Newton South Class of 2017 Graduates, Mayor Gets Honorary Degree

NEWTON, MA — Newton South high school seniors lined up decked in their dark navy blue caps and gowns and walked into the field house two by two, fist pumping teachers on their way in and smiling and waving to parents and friends as they made their way to their seats.

Over the next hour they listened as Mayor Setti Warren reminded them of their accomplishments, Superintendent David Fleishman joked about snow days he gave them, and School Committee members Steven Siegal and Margie Ross Decter tried not to embarrass their children and dished advice to the soon to be graduates. City Councilor Amy Sangiolo got choked up a bit as she spoke about how proud she was of her own daughter about to make her way across the stage to shake a hand and grab her diploma.

On June 8, Newton South's Class of 2017 graduated and closed the chapter on this part of their lives. And Mayor Warren received a diploma, too.

"You keep talking about that Newton North you graduated from," said Principal Joel Stembridge. "Now you can say you graduated from both Newton schools," he said handing Warren an honorary diploma.

The class made it through all four years including ups and downs, the awkward stages and the profound stages, said commencement speaker Jadon Smith comparing the class's experience to a sloth named Toby crossing the road and getting a number of laughs.

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A list of the kudos the mayor reminded the class about?

• South placed 2nd at the Massachusetts Envirothon
• The Lion's Roar won Best in Show at the National Scholastic Press Association Awards
• In Math, Newton South placed 3rd Place in States and New England Regionals.
• Two Honorable Mention Teams in Moody's Mega Math Challenge, a real-world Mathematical Modeling Challenge that tackled the effects of rising sea levels on National Parks
• 25 Speech & Debate Team members qualified for Nationals
• South placed 2nd at State competition in Speech Events and 3rd in Debate
• Orchestra received a Gold medal at the MA Instrumental & Choral Conductors Association Festival
• South earned gold medals at MAJE (Massachusetts Association of Jazz Education) for the Jazz Ensemble and the Jazz Combo
• South Stage performed the musical RENT in front of three sold-out houses and raised $2,525 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
• Youth Commission had the LISTEN Event at North and brought over 35 students from both North and South together to learn different ways to communicate respectively and empathetically with those who have different political views.

Photo by Jenna Fisher/ Patch