001you now you last spring [Music] good morning eighth graders let's make sure if we can get to our seats we're gonna begin in about two minutes we still have uh a few uh seats that are empty so we wanna make sure that we get those filled we'll begin in about two minutes good morning everyone i'm mike woods the principal at dot middle school we'll begin our ceremony in a moment hey i got some fans over in the visiting seats over there how about that how about that i know thanks mom and dad i ask everyone to please silence their devices uh we'll be calling each student uh for the promotion certificates and i ask that we hold the applause to actually you know what it's a coveteer you hear your kid's name let it fly
002we got here some of us walking standing limping crawling rolling but i do want to say thank you it took a lot of people to get this ceremony uh here uh first and foremost uh my boss who's up on the stage sorry dr sullivan but miss lori braun for helping with all of our communications and setting up miss nancy liebler nancy was relaxing this morning she was the only one that was relaxing because this is nancy's final year she's retiring after this year so a huge round of applause for nancy lieber she loves the attention melissa developer lisa raska and deb manky for helping out setting up the cards on the seats and everything else pat cruz for helping get all of our equipment here and mike salamini who's going to be our sound and
003video guy for today's ceremony i am asking just uh we heard from dr solon if adults who are fully vaccinated would like to remove your masks as i can see everyone no one has a mask on that's good all right um but kids i am gonna have to ask us to mask up just uh as a part of what we do um i think we're ready to go all the announcements so if we can begin let's please rise for the playing of our national anthem recorded by our dodd middle school band i ask that we remain standing for the pledge of allegiance who will be led by three eighth grade students thomas allard aaron hirsch and cameron lewis you guys can step up to the podium i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united
004states of america and to the republic for which it stands for one nation under god indivisible with liberty and go justice guys take your seats thank you thank you thomas cameron and aaron for leading us in the pledge nice job on behalf of our distinguished guest superintendent dr jeffrey solon assistant superintendent ms marlene solano chief operating officer vincent maciana members of the board of education our special presenters dodd staff parents guests and especially our students of the class of 2021 it's my pleasure to extend you a warm welcome to our dodd middle school promotion ceremony [Applause] now i'm going to get the wind that's going to blow my speech everywhere this year just won't end this morning i'm going to do my best not to say the words unprecedented abundance guidelines and of course that
005word cohort this morning this is a special day for all of you and i cannot put into words how proud i am to have you as our eighth grade class for you this has been a lifetime challenge to endure public education in dual environments where one was at your home and the other was with the same kids that played the same instrument and took the same world language more or less as you over the past few days i've been trying to think about what to say to you this year what possibly could you hear from my mouth that you can take with you in high school and in life in short nothing nothing in the sense that you already don't know or haven't experienced this past year speeches like this are filled with words like
006perseverance patience and grace that are applied as moral standards that should be embedded in you and will make you a huge success in life as i reflect back you have passed my test to perseverance patience and grace as all of you have been through a unique year that challenged the very fabric that makes you an adolescent but in that time all of you to your own degree rose to the occasion to persevere through each and every day to make education work and still maintain a high standard of excellence in cheshire you are patient with each other as typically switching from class to class went to staying together and keeping you with the same personalities we'll say that for now many times throughout the year we saw students who were extremely frustrated with one another but
007always came around with grace and kindness to mend pure relationships and understand that we are all going through this together i could go on about the circumstances in which this year was but i wanted to give you a brief message i was reading to my younger daughter last week nora who was a bundle of eight-year-old joy last week and came across a book that i thought shared a fitting message to all of you my message comes from the author peter reynolds in the book the north star the story tells of a boy who is looking to follow animals through life and realizes that each animal has their own path a human cannot possibly travel the path of certain animals so the moral of the story is that each of you has a path to follow
008in life it will be supported by your families friends teachers along the way i am someone who believes in each and every one of you and the path you are going to follow just make sure it's your own path and life will be filled with happiness for you and those whom you care most about god class of 2021 i wish you the best in all your endeavors and success in all you accomplish i hope all of you enjoy the summer and may the powers that be allow us to return to a masculist and regular scheduled school year thank you [Applause] i am proud to continue a tradition of dodd middle school of recognizing winners of three very special citizenship awards the recipients of these awards have distinguished themselves over their two years at dodd middle
009school and will have their names engraved on plaques which are located in our main lobby to introduce the alphonse grosso award i am pleased to welcome a vital member of the dog community our pta president ms gabrielle tucus thank you principal woods i am deeply grateful for the opportunity to present the alfonse grosso memorial award this year honoring my late predecessor who served as pta president here at dodd mr grosso believed that a quality education was not only the right of every student but the responsibility of every member of the community a commitment he honored to the very end of his life for this reason the alphonse grosso award is in recognition of citizenship given to the student who in the opinion of the teaching staff best embodies those principles of dedication cooperation and dignity
010for which al grasso stood it is an award of which the recipient and her family should be justifiably proud it is my privilege to present the award this year to the recipient eden dineen okay thank you mrs tugas and congratulations eden to introduce the michael malloy award and nancy kozinskis award i am pleased to welcome our 8th grade school counselor ms lisa rasca [Applause] good morning the next award is given in memory of michael malloy who is a former teacher here at dodd and i've had the pleasure of watching this young lady grow as a student and as a person this young lady is an absolute pleasure to have in class she's always positive polite and respectful who is a role model both in and out of the classroom not only is she an excellent
011and hardworking student she has dedicated herself to enriching the lives of students and faculty around her she was truly special for her compassion and commission compassion and commitment to help others her honesty integrity good heart and great character are wonderful character traits to possess in this day and age it is with great pleasure that i present this year's michael award award to sarah goldstein [Applause] it's always an honor for me to present this special student selected award nancy kaczynskis was a some as someone i personally admired as she was an upbeat energetic science teacher who understood the nature of the adolescent and teaching of the whole child she was a mentor and a friend nancy passed away at a young age but through this award her legacy lives on students nominated one peer who exhibited
012qualities that nancy deemed important in in her classroom a positive attitude consistent effort support to others open-mindedness self-motivation and conscientious decision-making a recipient receives such comments as he is motivational he helps to improve the classroom environment he works to his best potential and encourages me to do my best and behave he helps kids if they're stuck on problems and this calm last comment i can attest to he strives to do his best and will always exceed expectations it's my honor to present the 2021 nancy kazinskis award to jacob tierney [Applause] foreign [Applause] thank you miss rasca congratulations sarah and jacob i now welcome our assistant principal mr john paracino to recognize student award winners from our state and local organizations [Applause] good morning congratulations to all our eighth graders as we celebrate the culmination of
013your hard work over the last two years here at dodd middle school it's been a challenging two years to say the least but your perseverance in the face of adversity has paid off i'd also be remissed if i didn't thank our faculty members and staff and their families for playing such a major role in preparing these great young men and women in the next step to their educational journey after all we've been through today's a day for us all to celebrate as a community it's now my privilege to recognize a few students who receive some very distinguished awards throughout the school year each year the connecticut association of public school superintendents recognized four dodd middle school students with a superintendent's award the award is based on community service service to others academic prowess and leadership
014service to the school community i asked the following students to please stand and be recognized once again congratulations to this year's recipients jack the joseph mia niglio ava sink and jacob tierney the connecticut association of boards of education also recognizes two students from each middle school principals were requested to ask their staff for the names of students who exhibit leadership skills such as willingness to take on challenges making difficult decisions and concern for others to name a few i also ask these two students to stand and once again be recognized congratulations lydia galley and brady petralia [Applause] thank you mr paracino and congratulations to our award winners i said we were going to be quick and that was the moment i am honored to have the privilege of presenting our eighth grade class with their
015promotion certificates as we present the certificates to each student a team teacher will have the honor of reading their names of the students we will begin with our red team and miss sharon santos right here okay ali ashraf [Applause] johanna ben yehuda hannah billadu [Applause] molly bowman amelia broncasio lainey brewster hunter budras ty bird christina carabeta caitlin carabeta [Applause] peter carson [Applause] eva catalanato danielle chamberlain ryan super ella coffee alex convertido ryan coolers tierney cox gavin cremers haley credo eva curran zachary diagostino jack de josef [Applause] rosa de joy [Applause] and devin del vecchio i'll pass along to my teammate mrs brandom arcavian dukes [Applause] joshua dutra souza sophia dyckman leah farrell marcus feliciano kalyn fitzgerald finley forselius lily frank sam garcia dylan gilatti sean grifelding devonte hanchard hayley hannon grace harlow julianne hill nicholas
016horniak [Applause] natalie howland eve hublebank grace hurlbutt jamel jackson [Applause] ben gergelowitz eva kozinskis devin kelly jack kurtz cadence lafrance and now i'll pass it on to my teammate mr baker sophia lamadeline cameron lewis [Music] emerson lilly [Applause] connor lopez samuel magalies ryan chef markarian [Applause] aniston marsh [Music] savannah martelly [Applause] gavin martin [Music] dan maskolo l mccauley carlesha outlaw ben palladino william palmer [Applause] dominic peretti chris patel regan paul katarina john luca petronio alyssa quintana matthew reed brian rochefort [Music] anna roth [Applause] carmina saleem and last but not least for the red team ms mary cabrera jordan saltzman izzy shachner ava skiavi alicia shadalov el shaw alec suretz [Applause] brecken safeker [Applause] ava sink [Applause] kyle strollo [Applause] hamza tariq tanista tomati jacob tierney rachel ii lauren waikis [Applause] kaden weinberg [Applause] hayley weissman
017betty weskey [Music] margot weskey tommy wilkinson yarrow williams mac wright vincent young brenna zipkowski and maya zarhuzan next up mr runty and the purple team madeleine abellgaard ahmed giselle albizu [Applause] thomas allard samuel anderson ashley bahadesin shreya banerjee helen baxter riley beaucon [Music] caitlyn canavaro [Applause] nicholas cecia quinn clark elizabeth cohen bryce conway jaden correa chloe crespo jacob de donna mia damora alexandria de groat cooper deco matteo del mastro charlotte depaolo addison derosa lucy dickinson and now i'd like to turn it over to miss potle mackenzie dickinson kailyn dinklacker angelo antonio daruba [Applause] jason dong christian donnelly eric downey william enters sophia feinberg aydin fell [Applause] thomas franco nicholas giampitro william gibson madison gaudier sarah goldstein joseph grineer sydney hale jakayla hanchard sarah hanley [Music] saba haasen [Applause] eva jardim josiah johnson charles [Music] caleb
018kampf regan kappas earl kurtz ashley lentini and now for mr fusari alvin liu isabella lopes mia mcgriese magooter luke mann patrick marini nathaniel markman [Applause] caitlin matskin [Applause] elena meinson congratulations [Applause] alone jordan mendes dos reese [Applause] julia miller nicholas miller jack marico [Applause] kalyn mullin [Applause] mia norton caleb ortiz jalik jerry piscatelli adrian porter brady pot ralla dipd rajbangshi ramiz ross abigail ronaldi taylor rochford [Applause] [Music] and now i hand it over to mr layton sophia rotundo [Applause] claire rowley [Applause] ava sager katrina sand joseph saka elena casino nadia schweijofer eric scafone [Applause] colin sheehan ryan smith jeremy stevenson [Applause] michael stratton [Applause] thomas superchi julia tajeda tessa trevally david skahanski molly value [Applause] bailey vitanza [Applause] eliana wilinsky [Applause] paige warburton [Applause] julia ward isabelle or zika peggy hello peggy wang ava wilson
019[Applause] and i'd like to introduce now kathy carlucci good morning everyone congratulations to the blue team jenna alexander andrew allen joseph amadey brianna anders adelina anderson [Music] ariana bango bausch [Applause] olivia beach [Applause] cameron beeman grace bien [Music] jackson billman isabella blanchard [Applause] daniel borzenkov [Applause] james boyd brian bradshaw yeah that's brian yep yep ethan brady [Applause] cecilia brynn evan brown evelyn bueno takuri carly cahill siena cartiera [Applause] thomas cass and benjamin chen and now i'd like to introduce jim goffin anthony coddner miles colon haley casino peyton daniels asher dattay [Music] hunter delgrego sophia de la porta eden dineen phillip dickinson christopher d natalie john doyle yulin dew dylan dyer daniel ayan al-shaba jackson enders [Applause] jillian falcone alia farid sod for it lydia golly aidan giardiello alexandra gilson chad greenwood marina groenbach and i'd
020like to introduce mr brian lopez allison grove tristan grove [Music] sophie harris connor hartman daniel hayden [Applause] luke hayden sorry aaron hirsch callie hirsch robert herzmann [Applause] finnian hickey isabella lavisec sarah hooper isabella huvong aidan hughes [Applause] muhammad ibrahim [Applause] daniel irish gabby mio valentin jimenez [Applause] gordon johns amaya jones and callie kagan could not be here today sarah karim and it's my pleasure to introduce miss marangola [Music] yep ava kimbro ronan king riley knickerbocker barris cuvetly maddie lillback emma lilo victoria lundgren brianna lopes who is not with us today colin luciani [Applause] anthony mariani daniel mcmahon claire mcmanus chris metha molly merritt connor misho cash miller [Applause] skyler milo milillo ramin mirzai max mitchell [Applause] christopher molnar [Music] luke mongillo omkar narayanan victoria nichols i'm going to pass it on to miss o'shaughnessy mia
021neglio joseph norton ryan o'connell james o'connor alexandra orleans emily otterson [Music] andrew parent [Music] mckenna paul peltier samantha picariello [Applause] leah passani aidan prezioso maria puckeber nicholas riccio evan richardson kayla rick azra sanal could not be with us today andrew sargollini [Music] lily shaheen sarah silverman and lily semenka glick i'd like to pass it off to mr toscano [Applause] colin spence jeremy sysdeck maximilian tayo lacy thoreau liam thompson zoe tuggis maurizio uriola [Applause] madeleine veliber [Applause] michael volpe eric vong [Music] [Applause] paul webel benjamin wheeloy matthew wilde [Applause] frank williams alexander nguyen william yahinara savannah yokono [Applause] christina young ryan's honor valerie zhang and teresa zarulo how about another round of applause for all of our students each year i have the distinct honor to select a student to share a few farewell thoughts with
022the rest of the class please join me in welcoming this year's speech recipient sarah silverman for her reflections on dodd middle school hello i'm sarah and welcome to the 2021 dog promotion these past two years have definitely been interesting to say the least i remember entering the school on the first day of seventh grade i had no idea where to go or who anyone was when i had entered my homeroom class i knew whopping 3 out of 27 kids of course coming from the small school i'd expect a change but not this much one very funny and embarrassing experience that i had that year was when i was doing spartans live and i accidentally said and i quote teachers are five dollars and will be on sale this at lunch this wednesday thursday and friday
023don't miss out i'm still getting teased to this day over time obviously i got to know all of my classmates their names and personalities we joked and laughed at our lockers and had an amazing time at lunch i never been around so many kids before so it was also new and exciting and then coveted friday march 13th 2020 all the parents and students got an email that afternoon saying that school was closed for the next 14 days but instead of 14 days it was the rest of the school year luckily cheshire found a way for the school system to operate somewhat normally as you would expect it wasn't normal so we had to learn to adapt two mass breaks a day masks on in the building at all times and some people even learning from
024their own homes this pandemic forced us all to grow up a little more quickly it feels like just yesterday that we were gaping at the thought if hitting the double digits the double digits in fourth grade when we were younger we used to watch the raindrops race each other down the car windows dash out of the school to try to see seats over at the swings during recess and use those yellow clocks with the movable hands in first grade to learn time how we used moby max do math problems in exchange for tickets to play games how we slid on the scooter boards in gym class running over our fingers every five minutes and scrambling to finish our mad minutes before the time went out but now we're older and most of us don't do
025those things anymore most of us are now interested in sports theater or engulfed in social media and our phones just remember those youthful moments and take time to appreciate them because when you're older you forget and lose those precious memories that you once had remember your friends and peers for some of us are diverting to other schools remember your teachers the ones that made you laugh every day and even the ones you didn't like you've learned something from each of them and remember the strangers that you pass in the street because everyone that you meet talk to or interact with will make an impact in your life our parents teachers and elders always tell us high school was so fun but hard you know what i mean though but that's the thing we don't know
026we don't know what to expect or how our lives will change or how difficult it will be to get through these next four years let aloma comes after but for now we can only think on the bright side right we need to think about how our lives will change for the better how our lives will evolve as we grow how we make everyday decisions that can change our life with the snap of our fingers in a few words if i've learned anything from this middle school experience it's who i am as a person a friend a daughter and much more if this is what growing up feels like then maybe i'll stick along for the ride thank you [Applause] thank you sir at this time please join me in welcoming our distinguished guest superintendent of
027schools dr jeffrey solin for our closing remarks [Applause] thank you mr woods so i i've said to myself geez if i always practice giving speeches in front of a massive box fan it'll pay off someday and i i think i'm finally here so bear with me here as i try and hold down my speech um good morning everyone i am really looking forward to celebrating dodd middle school promotion ceremony with you i know what you're thinking this guy needs to get out more often well maybe but the reason i've been so looking forward to this event has nothing to do with covid19 but because i first began my career in cheshire as an assistant principal at dodd in 2005 before becoming principal here in 2008. that doesn't seem that long ago to me but i
028realized that in 2005 we didn't even have tick-tock yet so our eighth graders i'm sure that makes me a dinosaur to you that's right i would typically attempt to pass some pearl of wisdom onto our students a promotion this year is not like other years however this year i'd like to simply take this moment to express my gratitude there are a few groups that i need to thank so please bear with me i need to take a moment to thank our parents for believing in the cheshire public schools you trusted us to provide a safe and meaningful learning experience for your children and that is a humbling honor i also want to thank our staff you were called upon to simultaneously teach students in your class and those at home you were expected to learn
029new technology to do this work and modify your curriculum so students remained at grade level you tackled this with an inspiring attitude and deep commitment to your students you are true role models thank you thank you very much finally our dodd middle school students as much as i appreciated you letting me join you on your trip to dc shout out to my bus one friends that's right my gratitude is much deeper than that i met with hundreds of parents and teachers last summer many who expressed concerns about you not being able to wear masks there was even fear that you might become discouraged and disengaged with school it turns out that like usual you were role models for adults i've never heard students complain about wearing masks not that you enjoyed it but you did
030what you had to do you came to school and you put your best foot forward you inspired us the adults to be better thank you you guys are awesome thank you [Applause] well this year was not without challenge we didn't just survive this journey we thrived together that is something we should be proud of something we will share together forever is the cheshire public schools community congratulations on your promotion from dodd middle school and i hope that you have a safe and restful summer filled with fun thank you so much congratulations everyone it gives me a great pleasure and honor to present all those presents present today in the cheshire community the high school class of 2025. congratulations to all of you and i wish you guys a great summer and like i said hopefully
031a better year for next year for all of you that concludes our ceremony thank you very much you