Thetford
On Friday night he graduated from Thetford Academy and today he is competing in the New England Outdoor Track and Field Championships by attempting to hurl a 12-pound shot more than 46 feet.
“I’m really excited about it,” Davidson said a couple hours before graduating with 66 of his classmates at Thetford Academy. “This is my last meet of the season.”
Davidson, who set a Vermont state record in the 11th grade in the Division II indoors division when he hurled the shot put 42 feet and three inches, credits the intense training and coaching he received during his four years at Thetford Academy with motivating him to work harder at upping his grades.
“In school, it has made me want to work harder at grades,” he said. “As soon as I was competitive in throwing I tried to transfer that into academics. My 11th-grade year I got A’s, B’s, and C’s but now I’m all A’s and occasionally a B-plus.”
When the gregarious and beaming 6-foot tall Davidson — who thanks to weight lifting has trimmed his weight from 295 lbs down to a svelte 255 lbs — stepped off the bleacher erected on Thetford Academy’s front lawn, cheers erupted from his classmates.
But Davidson was hardly alone in winning recognition from his peers. Thetford Academy’s 198th graduating class — the school was founded in 1819 — frequently erupted in clapping and hoots as members walked to the podium to receive their diploma from Head of School William Bugg.
Thetford Academy’s graduation is laden with traditions. There is the processional of seniors led by two students holding up batons wrapped in the school colors of white and blue ribbon.
There is the flower presentation when each student presenting her or his parents with a white and blue carnation. There is the singing of the school songs, Fair Thetford and Thetford, We Revere Thee.
Another tradition is that the graduation speeches and addresses are given by the students themselves while administrators and faculty are silent except when it comes to calling out the names of students when they receive awards or are handed their diplomas.
The generosity the seniors felt for each other was on full display when the graduates addressed their families and assembled friends under the falling evening light.
Noah Perry, who originally came to Vermont from Michigan and remembered how bewildered he was at first to discover he had moved to a place “with more cows than people,” noted with pride that the class included graduates who were heading off to “the finest universities in the country” — including Yale, Bryn Mawr College, Smith College, Tulane, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rhode Island School of Design as well as the U.S. Air Force Academy and Coast Guard Academy.
The small size of the school, about 300 students in grades seven through twelve, naturally results in a close student body community — and that was exactly what attracted Hannah Harkins, of Hartland, to pick Thetford Academy when she was looking at which high school in the Upper Valley to attend from her choice town.
“When I shadowed it seemed like the right place for me, a lot like my school in Hartland, a very close-knit community,” said Harkins, who pole vaulted and ran long jump in track and field and was the captain of her team. She is headed to Quinnipiac University in Connecticut where she plans to study health sciences to prepare for a career as a physical therapist.
“I was a little afraid freshman year that I would be only talking to people in my grade. But when I got here I found you can talk with anyone,” she said. “I had a lot of older friends.”
Davidson is headed to Castleton University, where he will study sports management. Given his accomplishments, his goal is not surprising. “My dream is to be a track and field coach,” he said.
John Lippman can be reached at jlippman@vnews.com.
Thetford Class of 2017
Margaret Rose Ahern, University of Vermont; Connor Ripley Brown, Southern New Hampshire University; Nicolette Mae Brown, gap year; Samantha Dawn Brown, Johnson State College; Patrick Girard Cassell , work; Ruby Margaret Cassidy, gap year; Allen Gregory Charest, Western New England University; Kayla Leanne Clark, Community College of Vermont; Christian Isaac Conaway, work; Regan Covey, Norwich University; Ashley Marie Currier, U.S. Air Force; Hunter John Daniels, Vermont Technical College; Caleb Allen Davidson, Castleton University; Justin Lee Duguay, Community College of Vermont; Emma Lynne Dunnet, Johnson State University; Emily Anne Emerson, Southern Maine Community College; Emily Rose Fishman, gap year; Christopher James Ford, University of Vermont; Jacob Ryan Gaffney, Lyndon State College; Noah Thomas Garrett, University of Vermont; Emma Rose Glazer, Bryn Mawr College; Daniel Greg Kowalsky Goldberg, Rhode Island School of Design; Janos Michael Groszek, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Moriah Joan Hammond, University of Maine at Farmington; Hannah Marie Harkins, Quinnipiac University; Jonathan Michael Clark Hayes, work; Mitchell Emery Higgins, Lyndon State University; Molly Jean Higgins, Norwich University; Clara McCoy Hoffman, Whitman College; Taylor Michelle Hollis, Lyndon State College; Kai Gabriel Hotelling-O’Connor, gap year; Holly Mae Kasten, work; Triton Christopher Kirk, National Guard; Dahlia Justine Klarich, Southern New Hampshire University; Abigail Judith LeBlanc, Dalhousie University; Matthew Joseph Leib, Johnson State College; Sammantha Makala Lepenven, Johnson State College; Erik Rudolph Lindahl, Green Mountain Valley School; Ryan James Thomas Lucas, Project Search; Hyla Caitlin Siegel Maddalena, Smith College; Lindsey Elizabeth Grace Martin, Community College of Vermont; Ian Wayne Mitchell, Gap Year; Shayne Philip Michael Morgan, work; Jade Olivia O’Connor, University of Vermont ; Raphael Norman Orleck-Jetter, Yale University; Austin Bailey Pedro; Noah Rain Perry, Lyndon State College; Dillon Kyle Piper, Washington County Community College; Josephine Janet Plamondon, Tarrant County College District; Silas Bell Pollard, Evergreen State College; Reshma Singh Rampersaud, University of Vermont; Carmenilla Celestia Rinaldi, University of Vermont; Noah Julian Bihler Stommel, University of Vermont; Hao Chi Sun, University of Connecticut; Maxwell David Thurber, Lyndon State College; Lauren Kaylee Tillotson, New England Culinary Institute; Brett Gary Towle, work; Grace Ann Veracka, Franklin Pierce University; Lydia Rose Whitaker, Endicott College; Isabella DaJung Wilmott, Vermont Technical College; Abbagail Elizabeth Wimett, University of Vermont; Samuel Kenneth Wolstenholme, gap year; Jordan Michael Woodward, work; David Parker Wurtz , work; Ella Jane Ziegler, Tulane University.
