WOODBURY — Nonnewaug recognized the highest achievers of the class of 2024 at the top 10% banquet April 25 at the Painted Pony in Bethlehem. Each of the 17 students chose a teacher to speak on their behalf, and many of the speeches were crowd pleasers.
Teachers have to decide what style they would like to write in. Ben Guerette, an English teacher who introduced Samantha Duncan and Maggie Keane, chose to include some more humorous things about the students.
“I start by writing down everything I could think of about them — character traits, memories, things we have in common, things they’re known for, anything they might be embarrassed about (though not too embarrassed),” Guerette said. “I write it all down in no particular order. Once I have everything I can think of, I try to edit it down and pick the most interesting pieces. I revise it 1,000 times, and finally, I read it to my wife, who pretends to pay attention.”
Guerette knew that Duncan and Keane could take some needling in addition to the praise typical of all speeches.
“Maggie and Sam are funny people who are confident in themselves, so I knew that they’d be cool with me making fun of them a little in my speech and making it kind of silly,” Guerette said.
Some teachers decide to take a more heartfelt approach to the speeches, like social studies teacher Rebecca Trzaski, who represented Madison Stewart.
“When Maddie asked me, I already had in mind this idea that I wanted to do Maddie throughout the years. I just knew that she was a real model student,” Trzaski said. “I reached out to her mother and asked who her favorite teachers were, and she gave me the names of what teachers to reach out to. From there, it was me condensing down their words and deciding what parts of their comments to include. The night is not just about the students: The night is about all the time and sacrifice that the parents and the family have put in to get their child this far in their academic career.”
Trzaski said she, like many other teachers who speak at the banquet, considers it an honor to be chosen as a presenter.
“It was one of the best honors I’ve had in my five years of being here,” Trzaski said. “I was very excited to speak on her behalf because I think very highly of her, and when most students think about who they want to speak for them at that event, it’s someone who they feel they have built a good relationship with and who they trust.”
There was a mix of speeches at this event. Social studies teacher Kyle Brennan, who represented Gianna Lodice, said a variety of tones and styles is a good thing.
“It’s fun to hear how many different approaches are at that event because if everyone did the semi-roast style that Mr. Guerette and I did, I think it would take away from some of those speeches,” Brennan said. “Mrs. [Laurenn] Bertoglio did a poem about her student [Megan Keating], and Mrs. [Leeza] Desjardins brings up art and it’s very heartfelt that she sees how her students [Rubie Lombardi and Madison Willis] grew from year one to year four. It’s a very nice mix.”
The top 10% of students in the graduating class are, in alphabetical order, Katie Alexander, Amy Byler, Skylar Chung, Sean Classey, Samantha Duncan, Anna Galvani, Nick Higgins, Maggie Keane, Megan Keating, Gianna Lodice, Rubie Lombardi, Kaitlyn Monteiro, Juliette Nichols, Madison Stewart, Madison Strubbe, Cole Wenis, and Madison Willis. Galvani is the class valedictorian while Wenis is the salutatorian.
