Fermi High School Awards Diplomas to 275 Graduates

Colleen Landry walked across the platform, accepted her diploma and headed back to her seat in the middle of the graduating class of 2012. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a Navy petty officer, and made a tearful dash into the officer's arms.

The officer was her sister Catherine, who arrived from her duty station in Norfolk, VA just in time to surprise her sister and watch 274 other classmates march to the athletic complex at the school they've called home for the past four years.

"Tonight we honor and congratulate you for 13 years of hard work and dedication," principal Paul Newton told the graduates. "You should be proud of all your accomplishments, both inside and outside of the classroom...Remember, it's not always how you get from one place to another that makes it special; it's the view that you experience along the way that makes it truly special in the end."

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Salutatorian Greg Zaylor said his in the recent state semifinals gave him the perspective he needed to compose his address.

"We were devastated, and I still am, but a few days after the initial depression wore off, I realized that in 20 years or less, not a single person will care about who won the Connecticut Class M volleyball state championship," Zaylor said. "In fact, had we gone on to the finals and emerged victorious, I'm sure there would have been a point in my life where I would not be able to remember the game. Thus, after a few days, the fact that we lost was no longer the thing that really troubled me. Instead, I realized that our season was over, and I will never again play competitive volleyball with the boys on my team...Cherish your friends and cherish your family. Wherever you go after high school, learn to cherish everything that you love."

Valedictorian Kerry Davis said, "The fact that we can all get along with each other says something about our character. It shows that we have the people skills that are needed in the real world...We are going to dominate whatever we choose we want our lives to be about. Some will enter the work force, some will join the military and others will go to college. Whatever path lies ahead of us, I know we will make the absolute best of it, because it is part of our personalities. If problems arise, this class has the drive and confidence to resolve them rationally and keep moving forward."

Class vice president Amanda Stroiney announced the class was donating several benches to the school as the class gift, while class president Alicia DiVito delivered a tribute to parents.

Clad in light blue (girls) and black (boys) academic gowns, the graduates then filed across the platform to receive their diplomas. The crowd erupted when See Yang became the final member of the school's 41st graduating class.

The members of the Fermi High School Class of 2012 are:

Brianna Argenta, Mark Arnold, Thomas Arnone, Dylan Arthurs, Shane Aston.

Nicholas Badeau, Brianna Baker, Dylan Baker, Stephen Ballard, Lauren Barillari, Alyssa Barone, Victoria Barth, Sarah Batchelder, Hannah Bednarz, William Beebe, Jr., Marc Belanger, Rebecca Bellon, Amanda Benson, Nina Benvenuto, Lindsey Bertrand, Chad Bialobzeski, Daryl Biron, Stephanie Blas, Michael Bohn, Samantha Bombardier, Teresa Bonavita, Tia Booska, Dominique Boucher, Samantha Bousquet, Stefanie Bousquet, Darien Bowen, John Bowen IV, Sean Bridges, Cody Brown, Amanda Burke, Michael Burris, Jr., Elizabeth Butler.

Alyssa Caccamo, Tyler Campbell, Lisa Campisi, Brandon Carey, Ariel Carson, Michael Carzello III, Tyler Casale, Nicole Casey, Kathryn Cassarino, Francesca Ceppetelli, Sara Charland, Joshua Cheney, Laura Chicorka, Elizabeth Choinski, Jennifer Coffey, Amanda Colbert, Victor Colon, Samantha Combs, Robin Connery, Quentin Coppler, Michael Corneau, Jr., Ellen Cote, Rebecca Crank, Bryan Cressotti, Cassandra Crocker, Jillian Crouse, Brianna Cruz, Michelle Cunha, Jessica Cutter, Marie Czarnecki.

Sydney Daddario, Austin Davis, Delano Davis, James Davis, Kerry Davis, Brandi DeAlba, Andrew DeFranzo, Cameron DeFranzo, Travis DeFranzo, Erica Degiule, Arlene Delacruz, Christopher Desautels, Amber Dicarlo, Alicia DiVito, Shelbi Dixon, Kelsey Jaramillo-Donihee, Christie Dowling, Jodi Driscoll, Taylor Droney, Linzee Drzewiecki, Allison Dufour, Gordon Duggan III, Connor Duperre.

Breana Eaton, Amanda Erickson.

Michelle Feliu, Alexander Fenska, Craig Fetridge, Marcus Flanaghan, Maciej Fornal, Cheyenna Fournier, Sara Frazier.

Christopher Gagnon, Jennifer Gahr, Mark Gahr, Akshay Gangakhedkar, Correnna Garner, Shane Gawronski, Kaylena Gonzalez, Kenneth Goodwin, Suleana Grande-Claros, Kaitlin Grenier, Alexzander Grismala, Paul Gross, Christina Gwiazda.

Daniel Haber, Ryan Hall, Morgan Hart, Meghan Herbert, Kevin Hinkel, Victor Hopolito, Tayler Hobson, Danielle Howell, Kaycee Hubbard.

Osamagbe Iyare, Harley Izzo.

Danielle Jacques, Sharmeen Jaffry, Allyson Jambard, Sarah Janes, Samantha Jordan.

Daniel Kamay, Kyle Kazukynas, Amanda Keck, Vincent Kedzior, Jack Kelly, Paige Kirkbride, Erik Kolodziej, Stacey Kraucunas, Monika Kucharczyk.

Jason Labbe, Christopher LaBranche, Dylan LaFerriere, John Lambert, Amanda Lamborn, Colleen Landry, Samantha Langley, Derik Lanson, Austin Laporte, Christopher LaTorra, Alex LaVoie, Nicholas Layne, Aubrie LeClair, Tori Leclerc, Jesse Lemery, Jacqueline Leroy, Victoria Leslie, Cole Letourneau, Liav Lor, Zachary Lovell, Erynn Ludemann, Keith Lundie, Daniel Lynch, Kevin Lynch.

Connor MacIlvaine, Adam Macsata, Michael Malnicof, Kaylee Marino, Conor Martin, Kodi Martinez, Amber-Lyn Martorelli, Dakota McCauley, Danielle McCoy, Matthew McKinney, Andrea McNeely, Samantha Merson, Guage Meunier, Tyler Miarecki, Olivia Milbury, Kyle Miller, Chaz Millett, Jeffrey Mitton, Steven Mollison, Arianna Moore, Kaylee Moreno, Bryanna Morrill, Kayla Moschetti, Ryan Munn, Ethan Murray, JeVonn Murray, Jordan Muska.

Ki-Jana Napper, Alexis Nevins, Sarah E. Norris, Sarah B.I. Norris.

Nicole O'Brien, Shawna O'Hara, Whitney Ortiz-Miller.

Joshua Paciga, Casie Pafumi, Daniel Palmer, Nicholas Pare, Eric Parkhurst, Maxwell Partyka, Alexander Peabody, Kelly Phelan, Adrian Pliszka, Adrianna Pliszka, John Porcello, Shelby Pulyado.

Stephen Rabida-Smith, Kristin Ranney, Sierra Rasmussen, Jacob Rauschenbach, Brittany Reid, Matthew Reis, Victoria Remsen, Timothy Riach, Jr., Tyler Riendeau, Dylan Robbins, Kiel Roberts, Kristina Rogers, Samantha Rollins, Kelli Rotatori, Jessica Rousselle, Christina Rudnik, Shane Ruff, Jacob Runyon, Iris Rushford, Courtney Ryder.

Taylor Sas, James Sayers, Ryan Sayers, Adam Scavotto, Brittney Severino, Joshua Shabarekh, Lauren Shambo, Kayleigh Shaughnessy, Kelly Spazzarini, Matthew Spence, Christopher Spencer, Rene St. Amand, Shannon Strevel, Amanda Stroiney, Zachary Strom, Kyle Such, Zachary Sullivan, James Surrett, Nicholas Suttle, Kimberly Sweeney.

Danielle Tarnowicz, Donzie Taylor, Jr., Kate Taylor, Danielle Thomas, Nathan Tracy, Dalena Tran, Cassondra Turcotte, Rebecca Turner.

Melissa Urbon, Samantha Usher.

Carlos Valliere, Joseph Vella, Matthew Vogel, Kristina Voisine, Seth Voisine, Patrick Volodzko, Zachary Vujs.

Robert Wargo, Kevin White, Jr., Brian Wichniewicz, Samantha Wilder, Alexandra Williams, Brooke Wisnesky, Zachary Wood, Elizabeth Woody.

See Yang, Gregory Zaylor.

A gallery of photos from the 2012 Fermi High School graduation will be published later Thursday on Enfield Patch.