Fearless was the word that came to Pete Steedman’s mind when describing the seven members of the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School’s class of 2019 at Sunday’s graduation ceremony.
Steedman, the school’s director, has been heading the school for a little over a year, but has made plenty of connections with the school’s newest graduates Layla Buckley, Kyle Ribeiro, Julia Kane, Ryan Hunter Laslovich, Tatianna Ruth Jimena Reyes-Major, Aiden C. Donovan, and Charlotte Rooney.
“This is your day and we’re here to celebrate everything you’ve given to our school,” Steedman said to the graduates sitting on stage underneath a tent set up outside the school. “You as a group are fearless. Absolutely fearless.”
That fearlessness shined during the calm and sunny afternoon as teachers and classes from the lower grades gave the graduates special gifts and shared some of the amazing things the graduates have done and will go on to do.
The Charter School’s graduation ceremony is unique among schools both on and off the Island. Each student is donned with a crown of leaves and given special awards, personally crafted gifts, and plenty of hugs.
The school’s kindergarten class presented Queen superfan Aiden, who will attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City this fall, with many gifts, including a Freddie Mercury T-shirt before donning fake moustaches and singing “We Will Rock You.”
Due to her love of lotus flowers, Julia was presented with lotus flower-themed items from first and second grade classes such as a journal, tapestry, and earrings. Julia, who is headed to Bard College, spent much of her time at the school teaching the first and second grade students reading and writing, so to honor her they read a list of vocabulary words such as “smart,” “gentle,” “pretty,” and “kind,” to describe the new graduate.
The third and fourth grade classes gave Layla a journal to help her take notes as she studies journalism at Suffolk University, a scrapbook decorated in seaglass, and a jar of 365 wishes and fortunes for each day of the coming year that tell her pick a flower for a friend or treat herself to ice cream.
Grades five and six got to give Charlotte a Japanese tattoo coloring book and a sketching journal to help her at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design as she works to become a tattoo artist. Since she’s headed to Boston, the younger students gave Charlotte some advice like don’t wander off in weird places and don’t stay out too late.
For Tatianna, middle grade students gave her a backpack, a water bottle, and other travel necessities as she heads to Thailand to attend university next year. The same middle grade students also gave gifts to Ryan, a future chef in the making, and Kyle who plans to become an electrician.
Adding to their robust bounties, each of the new graduates were given backpacks and handmade specially designed capes for being “superheroes” to the younger students.
The most tender moment of the day was when math teacher Deborah Cutrer became emotional as she presented gifts to Ryan, a student she was especially close with.
“You can earn anything you want…and never forget all the tools you have are truly right here,” she said.
During the scholarship portion of the ceremony, Julia walked away with a generous amount of cash to go toward her future at school. Julia was awarded scholarships from the MV Garden Club, the Trustees of Reservations, a $3,000 inspiration fund scholarship from the Martha’s Vineyard Permanent Endowment, and a special MV Youth scholarship that presented her with a backpack, an iPad, and a $1,000 credit to the Bard College bookstore to help her purchase books for her classes.
While the school’s graduating class only consisted of seven students, each was given a special award with books to reflect their talents and personalities. Awards like the “Visionary Award” for Aiden and his pursuit of fashion designing and the “Mother Jones you don’t need the vote to raise hell award” for Julia’s leadership and love of the 1960s recieved thunderous applause from the audience of family and friends.
Art teacher and advisor Ken Vincent gave the commencement address. Instead of the usual didactic parable, Vincent decided to share some of the best things about each student and how they will go off into the world and make a difference.
Some of the graduates gave speeches about their time at the school and what’s ahead. Ryan took his time to thank his family and especially his friends.
“We are all moving into the next parts of our lives. For most of us college, for some of us taking the time to think and to take a breath. All of us are moving on to our own paths, choosing our own destiny, creating our own future. I wish you all the best of luck in college or wherever life takes you after this,” he said.
After all the awards and gifts, the class of 2019 walked out of the tent and embraced their families and each other as “We are Going to Be Friends” played over the speakers.
“Wonderful,” Vincent said of the graduates after the ceremony. “The big thing for them is to just believe in themselves.”