178 graduate from Oyster River High School
Apr 9, 2018DURHAM — With honor and gratitude, the Oyster River High School Class of 2017 gave thanks to each other, parents, teachers and the school community and looked optimistically to the future.Parents, family and friends filled the stands at University of New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gymnasium on Friday night to cheer on this year’s 178 graduates.Suzanne Filippone, overseeing her first graduation as principal for the Durham high school made up of Durham, Lee, Madbury and Barrington residents, thanked the senior class for welcoming her into the school.“You were always honest and respectful,” she told the women dressed in white gowns and the men in royal blue gowns. “Your love of and your appreciation of your school community always shined through.”Class President Alexander Szymanski reflected on the journey the class has taken to get itself where it is today. “Our class has been through thick and thin since day one,” he said. “There were good times, bad times and tragic times for the Class of 2017 these past few years. We had to face ourselves and find out who we wanted to be.”One of those tragic times was the loss of longtime Oyster River social studies teacher and 2013 state teacher of the year for history, Pamela Raiford, who died in April. “She was always there with a kind word and a smile,” Szymanski of Raiford.The class honored Raiford by donating the remaining balance of the class fund, about $400, to the Pam Raiford Memorial Fund that will donate to school programs “close to Pam’s heart.” Class vice president, Alice Sperry, presented the gift on behalf of the students. “We lost an amazing teacher and person this year,” she said. “Ms. Raiford touched the lives of so many people.”Class valedictorian, Daiyao Zang, in her remarks, pushed her fellow classmates to remember the driving aspirations they had when they were young kids. “Revisit those dreams and try to find something to pursue as passionately as you did back then,” she said. “Class of 2017, I know you will not disappoint.”Russell Miles, the class' salutatorian,... (Foster's Daily Democrat)
