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Lynn Tech graduate Anias Smallwood takes a selfie with his diploma. (Spenser Hasak) Purchase this photo

Lynn Tech graduates 270

Dylan Pichnarcik

by

LYNN — Four years ago, they arrived at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute (LVTI) as freshmen learning how to read blueprints, wire circuits, and navigate unfamiliar hallways. Monday afternoon, they received their diplomas and are prepared to enter the workforce as welders, carpenters, nurses’ aides, electricians, and future college students, carrying the skills they learned into the next chapter of their lives.

The phrase “when you have a trade, you have it made” captured the spirit of the LVTI graduation ceremony. A phrase coined by this year’s commencement speaker and former principal, James Ridley.

Students at LVTI spent four years learning a trade and a traditional high school education at once. For many, including this year’s Valedictorian Phong Tran, attending LVTI was a major accomplishment in and of itself.

“It was my dream to go to Tech,” Tran said, reflecting on his admission interview.

Tran encouraged his fellow graduates to “Never stop chasing your dreams. Achieve those dreams with the people you love around you.”

He said, “Inhale this surreal moment of exhilaration, because we did it. Tonight, when we hang our caps and gowns, remember this: we are not bound by numbers on a sheet of paper, but by the quality of our character.”

Tran’s speech reflected on character, dreams, and the emotional goodbye to LVTI as the Class of 2026 prepared to start the next chapter of their lives. Salutatorian Alexavier Saldana brought the focus back to classes, shop work, and making lasting memories in familiar spaces.

“Those walks between buildings are where some of the best conversations happened, whether it was confronting a test we just took, stressing about an assignment due next period, or just talking with friends. Those few minutes outside ended up creating a lot more memories than any of us probably realized at the time,” he said.

Saldana said, “Our entire graduating class has worked tremendously hard to be here today. In each of our unique ways, we have all overcome many challenges.”

Saldana ended by crediting family and teachers for getting him to the LVTI Graduation stage.

Class President Kaylee Deschamps thanked her support system and the “classmates who became family” even during the years of separation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our class has one core memory that no other graduating class will ever fully understand. We went through basically our entire middle school years quarantined and separated from the world, which changed the way we learned, connected, and the way we grew up,” she said.

Yet, even after the pandemic, “we made it here because we are resilient and adaptable,” she said. “We deserve to give ourselves credit for that.”

One of the highlights of her time at LVTI was “finding a family in my health tech shop,” Deschamps said. “I found a group of people I spent seven hours a day with for five days every other week. They have supported me, pushed me, and reminded me that I was always capable of more than I believed.”

Mayor Jared C. Nicholson said the lessons students “have obtained here at LVTI are lessons that you will carry with you that I think make you uniquely prepared for the world ahead.”

Principal Fred V. Gallo, who is retiring after 36 years in education, told graduates, “Success isn’t something you achieve in the future. Rather, success is a process that you go through as you travel through life.”

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