It was a gorgeous day on Thursday, June 17, 2021, as the North Shore High School seniors donned their caps and gowns for the 2021 Commencement Ceremony. Parents, families, and administrators, happily gathered at Hofstra University to watch the ceremony led by Principal Eric Contreras.
Speakers included Superintendent Peter Giarrizzo, Valedictorian Sophie Blumenthal, Salutatorian Kate Weseley-Jones, and North Shore Board of Education President Mr. Dave Ludmar.
Congratulations to all of the North Shore High School graduates and their families who attended the 2021 Commencement Ceremony.
To begin the ceremony, the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Senior Class Co-Presidents Camille Gonzalez and Audree Toner followed by the “Star Spangled Banner” sung by Julia Morrissey, accompanied by members of the North Shore High School musicians conducted by Mr. Jason Domingo.
Valedictorian: Sophie Blumenthal
Salutatorian: Kate Weseley-Jones
Congratulations to the Class of 2021!
Angelica Abbondandolo, Natalie Agostino, Olivia Aikman, Gianna Albanese, Jonathan Alletto, Riley Altman, Kevin Anaya, Rose Ancona, Alvin Andujar, Anthony Anzalone, Emma Arboleda, Ariella Babaev, Abigail Banner, Caroline Baptista, Isabella Barbetta, Evan Barnett, Lindsay Barron, Christopher Bartlett, Lauren Belanger, Samantha Berg, Madison Berry, Jackson Best, Nicole Bianchi, Michael Bloom, Sophie Blumenthal, Ariana Bordone, Elijah Bratter, Nicholas Braun, Sheila Breen, Andrew Brottenberg, Robert Brown III, Alexa Brumm, Thomas Burfeind, Cedric Buschfrers, Isabelle Butt, Anna Calamis, Thomas Caldwell, Everett Caponi, Mikayla Carleo, Thomas Casey, Lucas Castle, Brandon Centeno, Peter Cerrito, Marianna Chebuske, Logan Citko, Dylan Cloutier, Casey Colbert, Fiona Colby, Jackson Cooperman, Francesca Corozzo, Joshua Crabb, Michael Cristofari, Gavin Cross, Quinn Cullen, Izabella Martin, Gillian D’Amico, Phillip D’Amico, Ryan Dattner, Forrest Demetri, Elizabeth Denley, Kayla DePalma, Andre DerGarabedian, Alexandra Diaz, Natalia DiFeo, Evan DiRamio, Jack Doherty, Deaglan Doyle, Robert Drexel, Gazalle Dunphy, Meredith Durka, Christina Efstathiadis, Daniel Eisenstein, Jules Firouztale, Hayley FitzPatrick, Christina Forsander, Demi Fortich, Samantha Frank, Nicholas Fraser, Isabella Fuentes, Kaitlyn Gaeta, Vasilis Ganasoulis, Dhruv Gandhi, Isabella Gannon, Sean Garland, Kaillan Gaynor, Rylan Gaynor, Laurence Gemme, Dominick Genzale, Melissa Geraci, Luke Getelman, Joseph Gillen, Michael Gimondo, Alexandra Ginter, Camille Gonzalez, Christina Goslin, Giuliana Graziosi, Cristian Grella, Matthew Grinberg, Ashton Guss, Ryan Guy, Kathryn Haff, Lauren Hagen, Michael Heffernan, Ezekiel Hert, Sasha Hirsch, Jamie Holzmann, Aiden Horstmann, Cole Jacklin, Luke Jacklin, Mckenzie Johanson, Jake Juettner, Christian Kellerman, Ethan Kilada, Christopher Kolilias, Russell Kornfeld, Gretchen Kotz, Anna Kulikowski, Philip La Rosa, Celia Labbate, Gavin Lacy, Kevin Larkin, Jack Ledden, Joseph Lehane, Kayley Lehane, Scott Lenney, Aidan LePorin, Jack Levin, Bridget Lewis, Grace Lisena, Elizabeth Lockwood, Alejandra Lopez, Caleb Loring, Madalyn Lutz, Carol Madden, Emma Malone, Aiden Mandell, Isabella Marchese, Isabella Margiotta, Lucia Martin, Ryan Marzlock, William McConville, Alianna McCoy, Grace McGinley, Andrew McLellan, Nicholas Mele, Gilmar Mencia, Allison Mendez, Lillian Molesky, Emma Morley, Joseph Morra, Julia Morrissey, Sarah Moughal, Ava Moynihan, Collin Murphy, Terence Murphy, Analisa Neos, Dylan Nerud, Cassandra Nochowitz, Emma Novikov, Christian O’Hara, Christina Pais, Oliver Palone, Gabriel Palter, Raymond Paolillo, Frank Papiro, Noelle Pappous, Carson Paradis, Samantha Passuello, Zain Pastula, Ariadna Pavlidis-Sanchez, Jeremy Pelts, Jack Pepe, Nicholas Perciballi, Isabela Perez, Richard Perez, Zachary Petrick, Christiane Podaras, Sief Porcaro, Michael Ramnarine, Lorenzo Recine, Jack Reid, Rossely Reyes, Henry Rieger, Ian Roach, Daniel Romano, Matthew Rosen, Sam Rosencrans, Sophie Rosencrans, Jada-Rose Rugel, Lauren Ruisi, Nina Ruisi, Sara Rush, Fiona Sabo, Pamela Salas, Catherine Salditt, Daniel Santoro, Andrew Saridakis, Jason Saulle, Amy Sawh, Hannah Schoen, William Sebetic, Daniel Shamalov, Nicholas Simon, Margaret Smith, Tayler Smith, Jacob Snayd, Ethan Snyder, Alexandra Stoff, Michalis Stylianou, Zachary Sullivan, Ruizhe Sun, Sophia Susi, Elizabeth Sweeney, Matthew Symbouras, Meagan Tandy, Isabella Tedesco, Sabina Tejpaul, Audree Toner, Caroline Tyrkko, Luke Vaccaro, Leonard Varela, Javis Vermeersch, Gregory Viscovich, Justin Vlahopoulos, Brady Wagner, Haley Waiksnis, Norhan Wali, Joden Wang, Kelly Weber, Kate Weseley-Jones, Ryan Wezwick, Kyle Wolf, Jeffrey Yu, and Brandon Zhu.
Superintendent Dr. Giarrizzo said, “I try to select a song that makes me think of all of you. Most often our high school students don’t know the song that I pick but this year it summarizes my thoughts about this past year. I chose “Just Breathe,” written by the American rock band Pearl Jam.”
It is a song that lead singer Eddie Vedder discussed had a simple meaning – “Just stop and be together.” He congratulated the graduates and reminded them to always “Just Breathe” during the many wonderful years ahead.
At the conclusion of the 2021 Commencement Ceremony, the North Shore Alma Mater was led by Fiona Colby, Christina Goslin, and Andie Schoen. Principal Contreras thanked all of the parents and their families and told his graduating seniors that they overcame the challenges of this very difficult year and was very proud of all of their accomplishments.
He said, “We began this year full of uncertainty. On the heels of a semester of schools fully closed, we opened in September and found ourselves in the middle of a global pandemic, not always knowing what the future would hold. Not knowing what each coming month would hold. But, I want to take moment to recognize all we have found and gained. This year we have found each other’s support, we found our love for each other, and we found the strong bonds of our community, our Viking village… In the future, when you find that you are missing something, that something is lost, that things are not complete, remember this year forever. That while the pandemic took many things away, we reached within; we reached to each other, and gained more that we lost…”
In addition, Principal Contreras stated that his seniors had fulfilled all of the New York State High School requirements to graduate. To a loud round of applause by all of those in the audience, the graduates joyously tossed their hats in the air! Principal Contreras wished all of his seniors the best of luck in the future! Congratulations to the Class of 2021!
Article by Shelly Newman
Photos by Adrienne Daley and Shelly Newman
