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Kingswood Oxford Bids Fond Farewell to Class of 2011

Commencement speaker Coach Kocay: 'Stay true to yourself.'

There is a tradition at in West Hartford that only seniors are allowed to walk across the Senior Green. But on Friday, the 2011 graduating class proudly shared that Green for the school’s 99th commencement exercises.

In keeping with tradition, the 98 graduates did not wear caps and gowns. The boys were dressed in khakis and blue blazers, and the girls all wore white dresses. They sported red roses – boutonnieres for the boys and a bouquet for the girls. The seniors also wore gifts they received from the KO Alumni Association at Class Night. The boys had each received a tie in the school colors of red and black, and the girls were given bracelets with KO charms. 

Another tradition is having the senior class select someone from the KO community to be commencement speaker. This year, the honor went to Middle School Coordinator of Athletics and Coach Matthew Kocay. 

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Kocay was introduced by senior Tyler Blake, who said the coach has developed a good relationship with every student on campus.

“I always knew I had a friend on campus,” said Blake, who attended KO along with his twin brother Jared. 

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Kocay has been asked to be commencement speaker in other years, but he always declined. But because of his “special connection” to this class, he said, “This year I couldn’t say no.” 

He went on to cite what he termed “an amazing run in athletics” in this class, with girls soccer, boys basketball and girls squash all New England champions, and boys lacrosse, boys golf and girls tennis winning league championships. 

“Victory is your constant companion with an unprecedented number of championships,” he said proudly. 

But Kocay, whose other duties include coaching Middle School football, basketball and baseball as well as the junior varsity lacrosse and varsity football teams,  urged the graduates to “stay true to who you are” and stick to a life plan. 

“Stay true to yourself and know what you want, and life will have a way of making it all come together. If you listen to your heart,” he urged, “you will never be wrong.” 

KO Head of School, Dennis Bisgaard, delivered the charge to the senior class. With the experiences of their years at KO performing community service and participating in leadership programs, he said the students are ready to “go out and make a difference.” He encouraged graduates to take risks, become involved and never forget KO “will always be here. It’s a safe haven.”

Under Bisgaard’s leadership, as the school began its Centennial Celebration in 2009, the Chase-Tallwood Science Math Technology Center was opened. KO has also expanded and renovated its dining hall, expanded its music technology laboratory and constructed an all-weather artificial turf field. In 2010, the school made a change in its name – omitting the longtime use of the hyphen between Kingswood and Oxford, and removing the symbolic separation between the two founding schools. 

As the graduates in Form 6 (grade levels are called “forms,” English-style) left the ceremony in a grand recessional, they paid their respects one by one to their teachers and KO staff, who formed a long receiving line down the driveway. 

“The relationship between the students and the teachers and the small community is what makes KO special,” said graduate Haleigh MacCloy of West Hartford. “There is a close-knit, community feel,” added Steven Hild, also of West Hartford. 

KO, which includes Forms 1-6 (grades 7-12) and Upper Prep (grade 6), does not select a valedictorian. According to KO’s communications office, the closest academic award to that is the Dux Prize, which is given to the senior with the highest GPA for the senior year. This year's senior winner was Gabrielius Banevicius of West Hartford. He was also awarded the Class of 1958 Prize, which goes to the student who “possesses qualities of modesty, reliability and integrity” and the Terwilliger Prize, for excellence in English prose. He will attend Princeton University in the fall. 

Other top prizes include The Gold Seal, the “highest citizenship award the school can bestow, given to a girl in Form 6 for outstanding qualities of character,” which was awarded to Caroline M. Lange of Windsor; The Primus Medal, “the highest citizenship award the school can bestow, given to that boy in Form 6 who has contributed most during the past year to the life of the school,” awarded to John Jackopsic of West Hartford; and the Merritt Prize, which went to Casey Calkins of Torrington and Emily Gutermann of West Hartford, which goes to the student or students who “best exemplify the results of a KO education.”

A complete list of prize winners is included in PDF form.

The following is a list of the 2011 graduates: 

Jacquelyn Nicole Amenta, Glastonbury; Benedict Pascual Andaya III, Plantsville; Shehmeer Muhammed Ayaz, Middletown; Gabrielius Cristino Banevicius, West Hartford; Alexandra Nicole Barlow, Glastonbury; James B. Barlow, Glastonbury; William Anthony Baron, Tolland; Kristen Barry, West Hartford; Savannah E. Berger, West Hartford; Tenzin Norbu Bhumba, Durham; Jared J. Blake, Cheshire; Tyler Joseph Blake, Cheshire; Louis V. Boisvert, South Windsor; Connor Jamison Bouthot, Avon; Christopher Thomas Boyes, Middletown; Cory Thomas Brewer, Glastonbury; Jade Deana Brown, Enfield; Brett M. Buccigross, South Windsor; Kendra Rose Bunting, Plantsville; Casey M. Calkins, Torrington; Nicholas Kalley Caswell, Marlborough; Kyle Henry Chapman, Vernon; Michael Corbett Coscarelli, West Hartford; Valerie Courtney, Berlin; Hayley Robin DeBerry, Cromwell; Michael Lee Deffley, South Windsor; Kevin Anthony DeVivo, Berlin; Elizabeth Anne Dietz, Southington; Victoria Marian Eatherton, Windsor; Hannah Winthrop Fiske, Simsbury; Dylan Thomas Florian, West Hartford; Patrick Nathaniel Freeman, Wethersfield; Kara Melinda Gardiner, Portland; Matthew Christopher Gaston, Bloomfield; Matthew  Robert Gauthier, Middletown; Nicholas Colton Gehris, South Windsor; Emily Elizabeth Gersky, New Hartford; Alexander Rowe Gitlin, West Hartford; Antony  Joseph Giunta, Windsor; Emma Florianne Glickstein, South Glastonbury; Chloë Maginnis Glover, West Hartford; Alex Matthew Goldsmith, West Hartford; Emily Catherine Gottlieb, South Glastonbury;; Emily R. Gutermann, West Hartford; Steven Gordon Hild, West Hartford; Emily Jean Howard, Terryville; Michael Cullen Humphreys, Portland; Clara Gwen Hyland, Glastonbury; John A. Jackopsic, West Hartford; Suzanne Lora Jacobson, West Hartford; Bennett Kantor, West Hartford; Erica Jill Katz, West Hartford; Raveena Khanna, South Glastonbury; Alexandra Julia Koza, Middlefield; Eric M. Kravetz, West Simsbury; Caroline Mary Lange, Windsor; Haleigh Duncan MacCloy, West Hartford; Conor F. Maloney, Avon; Lauren Anne Marchetti, Glastonbury; Ryan Scott Marinelli, Portland; Caroline Ann Beauchamp Meade, Wethersfield; Brenna Nicole Merola, Rocky Hill; Kelsey Anne Mester, Glastonbury; Christopher Davidson Miles, Hartford; Edward B. Miller, Hartford; Elizabeth Ashley Miller, Ellington; Austin Kelly Moran, Middletown; Emilie Ann Nadler, West Hartford; Farwa Naqvi, Middletown; Winston Maxwell Neal, Bloomfield; Keri Wiles Ohlheiser, Canton; Charlotte Elizabeth Olson, Amston; Joshua J. Paldino, Kensington; Aaron R. Paley, West Hartford; Zachary Douglas Punt, West Hartford; Thomas E. Romano, Farmington; Julie Nicole Rome, West Hartford; Julia Nicole Rosenthal, West Hartford; Mary Margaret Sequino, North  Haven; Claudia B. Silvers, West Hartford; Austin Gregory Simons, West Hartford; Kenneth Robert Smith, West Hartford; Tylon A. Smith Jr., Manchester; Marion E. Stack, Wethersfield; Emily Jill Steinberg, Avon; Victoria J. Stoj, Vernon; Adam John Sykura, West Hartford; Christopher Michael Toppi, Glastonbury; Jennifer Lynn Townsend, Wethersfield; Daniel Joshua Turner, Bloomfield; Jacob Michael Van Loon, Simsbury; Mary Alessandra Vecchio, Tolland; David Dunworth Veronneau, Meriden; Angelica C. Villa, Canton; Albert J. Volpe, Wethersfield; Molly McKee Wallace, West Hartford; Jackson Thomas Waskowitz, Avon; Noah Stoner Zemel, West Hartford.      

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