CARRABASSETT VALLEY – “Seniors, this is your day. We are all so very proud of you. This is a threshold day for you. Commencement means a new beginning,” said Carrabassett Valley Academy’s headmaster, John Ritzo, during his opening remarks. On Saturday, Carrabassett graduated 17 young men and women, all described by Ritzo as “mountain kids.”

The ceremony was in the Richard H. Bell Interfaith Chapel at Sugarloaf USA. The Reverend Pam Morse gave the graduation invocation.

Mark Fawcett, a Carrabassett alumnus from the class of 1990, gave the commencement address. Ritzo said Fawcett “embodies the essence of what CVA is, always the innovator, and founder of the CVA snowboard program.”

“Fourteen years ago, I stood in this same spot as the valedictorian,” Fawcett said. He reminded the graduates to always return to “that hard work ethic, which has earned you respect from your peers, your competitors and yourself, and make it happen.”

Fawcett related an important question he’d been asked once, “How will you do in the competition?” His response was “I don’t know how I’ll place, but I’ll show you my best run.”

Ritzo, along with faculty and students, presented numerous awards and scholarships to recognize the graduates’ accomplishments. The prestigious Headmaster’s Award was given to Benjamin Hunter Burns.

Craig Smith, the valedictorian, told his fellow graduates, “Being at CVA has changed me forever. We have now reached this fork in the road.”

His parting advice to students was “hold on to your friends and your memories because they are all we have – and all we need.”

Matthew Philippi, the salutatorian, said CVA required him “to move beyond what is comfortable and normal. The quote I want the senior class to take into the future is, You will miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.'”

The Class of 2004 graduates are: Justin Cecil Anthony, Matthew Strang Burgess, Benjamin Hunter Burns, Kyle Roberts Cresta, Sean Patrick D’Amboise, Andrew Files Dumas, Natt Jamieson Harkins, Brian Keohane Kelley, George Quintas Andreas Nauleau, Matthew Truesdale Philippi, Evan Charles Quinn, Jennifer Lynn Rutherford, Craig Allen Smith, Zachary Forrest Visco, Charles James Waters, Katherine Sara Weir, and Collin Douglas Zecher.

In addition, students who attended CVA, but graduated from other high schools were Elizabeth Whitney Fahy, Jacob Ray Hardy, Travis John Plass, Wiley Thomas Tesseo and Sean Allen Wentworth.

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