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NORTHAMPTON — As music from Beyonce, Queen and The Notorious B.I.G. played, seniors from the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School marched, boogied and danced their way down the aisles and to their seats at the front of the Calvin Theatre Thursday night.
With almost all of the 68 members of the graduating class wearing decorative mortarboards, featuring items such as lit antlers and a miniature movie screen showing scenes from a Harry Potter film, the processional began an evening in which diplomas were handed out, words of wisdom were offered and parents and families would see performances to remember.
Leigh-Ellen Figueroa-Starr, costuming teacher and diversity coordinator at the school, told the seniors to face their fears head-on and trust the knowledge they have gained at PVPA.
“You are more than good enough,” Figueroa-Starr said. “I never want you to believe you’re not good enough.”
She explained that her 8-year-old daughter’s advice was to not be greedy and to prioritize happiness.
“Go out and live your life with an open heart, and I will be forever grateful for your sharing your beauty with me,” Figueroa-Starr said.
Two student speakers reflected on their time at the school.
Aishatou Diallo described the South Hadley school as a place for students to grow, to have their voices heard, and to find themselves.
“PVPA has made one epic Choose Your Own Adventure book, and I’m so glad to be part of it,” Diallo said.
The non-PVPA world will be scary, said student speaker Kate Nelson, but she added that she is confident her fellow students have become adults after many arrived from the Island of Misfit Toys.
“PVPA has changed us … into shimmering, whole, strong people I can see before me,” Nelson said.
“To the class of 2016, congratulations, it’s been a hell of a show.”
Besides the student performances, there was one also sung to the tune “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” by Scott Goldman, head of school, who said the 2016 class is so special to him “that I am going to sing a song, a song I only sing in my parallel universe, the universe where I am Al Green.”
Chris Fournier, director of student affairs, told the students to listen to their hearts, as well as their teachers and parents.
“They are the essential architects in the construction of your solid foundation,” Fournier said.
As they donned their gowns and put finishing touches on their headwear outside the Calvin, seniors described PVPA as a welcoming place where students and teachers are family.
“PVPA has been a very accepting, thoughtful and caring community, and I think I have grown as a person,” said Liliya Miller, 18, of Amherst.
Miller, who intends to pursue a psychology degree at the State University of New York at Purchase in the fall, said she is ready to begin college. “I will always call PVPA home,” Miller said.
Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid, 18, of Easthampton, will spend the next year in Los Angeles taking classes at a community college and then apply to music school, after being part of high school chorale and an a cappella group.
“PVPA has definitely helped to springboard that journey,” Jamrog-McQuaid said.
Wearing a graduation cap with a model sun that “is about bright beginnings and new horizons and such,” Maggie Barron, 18, of Northampton, said she has appreciated being part of jazz ensemble and the sketch comedy troupe Headgear.
“PVPA’s been amazing,” said Barron, who will study at Ithaca College in the fall. “It’s given me opportunities that I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else.”
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
