Goodrich Academy senior celebrates early graduation ahead of shipping off to the Marines

When Mathews Cardeal realized he would miss his long- awaited high school graduation on June 2 because he’ll ship off to the Marines two days ahead of it, he was devastated.

Word spread about the 21-year- old Goodrich Academy student’s predicament and when Principal Alexis Curry heard about it, she was having none of it. The longtime educator took it upon herself to arrange a special graduation ceremony for Cardeal during the annual Senior Celebration held last Monday and paid to rent a stage and two food trucks out of her own pocket.

“ We tried to do the best we could to make it a special day for him … so he could have a special graduation before shipping off to serve our country,” Curry said, adding that they were “also celebrating six young people going into the Marine Corps, which is unusual.”

Five of the six Marines in the Goodrich senior class attended the celebration, Jayden Belcher was at work. Belcher and Yandel Rodriguez each ship out on Aug. 22, Cardeal on May 31, Brandon Franklin on Oct. 10, Dady Perez heads out on Sept. 22, Mathias Ramos on June 21, and Jonathan Troche is finalizing the process.

“ It feels good, I feel very special,” Cardeal said while surveying the large crowd of people gathered at the school on May 23 for his big day with his trademark ever-present smile on his face.

Marine Staff Sergeant Wesley Ratcliff, Cardeal’s recruiter, attended the celebration and said he is “ very excited” for Cardeal.

“ I’m anxious, the days are going slow,” Cardeal said when asked how he’s feeling about shipping out on May 31 to Marine Boot Camp at Parris Island in South Carolina.

It’s easy to see how much the students adore Curry, who has been an educator for over 34 years — 16 of those as a guidance counselor at Leominster High School and 15 years as guidance counselor at Goodrich before she took over as principal in 2017. She greeted students, staff, and families at the celebration with a warm smile and when a student walked up to her and gave her a hug and introduced her to his girlfriend, she quipped with a smile “He gives any trouble, let me know.”

Curry said someone once referred to Goodrich as “Fitchburg’s hidden gem because so many kids go through there and do so many things for people but for some reason people just often don’t realize we are there.”

“Our teachers don’t do it for the recognition, but they are such a passionate group who works tirelessly,” she said. “What’s most important is our students think it’s a very special place a second home so even if nobody knows about us, they cherish us and that’s what’s most important. Every day of the week we have former students come back and tell us what they are doing and get help with college work. Wherever they are they stay connected.”

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Fitchburg Schools, FATV team up on safety videos

During these challenging times due to COVID19, it’s extremely important to stay nimble and flexible, said Fitchburg Public Schools Superintendent Robert Jokela.

Transparency and clear and frequent communication — real time and detailed information — is always the goal of Fitchburg Public Schools.

And thanks to a new and prospering partnership with Fitchburg Access Television, communication from the district to the Fitchburg community is at an all- time high.

While FPS has continually provided frequent updates on its website and social media outlets — Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — the message, during this pandemic, is reaching an even greater audience thanks to the hard work and community- first dedication of the staff at FATV.

“ FATV helps the school district connect to all members of the community,” Jokela said. “ FATV’s platform has allowed us to increase the frequency of important communications to our families, and highlight our programs and special events, including our high school graduations, and the Junior- Senior Relays this year at Crocker Field.”

Fitchburg Public Schools has worked diligently to have the schools ready for a safe return of staff and eventually students during the pandemic, as it continues to receive and distribute personal protective equipment and deploy masks and cleaning supplies throughout each and every school.

With the help of FATV, the district has launched informational videos, a “ COVID-19 Safety Series” at each school.

“Collaborating with the school department to produce these important safety videos is something FATV felt would be of great value to our community,” said FATV Executive Director Nathan Glenny. “ We appreciate this partnership and continually look toward ways to best serve the city of Fitchburg as the local access provider.”

While on camera, principals and administrators take the viewer up close and inside the building to show what safety measures are being put into place, including mandatory masks being worn while inside the schools, what PPE are available to staff and students, what a classroom will look like with proper social distancing between each seat, how foot traffic in the hallways will flow, and the cleaning measures taking place to ensure a safe return of staff and students.

“ Visualizations always help to better communicate messages, and in dealing with this pandemic, we’re trying to best convey these safe practices toward a successful restart of in- person learning for our school community,” Glenny said. “ These videos, filmed and edited by the FATV staff, will assist students, parents and faculty with these vital protocols put in place by the FPS district.”

Read more here and view the videos here.

Goodrich Academy Class of 2020 moves on with heads held high

While Goodrich Academy’s commencement ceremony on Friday was delayed for several weeks due to the pandemic and the road ahead remains uncertain, for graduates the message was evident: we will persevere.

Given the current circumstances, this year’s ceremony looked a bit different than other years. For the first time ever, the event was held at historic Crocker Field and both graduates and families in attendance were sporting face masks when necessary.

Dr. Stephen Mills, keynote speaker and School Council member, told the Class of 2020 to think about how important choices are. While some choices are insignificant, like choosing what to eat for breakfast, other choices hold great weight, he said.

“ We don’t always make perfect choices,” Mills said. “After some choices maybe you didn’t really like, you chose to go to Goodrich Academy. Maybe the best choice you’ve made so far in your young lives.”

Mills said he’s never grown to admire a school as much as Goodrich, which he says is unique.

“ It’s an extraordinary school because of its principal, faculty, and staff,” Mills said. “ The dedication, talent, and devotion of this group of people” can’t be replicated, he said.

Mills continued, saying the school raises the standard of life throughout the entire country.

“ It is a true diamond in the rough,” he said.

Read more here.

Goodrich Academy students lending a hand at South Street Elementary School

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It’s always fun on Fridays at South Street Elementary School.

Granted, the weekend is near, but more importantly the elementary school students are always excited to spend time with Goodrich Academy students who are heavily involved in the “ Community Service Learning” program.

Every Friday since September, Goodrich high- school students Deanna Capone, Vinny Evangelous, Samantha Grant, Nathan Hebert and Cody Mosher visit South Street Elementary and work hand- inhand with kindergarten students in Noreen Howe, Melissa Guerard and Cynthia Clark’s classes, and Kayleigh Pennell’s fourth- grade class.

The Goodrich students enjoy the interaction, along with coloring, singing, dancing and reading to the younger students.

“ I’ve done this for two trimesters now and I enjoy it a lot,” said Capone, who wants to be a teacher and attend Mount Wachusett Community College or Fitchburg State University due to participating in this service program. “ It melts my heart that these kids might not have it all. You’re providing them with education and getting them ready to start the rest of their years in school.”

For Grant, it’s all about interacting with the young students and having fun with them for the hourand- a- half they are inside the elementary school classrooms.

“ I like helping them; it’s fun,” said Grant, who enjoys doing activities with the kindergarteners. “I just love them.”

Evangelous and Hebert both talked about the joy they get by being around these young students.

“ I just love helping the kids out,” Evangelous, a junior, said.

“ I love interacting with them. Being with them makes me happy and I love it.”

Added 10th- grader Hebert: “ I enjoy playing with the kids and making them feel good and happy. I really enjoy helping them out, I like doing community service because it makes me feel really good.”

Guerard said her young students can’t wait to see the Goodrich students every week and eventually create a bond with them that’s growing.

“ They are big kids to them,” Guerard said. “ They call them the ‘ high- schoolers.’ When they

walk in they are through the roof. It’s almost like a big- sister, big- brother type of thing. They want to show them things, ‘ look what I can do’ and they are proud of their own work and they can’t wait to show that off and work with them.

“ I love having them come in. I think it’s an amazing program.”

Read more here.

Goodrich Academy Class of 2019

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The 138 graduates of Goodrich Academy’s Class of 2019 said goodbye to high school Thursday, May 30th during a ceremony at the Fitchburg High School Field House.

Read more here.