Schools

Minuteman Seniors Get Diplomas at Drive-In Graduation, Watertown Student is Valedictorian

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A Minuteman High School students attends the drive-in graduation, Friday, held due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The following piece came from Minuteman High School:

On Friday, June 5, 121 students in the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School’s graduating Class of 2020 received their diplomas in a historic drive-in graduation ceremony. The first-ever drive-in ceremony was held to honor seniors in a timely fashion while also ensuring social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Each student was permitted to attend in one vehicle with family or loved ones. They each parked in assigned parking spaces that were grouped by their career majors. One by one, as their names were announced over a live stream on YouTube, students drove to the front of the building where they exited their vehicles to receive their diplomas and posed for photographs. 

In his remarks during the ceremony, Superintendent-Director Edward A. Bouquillon addressed the ongoing pandemic, economic turmoil, and racial unrest that the nation – and our families and communities – are grappling with. 

“I have confidence that you, the class of 2020, who have lost so much this senior year… you have gained an appreciation for the relationship and connection that only this crisis can teach,” Bouquillon said.

Schools

11 Watertown Students Graduating from Minuteman, Including Valedictorian

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Minuteman High School’s 121 member strong Class of 2020 includes nearly a dozen students from Watertown, one of whom is the class valedictorian. The vocational technical school will hold a drive-in graduation ceremony on Friday, June 5, at 2 p.m., at the school, 758 Marrett Road, Lexington. The ceremony will also be streamed live on YouTube. “While this is clearly an unusual way to hold a graduation, we hope that it will be a way for students and their families to share their excitement and create a happy memory of this milestone,” wrote Minuteman Superintendent-Director Edward Bouquillon. The graduates from Watertown are (with their program of study and future plans):

Emely AlmonteRouaa AlwazTJ DaleyFahad KhanAnthony LeoneElizabeth LinarteVasiliki MarandianosMichael McNamaraSabrina RaposoRenee ThompsonZachary Umbsen

Rouaa Alwaz (VALEDICTORIAN), BiotechnologyElizabeth Linarte, Biotechnology, University of Mass. Lowell – Pre-Dentistry Honors ProgramMichael McNamara, Carpentry Sabrina Raposo, Cosmetology, Entering the Workforce – CosmetologyVasiliki Marandianos, Culinary Arts / Baking, Entering the Workforce – Culinary ArtsRenee Thompson, Culinary Arts / BakingEmely Almonte, Early Education & CareAnthony Leone, Electrical WiringTimothy Daley, PlumbingFahad Khan, Programming & Web, Bunker Hill Community College – Software DevelopmentZachary Umbsen, Programming & Web

Visit the Minuteman High School Class of 2020 Instagram page to see more of the graduates.

Schools

Minuteman High School Honored by State Reading Association

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The following information was provided by Minuteman High School:

Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School is pleased to announce that the Massachusetts Reading Association (MRA), an organization that promotes literacy, has honored Minuteman with its Exemplary Reading Program Award. “This award legitimizes the work we have done over the last 10 years to make sure we take care of the needs of the students,” said Minuteman High School Principal George Clement. “We recognized a need and stuck with it. It’s all been worthwhile.” For the first time in MRA history this award is being given to a secondary school. The previous recipients of this honor have been elementary schools. Minuteman was selected in a competitive process that involved 12 nominated schools from across the state. According to the MRA, the five objectives of this award program are: 

To improve literacy in our society;To recognize schools that demonstrate excellence in reading and literacy programs;To encourage the development and refinement of exemplary reading/language arts programs;To report to the public noteworthy efforts to improve reading/language arts, and;To disseminate specific information about high-quality programs so that other professionals can use it to improve their own instructional efforts.” 

 “We were very impressed with Minuteman,” said MRA Vice President-Elect Patricia Kelley. She specifically mentioned the media center situated at the hub of the school, the integration of reading skills in the school’s career and technical programs as well as in its academic programs, the outstanding reading program for freshmen, the multi-tiered system of support for the reading program throughout the school, and the allocation of financial resources to the reading program. “There is a lot of commitment from everyone at Minuteman,” Kelley said. “Literacy is being integrated across the curriculum.

Schools

Two Watertown Students Named Outstanding Seniors at Minuteman High School

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In this photo, taken in early March prior to the coronavirus-related school closure, Minuteman High School students who were selected as Outstanding Seniors for the Class of 2020 and honored with a luncheon are photographed with school administrators. Top row (left to right): James Riley of Lancaster, John O’Keefe of Stow, Liam DaSilva of Arlington, Ben Tangora of Concord, Roxanna Sanjar of Bolton, and Career Technical Education (CTE) Director Michelle Roche. Bottom row (left to right): Assistant CTE Director Katie Bouchard, Superintendent-Director Ed Bouquillon, Joshua Kerble of Arlington, Nicholas Moy of Concord, Sabrina Raposo of Watertown, Otto Eademacher of Arlington, Jason Kim of Belmont, Assistant Superintendent Amy Perreault, and Principal George Clement. (Missing from photo: Rouaa Alwaz of Watertown and Emily Hawkins of Lexington.)

Minuteman High School sent out the following announcement:

Twelve students from the Class of 2020 at Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School were recently recognized as “Outstanding Seniors” shortly before the coronavirus emergency closed schools in March. The 12 seniors were treated to a luncheon with Minuteman administrators in the school’s student-run restaurant, The District Café.

Around Town

Minuteman Students, Superintendent Making Masks to Help Local Hospitals During COVID-19

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The following information was provided by Minuteman High School:

Allison Sanzio, a Minuteman High School senior in culinary arts from Stow, and her mom have joined an effort in their community to make face masks at home during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Several members of the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School community are doing their part to fight COVID-19 – from creating face masks to helping a local hospital expand its capacity to care for coronavirus patients. “All of us are making sacrifices right now, but no one is sacrificing more than the medical providers and first responders across the nation,” said Superintendent-Director Edward A. Bouquillon, who has sewn dozens of masks at home with his wife, Diane. “We want to help in any way we can. I’m so proud of the students and staff who are using their skills to pitch in.”

Three siblings from Arlington who all attend Minuteman – eleventh-grader Jacob Woolf (programming and web development major) and ninth-graders Leah and Mari Woolf (early education and design and visual communication majors, respectively) – are volunteering for MasksOn, an initiative launched in recent weeks to retrofit snorkel masks with medical-grade breathing equipment that can be used repeatedly by clinicians.

Schools

Several Watertown Students Make Minuteman Honor Roll

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Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School has released the names of students who attained Honor Roll and High Honor Roll for the second quarter of the academic year. The following students from Watertown received honor from Minuteman High School:

High Honors

Rouaa Alwaz, Biotechnology, Grade 12Marwa Alwaz, Biotechnology, Grade 10Zoha Bibi, Health Assisting, Grade 11Dayane Coutinho, Plumbing, Grade 11Saleena Khan, Health Assisting, Grade 9Elizabeth Linarte, Biotechnology, Grade 12Ana Martocchia, Metal Fabrication, Grade 9

Honors

Mahnoor Bibi, Health Assisting, Grade 9Samuel Cerqueira, Horticulture, Grade 11Jonathan Corbett, Advanced Manufacturing, Grade 11Maria DeFreitas, Early Education & Care, Grade 11Izadora Karla Goncalves, Health Assisting, Grade 11Emma Leone, Early Education & Care, Grade 9Ava Martin, Design/Visual Comm, Grade 9Theodore Surenian, Programming & Web, Grade 11

Schools

Minuteman High School Closes Temporarily in Response to Coronavirus

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The following announcement was provided by Minuteman High School:

Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School will be closed through Friday, March 20, due to ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns, joining numerous other school districts in the region that have cancelled classes as a precautionary measure. 

This afternoon (Friday), Minuteman administrators were notified that one student, who resides in Arlington, is under self-quarantine after being exposed to an individual who tested positive for COVID-19. The student is not exhibiting any symptoms. 

Superintendent-Director Edward A. Bouquillon issued the following email to all students, families, and staff this afternoon: 

Dear Minuteman High School Community: 

We are writing to provide you several important updates about what Minuteman is doing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in our school and communities. We continue to ask our students, staff, and families to visit Minuteman’s coronavirus web page for updates. Several important announcements are outlined below. 

One Minuteman student from Arlington is under self-quarantine after coming into contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19. We were notified of this information this afternoon, Friday, March 13. The student is not exhibiting symptoms and is under quarantine as a precaution.

Andrea Martocchia

Police Seek Information About Accident That Killed Watertown Teen

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A Watertown resident and Minuteman High School junior died when a car struck him while he was riding a motorcycle in Belmont. Police seek information about the accident to help their investigation. Andrea “Dre” Martocchia, 16, died on Feb. 27 at about 4 p.m. after the accident at the intersection of Winter Street and Robinwood Road in Belmont, heading north toward. Rte.