BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – The first class of Burlington students to spend all four years at the downtown Macy’s campus embarked on a new chapter Thursday. In between a global pandemic and a campus shut down by PCBs, it was an at times tumultuous high school career for the class of ‘24.
Just over 200 graduates accepted their diploma at the University of Vermont’s Patrick Gym, which was called into service because the “temporary” downtown campus doesn’t have a large enough venue — just one of the challenges the students reflected on.
“I’m very excited, you know. Big day for all of us. I am excited to graduate with the class that I am fortunate enough to graduate with,” said Milla Heise, who is headed to Bentley University.
“Little bit of jitter but I mean, I don’t know, it’s a bittersweet feeling. I’m proud of all the work that I’ve done but I’m gonna miss a lot of these people,” said Katelin Pecsenyicki, who is going to UVM.
Just one day into their first year of high school, the BHS campus was shuttered due to PCB contamination. The district scrambled and after spring break wa able to move into the defunct Macy’s downtown, where classes will continue until a replacement campus is built.
“Even though it wasn’t the ideal situation for us and it did not work out for us at all times, it still was somewhere we could be,” Heise said.
“It was a lot of stress, you know, but I’m like really happy to get to this point,” said new graduate Julia Newbelt.
“I’m so happy that I made it to this point,” said Mohammed Almulla, who grew up in Iraq during the war and was a refugee for eight years in Turkey before moving to Burlington two years ago. “I’m happy that I graduated here in the United States. And I’m so excited for the future and I hope I can do something good for the family and everybody around me.” He’s headed to Full Sail University in the fall with dreams of becoming a filmmaker.
The class of ‘24 had five different principals in their four years. Interim Principal Sabrina Westdijk hopes the adversity they faced in high school can show them how successful they can be. “They can accomplish anything, right? Whether they run into obstacles or challenges along the way, they’ve got this. They’re incredibly resilient, they’re creative. They’re incredibly compassionate humans and they will be successful,” she said.
Now that they’ve officially turned their tassels, the around 200 graduates will be headed off to more than 65 colleges and universities around the world.
