This year's Commencement Remarks were delivered by award-winning author Mary Pope Osborne
PITTSFIELD — Forty-six students, including 22 students from Berkshire County and nearby communities, graduated on Sunday, June 2, during Miss Hall's School's 126th Commencement.
The ceremony took place under a large tent behind the Elizabeth Gatchell Klein Arts Center on the School's Holmes Road campus and was shared worldwide via Hudl.
Hosted by Miss Hall's Head of School Julia Heaton, the ceremony included remarks from Senior Class President Naomi Hopkins, of Rabun County, Georgia; School President Iva Knezevic, of Belgrade, Serbia; School Vice President Hanna Heaton Wellenstein, of Pittsfield; and Miss Hall's School Board of Trustees President Nancy Gustafson Ault, Class of 1973.
This year's Commencement Remarks were delivered by award-winning author Mary Pope Osborne, who was introduced by 2024 Miss Hall's graduates Lila and Zadie Juska, of Great Barrington. Mary is the author of many award-winning children's books.
Local graduates are Brianna Babcock, of Pittsfield; Kate Butler, of Pittsfield; Malena Carraro, of Stockbridge; Molly Casey, of Lee; Ella Cohen, of Great Barrington; Leora Cook-Dubin, of Pittsfield; Margaret (Margot) Dionne, of New Lebanon, N.Y.; Honey Fields, of New Marlborough; Sophie Gentleman, of Lenox; Ruby Hauck, of South Lee; Hanna Heaton Wellenstein, of Pittsfield; Isabella Hennessey, of Lenox; Lila Juska, of Great Barrington; Zadie Juska, of Great Barrington; Revan (Revvie) MacQueen, of Lenox; Juliana Mills, of Pittsfield; Alida (Hypnos) Perri, of Pittsfield; Kyla Rosales-Gore, of Great Barrington; Ella Tawes, of Williamstown; Madeline Tillem, of Lenox; Sophia Tillem, of Lenox; and Elise Tyler, of Lenox.
The following awards were also bestowed on members of the Class of 2024:
• Joseph F. Buerger Memorial School Spirit Cup: Kate Butler, of Pittsfield, and Naomi Hopkins, of Rabun County, Georgia
• Margaret Witherspoon Award: Iva Knezevic, of Belgrade, Serbia
• Christine Fuller Holland '33 Service Prize: Welmerly Maria, of Methuen, Massachusetts
• Faculty Commendation Award: Molly Casey, of Lee
• Meus Honor Stat Keys Awarded for MHS Core Competencies:
Vision: Sutra Chakma, of Khagrachari, Bangladesh, and Naomi Hopkins, of Rabun County, Georgia
Voice: Hanna Heaton Wellenstein, of Pittsfield, and Oumou Sidibe, of Bamako, Mali
Interpersonal Efficacy: Naomi Wager, of Cooperstown, N.Y., and Jiaying (Lily) Yao, of Shenzhen, China
Gumption: Leora Cook-Dubin, of Pittsfield, and Kyla Rosales-Gore, of Great Barrington
• Sylvia “Rusty” Shethar Everdell '38 Prize: Kate Butler, of Pittsfield
• Paul C. Cabot, Jr. History Prize: Sophie Gentleman, of Lenox
• Senior Prize in Engineering and Tech Innovation: Isabella Hennessey, of Lenox
• Iive Rouse Science Award: Iva Knezevic, of Belgrade, Serbia
• James K. Ervin Mathematics Prize: Hanna Heaton Wellenstein, of Pittsfield
• Horizons Award: Welmerly Maria, of Methuen, Massachusetts
• English for Speakers of Other Languages Award: Ayako Ogawa, of Tokyo, Japan
• Mansfield E. Pickett Latin Prize: Leora Cook-Dubin, of Pittsfield
• Spanish Award: Ella Tawes, of Williamstown
• Monique Jalbert French Prize: Nathania Williams-Jack, of Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Virginia Breene Wickwire '67 Reading Prize: Madeline Tillem, of Lenox
• Doris E. Pitman English Prize: Naomi Hopkins, of Rabun County, Georgia
• Photography Award: Honey Fields, of New Marlborough
• Susanna McCreath Music Prize: Jiaying (Lily) Yao, of Shenzhen, China
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Lanesborough Picks Information Panel for Public Safety Proposal
On Monday, the Select Board voted to form a public safety building informational outreach committee and re-appointed four members: Dean Clement, Daniel MacWhinnie, Mark Siegars, and Lisa Dachinger.
"The Public Safety Building Committee has done their job. Now we need, hopefully with some of those same bodies, to form a new committee of some type and move forward," Select Board member Timothy Sorrell explained.
Earlier this month, the town officials voted to advance a $7.3 million combined police/emergency medical services facility to town meeting, discarding the option for a $6.5 million separate build. The same design, then priced at $5.9 million, was shot down in 2023.
"There is the option to go to what could be a debt exclusion, which requires a two-thirds majority at either a special town meeting or an annual town meeting, and that can be followed by inclusion in a ballot," Town Administrator Gina Dario said.
Siegars advised that if the question goes to a ballot first with a fixed project budget, that amount can't be changed for a subsequent special town meeting vote.
"In our discussions, there are committee members who are willing to stay on if you wanted to continue the committee or appoint to new one, who have volunteered to be involved with any public information sessions to try to answer the questions with the idea that that they would also explore further and work with Gina and town counsel on specifically what the question should be for a special town meeting, and if, if warranted a subsequent ballot vote," he reported.
Chairman Michael Murphy echoed the former committees' arguments that the town can't explore grants and financing until it has approved an amount.
On Monday, the Select Board voted to form a public safety building informational outreach committee and re-appointed four members: Dean Clement, Daniel MacWhinnie, Mark Siegars, and Lisa Dachinger.
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