There were 86 graduates, with 70 percent going on to four-year colleges, 14 percent to two-year colleges, 8 percent to the military, 6 percent to work and the remainder to trade school, according to Principal Mary Lou Callahan.
PALMER – Palmer High School valedictorian Benjamin Droz praised two of his fellow graduates at the commencement ceremony on Sunday.
Droz, who will head to the University of Pennsylvania in the fall and plans to become a surgeon, said, “Love these kids that stand behind me here today. Cheer, applaud and take a million photographs because despite all that stands in their way, despite the educational apparatus that has forgotten its own direction and guiding light, Palmer High School has produced Ursula Knolton, and Chelsea Haraty, and the great students who leave having learned and grown in ways that so transcend testing and arbitrary standards ... ”
He said Knolton is someone for whom “intimidation is not a word,” and said she brightens a room.
“To help her get to be such an amazing and infectiously vibrant young woman, that is the education that Ursula received,” Droz said.
He spoke of Haraty’s drive, energy, tenacity and intelligence, all she will ever need to face future challenges.
“This is the education that she takes away from Palmer High,” Droz said.
Salutatorian Beverly A. Farris said that statistics say that “we are not going to be as successful as our parents or grandparents and technology has made us too dependent and unable to compete.”
“I disagree,” she said. “These advances allow our generation to open new doors. We have classmates who will become musicians, lawyers, business majors and computer scientists . . . We are going to challenge those statistics, one number, one person at a time.”
Farris will head to the Wentworth Institute of Technology after graduation. She will study biomedical engineering, and wants to find cures for diseases.
There were 86 graduates, with 70 percent going on to four-year colleges, 14 percent to two-year colleges, 8 percent to the military, 6 percent to work and the remainder to trade school, according to Principal Mary Lou Callahan.
“They are a very, very bright, intelligent group. They have a real sense of commitment and dedication,” Callahan said, citing the high number going on to college.
“I enjoyed being here this year with them,” said Callahan, who is wrapping up her first year as high school principal.