THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JUnE 9, 2023 Page 13 Saugus High Class of 2023 W By Mark E. Vogler hen Valedictorian Jay Patel takes the stage tonight to deliver his commencement address to nearly 180 classmates who will be graduating from Saugus High School, his main message will be to “persevere and find your own path,” he said. “I would say our resilience to face the changes and challenges that we had – like COVID-19 and changing buildings – define us as a class,” said Patel, 18, who achieved a 4.8 grade point average to finish as the top scholastically ranked student in his class. “We spent our freshman year in the old building. And the second year, we had COVID and the last two years in the new building. It’s been a bumpy ride,” Patel said. “But my class is very individualistic. They have their own goals and career paths and worked hard to achieve those dreams. I’m obviously proud of my class. And I feel like we’re very resilient,” he said. Patel said he plans to study Computer Science at Boston University in the fall, with aspirations of starting his own company. Boston Mayor Wu honors Pioneer Charter School of Science teacher for efforts in welcoming migrants (Editor’s Note: The following info is from a press issued by the Pioneer Charter School of Science this week.) L ast month Pioneer Charter School of Science II (PCSSII) teacher Denise Rincon received a Certificate of Recognition from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu for her work with new migrants. Originally from Venezuela, Rincon dedicates herself to assisting these migrants – many also from Venezuela – in getting acclimated to their new surroundings in the Greater Boston area. Rincon is now in her fifth year at PCSSII, where she teaches Spanish. Rincon was raised in a tightknit Venezuelan family that instilled a deep sense of community and service. While in Venezuela, she was actively involved in nonprofit organizations. Today, Rincon is the Founder, Director and President of the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts. Though teaching keeps her busy, she remains devoted to those around her through the Association. The Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts drives several successful initiatives. Rincon’s charitable efforts have been imprinted on her community: “GoFundMe” fundraisers, coat drives, food drives, collecting and organizing feminine hygiene product care packages, and beyond. PCSSII colleagues attest that Rincon’s giving spirit never tires. Rincon wants the Boston community to know she is committed to educating those around her: PCSSII students, Bostonians Commencement exercises are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in Christie Serino Jr. Memorial Stadium. Class President Joshua Farmer said he agrees with Patel that the Saugus High Class of 2023 “should be remembered as a very resilient group of students.” Farmer, 18, plans to attend McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where he will study Political Science. “In our four years together, we went through COVID, remote learning, hybrid learning and mask mandates and we still continued to keep our spirits high,” Farmer said. “The biggest accomplishment of this class was making it here to graduation happier, smarter and stronger than our freshman year. We’re finishing together.” Farmer is thinking about a career in politics or going to law school after getting his college degree. “I think it’s interesting how Student leaders cite classmates’ resilience in coping with COViD-19, transitioning to a new building and four years of challenges much the diversity has grown at Saugus High,” he said, noting that the Class of 2018 was about 70 percent white. “Now, it’s down to about 60 percent this year, and the whole school is about 55 percent,” he said. “We have people graduating from many different countries – Brazil, Hatti and Albania,” he said. Salutatorian Afnan Tuffaha, the second highest scholastically ranked student in the Class of 2023 with a 4.78 grade point average, celebrated her 18th birthday yesterday (Thursday, June 1). Today, she plans to further her education at Northeastern University, where she will study computer science. “I want to work as a software engineer in some big company – Amazon, Microsoft or Apple,” Tuffaha said. “We had our freshman year cut short. We had to do remote learning. This would actually be our first normal year,” Tuffaha said. Pictured from left to right: Valedictorian Jay Patel, Salutatorian Afnan Tuffaha and Class President Joshua Farmer enjoyed Field Day with their classmates earlier this week. Tonight, they will deliver speeches at graduation ceremonies set for 6 p.m. at Christie Serino Jr. Memorial Stadium. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) “What’s been great about us is that we’ve been able to adapt to all of these changes swiftly and we’ve been very open to them,” she said. “My favorite moment during High School was Color Day. And that has always been a great time for students to come together and do something together,” she said. Denise Rincon (left), a science teacher at Pioneer Charter School of Science II in Saugus, received a Certificate of Recognition from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on behalf of the City of Boston. (Courtesy Photo to The Saugus Advocate) and incoming migrants. Her goal is to continue to inform and guide migrants to become good citizens. On her community work, she notes, “If we can educate the native people here to learn to help migrants in this process, we can all work together to create a better version of society.” The mission of PCSS is to prepare educationally under-resourced students for today’s competitive world. PCSS will help students develop the academic and social skills necessary to become successful professionals and exemplary community members through a rigorous academic curriculum emphasizing math and science. Balanced by a foundation in the humanities, a character education program, career-oriented college preparation and solid student-teacher-parent collaboration, PCSS will meet its mission.
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