WOONSOCKET — Brother Adelard Arena was filled with joy, happiness and sustained applause on June 3 when the largest class in the history of Mount St. Charles Academy — 196 students, including five international students — graduated before a large audience of faculty, staff, families and friends.
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The academy was established in 1924 by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart who continue to staff the school.
The invocation was given by Father Charles Quinn, who is retiring as school chaplain after 30 years of ministry. “The Sacred Heart of Jesus has his arms open wide to show you how much he loves you,” he said.
Quoting President Abraham Lincoln, Father Quinn told the graduates: “Remember: ‘The task before us is never as great as the power behind us.’ I pray that God will help you see how beautiful you are and how much he loves you.”
Diplomas were presented to the Golden Anniversary Class of 1962, which includes Mount faculty member Brother Harold Greer, a longtime religion teacher at the school.
In his salutatory address, Dylan R. Schaffer, who will attend Harvard University, shared, “To our parents and teachers — or as of today, our Facebook friends: thank you. You have done more than instruct us. You have led us to be good servants of God, and been shoulders to cry on, offered witty remarks when needed, and simply been friends.”
After diplomas were awarded, Valedictorian Benjamin D. Swiszcz, who will attend Providence College, told his classmates, “It is time to move forward and enter a new phase of our lives. In a few short moments we will be walking out of those doors forever. The secret in life is in falling down seven times, and getting up eight. Keep striving to succeed. It can be easy to recall our failures, but it is more important to remember our successes and learn from our mistakes.”
Quoting Gospel artist Kirk Franklin, Swiszcz added, “There’s a reason why the rear-view mirror is so small and the windshield is so big.’”
“Take with you the lessons of faith, compassion, fortitude, and courage you have learned here,” reminded Principal Edwin Burke at the close of the ceremony. “Continue to grow in your faith. God waits for us to reach out to him. Seek God in prayers and the sacraments, and each day ask him: ‘Take me where you want me to go.’”
The valedictorian’s mother, Monique (Robidoux) Swiszcz, has the distinction of having served as the valedictorian of her 1980 class at Mount.
Mount St. Charles Class of 2012
Timothy Aballo
Katherine Andrews
Demi Antinarelli
Austin Archambault
Anthony Armenio
Raymond Aubin
Brad Auclair
Erin Auger
Gregory Bagley
Ashley Baillargeon
Katherine Bennett
Nicholas Bennett
Ryan Berard
Brandon Berube
Nicholas Blair
Lindsey Blais
Christopher Brown
Melissa Brown
Patrick Butler
Daniel Cahaly
Brian Campbell
Casey Campbell
Marissa Campbell
Laura Canole
Robert Carpenter
Francis Ciavattone III
Alex Cinieri
Joelle Cipolla
Honora Clemmey
Hailey Cobb
Lindsey Coen
Victoria Cohen
Adam Collamati
Jessie Connaughton
Robert Cornell
Catherine Corriveau
Christina Costello
Erica Courtemanche
Patrick Craven
Kaitlyn Croke
Chandler Cross
Zachary Crowley-Barros
Cassandra Czarn Cassandra
Drew Czarn
Travis Darveau
Lauren Deguire
Robert Dery
Emma DeSantis
Danielle Deschene
Lisa DiBona
Christine Dickinson
Gian DiCostanzo
Aria DiMeo
Erin Dixon
Julia doCurral
Caitlin Doherty
Steven Donahue II
Lauren Dorsheimer
Holly Dubois
Mary Elaina Elmasian
Zadok Emerick
Emily Etheridge
Grace Fenton
Brandon Fontaine
Anna Forde
Dylan Fournier
Bianca Francois
Santino Funaro
Ana Gadoury
Taryn Gaquin
Lyndsey Garde
Tyler Geffert
Victoria George
Daniela Gigliello
Olivia Goffe
Mark Guerard
Danielle Guindon
Rashi Gupta
Rachel Haley
Sara Hamel
Benjamin Handanyan
Katelyn Harnois
Michael Harrigan
Sijia He Sijia
Emily Hendricks
Olivia Hendricks
Jarrod Holgate
Steven Hollis
Regan Kelliher
Patrick Kennedy
Oneib Khan
Hyun Seung Kim
Andrew Knueven
Daniel Kohutanycz
Matthew LaButti
Trever LaCasse
Kelsey Lace
Drew Lambert
Adam Landry
Trevor Lang
Paul LaPlante Jr.
Christa Larence
Kassandra Larochelle
Melissa Lemoine
Lauren Levesque
Pinzhou Liang
Danielle Lippacher
Stephen Lizotte
Emma Lorusso
Meghan Lydon
Jiwei Ma Jiwei
Anthony Macari III
Nicholas Malerba
Erin Maloney
Jinxiang Mao
Kyle March
Kristen Marn
Eric Masi
Molly Mastroianni
Julie Mazza
Connor McCarty
Kerri McDonald
Evan McEldowney
James McGee
John McLaren
Megan Medeiros
Jason Meehan
Leah Meehan
Taylor Messier
Katherine Millette
Christine Montani
Ryan Morin
Tyler Morin
Callan Morisseau
Maddison Moulico
Cameron Murphy
Evan Murphy
Kayleigh Murphy
Bryan Nieva
Alex Nutting
Anthony Paglia
Angelica Paquette
Alyssa Paul
Bryan Peloquin
Kathryn Platek
Stephanie Platzer
Katherine Porcaro
Meghan Reilly
Ronald Renaud
Ayssa Ribeiro
Kimberly Rigano
Jennifer Roy
Daniel Ryan
Marie Ryan
Helen Saad
Victoria Saia
Michael Saker
Zachary Sarapas
Brittany Sarza
Ali Sayles
Dylan Schaffer
John Schmitt
Allison Shea
Caitlin Shea
Ryan Simoneau
Spencer Soucy
Emily Sproul
Alexa Stack
Timothy Stein
MaryKate Stimpson
Sean Stivaletta
Taylor Sutherland
Peter Swanson
Benjamin Swiszcz
Joshua Sztabor
Mathieu Tardif
Peter Therrien
Rebecca Thompson
Caroline Tillinghast
Taylor Towery
Vi Tran
Evan Traumuller
Mikayla Vacher
Alexandra Venancio
Cory Vescera
Caitlin Vickowski
Marion Walker
Michael Walsh
Alexandra Ward
Mary Wesalowski
Sean Whitesell
Benjamin Whitney
MacKenzie Wild
Annie Williams
Jamie Wozniak
George Younes