VIDEO: Dover students march to the future at graduation

DOVER PLAINS - On Monday, Krista Caione is heading to Winchester, Virginia, to meet her college roommate at Shenandoah University.

It’ll mark the second meaningful experience in three days for the Dover High School student, following her graduation on Saturday.

“I’m very excited to graduate,” Caione said. “It’s a lot of mixed emotions.”

Caione was among the 100 students who graduated from Dover. There were enough smiles, selfies and hugs to go around prior to the ceremony, as each student prepared to walk across the stage.

Tyler Maass was one of those with high spirits before commencement.

He will be attending Clarkson University in Potsdam next year for mechanical engineering, citing his love for knowledge of how things work, and the “why” behind everything.

But that journey to future began with Saturday’s ceremony.

“This is a big moment. Everything over the past four years has led up to this,” Maass said. “I’m super excited to graduate and go off to college.”

Commencement was a long time coming for Maass’ classmate and friend, Nick Murphy. He’ll be attending Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh next year to study criminology.

He drew his inspiration from crime drama television shows, like “CSI: Miami,” and the path to his dream career included heavy contemplation about graduation day.

“What can I say? These past four years I’ve been thinking about it and thinking about it,” Murphy said. “It feels like yesterday I was in my freshman year.”

And Dover’s graduation wasn’t just the swan song for the students.

This past school year was the last for Thomas Wright, a Dover social studies teacher. Wright is retiring after 28 years of teaching.

Wright delivered a speech at the ceremony, speaking of how he tried his best to know each student individually.

“I love them. I’ve been here so long, I’ve taught nearly 20 percent of their parents,” Wright said. “This is a small community, and it’s very tightly-knit, which is a good thing.”

A.J. Martelli: amartelli@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4836, Twitter: @AJM_PoJoSports

Honors

Valedictorian: Anna Canzoneri

Salutatorian: Kevin McMorrrow