South Royalton Graduates
Class of 41 Students
By Anneke Van Fossen

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The South Royalton High School Class of 2007 graduated Saturday, June 9 at a ceremony filled with music, emotion, and profound addresses.

Family, friends, and community members gathered on the Green under cloudy skies for the 10 a.m. commencement. By the end, the sun had emerged and was shining along with the graduates.

Class President Josh Bauder welcomed the audience with a spirited and humorous speech, noting that each person present had an impact on the lives of the graduates.

"Or you would have found something better to do with your Saturday morning," he explained.

Valedictorian Sophie Roy and Salutatorian Anneke Van Fossen spoke together, breaking a long-standing school tradition of separate speeches as they urged their classmates to break some traditions within the world as part of the new generation. They said that it was the obligation of each of them to help turn the deteriorating world around. They also asked the entire audience to "cherish diversity, not work to eradicate it" through the acceptance of all differences.

Honorary Speaker and important community member, Dick Ellis, spoke about his fulfilling life, made so by his family, community, and love for what he does. The area "Music Man" as the founder of Ellis Music and a South Royalton music teacher for 18 years, music was one of the themes of his speech.

"Have you ever thought of life without music?" Ellis asked the audience. To reinforce the point of his rhetorical question, the ceremony was filled with music, ranging from "Pomp and Circumstance" to "It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye" to "Yesterday" to "Freebird" to "Landslide," all performed by graduates or other South Royalton students.

The nurturing community, present throughout the years that the Class of 2007 was at South Royalton School, remained during this final event, as classmates, underclassmen, friends’ families, teachers, and staff members hugged liberally to celebrate the success of the graduates who felt all of their support along the way.

Awards

South Royalton Honors Awards, Sophie Roy and Anneke Van Fossen; Orange–Windsor Teacher’s Assoc. Award, Sophie Roy; Rebekah Scholarship, Jacob Thomas; Radom Book Award, Joshua Bauder and Devin Noyes; Vt. Honor Scholarship, Sophie Roy; Heartland Lion’s Club, Sophie Roy, Jacob Thomas, Chelsey Blossom, and Anneke Van Fossen; Rising Sun Lodge Scholarship, Chad Benson; and the Royalton Civic Club Scholarship, Kris Ferris, Amanda Tibbetts, and Chad Benson.

Also: American Legion Post #51 Scholarship, Nathan McShinsky and Christopher Chapman; South Royalton Women’s Club Scholarship, Chelsey Blossom; GW Plastics Scholarship, Kristopher Ferris; VT. Law School Scholarship, Jacob Thomas; Christiana C. Burnett Memorial Scholarship, Alesia Williams, Amanda Tibbetts, Cody Tetreault, Darren Slack, Kayleigh Munyon, Dale Manning, Peter Doyle-Braman, and Karen Kill; Better Homes Club, Chad Benson; and South Royalton High School Student Council Scholarship, Joshua Bauder.

In addition: Odd Fellows #74 IOOF Scholarship, Kris Ferris; Bethel Rotary Club Awards, Chelsea Wilmot and Jake Thomas; Alumni Assoc. Scholarships: Sophie Roy, Kris Ferris, Cody Tetreault, Kris Ferris, Chad Benson, Chris Chapman, and Anneke VanFossen; Thelma Ainsworth Scholarship, Chelsey Blossom; Daniel Baird-Wesson Scholarship, Karen Kill; Andrea Tibbetts Scholarship, Amanda Tibbetts; and Catholic Daughters of the America’s, Chad Benson.

Also: Retired Science Teacher’s Memorial Award, Anneke Van Fossen; Earl Durkee Scholarship, Kristopher Ferris; Gilman Foundation Scholarships: Ashley Amodeo, Chad Benson, Chelsey Blossom, Carissa Carpenter, Chris Chapman, Peter Doyle-Braman, Mike Epchook, Kris Ferris, Randy Kilbourn, Karen Kill, Samantha Little, Jessica Levatino, Mairi Lamson, Dale Manning, Nathan McShinsky, Kayleigh Munyon, John Murphy, Devin Noyes, Sophie Roy, Darren Slack, Cody Tetreault, Jacob Thomas, Amanda Tibbetts, Anneke Van Fossen, Alesia Williams, and Chelsea Wilmot.

Graduates

The members of the SRHS Class of 2007 and their plans after graduation are Ryan Alger, (employment); Ashley Amodeo (Lyndon State); Joshua Bauder (US Air Force Academy); Chad Bauder (Universal Technical Institute); Kyle Blakeman (employment); Chelsey Blossom (Keene State College); Tonnie Cantore (employment); Carissa Carpenter (Vt. Technical College); Christopher Chapman (Keene State College); Heather Cole (United States Navy); Brooke Donoghue (employment); and Peter Doyle-Braman (University of Massachusetts).

Also: Nicholas Enright (employment); Michael Epchook (Argentina Exchange Program); Kristopher Ferris (Vt. Technical College); Jessica Gray (employment); Randy Kilbourn (Universal Technical Institute); Karen Kill ( Connecticut Culinary Institute); Mairi Lamson (University of Massachusetts); Jessica Levatino (Johnson State); Samantha Little (Community College of Vermont); Dale Manning (Vt. Technical College); Jesse Mastine (employment); Charlotte McCleery (employment) and Nathan McShinsky (So. New Hampshire University).

In addition: Kayleigh Munyon (Johnson State); John Murphy (travel to Peru); Devin Noyes (Vt. Technical College); Mark Perkins (employment); Sophie Roy (University of Connecticut); Timothy Silovich (employment); Darren Slack (Vt. Technical College); Cody Tetreault (University of Vermont); Jacob Thomas (Keene State College); Amanda Tibbetts (University of New England); Anneke Van Fossen (Haverford College); Trevor Webster (United States Navy); Alesia Williams (Castleton State College); Chelsea Wilmot (Keene State College); Joseph Young (employment); and Ryan Zug (employment).