CATO - It's not unusual for Cato-Meridian High School to bestow the veritable school bus-load of scholarships graduates received during Friday evening's ceremony - or so say school officials who are veterans of graduation ceremonies past.
“The community is very supportive, and there are always many scholarships awarded,” said Kathleen Bratt, president of the Cato-Meridian Central School District Board of Education.
Indeed, a significant percent of the 92 graduates received scholarship and recognition awards for academic and leadership achievements as well as citizenship - awards named for people who'd been educated in - or who had devotedly served - Cato-Meridian schools at one time. The sheer number paid tribute to the school as the heart and center of the larger community.
“I think it's a tribute to the community because there's so much support, and so much of a legacy attached to all these scholarships,” said schools superintendent Deborah Bobo.
One award recipient, Natasha LaTray, expressed bittersweet sentiments about leaving a school system small enough that students and teachers know each other by face, if not by name.
“It's going to be so hard not being with people I've been with for the last 12 years,” she said. LaTray will attend Cayuga Community College in the fall, before she transfers to SUNY Potsdam, where she plans to study psychology. She thinks she'd like to explore child services and ultimately work in Syracuse schools.
Liudmila Kvashina's diploma marks a year of growth. Kvashina arrived in Cato last August from Siberia as an exchange student. Though her favorite teacher at Cato led English classes, one of her greatest teachers was probably 3-year-old Shaila Bennett, the youngest child in Kvashina's host family. Shaila got Kvashina to practice her English which, everyone admitted, was quite broken less than a year ago.
“She keeps talking to me so I just have to answer back,” said Kvashina, who will attend Cayuga Community College next year.
Her decision to stay on, for now, is reflective of the connections Kvashina feels to her host family and to the community at large - a living legacy every bit as strong as the scholarships that each year, help honor their donors' names.
Staff writer Olivia Goldberg can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 235 or at olivia.goldberg@lee.net
Indeed, a significant percent of the 92 graduates received scholarship and recognition awards for academic and leadership achievements as well as citizenship - awards named for people who'd been educated in - or who had devotedly served - Cato-Meridian schools at one time. The sheer number paid tribute to the school as the heart and center of the larger community.
“I think it's a tribute to the community because there's so much support, and so much of a legacy attached to all these scholarships,” said schools superintendent Deborah Bobo.
One award recipient, Natasha LaTray, expressed bittersweet sentiments about leaving a school system small enough that students and teachers know each other by face, if not by name.
“It's going to be so hard not being with people I've been with for the last 12 years,” she said. LaTray will attend Cayuga Community College in the fall, before she transfers to SUNY Potsdam, where she plans to study psychology. She thinks she'd like to explore child services and ultimately work in Syracuse schools.
Liudmila Kvashina's diploma marks a year of growth. Kvashina arrived in Cato last August from Siberia as an exchange student. Though her favorite teacher at Cato led English classes, one of her greatest teachers was probably 3-year-old Shaila Bennett, the youngest child in Kvashina's host family. Shaila got Kvashina to practice her English which, everyone admitted, was quite broken less than a year ago.
“She keeps talking to me so I just have to answer back,” said Kvashina, who will attend Cayuga Community College next year.
Her decision to stay on, for now, is reflective of the connections Kvashina feels to her host family and to the community at large - a living legacy every bit as strong as the scholarships that each year, help honor their donors' names.
Staff writer Olivia Goldberg can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 235 or at olivia.goldberg@lee.net
