Platt Technical High School celebrated the graduation of the 2016 class at Lyman Hall on the Southern Connecticut State University campus, on Wednesday June 15. More than 190 students moved forward to four-year colleges, military service and the work force .
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The graduating class, which contained 18 National Honors Society Graduates and five Skills USA National Competitors, watched as the ceremony began with a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, sung by student Abigail Cruz. After the anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance, Principal Scott Zito delivered his opening remarks.
Zito quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson and remarked that “this graduation is but one step in what I hope is a succession of positive lessons and experiences that will not only enrich your lives but allow you to enrich the lives of all around you just as you have enriched our lives with your unique individual contributions.”
After short messages from state representatives Theresa Conroy, Pamela Staneski and Charles Ferraro, along with Connecticut Technical High School System Board Member Fitz Walker, Class President Isaac Haynes took the stage to deliver a message of power and confidence. His speech included various requested shout-outs to friends and family and declared the 2016 class as “the new millennials” and stated that “today is [their] day to be praised.”
Next was Salutatorian Galilea Yanza, who joked that “when I was told I had to write a speech, I timed it to meet the maximum requirement of two minutes.”
Yanza addressed the unrecognized students in the class, saying that the students “may not have been in the yearbook as much as others, but they have earned the right to walk here as much as us.” Yanza concluded, saying “Find your own genius; it’s not going to be the same for everyone.”
Class valedictorian Joseph Lanche delivered a lighthearted speech where he reminisced about his experiences with teachers and fellow students. He said, “Coming together as a community leads to a community of learning.”
After the graduates received their diplomas, the class of 2016 officers upheld an annual tradition by presenting a symbolic “key to the school” to the incoming class of 2017.