphasized the importance of community. She urged her classmates “to be active in (their new) community, to take action within it, to make new friends and to find your place in the community that is around you … But we need to remember that this community (Chester) will always be here for us, as it always has been.”

Class guest speaker Melissa Palmer, a social studies teacher who was also an adviser to this class, said that this graduation was “breaking (her) heart.” She told the audience that she had asked GM faculty to pick four words to describe the Class of 2015. She said they came up with “boisterous, lively, fun and capable.”

Several awards that weren’t given out at the June 12 Awards Ceremony were presented during graduation.

They included: Alumni Award to Adrian Baraw-Nelson; American Legion Award to Vanessa Griswold and Alecia Rokes; Babe Ruth Athletic awards Kyle Kemp and Emily McNamara; Chester Academy Gold Pins to Alecia Rokes, Jordan Stewart and Casie Walton; John Butler Scholarships from the Chester Academy to Madeline Fulkerson, Brian Hennel, Daina Ricketts, Alecia Rokes, Jordan Stewart and Casie Walton. Medals and checks to two students nominated by teachers went to Joseph Epler III and Casie Walton. Vanessa Griswold was recognized for her participation in the VAST program at Vermont Technical College, which makes her a sophomore in college.

Several students not mentioned in last week’s Awards Night article in The Chester Telegraph are: Breanna Vittum, who received the Chester Memorial Teachers Award; and Emily Tornquist, Rachel Martel, Katherine McNally, Jessica Ralston, Melanie Thompson and Alexandra DeRosia, who are already attending college and  received the Tom Spater Memorial Scholarships.

The ceremony ended with the officers of the Class of 2015 presenting the class’s gift of $1,000 to help fund the school’s outdoor project. And as the start of a new tradition, each member of the class received a GM Spirit Coin as a memento of their time at GM.

Those who also received diplomas but did not attend graduation include: Haley Adams, Pamela Ann Ameden, Sara Davidson, Lilith C. Dyke Gragg, Katherine E. Gordon, Rebecca Johnson-Blanchard and John Alexander Lighthall.

Photos by Leah M. Cunningham. Names listed from left to right, click any to launch gallery.

Green Mountain Union High School’s Class of 2015

GM middle and high school band play ‘Pomp and Circumstance.'”

Staff and faculty of GM enter first.

Class marshals Robert Haseltine and Rylee Ewald lead the procession of graduates.

Casie Walton and Ian Martel

Addison Provance and Kristina Knockenhauer

Breanna Vittum and Emily McNamara

Courtney Sheldon and Tessa Bushey

Austin Barrows and Madeleine Fulkerson

Jordan Alexandra Stewart and Alecia Barbara Rokes

Adrian Baraw-Nelson and Brian Hennel

Taylor Hendee and Kristie Palowski

Logan Mott and Ryan Murphy

Kyle Kemp and Joseph Epler III

Jerick Hoose and Caitlyn Haughey

Abagale Van Alstyne and Tyler Tyrrell

Holly Landon and Desirree Nestor

Vanessa Griswold and Abigail Underwood

Tylisha Johnson-Blanchard and Megan Hayes

Daina Ricketts and Abel Millay

Karen Ellison and Samantha Wood

Taylor Spaulding and Tanner Stearns

Hope White and Steven Tyler Kingsbury

Matt Palmer and Desirae Williams

Bruce Jonson III and Benjamin Stowell-Danforth

Eli DeLorea and Christopher Holley

Kayla Elise Smith and Savannah Shields

Josh Blish and Jonathan Wright

Andrew Ditzler and Andrew Plumb

Principal Tom Ferenc tells the audience that he’ll be increasing seating capacity next year as well.

Superintendent of Schools Bruce Williams tells the Class of 2015 to ‘aspire to be the light’ in a world of darkness.

Salutatorian Madeleine Fulkerson

Valedictorian Alecia Rokes

Guest speaker and class advisor Melissa Palmer

GM Small Ensemble sings ‘For Good’ and Samantha Wood signs it using American Sign Language.

Class officers Kristina Knockenhauer, Tessa Bushey, Emily McNamara and Casie Walton present the class gift.