52 graduates earned Silver F Awards for their scholastic achievement, service and extracurricular activities.
SOUTH DEERFIELD - The young men and young women of the Class of 2011 on Friday processed into their Frontier Regional School graduation on the football field wearing caps and gowns - blue for the boys and white for the girls.
Fifty-two of the 106 graduates earned Silver F Awards for their scholastic achievement, service and extracurricular activities.
“This class is multi-talented and so diverse,” said Principal Martha H. Barrett. “Academically, they are very strong, but they have also excelled in the arts and athletics while engaging in community service. They march to the beat of their own drummer, but they are very accepting of each other. They’re very unique in that way.”
More than 90 percent of the class will pursue higher education.
Barrett hopes that as adults, the members of the Class of 2011 will “ask the questions that need to be asked” so they can participate in a global society.
“The world is a much smaller place,” she said. “They have to be aware of each other’s cultures and situations and norms so they can live in a society not constantly battling each other.”
The guest speaker at the Friday graduation was Timothy P. Merritt, principal of Sunderland Elementary School and a former English teacher at Frontier Regional School.
The graduates will continue to grow at their own pace, he said, encouraging them all - regardless of what they do next - to take the time to celebrate their success thus far and to then move forward.
He encourages young people to learn “sooner rather than later how fleeting life can be and that they need to enjoy as many moments as they can.”