Class of 2011 Says Goodbye to Windsor Locks High School

The warm evening light of the first day of summer helped send off the 117 members of the Class of 2011 Tuesday.

Class Valedictorian Kristina Pomeroy said class is diverse with each student excelling in one or more disciplines. Each student has skills and qualities that will help them later on in life.

Pomeroy told her classmates that for them to live life to its fullest they must learn from their experiences.

Quoting from Robert Frost, Pomeroy said she could sum up in three words all she’s learned in life.

“It goes on,” Pomeroy said.

The graduation took place Tuesday evening on the high school’s football field.

Principal Sharon Cournoyer told the class that she grew with the class as career at the school advanced as they rose through the grades. As they became juniors, she became assistant principal, then interim principal, and in the fall of 2010 became permanent principal as they became seniors.

“These four years seemed to go by like the blink of an eye,” Cournoyer said.

The class members have continuously shown that they can solve problems and have superior intellect, Cournoyer said.

“It is nearly impossible to put into words how proud I am of the Class of 2011,” Cournoyer said. “I wish you all the lifetimes of happiness you so richly deserve.”

Class President Patrick Roy lauded his classmates saying it is a class unlike any other and was able to pull together in times of difficulty while becoming closer friends.

“The class of 2011 has met or exceeded any expectations put in front of us,” Roy said.

Class Salutatorian Emily Hoynoski said that while graduation may be leading them down different paths, it is also moving them forward.
“I cannot guarantee that any of us will have a smooth ride,” Hoynoski said. “What I’d like to say is not to lose faith in yourself.”

English Teacher Sandra Briggs was the keynote speaker and told the class that they are children of privilege. Not because of wealth but because of how they were raised in Windsor Locks.
“For all of you Windsor Locks has prepared you as children of privilege to give back a portion of what you’ve learned,” Briggs said.

She told the class of Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III, who studied accidents and safety prevention during his career as a pilot. All of that training preparation came into play on Jan. 15, 2009, when engine trouble forced him ditch a U.S. Airways plane into the Hudson River moments after taking off from LaGuardia Airport.

Sullenburger was able to make the emergency landing and save the lives of everyone on the flight. Briggs said the question at that moment for Sullenburger was how to use what he’d learned.

Students in the Class of 2011 will some day have to turn “Why do I need to know this” to “what do I do with what I’ve learned,” she said.