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Friends, family, faculty and local officials gathered in front of the high school to honor Tuckahoe High School's 81 newest alumni as they prepare to take the next steps in their lives.
In his address to the students, Tuckahoe School Board President Julio Urbina said the graduating class was defined by two traits: its adaptability and character.
“You’ve been able to adapt to three different superintendents, the perils of social media and the financial constraints that schools have struggled with,” he said.
“You’ve completed projects in the community both in the public eye, and when no one is looking. And that’s the definition of character, doing good when no one is looking,” Urbina said.
Heather Capretti, a member of the Tuckahoe Class of 1999, served as class advisor for the seniors, 15 years after she herself graduated.
She said the “Tuckahoe family” will live on, even as the students go their separate ways to different schools and careers.
“I remember the nervous feeling that you won’t have those familiar faces around everyday. I knew when I went to college that I wanted to come back home and teach here," Capretti said.
"We’re the lucky ones, because we’ve experienced the Tuckahoe family, and that’s what we are, family,” she said.
In her speech, salutatorian Monica Calce cautioned now that they’ve graduated high school, it will be up to the students to make good decisions that they will have to live with.
“Decisions until now have been guided by the people around us, but that is all ending today.
“We can no longer hide behind these people, we’re all going to have to define who we are for ourselves,” she said.
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