TRI-TIMES
Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School
Volume 19
Number 4
June 2014
Superintendent Names Top Seniors
Superintendent-Director, Stephen Dockray, announced the Class of 2014 valedictorian, Lindsey Parent
at the commencement ceremony on June 8. Lindsey delivered her commencement address to her fellow
classmates and encouraged them to envision what the future has in store for them. She referenced a quotation
by Ralph Waldo Emerson, which states, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” She reflected
about how her class has been useful, honorable, and compassionate over the last four years, and added that,
unlike Emerson, she wished them happiness, as well as
encouraged them to continue being useful, honorable and
compassionate in their future.
Throughout the past four years, Lindsey has committed to a rigorous academic course schedule by enrolling in honors courses, as well as AP English Literature
this year. She has won a variety of awards throughout
her high school career, including multiple terms on high
honor roll, and the Shop Excellence award for Automotive Technology. In December, she was awarded with the
Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents
L to R: Class of 2014 salutatorian, Stephen Hagen, Superintendent
Certificate of Academic Excellence, which is awarded
Stephen Dockray, and class valedictorian Lindsey Parent
annually to a student with outstanding academic achievements and who has made significant contributions to the Tri-County community. In addition, Lindsey was
recently nominated for this year’s Walter J. Markham Award, an award sponsored and presented by the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators and the Massachusetts Vocational Association to a senior
graduating from a vocational technical high school who has demonstrated leadership, good attendance, and
excellence in technical and academic studies.
In addition to her commitment to academic and vocational excellence, Lindsey finds the time in her
already busy schedule to be involved in extracurricular activities. She is an active member of the National
Honor Society, where she served as the chapter secretary. She was the starting goalie for the varsity soccer
team for the past three years and was named the Defensive Player of the Year in her sophomore year, and a
Mayflower League All-Star in both her sophomore and senior years.
Lindsey plans on attending Bridgewater State University where she will pursue a degree in Psychology,
which will help her one day achieve her goal of counseling students who struggle with school.
Superintendent Dockray also introduced class salutatorian, Stephen Hagen. An Engineering Technology
major, he has continuously challenged himself and excelled throughout his high school career. He has taken a
full course load of honors classes over the past four years, including both AP Physics and AP English this year.
In addition to his school course load, he went beyond the high school-level math track and took college and
graduate-level math courses at UMASS Boston. In the past two years, he has taken Pre-Calculus, Calculus I,
Calculus II, and Probability with Statistical Application, all at the college level.
In addition to his full course load, Stephen finds the time to be active in extracurricular activities. In his
freshmen year, he ran both cross country and track.
He is one of the first two students at Tri-County who
have been a part of the robotics program through all
four years of high school, and he is one of the captains of the team. For the last six years, he has been
a part of the YMCA’s Leaders Club – one of many of
the YMCA Teen Leadership programs. Through TriCounty’s Cooperative Education Program, Stephen
worked at EMC in Franklin. Stephen is a two-year
member of the National Honor Society.
Stephen has earned many distinctions throughout his high school career including the Math, Science and Spanish awards. He was also a recipient
of the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, and he
earned the Four Year Perfect Attendance award. Recently, he was awarded the Air Force Math and Science and the Marine Corps Scholastic Excellence
Award.
Stephen plans on pursuing a double major in
Electrical Engineering and Physics at Northeastern
University in the fall in order to prepare for his goal
of a job in electrical engineering or in the field of robotics.
Honors Night 2014
Under the advisement of Dean of Students, Archie Beaton, the National Honor Society sponsored
Honors Night on Wednesday, June 4, to celebrate the
many accomplishments of Tri-County’s students.
This year there were awards in the categories including, but not limited to: Three Term Honor Roll,
Perfect Attendance, Daughters of the American
Revolution Award, the Massachusetts Association
of School Superintendents and the Massachusetts
Association of Secondary Schools Administrators
Award, vocational and academic awards, the Cougar Culture Awards, Senior Student Athletes, Armed
Services Awards, the Voice of Democracy essay contest awards, club and organization awards, and community service awards. Four seniors received clocks
for four-year perfect attendance. These students include Joseph Galligan, Stephen Hagen, Jr., Arianna Sandland, and William Sullivan. Students from
Grades 9 through 12 were honored with the Cougar
Culture award. Student who earned this award included freshmen William Galligan and Kathleen
Loonie; sophomores Kelsey Maynard, Tyler Thomas, and Thomas Vagnini; juniors Laura Auerbach,
Dillan Hoyt, and Emily Spillane; and seniors Mat-
thew T. Donovan, Andrew Robinson and Collin
Spillane.
Engineering Students Participate in
HUNCH Flight Week at NASA
Students from Tri-County’s Engineering Department participated in the HUNCH Flight Week at
NASA’s Johnson Space Center and Ellington Field in
Houston, Texas for the second year. HUNCH (High
School Students United with NASA to Create Hardware) is a program that partners with NASA and
schools across the nation with the goal of fabricating real-world products for NASA utilizing science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics skills.
NASA provides both the materials and mentors to
design, fabricate, and document the experiments.
The school provides technical direction, a safe working environment, and dedication to completion of
the task. Tri-County is among fourteen schools that
have the distinguished honor to attend the event, and
Tri-County is the only school in the northeast chosen to participate.
This year, three juniors, Jonathan Bellavance of
North Attleboro, Keith Hoell of Millis, and Nathan
Rogers of Blackstone, travelled to Houston with their
zero gravity project. The entire team, which also includes Armani Arroyo, Laura Auerbach, and Andrew Duell, worked to miniaturize last year’s project.
Last year, students built a device that measured mass
using centripetal force, the force that causes circular
motion. Their creation weighs over forty pounds and
stands over two feet tall. With mentoring from MIT
Space Systems Laboratory Associate Director, Alvar
Saenz-Otero, Ph. D, and with the donations of Series
R04 miniature force gauges from the manufacturer,
Mark-10, this year’s team created a finished prod-
uct that fit in a plexiglass box measuring 4”x 4”x 6”.
Their device was designed to measure mass in zero
gravity. Currently, devices used at the International
Space Station are only able to measure masses of ten
pounds or more, so the team needed to find a way to
measure masses under ten pounds.
On May 1, the team shared the results with NASA
in a virtual symposium. The Director of the Research
Integration Office at the International Space Station,
Rod Jones, is interested in the scale and wants to use
it to measure the mass of mice at the space station.
Engineering Instructor, Kristen Magas, reflecting
on the students’ experience, remarked, “If I had been
able to have this experience as a high school student,
I probably would have become an astronaut. It was a
great opportunity for the students.”
CNA Pins Awarded
Friends and family members joined Medical Careers instructors, Suzanne Dodakian, Paula
Hutchinson, Anne-Marie Guanci, on May 14 in
honoring senior students who passed the Massachusetts state exams and received their Certified Nursing
Assistant (CNA) license.
The pinning ceremony honored nineteen seniors in the Medical Careers Program who are now
qualified to work as CNAs in the healthcare field. The
students awarded their pins and licenses are David
Blowers, Jaclyn Brown, Lindsey Carrigan-Laquidara, Tracy Crosby, Elizabeth Gitschier, Lauren
Hall, Amanda Jenks, McKenzie Lonsdale, Layla
Marchand, Maggie McHugh, Gabrielle McKenna,
Kelsey Michaud, Ashley Monterotti, Megan Mulcahy, Rhaira, Oliveira, Taajnae Poindexter, Anthony
Profetto, Arianna Sandland, and Emily Toomey.
Tri-County Partners with Franklin
on New Construction Project
Junior and senior students in Carpentry, Electrical Wiring Technology, Plumbing and Hydronic
Heating are working with their instructors and the
town of Franklin to construct a home for the town’s
affordable housing program. Students began construction on the three-bedroom, two-bathroom
home in April. This first phase of construction is
being completed on the Tri-County campus. Lloyd
“Gus” Brown, Franklin Building Inspector, who is
overseeing the project, pays weekly visits to the site
to ensure that the home is being built in accordance
with the town’s Building Code. When the first phase
is completed, the house will be transported to Beaver
Court. This move is scheduled for the beginning of
September with a June 2015 completion date. Carpentry Instructor, John Lavigne said,” It’s a win –
win...; our budget is paid for by the town, we provide
them with a house, and the hands-on experience the
students gain from this is incredible. Students learn
how to work safely and efficiently as a team.”
Tri-County’s Annual Leadership
Breakfast
On April 29th, the National Honor Society hosted
Tri-County’s Annual Leadership Breakfast at Gerry’s
Place. This breakfast honors students who have exhibited dedication and who have made significant
contributions to the school community.
The students who were honored during the breakfast were seniors Radhika Bhatt, Patricia Bowen,
Robert Carneiro, Joseph Diorio, Joseph Galligan,
Stephen Hagen, Jr., Harley Keith, Kelly Korslund,
Nathaniel Lagos, Kelsey Michaud, Lindsey Parent,
Geoffrey Penchuk, Emily Scannell, Holly Turner,
and Drew Zaiter ; juniors Michael Ambrose, Laura
Auerbach, Stephanie Buttrick, Joshua Fuller, Samantha Gitschier, Bryanna Haskell, Keith Hoell,
Owen Hoff, Dillan Hoyt, Gregory Kanelos, Drew
Kelley, Matthew Lombardo, Jonathan McCaughey,
Jonathan Mingo, Anthony Muratori, Rhaira
Oliveira, Brianna Patton, Cassius Peter, Caroline
Read, Emily Spillane, Nathan Twyman, Amber
Webb, and Alyssa Zitoli; sophomores Lauren Albee,
Devang Bhatt, Kelsey Maynard, and Nathan Weidman; freshmen William Galligan, Andrea Sanchez,
Briana Santiago, Logan Silva, Devon St. George,
and William Wrynn.
Kansas City, Here We Come!
The Tri-County District SkillsUSA winners went
on to represent their vocational fields at the State
Competition May 1 to May 3 in Marlborough and
Upton. Eighteen Tri-County high school and postsecondary students qualified for advancement to
the 50th annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and
Skills conference in Kansas City, Missouri, from
June 23 to 28. This prestigious competition features
the most talented vocational technical students from
across the nation competing in more than 90 trade
and technical fields.
In the awards ceremony that followed, one TriCounty senior, John Ferris, earned quality points to
meet the gold medal standard in Prepared Speech.
Seven juniors met the gold standard. These students
include Laura Auerbach, Andrew Duell, and Keith
Hoell in Engineering Technology; Maximillian
Dixon, Joshua Fuller, and Caroline Read in Career
Pathways Showcase - Industrial and Engineering
Technology; Savanah Cuevas in Cosmetology-Over
500 Hours; Three sophomores, Conor McCaffrey,
Jeremy Piemonte, and Samuel Rivelis earned gold
medals in Career Pathways Showcase - Arts and
Communications. An additional junior, Matthew
Lombardo, will serve as part of the National Voting
Delegation in Kansas City.
Additionally, Dillan Hoyt earned the gold standard in the Meg Costello Community Service Award
while Anna Hall and Hannah McNeill earned the
gold standard in Non-Traditional Portfolio A host
of Tri-County High School students finished second
and third in their respective vocational areas. Silver
medal winners include: Ryan Cunningham, Internetworking; Kelsey Michaud, Basic Health Care;
Lindsey Carrigan-Laquidara, Layla Marchand,
and Megan Mulcahy, Career Pathways Showcase Human Services; Harley Keith, Welding Sculpture;
and Tyler Thomas and Carlton Perkins, Urban
Search and Rescue. Kaylie O’Sullivan and Elizabeth Ryan earned the silver standard in Non-Traditional Portfolio.
Bronze medal winners include: Geoffrey Penchuk, Technical Related Math; Christopher Ferreira, Action Skills; Alexander Fair, Graphic Communications; Jason Pisani, Telecommunication
Cabling; and Kevin Kohls and Thomas Vagnini,
Urban Search and Rescue.
In post-secondary LPN and Cosmetology programs, six students earned gold medals. These students are Jacqueline Crugnola, Cosmetology; Robert Walls, Job Skill Demonstration Open; Rebecca
Martin and model, Natalie Berganza, Nail Care;
Vania Libetario, Medical Terminology; and Jessica
Perkins,Practical Nursing.
Silver medals were awarded to the following
post-secondary students: Amanda Flynn, Cosmetology; Ann Mazzarella, First Aid CPR; Sarah Sullivan, Job Skill Demonstration: and Ashley Garceau,
Jennifer Majeski ,Brooke Marston, and Bobbie
Pasquantonio, Health Knowledge Bowl Team.
Renee Bouchard, Dylan Cahill, Nicole Couture,
and Kelsey O’Neil earned bronze medals in Health
Knowledge Bowl.
Spring Sports Awards
In the Annual Spring Sports Awards Ceremony,
which took place on June 11 and June 12, several
athletes were honored. Tri-County Athletic Director,
Peter Kubiak, thanked the athletes, coaches, parents,
boosters, administrators and faculty for their support
of the spring programs. The following team members
were presented with special awards:
Varsity Baseball:
Samuel Lacasse, Coach’s Award
Andrew Robinson, Coach’s Award
Robert Saraf, Coach’s Award
Nathaniel Lagos, All-Star
JV Baseball:
Jordan Kapala, Coach’s Award
Zachary Keeler, Coach’s Award
Varsity Softball
Devan Clark, Coach’s Award
Anna Hall, All-Star & Coach’s Award
Kyla Johnson, All-Star & MVP
JV Softball:
Emily Guimond, Coach’s Award
Sarah Silva, MVP
Varsity Lacrosse:
Jake Kelley, Most Improved
Daniel McLaughlin, Unsung Hero
Jake Ducharme, All-Star
Michael Goss, All-Star
Drew Zaiter, All-Star
Collin Spillane, MVP
JV Lacrosse:
Kelsey Maynard, Most Improved
Nicholas Laverdiere, MVP
Varsity Boys’ Track & Field:
James Meredith, Coach’s Award
John Sturtevant, Coach’s Award & All-Star
Joshua Winters, Coach’s Award
Varsity Girls’ Track & Field:
Emily DiTullio, Coach’s Award
Madison Kaplan, Coach’s Award
Emily Spillane, All-Star & Coach’s Award
Jennifer Bowness, State Vocational Champion
Gabrielle Geromini, State Vocational Champion
Kelsie Rainone, State Vocational Champion
Caroline Read, State Vocational Champion
Elizabeth Ryan, State Vocational Champion