Lyndonville grads enjoy the moment in a special ceremony

Photos by Sue Cook – Patrick Hinkson shakes hands with school superintendent Jason Smith. Behind him, Regina Corser receives her degree from Theodore Lewis, president of the Board of Education.

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

LYNDONVILLE – The Lyndonville Class of 2014 walked the auditorium stage Friday night for the district’s 74th commencement, which happened to be the 50th anniversary of the school on Housel Avenue.

The Class of 1964 was invited to the ceremony to signify the importance of the event. The 1964 valedictorian, John Woodworth, and salutatorian, Constance Maines, were given an opportunity to address students.

Maines delivers her speech to the students and reminds them their excellence is a foundation for the rest of their lives.

“To anybody out there who might think they’re average,” said Maines, addressing the students, “you’re average in a school that is in the top 6 percent of schools in the country. So don’t let anything hold you back. The average here is superlative in many places.”

Forty two students earned their diplomas and walked the stage. Many of the students earned scholarships and awards with some receiving multiple accolades. Forty five scholarships were awarded in total.

Heather Mufford tells her classmates about how they are still working to complete their lives.

Salutatorian Heather Mufford told the students how their lives were like puzzles. High school had completed part of the puzzle.

“The moment we move our tassels from the right to the left, we’ll earn that last connecting puzzle piece,” said Mufford. “We’ll have successfully completed the border to the puzzle that represents our life. High school was only the border to the puzzle, the foundation for the rest. There are still plenty of pieces to be sorted out of the box, which represents the future.”

Graduate Brennan O’Connor directs the band in playing the Lyndonville alma mater.

Valedictorian Abigail Feldman was unable to attend the ceremony. She is attending a Distinguished Young Women scholarship event in Mobile, Alabama. Feldman made a recording of her speech, which was played for the audience.

“You have to take responsibility for you actions. Growing up means being able to say ‘I lost it,’ instead of ‘it got lost,'” Feldman said.

She continued with other life lessons. “Honesty is always the best policy. When you do the right thing, the majority of the time life will reward you.”

The school principal, Dr. Aaron Slack, told the students about how they should always do the right things when other people are not monitoring their lives and actions.

“I would say that many of your greatest successes as a class have come when you’ve taken the lead,” he said.

Chelsey Silversmith, Dalton Cerbone and Cheyenne Button look on with their classmates during Slack’s speech.

As each student crossed the stage, their names were announced loud and proud as if they were being called onto the field at a sporting event. It gave great importance to each name and the audience joined in by cheering.

“These kids are awesome,” Jennifer Trupo, vocal music teacher, said after the ceremony. “In one capacity or another I worked almost every single kid on that stage in the short time I’ve been here. The school is going to miss them a lot. We celebrate these kids. For every single one of them it is a major accomplishment. I love that Mark Hughes shouts their names and everyone cheers for them because they really should be celebrated.”

After the ceremony, Musa Mansur shows off an orange golf ball that reads LCS, which was a gift to each student.