Friday, July 18, 2025
Grand Avenue Middle School’s Class of 2025 celebrated its moving up with three ceremonies on the school’s turf field on June 13.
Vocal group Grand Voices, led by director Amanda Cantwell, kicked off the ceremony with two songs. Vocalist and eighth grader Ava Andrews sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” for all three ceremonies.
Principal Carlo Conte was joined on stage by Assistant Principals James Mollica and Chris Riccardi, as well as Superintendent of Schools Michael Harrington, Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Eric Gomez, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Scott Bersin and Assistant Superintendent of Business Mikaela Coni.
Conte used life lessons from Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham” as an analogy for students stepping out of their comfort zone.
“You tried new things, you took chances — maybe you tried out for the school play even though you were nervous or maybe you raised your hand in science class even though you weren’t totally sure about the answer,” he said. “That, my friends, is growth.”
Conte added that more choices and challenges lie ahead for these eighth graders.
“More chances to say, I don’t like this or that,” he began. “Let’s add to that sentence the word ‘yet.’”
Safa Ahmad, Caroline Maxon and Lucas Senicola, student speakers from their respective teams, also addressed the crowd.
Samantha Bremer and Luke Yepez, seniors at Wellington C. Mepham High School, and Zachary Greenseid, a senior at John F. Kennedy High School, offered advice on navigating high school.
