Peabody High sends off 432 grads

By Stacie N. Galang
Staff Writer

June 12, 2009 10:26 pm

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PEABODY — The sun pierced through the clouds yesterday evening in time to give the Class of 2009 and their guests a dry commencement, albeit a bit squishy on the field.

A standing-room-only crowd converged on the bleachers at Peabody High School to watch the 432 seniors take their ceremonial step into adulthood and get plenty of advice along the way.

Senior class co-president Jacqueline Lendall welcomed her peers by reflecting on her class's four years and its accomplishments. As juniors, they had beat the seniors during spirit week, and this year they had raised an unprecedented $13,000 at their spaghetti dinner, she said.

"There's no question in my mind that this Class of 2009 shines," Lendall said.

Mayor Michael Bonfanti, Superintendent C. Milton Burnett and Principal Edward Sapienza all offered words of wisdom.

"Just live life to its fullest," Bonfanti said.

Burnett asked the seniors to combine two words — "image" and "in" — to form "imagine."

"I ask as you go forward to let the imagination in you create the best image of you going forward," he said.

Sapienza told the seniors to embrace life as enthusiastically as a football player coming out of the tunnel before a game.

"To all the graduates assembled here today: Have the confidence and courage to be a good person," he said.

The ceremony took a lighter turn when beach balls emerged from among the blue- and white-robed seniors. As the band played "Carmina Burana," the balls bopped about to the cheers of the crowd but to the dismay of teachers who tried to capture the globes.

Senior essayist Jesse Comak spoke of his own perfectionism, a trait he understood could be a serious flaw. He had a wake-up call when he earned a "C" on an essay.

"Sometimes you have to look up from that textbook and experience what is happening in life," Comak said.

Salutatorian Esty Yanco spoke about how every one of the 432 graduates had individual personalities.

"I want you to look around," she said. "Everyone you see has a hidden story behind his or her image."

On her way to Peabody High yesterday evening, she decided to take a last-minute detour to the graveyard. She couldn't imagine going to graduation without visiting her father who died a little more than three months ago.

"He is my hidden story," Yanco said.

Her father had been one of the people who had pushed her so hard, but he could not "join me in this amazing day," the salutatorian said.

Yanco said her dad might have congratulated her sarcastically, telling her she did exactly what she was supposed to do.

But if he were there, she was sure he would have been in the stands with a grin spread across his face, Yanco said.

Valedictorian Michael Ahearn told his classmates that whether they realized it, this was a time of lists like colleges to attend and majors to declare. All too often, happiness gets lost, he said.

"I hope that sometime in the future, you find a hobby, a career, a friend, a person to love that infuses each day with joy," he said.

Ahearn encouraged his peers to go ahead and watch "Dark Knight" for the 18th time in a row, play "Halo," or curl up and read "Harry Potter."

"Go crazy," he said. "Responsibly crazy, of course."

The valedictorian said he wanted to give his classmates a friendly reminder of what life has to offer.

If, in the future, they couldn't say with a confident "yes" they were happy, they should know it was never too late to change.

The Class of 2009 gave the valedictorian a standing ovation.

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