School: Norwich Technical High School

Number of graduates: 151

Ceremony location: Norwich Technical High School

Date: Friday, June 17, 2022

Class motto: Perseverance.

Class Salutatorian Tyler King: “Perseverance is the perfect word to describe this class. They arrived here ready to leave with a unique skillset in the trade of their choice. In just four years, they've all become professional, efficient, and skilled individuals who managed to succeed despite having much of their high school careers taken from them due to COVID. Their continued motivation will take them far, and I'm proud to be a part of the Norwich Tech Class of 2022.”

Salutatorian Tyler King: “During this year, as seniors, we were able to fully embrace and appreciate our learning during the most important year for any high school student. This leads into today, where as I look at the crowd, I see students who possess a vast range of skills, personalities, and backgrounds. Classmates with incredible potential, who will all find success down whatever path they choose to take. We all came from the same starting point, gaining the knowledge and skills for success, until today where we will all cross the finish line before starting our next journey as Norwich Tech alumni.”

Valedictorian and Class President Autumn Lovett: “Whether it's an apprenticeship, the first semester of college, or even taking a year off, you will be in a world that has changed for both the better and worse. These next chapters will be frightening, but they are new adventures that need exploring. And we are the next generation of explorers”

Principal Donald Concascia: “Day after day, I watch our politicians and the media look for and point out the differences between us and I often wonder, why can’t they just be kind? Why can’t we look for the commonalities that we have and build on that? Successful companies are doing it. Winning sports teams do it. Strong churches do it. They all have the same thing in common. They build on what their members have in common and don’t focus on their differences. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work on our differences. Of course we should, but we need to be kind in the process. In the end, we’re all just people."

Other highlights: Norwich Tech moved graduation up from the original plan of Monday, June 20, to Friday because graduating seniors Jacob Cohoon of Griswold in pre-electrical engineering and applied electronics, Benjamin Castro of Oakdale in automotives and Justin Martin of Uncasville in HVAC, will compete in the national Skills USA competition on Monday in Atlanta.

Norwich Tech graduation photo gallery

For more photos from the Norwich Tech graduation CLICK HERE.