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'Failing not an option' for 24 Sharon graduates

SHARON — Twenty-four students graduated June 15 from Sharon Center School, with more than 200 friends and family watching in the audience.

“They are all very much loved by everyone,� Principal Karen Manning said before the ceremony. “They have strong skills and they are all ready to fly.�

Essayist Jarred Mitchell told the audience that he learned a great deal from the school.

“The honorable Malcolm X, an African-American leader, whom I envy for his resilience, once said ‘Education is the passport of the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today,’� Jarred said.

He summarized what the quote means to him, and added that, “Today I will finally accept the passport that Sharon will be presenting to me. The passport will give me a chance to move on to greater and grander things.�

The second essayist, Hailey Nelson, said. “We all know we’re leaving the school behind. But the lessons the school has left us will stay with us wherever we go. It taught us to make a difference wherever we go, with whatever we do. It taught us to set high goals because failing was not an option.�

The final essayist of the evening, Shannon Paton, spoke about the future.

“We’re all prepared to go into high school,� Shannon said. “I know this because every graduating class of Sharon Center School somehow plants themselves into the much bigger garden of [Housatonic Valley Regional High School] and other high schools and finds their places there.

“We are able to do this because we were prepared by the best. Our teachers have given us enough support in the past to make us strong so we can stand on our own in the new environment....Our school has nourished us enough, just as a garden nourishes the plants that are being transplanted into bigger gardens.�

Sharon Center School

Class of 2010

Nicholas James Eckstein

Alaa Ibrahim Elsirafy

Erik Alan Gabrielson

Elise Marie Haan

Hannah Allyson Isaac

Stephen Nicholas Kalogiannis

Mackenzie Kinsman Marks

Jarred Mitchell

Jesse Taylor Mohring

Sophie Lilian Mortman

Hailey LeAnn Nelson

Colm Michael O’Reilly

Diana Marie Paine

Shannon Rose Palmer Paton

Gabriel Joseph Plunkett

Patrick Russell Purdy

Connor Thomas Riley

Preston John Shaffer

Helen Samantha Shapiro-Albert

Maia Anne Stickles

Alex John Tripodi

Sabrina Marie Walton

William Wallace Yahn

Henry Ewert Yuliano-Cousins

Awards

American Legion Awards: Hannah Isaac and Patrick Purdy

Elizabeth Gobillot Service Award: Preston Shaffer

The Mary Holst-Grubbe Awards: Alaa Elsirafy and Patrick Purdy

Sharon Faculty Award: Helen Shapiro-Albert

The American Citizenship Awards: Sophie Mortman, Colm O’Reilly, Diana Paine, Shannon Paton, Patrick Purdy, Preston Shaffer, Helen Shapiro-Albert and William Yahn

The President’s Awards for Educational Achievement: Elise Haan, Hailey Nelson, Colm O’Reilly and Patrick Purdy

The President’s Awards for Educational Excellence: Hannah Isaac, Sophie Mortman, Shannon Paton and Helen Shapiro-Albert

The Sharon School Awards: Alaa Elsirafy and Patrick Purdy

The Sharon School Cup Award: Sophie Mortman

Sharon Lions Club Award: Shannon Paton

The Lions Club Honorary Award: Patrick Purdy

Sharon School Writing Award: Sophie Mortman and Helen Shapiro-Albert

Sharon School Foreign Language Award: Shannon Paton

The Ted Christinat Science Award: Hailey Nelson

The Sharon School Art Award: Maia Stickles

The Sharon School  Musician Award: Hannah Isaac

The Jack “Compo� Comporesi Athletic Award: Alaa Elsirafy and William Yahn

Sharon Center School Eighth-Grade Honor Roll Awards: Alaa Elsirafy, Elise Haan, Hannah Isaac, Sophie Mortman, Hailey Nelson, Shannon Paton, Patrick Purdy, Connor Riley, Helen Shapiro-Albert, William Yahn

Middle School Honor Roll Awards: Elise Haan, Hannah Isaac, Sophie Mortman, Hailey Nelson, Shannon Paton, Connor Riley and Helen Shapiro-Albert

The Charlotte T. Unz Awards: Helen Shapiro-Albert and Patrick Purdy

The A.B.C.D. Awards: Elise Haan, Mackenzie Marks, Sophie Mortman, Diana Paine, Shannon Paton, Preston Shaffer, Maia Stickles, Alex Tripodi, Sabrina Walton and Henry Yuliano-Cousins

The TriArts Drama Award: Henry Yuliano-Cousins

The Sharon School Scholarship Award: Tahlia Prindle

The Secretary of the State’s Excellence in Citizenship Award: Sophie Mortman

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