Windsor Locks grads ready to take next steps

Austin Mirmina, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·3 min read

Jun. 14—WINDSOR LOCKS — For the high school Class of 2022, Monday's graduation ceremony was both a beginning and an end.

The event capped the high school careers of the nearly 100 students who gathered on the football field to be celebrated. But it also commenced another journey, one that school administrators said would soon be filled with unknown challenges and opportunities.

CLASS OF 2022

VALEDICTORIAN: Ryan Lucas.

SALUTATORIAN: Nicole DiPoppo.

"While this is the ending of your high school years, it's the beginning of the rest of your lives," Board of Education Chairman Dr. Dennis Gragnolati said.

As graduates moved their tassels and tossed their caps skyward, preparing to step out into the next phase of their lives, Gragnolati told them to "step confidently."

Graduates also were reminded that they are prepared to face any obstacle, having regularly proven their tenacity and perseverance over the past four years.

Superintendent Shawn Parkhurst said the Class of 2022 held a special place in his heart because the students started high school the same year that he became the superintendent of Windsor Locks Public Schools.

"One might say we were both freshmen at the same time," Parkhurst said.

In crafting his speech for the ceremony, Parkhurst said he struggled to generate advice for students that would apply to today's ever-changing world.

"The world has changed, and we continue to change," he said. "The question I ask is, have we prepared you to face the change? I know the answer to that rhetorical question is a resounding yes."

Parkhurst reassured graduates that they are ready to handle life's challenges, as they did throughout the pandemic. Students remained flexible as the school shifted between hybrid and in-person learning, rolling with the punches all the while, he said.

They also overcame being the underdog in sports, with the boys basketball team advancing to the Final Four as a No. 20 seed in the Division 5 state tournament, and the baseball team, as a No. 29 seed, knocking off No. 4 seed Old Saybrook in the Class S state tournament.

"Whatever challenges might come your way, just know that you have the capacity to do it," WLHS Principal Rebecca Bissonnette said.

Salutatorian Nicole DiPoppo, who will attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to study aeronautical engineering, listed some of the memories from high school she would miss the most, including frequent visits to the local ice cream shop, Dairy Cream, and playing UNO in study hall.

"It might seem surreal that after today everyone is going to go their own separate ways," DiPoppo said. "I know that if we can make it to graduation, regardless of all the obstacles put in our way, we can do anything."

Valedictorian Ryan Lucas dedicated a portion of her speech to her chorus teacher, Judith Schober, who is retiring from the high school after 11 years. Lucas started to tear up as she called Schober a "second mom" and thanked her for her dedication to the music program.

Lucas, who will attend the University of Connecticut to study mathematics, then addressed her classmates and told them to be proud of their accomplishment.

"I hope you give yourself that recognition at some point tonight," she said. "Congratulations Class of 2022. We did it!"

Monday's ceremony closed with a heartwarming twist, varying slightly from the school's usual graduation format. Parkhurst, who normally confers diplomas to students, bestowed that honor upon Bissonnette, who missed last year's ceremony — her first as the school's principal — because she was battling cancer during the pandemic.