LYNNFIELD MIDDLE SCHOOL eighth graders listen to Student Council President Ben Kazlouski’s speech during the recent moving on ceremony. There were 192 eighth graders who moved on from LMS last month. (Dan Tomasello Photo)

 

 

By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield Middle School celebrated the accomplishments of 192 eighth graders during the recent moving on ceremony.

The middle school held the moving on ceremony in the softball field’s outfield for the first time, and featured a large crowd of students, families, educators and school officials. Student Council Vice President Jack Cullinane opened the ceremony by leading attendees in the “Pledge of Allegiance.”

Student Council President Ben Kazlouski welcomed families, educators and students to the middle school’s moving on ceremony.

“I want to congratulate all the students for making it here, so let’s have a big round of applause for the 2024 graduating class of Lynnfield Middle School,” said Ben.

The ceremony’s attendees gave the eighth graders a round of applause.

Ben recalled that the eight-graders began their LMS tenures during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Many of us remember logging on to our first fifth grade Zoom like it was yesterday,” said Ben. “I think we can agree that our class has had to adapt to far more things than most, but we all persevered through change. Everyone here made it through a worldwide pandemic, multiple variants, online learning, the evolution of TikTok and a series of many other unfortunate events. We’ve endured this ever-changing world, and now it’s time for what our parents call ‘the best four years of your life,’ also known as the big leagues.”

Ben said the 192 eighth graders they “should be very proud” that they were moving on to high school.

“Students, you completed the four-year roller-coaster,” said Ben. “Parents, you raised us all 14 years for this here moment. Teachers, you’ve had to teach, babysit, motivate and look at 20 blank screens on Zoom for hours on end just to get us here. It’s truly a blessing to be in front of you all right now, and I, like many others, will be forever grateful for the people who poured into us to be successful, didn’t judge us by how we looked, took the extra time to get to know us and did it all out of love.”

Ben said rapper J. Cole’s song “Love Yourz” includes the lyrics: “It’s beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success.”

“I think that we’ve all struggled in some way over the years,” said Ben. “We’ve all opened our eyes and realized that there truly is beauty in the struggle that we’re blind to until the struggle is over.”

Ben said the challenges that the 192 eighth graders have overcome is why the students “will be so successful in the future.”

“Students, if you leave here with one thing going into high school: Life is more than grades, and just a smidge more than Instagram likes and Roblox friends,” said Ben. “No matter what you do these next four years, keep the will inside of you to persevere the way we did. Don’t let anybody ever dim the light inside of you. I appreciate all of you lovely parents and teachers for being here, and congratulations to the Lynnfield Middle School Class of 2024.”

After Ben concluded his remarks, he was given a round of applause.

Middle School Principal Stephen Ralston welcomed students, families, educators and school officials to the LMS moving on ceremony. He thanked the middle school’s “dedicated teachers who worked tirelessly in and out of the classroom to get school back to normalcy this year.”

“I would also like to recognize and thank the Moving On Committee and all of our parent volunteers who have helped make moving on a special time for our eighth graders,” said Ralston.

Ralston recalled that the 192 eighth graders entered LMS as 10-year-olds and are departing as teenagers.

“Middle school can be very challenging and during your time here, you have learned more about yourself than about any subject,” said Ralston. “Your first three years here were wrought with terms such as asynchronous, remote, hybrid, cohort, quarantine, social distancing and contact tracing. It has been quite a ride. As you exit Lynnfield Middle School, I thank you for being a class who has stepped up despite all that you had to endure. I wish you all the best as you enter your next four years as high school students. Seize each opportunity and challenge you face. Get involved, be yourself and know that kindness, effort, and citizenship will always serve you well.”

Student Council Secretary Sydney Moore said the class gifts will be a blue bench for the front of the middle school as well as the traditional plaque that will be put on display.

The ceremony concluded with Ralston, Assistant Principal Jeremy Greenwood and eighth grade English teacher Michelle Kane presenting certificates to the students.

Moving on

The eighth graders who moved on from Lynnfield Middle School were Anjolaoluwa Adetule, Nada Al Attal, Grace Allen, Alexander Amico, Camden Anderson, Christopher Anderson, Anthony Andreottola, Aaron Attubato, Adam Ayari, Michael Barrett, John Beccia, Tyler Bellandi, Anthony Bido, William Biggar, Ava Bourinot, Olivia Braley, Calan Brangiforte, Gianna Bridges, Kathleen Brown, Spencer Brown, Paul Buccilli, Megan Buckley, Nicholas Bui, Parker Burek, Jocelyn Burke, Ryan Burns, Thomas Burns, Chase Cail, Sabrina Capachietti, Calleigh Caprio, Evan Carty, Gabriella Cassano, Sadie Caulfield, Vanessa Champy, James Chavez Lopez, Quintan Chiaradonna, Cameron Chisholm, Christine Choi, Michael Cieslewicz, Jason Ciolfi, Isaiah Corlett, Hailey Crosbie, Alice Crowley, Jack Cullinane, Collin Curley, Soumil DasGupta, Carina DeLeo and Helena DeOliveira.

As well as Jacob Desrochers, Noah Desrochers, Sydney Devroe, Anna Diranian, Nora Donovan, Cassandra Dorman, Connor Driscoll, Eyla Durakovic, Hadi El-Rihane, Karim Elhamrawy, Hunter Ells, Elise Fallica, Matthew Falzarano, Brianna Feinberg, Anthony Fiore, Lily Fitzemeyer, Wenkai Fitzgerald, Avery Fleming, Brendan Flynn, Caden Francis, Elle Gaafer, Lilly Gately, Liza Gavrilova, Meghan Geary, Jacoby Gelling, Spencer Gillis, Benjamin Glasser, Michael Glynn, Fiona Golden, Alyssa Goodwin, Angelina Goyette, Julia Grasso, Chloe Grieves, Maxwell Gromko, Aiden Hado, Shane Hallahan, Claire Halsey, Sabrina Hayman, Nolan Heffron, Nicholas Heintz, Eva Hixon, Ella Hodsdon, Deirdre Horatagis, Michael Hubbard, Olivia Hurton, Vivian Indresano, Tyler Ing and Amelia Jalali.

In addition to Katarina Jovanovic, Sarah Kaufman, Benjamin Kazlouski, Kamilla Khiat, Selenna Kosmas, Nikhil Kumar, Milana Labkovich, Cordelia Langton, Khloe Littlefield, Rachael Long, Lucas Lopes, James Mahan, Julia Maliawco, Audrey Malone, Patrick Malone, Luke Mancinelli, Ryan Mandile, Camille Marini, Kauan Marques, Jillian Martin, Mia Martins, Colin Mauser, Griffin McCarthy, Davin McClory, Estelle McClory, Bridget McGee, Molly McMahon, Calia Melanson, Jayce Melara, Charlotte Migliero, Chase Minniear, Sydney Moore, Sophia Morgese, Jack Mueller, Lorna Murray, Giuliana Nastari, Vivienne Nguyen, Angelina O’Hara, Marissa Olsen, Thomas Ortiz, Lucia Palmer, Jorani Paul, Daira Paulino, Maggie Pavao, Andrei Pena, Miguel Perez, Jonathan Pescione and Kayden Peterson-El.

The remaining eighth-graders who moved on from LMS were Jacob Pincus, Tyler Pincus, Gemma Primavera, Afsana Rabbani, Ava Ragusa, Philip Ragusa, Nicholas Raso, Joshua Reinold, Phoebe Rockwell, Arianna Roy, Patrick Ryou, Adam Rystrom, Maximus Sabbagh, Bianca Sacco, Hiba Sadki, Joseph Santarella, Sean Santo, Luca Sarni, Alexandra Scanlon, Anna Scire, Logan Senat, James Settipane, Sophie Shaievitz, Mitchell Sieve, Lucas Smallenberger, Lillian Spillane, Thea Splansky, Lily Sullivan, Michael Sweeney, Noah Sweeney, Gianna Sylvester, Marko Tare, Brooke Tarr, James Thiffault, Edward Torri, Jackson Tranfaglia, Domenic Travaglione, Abigail Tsatskis, Jose Vega, Gianna Veiga, Charles Verdile, Michael Vetere, Juliana Vigeant, Stella Vigeant, Elisa Vladasi, Boden Wallin, Lucas Westcott and Vicky Zheng.