GRADUATION! Area students celebrate commencement
Thousands of students in the mid-Hudson Valley are celebrating graduation this weekend.
On Friday, commencements were held for students from Orchard View Alternative High School, Anderson Center for Autism, Franklin D. Roosevelt High School, Marlboro High School, New Paltz High School, Poughkeepsie High School, John Jay High School and Pawling High School.
Saturday’s graduations are Arlington High School, Beacon High School, Dover High School, Stissing Mountain High School, Faith Christian Academy, Red Hook High School, Roy C. Ketcham High School, Rhinebeck High School, Spackenkill High School and Webutuck High School.
FRIDAY GRADUATIONS
John Galanin will be attending SUNY New Paltz next year.
The Marlboro High School student isn't yet sure what he wants to do with the rest of his life. But, he has an idea.
"My father was a businessman who did accounting," he said. "For five years I might just go for accounting. See how it goes."
Galanin was one of 184 Marlboro graduates on Friday.
Matt Kanan wants to study neuroscience.
And the reason why lives at home with him. Kanan's father, Rief, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
"It's a horrible disease to have to live with," said Kanan, an 18-year-old from Gardiner. "If I can find a way to help the people who have to suffer with it, it would make my life feel more beneficial."
Kanan was one of 184 members of the Class of 2016 celebrated at the New Paltz High School commencement ceremony Friday.
His name is still printed in the Poughkeepsie High School graduation program.
But it's marked with two stars for remembrance. Caval Haylett, 18, an honor student and athlete, was shot and killed in March. Haylett, who went into his senior year only needing two credits to graduate, had talked excitedly about his future and plans for college, friends recalled after his death.
So on Friday, his mom Cathis Johnson showed up at what should have been her son's much-anticipated graduation ceremony, to collect his diploma.
"Today is a very important day for me and my family," Johnson said. "I always encouraged my kids that this is what they needed for their education. I'm proud but I'm also sad." Her son can't get his diploma, so "I'm here to do it for him. We’re going to celebrate this sunny, gorgeous day and get Caval's diploma."
The ceremony, the school's 144th, was held on the football field. Proud loved ones watched as more than 200 students filed in, wearing blue robes.
Orchard View Alternative High School
Speaking to the graduating class, Orchard View Alternative High School Principal Laura DiStefano said each student "has a story of adversity, and a story of survival.”
“Being an O.V. 'wolf' means being part of something special,” DiStefano said. “It means being a part of our family.”
Once attending Orchard View, Swartvagher said it was clear that she was accepted and that teachers cared about her success.
“At O.V., they would do anything to help me. It really feels like home. I feel like I’m leaving my home,” she said.
Aren Antreasyan of Hopewell Junction was wearing a cap and gown.
He was standing outside the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie.
And he was reflecting on one of the biggest days of his life.
Shortly before graduating from John Jay High School Friday evening, Antreasyan was experiencing a ''hefty mixture'' of emotions.
''All forms of anxiety,'' he said. ''The excited, the nervous. Excited to see what happens, basically.''
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School
Alexandros Psichas remembers watching his parents struggle, working long hours and grinding to provide for the family and save for what they hoped would be a brighter future.
Psichas’ parents moved to the United States from Greece when he was 6 months old. At the time, neither parent spoke English, nor did they have relatives in New York, and his father worked in restaurants, washing dishes. Nobody in his family had ever gone to college, Alexandros said.
Those memories and that fact in mind, almost constantly, is what drove Alexandros to excel in the classroom at Franklin D. Roosevelt High School. It’s also what made Friday’s graduation ceremony all the more meaningful to him.
It’s also why he plans to enroll in the Naval Academy. His family benefit greatly from the opportunities afforded them by the United States, Psichas said, and joining a branch of the military will be his “small way of giving back to the country.”
For Anna Nolan, it wasn't just graduation.
It was the end of her first year of high school.
Nolan, 18, of Holmes, was homeschooled until last year, so going to Pawling High School was a case of culture shock. Despite her fears going in, Nolan's classmates were there to help with that social anxiety.
"Even on day one, people were coming up to talk to me, and many of those people became really good friends of mine," Nolan said.
The Anderson Center for Autism in Staatsburg held its annual graduation commencement yesterday as 17 of the school’s 138 students received diplomas. Unlike public and private schools in the region, Anderson students have a different set of criteria to graduate.
“Age is the main determining factor for graduation,” said Anderson’s COO Patrick Paul. “These individuals have really worked very hard to maximize whatever opportunities were given to make sure that they are leaving here with the optimal qualities and skills that are necessary to be as successful as possible.”
Following graduation, graduates will move on to a group home that is served by an agency. While some of the graduates will stay at Anderson to participate in an adult program, others will return to their personal communities to reside in a group home.
“Most of these individuals will engage in some sort of day program,” Paul said.
For graduation coverage, go to http://pojonews.co/pjgraduations