525 Students Graduate from Tech Center in Yorktown

Five hundred and twenty-five students graduated from the Tech Center at Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES last week having acquired skills in fields such as automechanics, graphic design, law enforcement and healthcare. 

“One of the things you should celebrate is how well prepared you are for what you want to do next,” Superintendent James Langlois told the graduates. “You have been able to learn a trade and make decisions about whether this is what you want to do with the rest of your life.”

Speaking of the Tech Center and Fashion Design teacher Lisa Tobin, Salutatorian Breanne McCarthy of Mahopac said when she first walked into the fashion design classroom, she had no idea she was "entering the place that would transform" her and meeting the woman who would become like a second mother her.

McCarthy said that BOCES offered a chance for high school students to “reinvent” themselves before college, and praised the teachers for their excellence.

Aliyah Singleton, a Peekskill student in the New Visions Health program, gave the valedictory address and praised all of her teachers for their expertise and caring. She told the graduates that walking across the stage was an honor.

"We have worked hard to get here," she said. 

The graduates wished one another well and were congratulated by their families following the ceremony.

Angelo Lopez, of Carmel, who completed the Certified Nursing Assistant program, said he had already obtained a job and was looking forward to beginning his career.

Cody DeNapoli, a New Visions Health student from Mahopac, said he would attend SUNY Oneonta in September to study pre-med, while Mark Lasar, another New Visions Health student, plans to attend SUNY Buffalo to study pre-med. 

Rachel Sweikert of the Lakeland school district said she planned to continue her culinary training at Westchester Community College and hoped eventually to complete an internship at Disney World.

McCarthy of Mahopac will be heading to the Fashion Institute of Technology to study fashion merchandising.

More than 350 of the graduates had earned at least three college credits, and as a class the graduates received more than $75,000 in scholarships. It was the largest graduating class in recent memory.