Laura Glesby Photo
Graduates and their families mingle outside Battell Chapel.
The 96 seniors who received their high school diplomas from Metropolitan Business Academy Monday night treated the moment as one collective accomplishment.
OnStudents and their families filled the pews of Yale’s Battell Chapel for the ceremony. Each of the graduates had completed specialized tracks in health and finance, digital arts and technology, finance, or law and political Science, as part of the academic program at Metro, which is an interdistrict magnet school open to students from across Connecticut.
Senior Class Co-Presidents David Banegas and Kiyomi Bowen opened the ceremony. They were followed by Salutatorian Déja Telford and, later, Valedictorian Melody DeBlasio. The student speakers each offered words of empowerment to the class of 2019, which Banegas referred to as his “family.”
“There are a million ways to become successful, so don’t let anybody discourage your path,” Bowen said.
“If the future is unwritten, unpredictable, that means that we, the class of 2019, can build whatever we want in its place,” DeBlasio said.
Senior Class Co-President David Banegas.
The keynote speaker was New Haven State Rep. Robyn Porter, whose district encompasses parts of New Haven and Hamden. Porter spoke about her experience with imposter syndrome as she first entered her role in the state legislature. She recalled feeling “overwhelmed” and “out of place.” A few years into the job, she said, she realized that “it wasn’t the experience I gained in the building that made me qualified. It was the experience I brought into the building.”
Porter centered her speech around the family and community that supported her journey into politics. “We had our village,” she said. “My village gave me and continues to give me my voice.”
She implored the seniors to appreciate their “village” at Metropolitan — a message to which they were attuned.
When it came time for the distribution of diplomas, the students and their families erupted in resounding cheers as each graduate was called. The celebratory noise was so loud that one child resorted to plugging his ears with his fingers. Soon, the graduates filed out of the chapel, hugging and high-fiving each other on their way out.
After the ceremony, students, staff, and families gathered on the Old Campus courtyard behind Battell Chapel, mingling and snapping photographs.
Reflecting on their years at Metropolitan, students emphasized the school’s close-knit community of both students and staff.
Jasmine Vasquez said she particularly valued the experience of “making new friends — especially with teachers.”
Ashlie Rivera echoed that sentiment, saying she was grateful for her friends as well as the “teachers who provide so much for me.”
Rivera and Vasquez both singled out Leslie Blatteau, the senior class advisor, as an inspiring teacher at the school.
Rivera had taken Blatteau’s “Peer Leadership” course — “one of the best classes I’ve taken” — which centered around leadership skills and college readiness.
The class’s 24 seniors were designated role models for the incoming students, Rivera said. Rivera recalled that one day, Blatteau took the class to a park down the street and asked them to form a circle. “We talked about what we were excited about for prom, our highs and lows,” Rivera said. “It was really special — a really beautiful day.”
Rasha Abuhatab spoke about a similar bond among her classmates, mentioning that senior trips to Coney Island and Six Flags Theme Park were her favorite memories of high school. “Everyone decided to get closer on those trips,” she said. “Which just makes it harder to go our separate ways.”
Then, she corrected herself. Graduating would be her favorite memory, she decided, because of the support she and her peers exuded for one another. “I was cheering on everyone,” she said.
Leslie Blatteau is probably the best teacher I have ever met. (Sorry Others, maybe I just haven't met you.)
As a life-long learner she brings everything she has into the class experience. She sees each student as an individual and her strength and determination is visible to all of the "kids". What you see is what you get, no BS, no games.
It may be draining at times but she sees each day as an opportunity as well as a challenge and deserves all the admiration she receives.
Love her to pieces.