It was a festive morning at the Alumni Gymnasium on Saturday, June 28, as 118 Cohoes High School seniors crossed the stage to accept their diplomas, marking the next phase of their lives.
There were laughs, tears and cheers as friends, family, teachers, staff, administration and members of the Board of Education gathered to celebrate the Class of 2025.
Valedictorian Shae Fontaine, Salutatorian Jackson Felt and Honorable Mention Clare Frank led their classmates in the procession around the gymnasium to their seats.
Students who enlisted in the military led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. They include: Logan Abdella; United States Navy; Cameron Berkely, United States Navy; Marcus Cummings, United States Marines; Isabella Franco, Army National Guard; and Evie Tarlo, Air National Guard.
The high school chorus sang the National Anthem and the Cohoes Alma Mater under the direction of Christian Gunn, middle and high school chorus and performing arts director.
CHS Principal Laura Tarlo played a dual role this year as a parent watching her own daughter embark on this significant milestone.
She reflected on being their age at one time, and being consumed with the upcoming journey; wanting to make the right decision and pick the right path, choose the right career, and make sure she made the people around her proud.
“But you know what I found out after years of being on that journey? There is no magic recipe, there is no secret path,” said Mrs. Tarlo.
She told them the path to their purpose in life doesn’t have to revolve around a job or a college program or material items.
“Your purpose in life is to simply find and discover what it is that you bring to the world in your own unique and beautiful way.”
Her wish for the Class of 2025 is to have a purpose-driven life, and to find great joy and peace in that journey.
Superintendent O’Shea spoke about the Tiger Way, a set of nine core values that students learn, display and live by as a Cohoes Tiger and highlighted three of them: Be committed, be confident, be resilient.
“Commitment is the foundation of every goal you will ever achieve,” she said. “Your commitment is your compass – it means showing up on the long days, the hard days and when no one is watching,” she said.
Regarding confidence, Mrs. O’Shea told the students that it isn’t about knowing all the answers, it’s about trusting yourself to find them. “Throughout your years in school you have proven you can learn, adapt and overcome,” she said. “Believe in yourself. Step forward, speak out when needed, take risks.
Finally, Mrs. O’Shea told the students that life throws curveballs. “You will fall, you will fail and things will not always go as planned. Resilience is not the absence of struggle, it is the strength to rise after the fall, your power to get back up.”
Valedictorian Shae Fontaine took a different approach. Citing how most people say, “We made it,” on graduation day, she prefers to say, “We started.”
“We start today becoming our own true people and contributing to the world in our own diverse ways,” she said. “I’m not the same person I was when I started. None of us are. And maybe that’s the whole point — we’re not supposed to leave here exactly the same as we came in.”
She thanked the administration and the Board of Education for their dedication to making Cohoes High a welcoming place for all students to grow with endless opportunities.
“Without Cohoes High, I wouldn’t know who I am and what I want in life, so thank you for helping me find myself at least a little bit.”
Other speakers included Salutatorian Jackson Felt, Class President Evie Tarlo and Social Studies Teacher Andrea DeStefano.
And as they slid their graduation cap tassels to the left, the students were now officially the Class of 2025…graduates.
Congratulations!