Old Colony Archives
Old Colony bids farewell to 2006 'family'
By Tyra Pacheco, Standard-Times correspondent
June 4, 2006
ROCHESTER – Amid all of the appropriate hoots, hollers and applause, the graduating class of 2006 filed into the gymnasium at Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School in a last official act as high school students.
Under the watchful eye of the Old Colony Cougar on the wall, 121 graduates, forced inside by the weather, marched side by side in two lines, the boys in maroon, the girls in gold.
As they sat, reminiscing about the years spent at Old Colony and contemplating their futures, class valedictorian Erin Mello of Acushnet challenged her classmates to rise above the masses and work toward success.
"Success isn't measured in how much money you make or in how quickly you climb the corporate ladder," Erin told her fellow graduates. "Success is setting a goal and achieving it."
She also told her classmates that life is about taking risks, working at their own pace, and not settling for being average. "There is a bigger risk in doing nothing versus actually going out there and accomplishing something," she said. "By doing nothing you risk everything."
The senior class officers, Hannah C. Savaria, Chace N. Ashley, Carlos L. Alvarado and Victoria A. Fagan presented Superintendent David J. Ferreira with the class gift of a basketball hoop and a basketball signed by each of the members of the graduating class.
"I want to congratulate each and every one of you for the success you have achieved today," Mr. Ferreira said. "It has certainly been a privilege and an honor to have you be part of the Old Colony family. You shall forever be part of that family."
One by one, the students came forward to receive their diplomas. They stopped briefly to exchange hugs and handshakes with Mr. Ferreira, Principal Gary Brown, Vocational Coordinator Rita J. Bretto and Special Services Coordinator Patricia-Ann Foskett.
One by one, they walked away as high school graduates.
In a special presentation, Benjamin Trahan of Freetown accepted his diploma from athletic director Matthew Trahan, Benjamin's brother.
"My brother was the main influence in my coming to Old Colony," Benjamin said after the ceremony. "His influence here was definitely a plus. I wouldn't have had it any other way."
Benjamin plans to attend Bristol Community College in the fall. He then intends to transfer to Bridgewater State College and study education.
Victoria Fagan of Lakeville also plans to become a teacher.
"I'm going to college for child deaf studies," she said. "My father is an electrician, and I came here to become an electrician, but I changed my mind." Instead, she studied graphic communications at Old Colony.
The graduates and their families gathered on the school lawn for photos and goodbyes, just before driving off into their futures.
The following students graduated from Old Colony RVTHS (2006):
ACUSHNET
Nicholas A. Alphonse, Carlos L. Alvarado, Alexander D. Amaral, Andre J. Arsenault, Matthew O. Beck, Stephen J. Bernat, Jason Camara, Jonathan S. Cardoso, Shawn Carvalho, Christopher M. Cordeiro, Lauren A. Cruz, Eric M. DeBarros, Nathan J. Deree, Derek B. Deschamps, Gregory A. DeTerra, Katie L. Drouin, Brandon Duarte, Aimee M. Durgin, Cory N. Enos, Desiree L. Genard, Nicholas A. Gomes, Mathew D. Hudon, Matthew M. Leonard, Shane M. Martin, Cassandra E. Marujo, Erin Mello, Amanda L. Murdoch, Kyle V. Palmer, Joshua J. Pinzino, Daniel J. Rittenhouse, Johnelle G. Roderick, Kerrie L. Rousseau, and Ryan J. St. Pierre.
CARVER
Edward Assaf, Timothy Augustson, Timothy Blanchard, Erik Burgess, Kevin Burns, Trevor Carpenter, Jessica Cornwall, Jeremy Farquharson, Kimberly Giardini, John Grecco, Bryan Guenthner, Stephany Kendrick, Alyshia Kidd, Kerri Lapham, Brandon Larrivee, Nicole Madden, Matthew Nye, David O'Brien, Daniel Oliveira, Sarah Shirley, Kristen Spencer, Shannon White and Jessica Williams.
FREETOWN
Chace N. Ashley, Harrie Ashley, Nikolas Baccelli, Ashley E. Branco, Corey Cabral, Amy Caldwell, Cory Camara, Zachery Camara, Justin Cobb, Andrew Diggle, Jennifer Gagnier, Jared Galvin, John Laronda, Shaun Laronda, Keith Morgado, Thomas Ouellette, Hilary Pettey, Jenna Preston, Kristina Sampson and Benjamin Trahan.
LAKEVILLE
Deborah Benatti, Ashley Bianchini, Michael Boileau, Luke Coppola, Joshua Craig, Bancroft Ellis, Victoria Fagan, Alissa Franklin, Brian Gray, Bryant Hampston, Peter Hoeg, Scott Hooley, Steven Kauranen, Jamie Lane, Christopher Lopes, James Maltais, Stephen Mello, Kyle O'Neill, Frances Pittsley, Carlene Reed, Kasey Rinkus, Meghan Silva and Dominique Tate.
MATTAPOISETT
Glenn Fellows, Joshua Hopkinson and Corey Silveira.
NEW BEDFORD
Jessica Frates.
ROCHESTER
Matthew Adriano, Nathan Arruda, Jennifer Bebineau, Steve Cleary, Don Collasius, David Cook, Jonathan Denham, Joshua Furtado, Dustin Ladner, Dwight McCombe, Mark McCra, Kyle Nelson, Bradford Paiva, Hannah Savaria and Karissa Weigel.
WAREHAM
Casey Smith.