SHS graduation a scream
By Benjamin Witte

Cheering hysterically for their favorite teachers, administrators and peers, a revved up Class of 2006 set a high-energy tone early during Monday’s Somerville High School commencement ceremony, held on the Tufts University campus.

  With hundreds of family members and friends watching on, the approximately 350 graduating seniors peppered the event with periodic roars of excitement. The graduates, donning flashy caps and gowns ‚Äì white for girls, blue for boys ‚Äì were particularly appreciative of their student speakers: Monica Thomas, who delivered a short salutatory, Richard Papa, who read the class poem, and Malissa Dias, the 2006 valedictorian. And during the roll call, when students were called up one-by-one to receive their diplomas, the class‚Äô audible enthusiasm turned the normally mundane exercise into a tangibly exciting grand finale.
   The commencement program was emceed by Headmaster Thomas F. Galligani, for whom Monday‚Äôs graduation was also a farewell. Galligani is stepping down at the end of the 2006 academic year, following nine years at the school. He is being replaced next year by Vice Principal Anthony Ciccariello.
   ‚ÄúYou have a been a wonderful, lively, intelligent and wholly enjoyable class. I could not have picked a better group to have in my last year as headmaster. However, as I have said to previous graduates,‚Äù stated Galligani, ‚ÄúI must give you a challenge. Remember, to always keep and show your Somerville pride. Somerville pride is not phony. Somerville pride is real.‚Äù
    Superintendent of Schools Anthony Pierantozzi also spoke briefly. Unlike Galligani, the superintendent is completing just his first year on the job.
    ‚ÄúThank you for handling your responsibilities with such dignity, class and maturity. Good luck in your future. You will do that well, very well. You will always have a support system here in Somerville,‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúYou might be a bit concerned about your future, and that‚Äôs OK too. But you will be fine. And you will be fine because of something that Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote many, years ago, which is as true today as it was when he penned it. ‚ÄòWhat lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.‚Äô You will do fine because you have that right stuff within you.‚Äù
     Historically, approximately 75 percent of SHS graduates go on to advanced education or technical training. Every year several students join the military. Many others choose to stay in the area, attending four-year or community colleges in and around Boston. This year, nine SHS students will be attending Tufts University.
     ‚Äú[I feel] awesome, excited.‚Äù said senior Ashley Newton, who this fall will be going to Middlesex Community College where she expects to major in elementary education. ‚ÄúIt‚Äôs over and done with. It‚Äôs like we‚Äôre going on to another chapter. It sad. It‚Äôs scary. It hasn‚Äôt hit us though.‚Äù
Plans for the more immediate future include lots of “partying” with friends this summer, said Newton.
      As the ceremony came to a close, the Class of 2006‚Äôs boisterous energy, evident from the start, rose to the occasion. Diplomas in hand, the 350 SHS seniors waited until the last name had been called before they let out a cheer that just about took the roof down. A few students threw their shiny mortarboards in the air. There were smiles, hugs and kisses. Also a few tears. ‚ÄúPraise be to Jesus,‚Äù shouted one proud mother. They‚Äôd made it. For the class of 2006, high school was finally over.