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Cape Cod Regional Technical High School

    DIPLOMAS

    The Tech’s Class of 2024 Is Ready for the Real World

    Cape Cod Tech graduates 146 seniors in 15 disciplines

    By

    HARWICH — Cape Cod Regional Technical High School’s June 1 graduation ceremony was full of reflection. Student speeches recalled the obstacles of starting high school in the middle of the pandemic, breaking in a brand-new campus, and enduring something perhaps particularly annoying to these technology-focused students: a technical glitch that produced three false intruder alarms in just one year.

    Class President Gavin Mumford works the crowd during his speech. (Photo by Amiya Pena)

    Among the graduating class of 146 students, 14 hailed from the Outer Cape. They pursued disciplines ranging from plumbing and carpentry to culinary arts. Cape Tech offers 15 technical disciplines as part of its vocational programming.

    When they started high school in the fall of 2020, online classes were still going strong. That was a hardship valedictorian Ciara Torres said she hoped future high school students would not have to endure again.

    These are students drawn to real-world problem-solving. “Most of us chose the Tech because we wanted to do hands-on work, which made it that much more difficult to sit in virtual classes and do assignments online,” said salutatorian Brighten Vincent, speaking at the ceremony.

    This was the first graduating class to spend all four years in the Tech’s new building. Getting the most out of it took some time, Principal William Terranova said during his speech.

    Student body president Gavin Mumford mentioned the glitchy intruder alert system, but said his memories of high school are mostly good. Strong relationships with teachers will be what he’ll remember best, he said. “I won’t remember most of what you taught me,” Mumford told the faculty, “but I will remember all the fun times we had in class and the impact that you had on me.”

    Another salutatorian, Alana Thompson, also spoke about the importance of the support students found during their high school years. “Every one of us has had someone in our corner rooting and cheering us on throughout our journey,” Thompson said. Every night, Thompson lit a candle as she did her homework. “Whatever your candle was, I hope it served you well.”

    Principal Terranova gave the graduating body a sage piece of advice about the obstacles they may encounter in the future. “Those failures that seem to stop you in your tracks will lead you to your successes,” Terranova said. “You should be proud when you get there.”

    Then the procession of students lined up to retrieve their diplomas, and 146 red caps flew into the sky.

    Of 146 graduates at Cape Tech this year, 14 hailed from the Outer Cape. (Photo courtesy Scott Dalton)

    PROVINCETOWN

    Carlos Maldonado Valle, Carpentry
    Jemone Rose, Automotive Technology

    TRURO

    Mathew Deschenes, Plumbing
    Eric Emond, Electrical
    Noah Schmidt, Electrical

    WELLFLEET

    Mason Jones, Marine Service Technology
    Jack Rhodes, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration

    EASTHAM

    Kendra Brookshire, Auto Collision Technology
    Aalyah Devasto, Marine Service Technology
    Kirstan Fay, Carpentry
    Lilly Glaser, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration
    Khalil Green, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration
    Gino Nichols, Culinary Arts
    Rushawn White, Plumbing

    BUDGET CRUNCH

    Eastham Faces $1M in Unexpected School Costs

    Officials attribute need for budget override to faulty communication

    By

    EASTHAM — Voters at the May 4 annual town meeting will be asked to approve two Proposition 2½ overrides totaling $1.32 million to fund the town’s fiscal 2025 budget — including more than $1 million in increased education spending that caught town officials by surprise.

    A second override request asks for $300,000 to hire two additional police officers. Approval of both overrides requires a two-thirds majority vote at town meeting and a majority vote at the May 21 town election. If both are adopted, next year’s property tax bill on a house of median value will increase by about $195.

    The total town budget for 2025 in Article 2A on the warrant comes to $44,180,055 — a 14-percent increase over last year, which the finance committee in its message to voters attributes largely to debt service on the renovation of Nauset Regional High School and on wastewater planning projects.

    But a significant portion of the increase is in the school budgets, whose details did not arrive in financial planners’ hands until very late in the process.

    “In early January, there was a balanced budget,” said Town Manager Jacqui Beebe. “It was pretty conservative, but there were some unknowns, including the school budget. We knew that there was going to be increased enrollment at the school. But then we started to get the school budgets in, and we realized we had a problem.”

    The problem was multi-faceted.

    Increased enrollment of Eastham students at both Nauset High and Cape Cod Regional Technical High School resulted in an unexpected increase of $592,000 in the town’s share of the two regional school budgets. The number of Eastham students at Nauset went from 224 to 239, at an increased cost of $475,000. At the Tech, the increase was from 22 to 28 students, costing an additional $117,000. Beebe said town officials knew the enrollment numbers but did not know how much they would cost the town.

    A second financial hit in the school budget came from what the finance committee called “a dramatic spike” in special education costs. Out-of-district placements for three students at Eastham Elementary School — which the town is required to pay for — will cost an extra $335,544 this year.

    Another $85,000 of increases in general school operating costs brought the total shortfall to just over $1 million.

    According to finance committee vice chair Tom McNamara, the surprising gap in the school budget forecast was a result of poor communication from the schools’ central office and the regional schools budget subcommittee. Nauset Regional Schools Supt. Brooke Clenchy said that the process was no different this year than in other years, and that Eastham simply had more students enrolled in the two high schools than before and had to pay for it.

    But McNamara told the select board on March 25 that the regional school budget subcommittee “continued to develop a budget in isolation, not giving us drafts until very late. We made overtures. We invited them no less than four times to come to one of our meetings just once and explain where they were, and they always found a reason to cancel at the last minute.”

    Clenchy said that the budget was developed on the normal timeline, with the first draft becoming available to the budget subcommittee in January. “Even though we are putting the budgets out to our school committees, they’re not finding their way to the finance committees,” she said.

    Clenchy added that she was hoping to improve the process next year and get the budgets to the town finance committees earlier.

    Town meeting voters do not have the option of not funding the regional school budget.

    “It’s important for voters to understand that if this override does not pass, it will still fall on the shoulders of the taxpayer,” said select board member Jamie Demetri. “It just means it’s going to come about in a different way.”

    If the school override is rejected, the town will have to cut its municipal budget by $1.02 million to cover the school expenses. A contingency budget prepared for that eventuality would kick in.

    “In some sense, we’re victims of our success,” said Beebe. “We’re trying to get more families and children, and if all goes well, then the school numbers go up.”

    Fight Over Funding Formula

    Another point of contention between the select board and the schools was the Nauset Regional School District funding formula, which determines how much each town in the district contributes. Since 2002, the schools have used an “alternative formula” based largely on student populations, according to Regional School Committee chair Chris Easley.

    This year, the school committee voted to use a “statutory formula” that Easley said is “more equitable,” with the amount contributed by each town proportional to the wealth of the town.

    That choice resulted in $51,000 in additional costs for Eastham.

    “The school committee decided to change the formula this year without talking to any other town,” said Beebe. “It threw everything off, and it was a last-minute surprise. The school committee seemed totally unaware that it would impact us.”

    Article 2B on the warrant offers voters a chance to put the alternative formula back in place. Select board member Gerry Cerasale said that the article would “be a signal to the Regional School Committee that we didn’t agree, and we might not agree in the future if we don’t have some cooperative discussions and decision-making.”

    Staffing the Police Dept.

    The second budget override requests $300,000 for two new police officers. Chief Adam Bohannon initially requested $600,000 for four officers, but Beebe and Finance Director Rich Bienvenue said that the budget was too constrained this year for that large an increase.

    “This is something that we’ve been talking about for a few years now, trying to find the right time to do it and there never seems to be a right time,” said Bohannon.

    He said that there has not been an additional patrol officer in the department since 1995 except the school resource officer. The department currently has 17 officers.

    Bohannon said that the department has seen an increase in the amount of time it takes to deal with calls, from stricter demands on documentation of incidents to an increase in mental health calls.

    Beebe said that the select board is committed to funding for four new officers even if it can’t happen in one year.

    “The last thing we want is tired, exhausted, grumpy police officers,” she said. “If they can’t take vacation days, if they can’t take sick days, if they have forced overtime, that becomes a quality-of-life issue for the officer and then they will move on to other towns.”

    The select board unanimously voted for Article 2D, the police override, which would raise yearly taxes for the median-value home by $44.

    ‘Ocean Creatures’ Note Cards From Eastham Painters Guild

    By

    The Eastham Painters Guild creates sets of note cards each year, featuring art by guild members, to fund scholarships for seniors at Nauset Regional High School and Cape Cod Regional Technical High School. This year’s theme is “ocean creatures.” It includes paintings of horseshoe crabs, Kemp’s ridley turtles, whales, sharks, seals, and piping plovers.

    Past themes, which are still available for purchase, include lighthouses of the National Seashore, hydrangeas, local birds, and Eastham 400. The cards, which are $12 for 10, can be purchased by emailing [email protected].

    LEARNING AND RESILIENCE

    Educators Ask if the Kids Are All Right

    Cape Cod Tech measures student trauma from the pandemic

    By

    capetech
    Cape Cod Tech’s Guidance Dept. Chair Averill Davis and Principal Billy Terranova. (Photos Nancy Bloom)

    HARWICH — With isolation, possible illness, and family economic crises looming, the counselors at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School had every reason to believe the 626 students enrolled at the school would need more emotional support.

    To find out for sure, four school counselors interviewed every single student during the month of October. Interviews were face-to-face, except for the 10 percent of students who had chosen remote learning, said Averill Davis, the school’s guidance dept. chair.

    “It took a lot of time, but it was definitely worth it,” she said. “Even from their body language, we learned a lot.”

    The meetings were ostensibly to ask each teenager a two-page list of questions developed at the University of California Los Angeles as a test for post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

    capetech2
    Exterior view of the renovated Cape Tech High in Harwich.

    That screening found 13 of the 626 students — about 2 percent — exhibited signs of trauma severe enough for the counselors to call their parents and recommend counseling through the partnership between Cape Cod Tech and Gosnold on Cape Cod. About 10 more students also scored high for trauma, but they were already receiving regular counseling outside the school, said Erica Tasha, the school adjustment counselor.

    The screening questionnaire, which was recommended by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, also revealed that three students had lost a family member to Covid-19, Tasha said.

    “Overall, the results were not as drastic as we thought they’d be,” said Davis.

    But, she added, the timing of the screening may have played a role. The students were so happy to be allowed back in school when they were interviewed that they may have been experiencing the euphoria of a honeymoon phase, she said.

    Early in the school year, Cape Cod Tech allowed students to return to their shop classes full-time, in person. And in November, academic classes resumed, 50 percent in-person, with students split into alternate days. That means about 75 percent of the school’s population is learning in-person on any given day, said Billy Terranova, the principal.

    The biggest complaint from Cape Cod Tech students about the pandemic has been the social isolation — boyfriend and girlfriend relationships did not survive.

    “We heard that a lot,” Tasha said.

    Even those teenagers who lost someone close to the disease prioritized a return to school and to seeing their friends again, Davis said.

    Outside Cape Cod Tech, requests for counseling in all school-based programs have gone up during the pandemic, said Suzanne McCormack, director of administrative services at Gosnold.

    Gosnold, though known for its addiction treatment, is also the largest provider of mental health services on Cape Cod, and has counselors embedded in nearly every Cape school, said Becky Johnson, director of Gosnold’s school-based program. The program is covered by health insurance, but can also provide services to those who have no insurance, said Terranova.

    Nearly 30 years ago, Cape Cod Tech became one of the first schools on the Cape to partner with Gosnold by offering mental health counseling in the school building, said Terranova. His student services staff has had to be innovative: 63 percent of the pupils have “high needs,” 27 percent are diagnosed with a learning disability, and 47 percent are economically disadvantaged, according to the state Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education.

    But students in every district are suffering. The most common issue that has brought students into counseling for the first time is failing grades due to remote learning, said Johnson.

    “Some excel with remote learning, but others are really struggling,” Johnson said. “I do the intakes and I hear that a lot.”

    This is why Gov. Charlie Baker has stated repeatedly that children need to get back into the schools as soon as possible, she said.

    “You start to ask yourself, which is worse?” Johnson said. “The minimal risk that a student will give the virus to an older relative, or the student’s mental health?”

    SCHOOLING

    Nauset District Loses Students at All Levels

    New state-of-the-art Cape Cod Tech is drawing away students

    By

    In early October each year, all of the state’s public schools finalize their enrollment numbers for the new school year, and school aid from the state follows. At the Nauset Regional School District, the news is not good.

    Every school except for Eastham Elementary has lost students, with the largest decline at Nauset Regional High School, which has 44 fewer students, according to the enrollment report released at the Oct. 8 regional school committee meeting. Next on the list was Brewster’s Eddy Elementary School, down by 35 students, followed by Orleans Elementary with 24 fewer students. Total losses for the district: 121 students.

    The Stony Brook School, also in Brewster, had 11 fewer kids; Wellfleet elementary was down by three. Eastham elementary gained two students, while the Nauset Regional Middle School was down by six.

    The only school on the Outer Cape with a significant increase in enrollment is Provincetown, up by 16 to a total of 147. The Truro Central School’s enrollment is 113, the same as last year.

    Nauset school committee members expressed worry about the high school, which has seen a steady decline from a high in 2013 of 1,024 students. The current enrollment stands at 877.

    A new high school is in the final stages of planning, designed for 905 students, according to the Mass. School Building Authority.

    Ian Mack, a committee member, said local high schoolers have several choices, including the Sturgis Charter School, Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, and private schools. Why, he asked, is enrollment at the middle school holding steady while high school enrollment was dropping “so precipitously.”

    Enrollment matters because the schools receive state funding based on the number of students who attend school in the district. This money offsets the fixed costs of buildings and equipment and affects the amount that local taxpayers must raise to fund the schools.

    All of the schools on the Outer Cape have seen enrollment dwindle for years, as families leave because they can’t afford housing. According to the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts, 242 babies were born in the four towns of the Nauset district in 1989. By 2014, 25 years later, only 113 births occurred in Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans, and Brewster. Total enrollment in the Nauset schools was 3,207 in 1993; now it is 2,361.

    The Outer Cape’s school buildings and staff need more kids to support what they already have.

    That is why School Supt. Tom Conrad said, “We will need to dissect these [enrollment] numbers 10 times over before we get to budget season.”

    A look at the data shows that the greatest draw away from the high school is Cape Cod Tech, the Harwich high school that recently underwent a major renovation. Ninety-two students living in the Nauset district went to the Tech this year. That’s up from 76 last year and 77 the year before.

    “The [students going to] the Tech was not a surprise,” Conrad said. “They are going into a state-of-the-art facility, and we saw that would be attractive for kids.”

    Only 10 high schoolers from the Nauset district went to Sturgis Charter School, the smallest number since 2011. In other years, as many as 25 made the drive from the Outer Cape to Sturgis, an International Baccalaureate school in Hyannis.

    Nearly all the Nauset schools also lost students to private schools and home schooling, a trend that Conrad attributed to the coronavirus. No one on the school committee mentioned whether the inadequate ventilation at the aging Nauset Regional High School was to blame for driving students away. Repairing that system forced Nauset High to stay closed until Thursday, Oct. 15, when a hybrid system will begin and kids will be invited back two days a week.

    Data showed that, due to Covid-19, seven previously enrolled high school students moved to private schools this year, two opted for home schooling, and two school choice kids returned to their own districts.

    School choice refers to students who attend Nauset but live in other districts. In order to keep its numbers up, Nauset High has recruited between 190 and 236 school choice students per year since 2012. This year, 198 have “choiced in,” the first time in five years the number of choice students dropped under 200.

    Conrad said choice kids come from all over the Cape. But the pandemic has made many parents rethink the long commute, he said. One reason: all mid and upper Cape students have one bus to get to Nauset. It’s at the Burger King at Exit 6. Sometimes that bus had 70 students on it, Conrad said. But due to Covid-19 regulations, less than half that number can ride it now.

    “I knew that school choice was a worry,” Conrad said.

    Outer Cape Oct. 2020 School Enrollment

    Provincetown Schools: 147 (up 16 from last year)

    Truro Central School: 113 (same as last year)

    Wellfleet Elementary School: 105 (down 3)

    Eastham Elementary School: 196 (up 2)

    Orleans Elementary School: 175 (down 24)

    Eddy Elementary School: 212 (down 35)

    Stony Brook School: 213 (down 11)

    Nauset Regional Middle School: 583 (down 6)

    Nauset Regional High School: 877 (down 44)

    TRANSITIONS

    A Decision Well Beyond Their Years

    How Outer Cape eighth graders choose a high school

    By

    For Jen Rhodes of Wellfleet, it was obvious where her eighth-grade son, Jack, should attend high school in the fall. She’d sent two daughters to technical schools, and knew that it made financial sense — so Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich seemed the logical choice.

    Truro School Bus by Marnie Crawford Samuelson
    Truro school bus. (Photo Marnie Crawford Samuelson)

    But it wasn’t as apparent to Jack, who was aware of the stigma around vocational training and felt peer pressure to choose the more traditional education at Nauset Regional High School in North Eastham.

    For Outer Cape eighth graders like Jack Rhodes, the decision of where to go to high school looms large. Familial and community connections, finances, higher education plans, and navigating stigma and stereotype are all possible considerations for different families.

    Covid-19 has elevated the importance of one factor in particular: money. The pandemic has left many families in a tricky financial situation, making the high cost of college more daunting. A high school that offers a direct pipeline into the workforce has newfound appeal, and Cape Tech fits that description.

    “The cost of college education and the lack of jobs afterward has opened some parents’ eyes,”  said Billy Terranova, the principal of Cape Tech. “They’re saying, ‘Maybe college isn’t the best path for my child, and maybe we should look at some other options.’ That’s what Cape Tech offers.”

    The school is required to track its graduates’ success, and has reported that Cape Tech alumni have an unemployment rate of under one percent — more than 99 percent either have a job, have joined the military, or are enrolled in higher education.

    Cape Tech was not the first choice of Deaunte McLean, who lives in Provincetown. His mother decided to send him there, knowing that the combination of academics and learning a trade would benefit him later. “And,” he said, “you can’t really argue with Mom.”

    McLean, who studied health technology at Cape Tech, is now reaping the benefits of his mother’s decision, explaining that “most of my friends [who went to Nauset] don’t have jobs, and I’m making more than the ones who do.”

    Even before Covid-19 led to 20 consecutive weeks of a million-plus Americans filing for unemployment, Rhodes, weighing her son’s options, admired what Cape Tech offered for students and the greater Cape community.

    “What Cape Tech is providing is huge,” she said. “There’s a shortage of skilled people in the trades, and jobs are going unfilled. It’s vitally important to keep young people here. The Cape doesn’t survive unless young people stay.”

    A dramatically different set of considerations draws students to Nauset High. It is a part of the larger Nauset Regional School District, which includes the elementary schools in Brewster, Orleans, Eastham, and Wellfleet, and the Nauset Regional Middle School in Orleans. To many students at Nauset Middle — who’ve been wearing black and gold already for three years — going to Nauset High seems a natural transition.

    “I always knew I wanted to go to Nauset High,” said Casey Powers of Wellfleet, a rising eighth grader at Nauset Middle. He is an enthusiastic math student and a saxophone player, and these strengths line up with his future high school’s strong academic reputation and its acclaimed music program. “People have said Tech isn’t smart, but I don’t think that’s true,” said Powers.

    After a few months of online school this spring, Powers told the Independent, “I realized I’m really lucky to be going to Nauset.”

    Another contributing factor? Many future Nauset high schoolers have older siblings, parents, and family friends that are connected to the school.

    “It was never really a thought not to go to Nauset,” said Ella Mae Dixon, a rising senior there. “My dad went to Nauset, my family friends went to Nauset, my uncles went to Nauset, I had older friends who were at Nauset when I was in eighth grade.”

    This logic can be frustrating for students who are considering options outside the Nauset pipeline. Some kids see choosing a school other than Nauset as a social sacrifice. Kayla Burrell, who finished her first year of Cape Tech in June, said that choosing to attend the Tech “was definitely a difficult decision, because all my friends were at Nauset.”

    This was also a source of Jack Rhodes’s hesitation about going to Cape Tech. His mother described technical school students as “having to leave their friends” and said that comments like “Come to Nauset, that’s where we are all going to be” were prevalent.

    One last hurdle complicates the high school decision: stereotypes about the population of each school. The assumptions about Nauset often have to do with wealth or social status.

    “If you go there, a lot of people assume you’re well off,” Burrell said. “It’s looked at as a school where the popular kids go, or where you go if you’re wealthy.”

    Stereotyping of Cape Tech students is more often about academic ability and behavior. Students there take a more hands-on approach to learning — mixing shop programs with academic classes — and some write them off as less intelligent or capable than their Nauset High peers.

    So, each year, eighth graders up and down the Outer Cape weigh these factors in choosing where they’ll spend their next four years, in what might be the first big decision of their semi-adult lives. Now, of course, Outer Cape ninth graders might be attending their first day of high school from their bedrooms. The fall sports season will start Sept. 14, if at all. They might wear masks in math class. Their weekly schedule may be constant, but the national reality almost certainly won’t.

    The class of 2024 poured time, effort, and perhaps agony into asking themselves two questions: “Where do I want to go to high school? Why do I want to go to this high school?”

    Now, they must ask themselves something entirely different: What does high school even look like?

     

    YOUNG VOICES

    Hope For Local Journalism

    By

    Student stories in this week’s issue:

    We’ve written about how local businesses and town governments are coping with the coronavirus pandemic, but Garrison Guzzeau reached out to nonprofits from Eastham to Provincetown to ask how they are adapting, and what they worry about hope for now. Read his story here >

    When Outer Cape eighth graders consider where to go to high school, Nauset Regional High School and Cape Cod Regional Technical High School are most often at the top of their lists. Talia Kantor Lieber wondered what goes into students’ thinking on where to go. She learned that their families figure in the decision-making. And that other questions loom and distract in this pandemic season. Read Talia’s story here >

    A lot has changed about visits between grandparents and grandchildren during this crisis. Alyia Vasquez looked into the experiences of elders and her own generation. What she found was partly what you’d expect: it’s been hard and isolation is an issue. But she also found some surprising good news in the workarounds and new rituals people are trying to stay connected. Read Alyia’s story here >

    Niev Witnauer is interested in truth-seeking reporting. But this summer she decided to explore stories where the truth may never be known — the kinds of ghost stories and legends often told at summer gatherings here. She delved into some of the Outer Cape’s most popular tales, from an alien invasion in Truro to a shipwreck off Marconi beach, and discovered the details as well as some people who help keep those stories alive and evolving. Read Niev’s story here >

    Every summer that they can remember, Eve and Thea Samaha have made a pilgrimage to the Chocolate Sparrow on Wellfleet’s Main Street. This year, the store was shuttered, a “For Rent” sign posted on the lawn. The story deserved investigation. They learned about what happened, asked what might happen next year, and tapped townspeople’s longing for old fashioned shops like this one to be a part of our towns. Read Eve and Thea’s story here >

    We are grateful to our 2020 Summer Fellows who were mentors and editors on this project. They all had their own stories in this week’s issue, but two of them that focus closely on younger people’s lives were in this special section. Don’t miss Cana Tagawa on the questions facing college students — will local students take a gap year or forge ahead into remote learning? And Allyson Birger reports on young people’s sense that they can turn this thing around — and it looks like they will be voting.

     

     

    CLASS OF 2020

    The Outer Cape’s Class of 2020

    By

    Editor’s Note: For the beautiful cover illustration to this section of the paper, by NRHS art teacher Amy Kandall, and an introduction to this collection of pictures and words collected from students, please follow this link.

    Anna RogersAnna Rogers
    Truro
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Continuing my education

    After high school, I plan to stay on the Cape with my family. I couldn’t live without my dog, Oscar, and popcorn. I want my classmates to know that I care about them and wish them well.

    Christian Hilbig
    Eastham
    School: Cape Cod Tech
    Fall plan: Working at Bay Sails Marine in Wellfleet

    My senior year was a lot different than all the other students. I studied marine mechanics, and I got all of my credits done by the beginning of senior year. Since September, I have been going to work every day, working on boats as one of six employees. I’ve been immersed in everything: fiberglass repair, trailers, engine work, cleaning, electrical, plumbing. This is my third summer at this job. In high school, I made so many friends. I was separated from them somewhat, but it wasn’t horrible. Graduation at the drive-in will be different, but it’s better than an online one.

    Christian Ziemba
    Truro
    School: NRHS
    Fall Plan: Cape Cod Community College

    I’m hopeful about life after high-school and what it has to offer. My plans are to attend college, though I think with online learning it will be a big shift from normal. I plan to stay on Cape for now. Ten years from now, looking back, I think I will miss the library the most.

     

     

    Christopher Pickard
    Wellfleet
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Boat yard work and lobstering, IYRS School of Technology and Trades

    These past months have made me realize the value of being able to go out and see my friends. I’m staying positive for our future and hope this current situation will come to an end soon. My plans are to work in my family’s business, a boat yard, during the summer, as I normally do, and to go lobstering. I have a commercial lobster license. In my spare time in the fall I am going to attend IYRS to study marine systems. I’m going to miss hanging out with some great people at high school.

    Clay Kenny
    Wellfleet
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Keep it low-key and local

    At the moment, I think that I might have a problem with overthinking my future: planning too early and not being able initiate immediately. Few things are set in stone, but I know that I am continuing to make pottery, learn, work, surf, and maintain my roots in Wellfleet, for now. I could not live without easy access to the ocean. Due to Covid, I have to keep it low-key and local, although the travel bug is buzzing. I’m hopeful for my generation’s future.

    David Rai
    Truro
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Gap year, then Cape Cod Community College

    I plan to take a gap year to work a little bit and to travel. I hope to go to different states and experience other parts of the country. I will then go to Cape Cod Community College for two years and study something that will really interest me and impact my future. Then, I hope to go for two years at a good university and continue my studies. I would like to stay on the Cape for a couple of years and see how I feel about it, but, as for now, I feel very glad to be living in such a place. I could not live without my friends, because life would be very boring. I hope that our friendships will last a long time.

    Deaunta McLean
    Provincetown
    School: Cape Cod Tech
    Fall plan: UMass Dartmouth

    I’m going to be the first person in my family to go to college. In the fall, I’m starting at UMass Dartmouth to study health sciences. I’ve been in the nursing program at Tech and have also been working as a nurse’s assistant at Seashore Point for the past months while finishing high school online. Covid-19 has shown us how important health care workers are. Those are the hard-working people who give me hope. There are a lot of problems in this country now, not just the virus but also what happened in Minnesota. My hope is that we can make our future better.

    Diana Duarte
    Truro
    Schools: NRHS and CCCC
    Fall plan: UMass Amherst

    I’ll be majoring in chemical engineering, and hopefully I’ll minor in environmental science. I think the biggest challenge will be the fact that there aren’t that many females in the STEM fields. But that is the very reason I want to be an engineer so badly. I am hopeful that everything will come around environmentally. I think that with the pandemic, people are going to start to realize how big an effect their daily habits have on the lives of other people around the world.

     

    Evelyn Rose
    Wellfleet
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Gap year, then college

    I am hopeful for the future, for some of the changes I hope we see after Covid in society. I have gap year plans, then college. I am hoping to find an internship or job at a studio in Charlotte, N.C. I can’t imagine never coming back. The nature, salt water, and raw beauty of the Cape will always draw me back. The place I will miss most at Nauset is the whisper wheel. When I’m sitting on one of Amy’s blue stools, I feel the most at home. So much growing up happens through high school — I want to always be able to handle change. I am grateful for every experience with my classmates. Thank you for shaping me into the human that I am!

    Fantasia Hatch
    Wellfleet
    School: Cape Cod Tech
    Fall plan: Cosmetology work

    High school ending can seem scary, but it’s really just the beginning of the rest of your life. As a licensed cosmetologist, I love making people feel good about themselves. I started working at the Spa at Chatham Bars Inn when I was a junior, and I plan to stay there. My dream is to one day open my own hair salon. Growing up on Cape Cod, I have felt sheltered from the rest of the country, so traveling and seeing the world is going to be another main focus after high school. I hope to have a successful and happy life.

    Gayle McNulty
    Truro
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: UMass Dartmouth

    While I attend college, I won’t be living on Cape, though I plan on visiting whenever I can. I have plenty of younger friends, and I don’t want to lose my connection with them. As corny as it is, I could not live without my best friend. She’s been so helpful to me during this pandemic. If not for her, I don’t know if I would have met the work quota to graduate. I will miss Lisa Brown’s classroom, for sure. She is such a wonderful teacher and a wonderful woman. She inspires so many students to go out and get involved. Her classroom will always be a safe space for students.

    Haley Gaeta
    Eastham
    School: NRHS
    Fall Plan: Gap year

    I’m planning to take a gap year to stay on Cape Cod and work, then go to college. I believe that not attending college or taking a gap year (or a few) should be more normalized and accepted. I hope to be happy and to help others. I want my classmates to know that, even years from now, if any of them ever needed help from me, I would be there for them. I cannot live without art. It is my outlet and a way to express myself. The place I will miss the most is Amy Kandall’s clay room at the high school.

    Hannah Figur
    Eastham
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: UMass Amherst

    I aspire to be a neurosurgeon. I think the biggest cultural challenge for me will be being surrounded by people with different beliefs, whether those be moral or religious, because until now, I’ve mostly associated myself with people with similar beliefs as mine. I would like my classmates to know that I appreciate all of the interactions I have had with them, whether bad or good. Every experience is a learning experience that has helped shape who I am today.

    Isabel Merl
    Wellfleet
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Tufts University

    It will be a challenge for me, transitioning from Wellfleet to Medford, in the Boston area. I am used to and comfortable with my slow, quiet life here, so the hustle and bustle of the city will definitely be a major shift. I will always remember my grandma’s house on the corner of Main Street, my father’s fishing boats docked at the Wellfleet pier, walking my dogs at Newcomb, my many summers spent working at PJ’s, and so much more. I will always be rooted to Cape Cod due to these sweet memories, and the Cape will always hold a very special place in my heart.

    Jackson Yelle
    Eastham
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Elon University

    I’m planning to study business at Elon University this fall. I love fishing. I get out of work at nine, and then we go fishing in a creek at midnight. Although I don’t get much sleep, living on the Cape has taught me to take advantage of every moment, especially outdoors. I grew up in a few different places, California and Connecticut, before Cape Cod. I think the transition to college won’t be too challenging. But I will miss late-night fishing with friends.

     

    James Lord
    Wellfleet and Eastham
    School: NRHS
    Next Fall: Massachusetts Maritime Academy

    My current plan is to pursue my degree in emergency management at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, where I will also complete my EMT and Firefighter 1 and 2 certifications. Once I have graduated, I will further my education within the medical field in either the U.S. Coast Guard or Navy. After serving, I will begin my lifelong career as an EMT/firefighter, then paramedic/firefighter, in addition to a side career as a tattoo artist. I will return to guide our youth on their paths to Eagle in Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts, as others have done for me.

    Jesse Pettersen
    Truro
    School: NRHS
    Fall Plan: Cape Cod Community College

    High school is such a fun time of learning and growing as a person without too many responsibilities. I want my classmates to know that I spent a great four years with them and am going to miss them dearly. I’m starting 4Cs this fall and am going to be studying criminal justice. I am considering a few different roads, from becoming a police officer to working in environmental protection. What is keeping me here on the Cape for now are the friendships and connections I made throughout my life. My family are my biggest supporters in whatever it is that I am doing. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

     

    Joshua Lucas
    Wellfleet
    School: Cape Cod Tech
    Fall plan: HVAC and construction work

     Now that high school is over, we have a whole different experience ahead of us. My plans are to work in HVAC and construction here on the Cape for a few more years, then I’d like to move and find a home up north somewhere like New Hampshire or Maine. I have family and friends up there, and there are things I can do up there, like ride my dirt bike, that you can’t do down here legally. I will miss my high school friendships, especially with the people who live way up the Cape, since I live on the Lower Cape.

    Julie Wilson
    Wellfleet
    School: NRHS

    One thing that I can’t live without is being able to go outside, either for walks, runs, bike rides, or just to sit on the beach. When I have read about countries that are not letting people leave their houses, it has made me realize how important and freeing it is to be able to go outside. One thing I learned during high school is to never give up, from playing soccer to learning a new unit in class and having to study or ask the teacher for clarification.

    Kaden Rogers
    Truro
    School: Sturgis West Charter School
    Fall plan: University of New Hampshire

    I am excited to start college. I plan to double major in music performance and computer science. I decided to study cello with Jacques Lee Wood, a professor at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, and the principal cellist of the Cape Cod Symphony. Cello has been an important part of my life since I started playing in elementary school. I joined the Cape Cod Youth Symphony Orchestra in middle school and participated into my junior year. I was a member of Nikki Patton’s Chappaquoit Cello Studio in West Falmouth and enjoyed her annual collaborations with professional cellists from Boston.

    Laura Largey
    Eastham
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Cape Cod Community College

    I think what roots me to Cape Cod is the scenery. If I were to move away or go to college anywhere else, I know I would miss being able to drive around and go to practically any beach I want. Living here has made me appreciate what I have and understand that my peers and I are very privileged. I have traveled around the country and have seen some pretty rough areas, so I’m glad that I had the opportunity to grow up here and be in a great school district. By staying, I’ll have the opportunity to spend the next two years here trying to figure out what I want to do in this world.

    Lilli J. Osowski
    Provincetown
    School: Cape Cod Tech
    Fall plan: University of New Hampshire

    After high school I plan on going off Cape to New Hampshire for college. Having been born and raised on Cape Cod, I know it will always be my home and hold a special place in my heart. If I could take one thing from my high school years, it would definitely be my involvement in honoring and helping veterans. My plans are to make my involvement expand to greater levels.

     

    Lillian Manganaro
    Eastham
    School: NRHS
    Next Fall: University of Colorado at Boulder

    So much changed during these four years. I learned that change is inevitable and accepting that allows you to find peace within it. I am hopeful about the Earth. I think this pandemic has changed the way people view the world and what she needs. I hope that we can make changes with our new perspective to improve the way we treat our planet. I am planning to study psychology. I do not plan to stay on the Cape, but I have a deep love for this place and I know I will come back often. I also know that I will always find my way back to the ocean.

     

    Lydia Montesano
    Truro
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Travel

    I hope this pandemic will come to an end, so that I can properly go on with my life after high school. I’m not sure what’s going to happen — I’m just letting the tides take me. And as soon as I’m on my feet and steady, I plan to travel as much as I possibly can. I will miss people. I honestly am excited for reunions to happen. I couldn’t live without the support from others around me. No matter if it’s a friend or family member, I know that wherever I go, I will find support, as I will provide to others the same.

    Madelyn Fleming
    Eastham
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Simmons University

    I’ll be studying nursing. I have always dreamed of working at Boston Children’s Hospital as an R.N. after I finish college. I think the biggest cultural change will be adapting to and immersing myself in this new community. As high school comes to a close, I want my classmates to know that even, though this may not be the end of senior year we hoped for, together, with the help of our teachers, we finished strong. I think my classmates are incredible, and I’m so proud to graduate with them.

     

     

    Megan Perry
    Truro
    School: NRHS
    Fall Plan: Cape Cod Community College

    I have been surrounded by first responders all my life: my mother, father, and sister are EMTs. I have gone with my mom to many calls and learned that first responders are often the defining resource for help in dangerous and life-threatening situations. Watching my mom at work, I knew I wanted to be the first one to help someone when they need it the most. I’m planning on attending CCCC to become an EMT/paramedic. The Covid-19 crisis confirmed my decision. I love helping people and, during a time like this, that’s what people need the most.

    Molly Shafnacker
    Eastham and Wellfleet
    School: NRHS
    Fall Plan: Bennington College

    I couldn’t live without creating things. Exploring ideas in writing, using clay, drawing them — I can’t imagine what I’d do without that. In small revelations, in moments of understanding that this is not like what came before, maybe it’s not obvious that this is art, but we are all creating right now. If there were one thing I could take with me from high school, it would be this feeling that I just got the hang of being able to be who I am. The teachers here who have so much passion about what they’re teaching — Mr. Clark, Ms. King, Ms. Burnett are just some of them — they helped me learn, I guess you’d call it perspective. I’ve got a whole life; this is just one assignment.

    Monica Prada
    Provincetown
    School: NRHS

    My goal after college is to travel in Europe: Pompeii, Rome, London, Paris. All over. I’m also majoring in psychology and my career goal is to be a high school psychologist. After college, I hope to be fortunate enough to be able to stay on the Cape for as long as I can. I cherish the life it has given me, growing up on the beach surrounded by loved ones. I especially hope I can raise my children in the same place I grew up. It would be so special to share all of my childhood experiences with my own children. I cannot live without my beautiful sister. I am so lucky to be able to call her my best friend.

    Nelliemay DiPinto
    Wellfleet
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Join the workforce

    My plan is to gain full-time employment and become an independent adult who contributes to society in a positive way. While I haven’t yet chosen a specific field of work, I have a strong interest in working outdoors — excavating, landscaping, or construction. Initially, I will stay on Cape for a few years. I have a large family and a good support system here. However, I look forward to exploring other areas of the country when the time comes. In the future I see myself missing the coziness and comfort of my home town, Wellfleet.

    Olivia DiBari
    Eastham
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Don’t know yet

    I am hopeful for the future. My dream is to become a performing opera singer. The biggest cultural challenge will be the language barrier between me and many other performers and conductors who don’t speak English. I plan on visiting the Cape often after I graduate. I grew up here and my immediate family is all still here, so I plan on sticking around for a long time. Of all the great memories I have of high school, I will miss Nauset Light the most. If I could take one thing with me after I graduate, it would be my childhood friends. I enjoyed everyone at Nauset! The kids were all really sweet and kind.

    Owen Currier
    Eastham
    School: Cape Cod Tech
    Fall plan: Cape Cod Community College

     I would like my classmates to know that I enjoyed every moment of high school and made some fun memories, and I hope they have successful lives. I plan to attend CCCC to study information technology. I hope to find a good, stable job in I.T., to purchase a home, have a family and pay for my kids’ college. I’d like to retire early. My role model is my I.T. teacher, Mr. Rocque. He has taught me almost everything I know about I.T. and helped me when I lost motivation and made sure I graduated.

    Parris Pitter
    Truro
    School: NRHS
    Next Fall: Curry College

    I’ve always wanted to go to school and study real estate, and that’s what I’m aiming to do. I have a lot of school spirit — I’m always talking to everyone, and I feel confident meeting new people and getting to know them. I hope I can keep that in the future. I could not live without my four little brothers. I’ve been through a lot with them. Seeing them grow up has been an important part of my life. I will miss always being surrounded by the people I care about and always having my friends next to me. I want my classmates to know that I worked pretty hard in high school. I had a few major setbacks, but I definitely got through them and accomplished my goals.

    Patricia Lord
    Wellfleet and Eastham
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: UMass Amherst

    My dream is to work with animals. My plan is to earn a bachelor’s degree to become certified as a veterinarian technician. My first two years of college, I’ll be attending UMass Amherst to study general animal science. I’ll be going to school at Mount Ida for the last two years, earning my bachelor’s degree, because that is where UMass’s veterinarian technician program is. Once I graduate from UMass, I plan on attending classes online at the University of Tennessee to become a certified canine rehabilitation practitioner so I can start my own business doing rehabilitation for dogs.

    Paulo Loureiro
    Eastham
    School: Cape Cod Tech
    Fall Plan: Working at Mid-Cape Collision in South Yarmouth

    I love working on cars, cleaning them and stuff, putting stuff back together. Going to the Tech gave me a big step up on what I needed to do in a real-world job. I am hopeful that everything will come back together, and that this will go away soon. Meanwhile, in the summer, I want to hang out with my family and friends, cookouts and stuff. I am really thankful for the support from my family and my girlfriend.

     

    Phoenix Stroh
    Eastham
    School: Cape Cod Tech
    Fall plan: Maine College of Art

    I will release my first video game in June, on Steam. The concept was my senior project. It is called Cubic Chess, and it uses a 4x4x4 board, with the 16 chess pieces starting on opposite faces. The idea came when I was a freshman, and I developed it from paper prototypes, then a wooden cube with Velcro, a plexiglass version, and a wooden version with magnets. The time in self-isolation gave me freedom to work on the project. In the fall I will go to Maine College of Art, to study game design and graphic design. I got a nice scholarship.

    Robert Marriott
    Wellfleet
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Bridgewater State University

    If all goes well, I’ll be majoring in communications, following my love for music and radio. I’ll be on my own for the first time in my life, with new faces and without familiar ones. As much as I love my little town of Wellfleet and Cape Cod, I want to see what the world looks like outside of a bayside sunset. Yet my roots are forever grounded here. Nothing will make me forget the friends and memories I have made. I could not live without my friends. They make me laugh and smile, keep me grounded. They support and love me unconditionally when I don’t believe I deserve it. For that, I love them.

    Ruby Warner
    Wellfleet
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Semester off, then Middlebury College

    At Middlebury, I plan on studying molecular biology and biochemistry. I have always had a passion for science, and it wasn’t until I took the biotechnology elective at Nauset that I realized what field of science I loved the most. The human body is fascinating — how much goes on within our tiny cells that we don’t know about, and I always want to know more about how they work. Overall, I am really excited to begin my next chapter in college and really get out into the world on my own.

    Safara Brooker
    Provincetown
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: UMass Boston

    I am going to miss the welcoming feel of Provincetown itself. All the members of the community are just so welcoming. I’ll miss the closeness. Everyone here is like family. I’ll be going to Boston after high school, so I won’t be staying on the Cape. The Cape will forever be home for me, however. I’ll always be a proud Cape Codder, the Cape Cod bracelet will prove it! But I’ve lived here all my life and it’s time for me to go explore.

    Savana Vida
    Provincetown
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Brandeis University

    I am going to be attending Brandeis University, where I will major in biology and minor in psychology. My plans are to get a medical degree and hopefully become an emergency room doctor. I think the biggest challenge for me transitioning out of high school will be getting used to living away from home, and not having my mom to keep me in line with what I have to do. I don’t plan to stay on Cape, but my family here will keep me close. One thing I learned during high school that I will always remember: to be successful you don’t have to be smart or educated, you just have to be motivated and determined.

    Savanna Deering
    Truro
    School: NRHS
    Fall Plan: UMass Boston

    I am committed to the University of Massachusetts, Boston. I was really big on staying in state because of how much I love it here. I moved here to live with my dad on the Cape when I was only 11, so since then I have been attached to the beautiful little town of Truro and Provincetown. My forever home is here, which is why I never planned on being too far away.

     

     

     

    Shannay Porter
    Eastham
    School: NRHS
    Next Fall: Clark Atlanta University

    I hope the future brings me happiness like I never imagined. I’ve never been to the South before, but I’m excited to attend an illustrious historically black university and get accustomed to black American culture. I plan to study communications. The place that I will miss the most is Provincetown. It is one of the most vibrant places that I have ever been, and I have met some amazing people there. At the same time, I think the best thing for me at this moment is to expand my horizons and explore everything that the world has to offer. I could not live without the support of my family and friends; without them I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

    Spencer Granlund
    Eastham
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Worcester Polytechnic Institute

    I want to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering. The biggest thing I’m going to miss about Cape Cod is the simplicity of life here and the laid-back atmosphere in the summer. If there is one thing that I could not live without, it would be fishing. I love being on the water and I can’t imagine a world where I’m away from it. I think the biggest change for me at college will be meeting new people from different backgrounds and places. If I were to take one thing with me from high school, it would be the friendships I made over my four years here.

     

    Will Moyer Laurin
    Wellfleet
    School: NRHS
    Fall plan: Gap year, then Skidmore College

    I decided to take a gap year to avoid online classes and the risk of getting sick. Once I am at school, I plan on majoring in history and getting my master’s and hopefully a Ph.D. My aspirations are to become a professor and a writer. When I leave, I would take with me the sense of camaraderie I feel for my classmates. We’re a group of people from all over the Cape with different personalities and interests, yet we’ve gathered together for the purpose of educating ourselves and to have fun. There are few other settings where you can feel such a deep connection with such a unique group of people.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    CLASS OF 2020

    Drive-in Graduations Are a Go

    Vincent gets OK from state for June fêtes

    By

    WELLFLEET — Gov. Charlie Baker’s Covid-19 recovery guidelines, issued on May 18, stated that “drive-in theaters are allowed to operate only for the purpose of showing movies.” That left some wondering whether next week’s events planned for the senior classes at Nauset Regional High School and Cape Cod Regional Technical High School would be permitted to happen.

    But John Vincent, the owner of the Wellfleet Drive-In, said Monday that he “received a direct call from the highest authority,” that is, the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, granting permission to host graduation events at the theater.

    And so, as reported by the Independent on May 14, Nauset seniors will celebrate at the drive-in on Sunday, June 7, and Cape Cod Tech will hold its graduation ceremony there on Thursday, June 4.

    Chris Ellsasser, Nauset’s principal, said Monday that the drive-in event is being billed as a “senior celebration,” rather than a full-fledged graduation. The school is planning a socially distanced prom, senior dinner, and graduation ceremony for later in the summer.

    Billy Terranova, principal of Cape Cod Tech in Harwich, could not be reached for comment in time for this article, but it is assumed that its graduation, with photographs of the Class of 2020 in their caps and gowns projected on the giant movie screen, is going forward as planned.

    As for the public reopening of the Wellfleet Drive-In, Vincent said he is “still preparing for the movies” and making repairs to the snack bar. The Independent will report on the reopening of the drive-in as more details come to light.

    Nauset’s drive-in celebration will, instead, be a commemoration of the graduation that would have been. Graduates will decorate their cars, a nod to the tradition of adorning their graduation caps, and watch a montage of video clips from the year. The salutatorian, valedictorian, and principal will give speeches, although these will be more lighthearted than the ones planned for July. “Hopefully, it will feel kind of like a carnival,” Ellsasser said.

    Nauset seniors will also have a motorcade on Friday, May 29, what would have been their last day of school. Seniors will parade around the high school in their vehicles, escorted by police and fire trucks.

    Ellsasser suspects the drive-in and motorcade events may become traditions, but not, he hopes, out of necessity. He emphasized the need to ensure that seniors feel as if they aren’t missing out on anything: “The virus doesn’t define them,” he said.

    PEOPLE

    Lilli Osowski Goes All In for Veterans

    Mobilizing a whole school for a cause

    By

    You may not know her by name, but Lilli Osowski is one of Provincetown’s busiest residents.

    A senior studying health technology at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, she works three jobs — at Cape Tip Seafoods, Sidekicks Travel toy store, and Advinia Care (the long-term care facility at Seashore Point). And, this year, she took on even more responsibility by organizing her classmates to help veterans all across the Cape.

    Cape Cod Tech offers 15 specialized programs called “shops”; Lilli persuaded each one to help. Horticulture students aided a 92-year-old World War II veteran by mowing his lawn, raking his leaves, and cleaning his gutters. Carpentry students made a metal display case for one vet, and plumbing students replaced another’s faucet.

    Cape Tech senior Lilli Osowski honors Provincetown’s veterans in preparation for Memorial Day. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    On one day, three different shops used their skills to help six female veterans. The women dropped off their cars to be detailed in the auto shop, and meanwhile had a spa day, courtesy of the school’s cosmetology students. Then they headed over to the culinary department for a free lunch.

    “They had a whole day,” says Lynn Fleischer, Lilli’s social studies teacher. “It was awesome.”

    Back in the fall, Fleischer, who lives in Eastham, noticed Lilli’s enthusiasm for helping veterans when all the students were writing thank-you cards for Veterans Day. Lilli’s cards were extra heartfelt, and one day she approached her teacher to offer help in addressing the 275 letters that students had written. Fleischer suggested that Lilli organize a larger project and participate in a community service competition sponsored by SkillsUSA, an organization that promotes leadership for students in career and technical education programs.

    In addition to coordinating all 15 shops at the Tech in service projects for veterans, Lilli was planning to present a memorial placard, made by the school’s engineering shop, to local veterans. The presentation would have been part of the Cape Cod Veterans Center’s annual Welcome Home Ceremony on March 29, dedicated to Vietnam vets.

    That gathering in Bourne was going to be the “cherry on top” of Lilli’s project, says Fleischer. Now it is on hold, as the event was postponed by the coronavirus, which also halted progress on the placard, since students had to switch to online learning. The national SkillsUSA convention, where Lilli was going to present her “ALL In for Our Vets” project, has also been cancelled.

    But the pandemic can’t stop Lilli. Last Saturday, she helped her uncle, Thomas Osowski, commander of the local VFW, put flags next to the graves of every veteran buried in Provincetown — over 600 of them.

    Osowski mobilized her whole school to make veterans’ lives better. (Photo courtesy Lilli Osowski)

    Lilli has several veterans in her family, and she cites this as one reason for her interest in veteran aid. She also says that working at a nursing home, which she’s been doing since August as part of her school’s cooperative learning program, has taught her that veterans can feel neglected and voiceless.

    She says that one wheelchair-bound World War II veteran whom she cares for at Seashore Point once told her the story of losing his leg because of a gunshot wound. “He’s one of the quieter ones,” she says, but he opened up to her. “He tells me stories that he doesn’t tell anyone else. I’m his voice.

    “Veterans don’t get enough acknowledgement,” she says. “It hurts to see.”

    Lilli will be starting at the University of New Hampshire in the fall, as a health sciences major. She is not sure she’ll make a career out of helping veterans. What matters to her is helping people, whoever they might be. “I just want to make a difference in people’s lives,” she says.

    Lynn Fleischer echoes the same sentiment. “Helping and honoring people is her passion,” she says. “What a kid.”

    RESILIENCE

    High Schools Plan to Celebrate Their Seniors

    With a little help from a friend

    By

    Wellfleet Drive-In
    Graduation week events are being planned at the drive-in. (Photo courtesy Wellfleet Drive-In)

    WELLFLEET — Schools are shut for the rest of this term, at least, but that doesn’t mean Outer Cape high school seniors and their families won’t have a chance to gather and celebrate.

    With the help of John Vincent, owner of the Wellfleet Drive-In Theatre and a 1987 graduate of Nauset Regional High School, the senior classes at both NRHS and Cape Cod Regional Technical High School are planning graduation week events at the drive-in.

    Nauset Principal Chris Ellsasser told the Independent on Monday that he hopes the 220 members of the Class of 2020 will be celebrating at the drive-in on Sunday, June 7, each family in its own car. The Wellfleet Board of Health has approved the plan, he said, which still needs a go-ahead from state officials.

    “Think of your car as a spacesuit,” said Ellsasser. “If you stay in your car, you’re good. Everything will be in a slide show to be projected on the screen. Channel 22 will be live-streaming the show, with a camera on the parking lot. If you can’t go, you can stay home and watch the presentation.”

    Ellsasser and Vincent both emphasized that the plans are still fluid, given the uncertainty surrounding the opening of “nonessential” businesses like drive-in theaters. “We’re still in preliminary stages,” said Vincent on Tuesday. “We don’t have permission from the state.”

    Another optimistic high school principal, though, is Billy Terranova at Cape Cod Tech in Harwich. He confirmed that its Class of 2020, with 142 members, had been invited to celebrate graduation at the Wellfleet Drive-In on Thursday, June 4. Vincent’s son is a junior at the school.

    “He reached out to us and said, ‘Hey, if you guys want, you can use the drive-in,’ ” said Terranova. “Everyone’s trying to support those kids, who are struggling with this, socially and emotionally.”

    The school will be delivering caps and gowns to all the seniors’ homes, he said. “We’re taking pictures of them in their gowns for our slide show. We’re putting that together this week and recording speeches on Thursday. Everyone can bring one car, possibly two. We’ll live-stream the event on Facebook, so those who can’t attend can still experience it. We don’t know exactly how we’re going to do that yet. We hope we can pull it off. We’re pretty excited.”

    There are 74 seniors from the four Outer Cape Towns at Nauset High, and nine more at Cape Tech.

    “The Wellfleet Drive-In is happy to step up to the plate for the local seniors,” said Vincent. “We are ecstatic.”

     

    EXTRA CREDIT

    Schools, at a Distance, Diverge in Use of Grades

    But all are focused on keeping kids engaged

    By

    The Provincetown Public Schools and the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Harwich both have middle school programs, but they have taken different approaches to grading since the schools were shut down in March.

    Both schools have the same primary goal, to protect students’ well-being in a pandemic.

    But Provincetown has maintained its system of grades, while Lighthouse switched to a credit-noncredit assessment method.

    “We must take care of the social and emotional health of our kids,” said Paul Niles, Lighthouse’s executive director.

    The charter school’s move away from grades is also being used by the Nauset Regional School District. But Provincetown administrators stand by their plan.

    “Our mantra is our school building is closed but school is open,” said Provincetown Principal Timothy Reynolds. “This is a third of our school year, so if we want them moving forward, they have to be engaged. So we are grading.”

    Lighthouse students must complete and pass 70 percent of their assignments to receive credit for their third trimester, which began March 13. The school has established multiple safety nets for students in difficult circumstances.

    If a student has not done 70 percent of the assigned work, that triggers an administrative review, in which teachers come up with a plan to get the student over the hump.

    “Maybe it’s summer work, maybe we sit down and look at the work the student did and the circumstances they were under and say, you know what, this was enough, we can give them a credit,” Niles said.

    One reason for the school’s forgiving system is its special needs students. Out of 240 total students at Lighthouse, about 100 need special direction or extra contact, Niles said.

    About 50 students are on an individualized education plan.

    Provincetown deals with similar demographics and shares the goal of accommodating every student’s unique circumstances, but it is using grades for middle schoolers as a way to connect with students and ensure participation.

    Provincetown’s International Baccalaureate program assesses work on a scale from one, the worst, to seven, the best.

    “We found, when we implemented this for our middle years program, student participation and efforts did increase,” said Reynolds.

    The school has made tweaks to accommodate for virtual learning, a major one being that students will automatically receive a five for attendance, and a five for completing work.

    Students can get on the honor roll with a five or higher, so by just showing up and submitting work, they will be honor students.

    “It has been working amazingly well for some kids,” said English teacher Amy Rokicki. “Some kids have really kicked in. They love it, and are doing every assignment really well.”

    About 62 percent of the school’s students are “high needs” — meaning they have a combination of economic, language, and learning issues — and 35 percent are classified as economically disadvantaged, according to the state Dept. of Education.

    “A number of our students have significant responsibilities, caring for as many as three younger siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, etc., daily while parents are at work, mostly in food service and health-care roles,” Rokicki said.

    Provincetown Supt. Suzanne Scallion told her teachers that she is most concerned about the high-risk kids, and that a driving factor for continued grading is to give those kids an incentive to keep coming to school and growing as students.

    Cape Cod Regional Technical High School has developed a hybrid grading system, encouraging students to perform well while not punishing them for circumstances out of their control, said Principal Billy Terranova.

    The school is assigning grades of either A+, A, or B to assignments, but still giving a credit/noncredit mark at the end of the semester.

    That way, students have the option to incorporate certain grades into their overall GPA if they choose.

    Chris Ellssaser, principal of Nauset Regional High School, is going with the credit, no credit model.

    “With GPAs and all of that, colleges will look at this as an anomaly,” he said.

     

    MOVING MILESTONES

    Cape Cod Tech Class of 2020

    By

    Cape Tech class of 2020Teachers from Cape Cod Regional Technical High School honored all nine seniors from the Outer Cape with a surprise house-to-house parade on April 28. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

     

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