Class of 2022: They studied through the pandemic and learned a lot about themselves
The Class of 2022 has had an unprecedented high school experience - much of it in the shadow of the pandemic. Times Herald-Record reporters Lana Bellamy, Erin Nolan and Mike Randall caught up with a few area graduating seniors to hear their stories.
He felt heard among NFA's diverse student body
CITY OF NEWBURGH - Because there is such a range of different people at Newburgh Free Academy, Bryce Knight felt he could be his true self there.
The 17-year-old town of Newburgh resident transferred to NFA from the private Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie as a senior – switching schools at a pivotal point in his high school career.
"I was one of the only Black students in my old school," Knight said.
But at NFA, "It was full of people with different mindsets as me – more free and open, and as a Black man in this society, I'm not free and open all the time. I can't be as open as some of my fellow white friends," he said.
"And when I went here (NFA), I felt like my identity was heard from the people around me. Even if they literally don’t talk to me, just being around them makes me feel accepted."
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Knight describes himself as naturally shy. He turns to various forms of art to express himself. He taught himself to paint, play piano and write music.
And it was his art that took him on a journey of self-discovery this year.
"I did a whole art portfolio called 'Perception,' and it went into deep layers of my subconscious. That helped a lot. That made me see myself," Knight said.
A lasting impression of his artwork is on display for all of Newburgh's students to experience on a wall at NFA's main campus.
Knight's mural features striking portraits of people with various features, skin tones and styles.
He named it "Melodic Melanin" and explained his inspiration in a recent news release from the school district:
"Each character on the mural has a story of Black people overcoming their challenges and becoming the kings and queens they are today. None of the characters are specific people, with the exception of the woman with the blonde braids and red bandana; she represents my mother and the constant everyday struggle that Black women have to face, not only being a woman but being Black.
"I see my mother as a powerhouse. Not only is she a woman that faces sexism but also being Black she faces racism/colorism, in addition to being a mother of three children. Her strength leaves me in awe."
Knight is headed to Howard University in the fall, where he plans to major in neuropsychology and minor in art.
He says his final year of high school felt like it flew by. And he has some advice for rising seniors: Don't worry so much about planning every minute detail of your future. Be open to opportunities that might lead life in a new direction.
"I think they should be very open to the spontaneity of life because they don’t know what they’re going to do and they definitely don’t know who they are," Knight said. "In senior year, you would open yourself to figuring out who you are, but you will never truly know... The closer you get to graduation, you have no idea what’s going to happen after that."
-Lana Bellamy
Middletown High senior's advice: Stay focused on the future
MIDDLETOWN - Kimberly Kelly had been feeling abdominal pain for several weeks during her junior year at Middletown High School.
“It was nothing I had experienced before. I was thinking maybe I just pulled a muscle in dance or something like that,” she said. Kelly takes ballet, jazz and other dance classes at M'Lanie Hunter Dance in Chester. “I didn't know. Maybe I stood up wrong. But then one night I was like, ‘Mom, I just can’t do it anymore.’”
Kelly and her mother went to a local emergency room, kicking off a months-long period of time full of doctors visits, surgeries and nights spent at the hospital.
But even after 15 surgeries, more than seven weeks at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital in Valhalla and an eventual diagnosis of Crohn's disease, Kelly is graduating as the Middletown High School Class of 2022 salutatorian.
“I think that my one word to describe how I feel is ‘shocked,’” Kelly said. “I'm really proud of myself and I'm proud of all of my friends and everything that we've all accomplished together.”
When Kelly first landed in the hospital, she wasn't focused on completing her homework and studying for tests. Getting healthy was her top priority.
“But towards the end it became kind of a distraction," she said. "My teachers were unbelievably flexible with me and they were very understanding… So it was stressful, but I have to say school was probably my least concern at that time because I knew how understanding they were and that I was eventually going to be OK.”
Even before she got sick she was attending school online as a result of the pandemic, which, she pointed out, made the process of figuring out how to work from the hospital much easier than it might have been.
"I ended my junior year and I was still excelling in school, and I finally got to see my friends again. I ended up still going to prom and being able to dance," she said. "I did get to have one of the best summers ever, even though I had like the worst year ever. I feel better than ever before.”
Leaving Middletown - the place where she grew up and home to many people who supported her while she was struggling with her health - will be difficult, Kelly said. But she is excited to study biology at the University at Albany in the fall and pursue an eventual career as a pediatrician.
If her peers take anything from her story, Kelly said, it should be that it's OK to scream and cry and yell when things get tough, but always remember: it gets better.
"Everyone has their obstacles and everyone has their difficulties in life, but if you keep your strength up and you look forward and don't focus so much on what's going on right now, eventually, you're gonna get through it," she said. "You're eventually going to get back to where you were before, maybe even better."
-Erin Nolan
Dominican native heads to college on track & field scholarship after M-W
CENTRAL VALLEY - “Working hard pays off, always,” said Eslian Henriquez Flores, a graduating senior at Monroe-Woodbury High School.
He is living proof of his mantra's success. Henriquez Flores will study nursing at Dominican University New York in the fall. He'll be attending school on a track and field athletic scholarship.
He dreams of one day competing in the Olympics.
During the school year, the 19-year-old's schedule was a full slate of BOCES and standard high school classes, as well as an after-school chemistry course.
Outside of the school day, he's always looking for other ways to stay active at home and in the community, including volunteering, playing soccer, or – when none of those is an option – perfecting his English.
Henriquez Flores came to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 2017. He was in the eighth grade. He lived in the Bronx for a year before moving to Monroe.
Moving to a new country and adjusting to a different and (as he characterized it) more challenging education system was hard for him. Not to mention, he didn't speak English.
“I only knew how to say ‘hi’ and ‘bye,’” he recalled during an interview earlier this month.
Now, he's a social butterfly. His guidance counselor, Susan Alicea, referred to him as "the mayor of Monroe."
School closures at the beginning of the pandemic were a bit challenging for Henriquez Flores. He used the time away from school to help his family around the house.
"I remember my 10th grade, that year, everybody was in quarantine and two months later, I opened my email and I had a lot of emails. I was like Oh. My. Gosh."
Alicea mused with him that he must've had thousands of emails to sort through.
Checking his email just wasn't something he was used to doing. But the pandemic changed that.
During his downtime in quarantine, he picked up a book written in English that he found at home to practice his language skills. He noted definitions in its margins and in the back of the book. He read aloud to practice sounding out the words.
Learning another language is something he strongly advises rising senior students to do.
Earlier this school year, Henriquez Flores was ill for two months with anemia, a condition caused by iron deficiencies in the blood. He felt exhausted and it was hard for him to focus in class.
Clearly not himself, his friends and teachers checked on him to make sure he was OK. Their support and encouragement meant a lot to him.
Looking back on those months, "It helped me appreciate life, to be here in Monroe-Woodbury High School, to be here in America. We are lucky to be here today," he said.
-Lana Bellamy
Off to a career in medicine, she found her calling at Monticello High
MONTICELLO - Jenna Hendricks attended Monticello schools all her life, but she didn't get too involved in school programs until she got to high school.
And one program she joined there helped her find her vocational calling.
The New Vision Health Program, run through BOCES in association with Syracuse University, is an elite program for students planning to go into medicine.
"Only 14 students across the county are selected for it each year," Hendricks said.
They learned about how many people aren't fully knowledgeable about health insurance, learned about options, how to obtain insurance, what qualifications are and why costs are rising.
They even designed a lesson to be taught to other classes across the county. It was approved on May 4 and they taught it for the first time later that month.
During the program, Hendricks also had the opportunity to visit a hospital operating room and witness a C-section and other operations.
"Now I know my career path," Hendricks said. "I'm going to be a physician assistant, specializing in neurosurgery."
Deciding on a specialty wasn't easy. She had considered others such as cardiology but felt those weren't for her after witnessing procedures during the New Visions program.
After graduating from Monticello High School on June 26, the next stop on Hendricks' educational path is SUNY New Paltz, where she will be majoring in biology. With credits she earned in high school, she'll be able to finish her degree in two and a half years.
After that, she plans to continue her education, still locally, at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Middletown. She said they just began offering a physician assistant program this year.
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"Then, in four and a half years instead of six, I will be a physician assistant," Hendricks said.
The COVID-19 pandemic also played a large role in the education of Hendricks and her classmates,
"It definitely intruded on a lot of my high school experience," she said.
But Hendricks said she "tried harder to excel even more" during the transition to online learning.
"The app we used, [Microsoft] Teams, helped me to plan my schedule better," Hendricks said. "I stopped procrastinating."
-Mike Randall
Port Jervis grad inspired by healing qualities of music
PORT JERVIS – Like many people, Braeden Ross struggled emotionally in 2020 when the pandemic hit and the world as he knew it was turned upside down.
Ross, 18, a senior at Port Jervis High, said he has always drawn inspiration from music and seeing what it does for listeners. It's why he’s performed at venues ranging from local nursing homes and restaurants to Carnegie Hall. It's why he loves his jobs as a music director and piano instructor.
And it's why he had such a difficult time when the pandemic struck.
“None of the music professionals, none of my teachers, no one that I worked with was available,” he said. “I kind of just let it go. And eventually, I had to find it again. And when I did, it made me so much happier than how I was when I was facing those very dark times.”
Ross has since dedicated himself to spreading the healing qualities of music. He's pursuing a career as a music therapist.
"When I was younger, I used to play piano and sing in the old folks' homes and in the hospital in Port Jervis. I started there," he said. "There's studies showing the great connection between Alzheimer's treatment and memory loss diseases and how that connects to music. My mom also teaches adults and young adults with intellectual disabilities, and I work with them so I see a connection there as well."
In the fall, Ross will attend Nazareth College in Rochester, where he will study music therapy, music composition and vocal performance. He hopes one day to open his own clinic offering music, speech, occupational and service animal therapy.
"It just seems like something I could do to help people by using my passion, and so I will hopefully have a focus on people," he said.
Ross also organized the Port Jervis Recreation Department Youth Choir, which he hopes showcases the power of music through its performances at various community events.
This past summer, Ross said, the choir put on a particularly emotional performance at a memorial event honoring Robert Lewis, a Black man who was lynched in Port Jervis in 1892.
“I hadn't even learned of what happened with Robert Lewis until last year as a junior, but after that, I wanted to learn more about it,” he said. “But also, there is a healing power in music, and I wanted the kids in my choir to see more of that. As we were singing, you had people crying and I could tell that because of our chorus, people were having little epiphanies.”
The choir sang two songs during the event, including Ross's own arrangement of "Amazing Grace."
"Some things just can't be said. I mean, I love words and I love books, but there's some things bigger than a book or words," Ross said. "When you're expressing an emotion through music, it's more. I don't know if that makes sense, but (it gives people) that ability to express oneself to others. It's pretty powerful."
-Erin Nolan
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Class of '22: Studied through the pandemic, learned about themselves
