Class valedictorian Jillisia James told her fellow graduates to "feel wonderful."
The Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical High School held its 101st commencement at Springfield Symphony Hall on Tuesday. Here from left are class valedictorian Jillisia James, class salutatorian Regan Kilcoyne and class president Molly Hassett.SPRINGFIELD – Jillisia James, class valedictorian, told her fellow graduates of the Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical High School Class of 2011 on Tuesday that “confidence and faith” are keys to surviving in today’s world.
She knows personally that hard work and the support of family and teachers also goes a long ways toward success. After coming to the United States from Jamaica as a 7-year-old, she struggled in school, never imagining that she would someday be valedictorian.
But the more her parents encouraged her, the more her education improved, James said.
“Feel wonderful about ourselves,” she said, in remarks before a packed graduation ceremony conducted at Symphony Hall. “We did it.”
Other speakers, including Class President Molly Hassett and Class Salutatorian Regan Kilcoyne, congratulated their classmates and pointed to the efforts of family and faculty in helping students achieve.
“You can do anything,” Principal Gil Traverso told the graduates. “You are tomorrow’s leaders and we are depending on you.”
The graduation ceremony opened with a moment of silence for the victims of last Wednesday’s tornadoes.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno also urged the students to be leaders.
“This is only the beginning,” Sarno said. “Go out and make yourselves and your families and Springfield proud.”
Hassett thanked individual teachers who inspired her at Putnam, thanking one for “teaching me patience,” and another one for “putting up with us when we were whining.”
Without that guidance, “we would not be nearly as successful,” she said.
Kilcoyne said the class “has grown together.”
“The odds have always been against us,” she said, citing crime and poverty and other struggles. The graduates showed perseverance, diligence and dedication, she said.
School Committee member Norman Roldan, a 1984 graduate of Putnam, told students to “never, never give up.”
“The only person who can stop you is you,” Roldan said.
There were 290 graduates in the Class of 2011; 162 of those will attend college in the fall.