LEBANON — As Lebanon High School’s class of 2026 marched to the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” on a bright, warm Thursday evening, they followed a floored path that had been laid out from the school driveway to a tent set up on a practice field next to the school.
Though all of the 149 graduates walked that same path, it was put there for one student in particular, Zadie Duchaine. With assistance from her friend and classmate Helena Mielcarz, her school nurse, Christina Annas, and Ben Nester, the director of student support for Lebanon schools, Duchaine rolled along the walkway to the tent, and to receive her diploma.
For a student who is educated mostly at home, and with varying degrees of consistency over the years, participating in commencement and the school’s awards ceremony earlier in the week were visible manifestations of the longer and more difficult work of ensuring that Duchaine receives the education she deserves.
“Zadie had a great night and was awake, aware, and happy way past her bedtime,” her mother, Feza Duchaine, said Friday morning. “She seemed to thrive in the excitement of the moment. I truly believe she understood we were celebrating her.”
Duchaine, her family, friends and caregivers, and the Lebanon School District were the recipients of the inaugural MVP award from the New Hampshire Advocate for Special Education. The award included a visit with Gov. Kelly Ayotte on May 9 and recognition at the June 1 awards night at Lebanon Opera House.
The MVP award, which stands for Most Valuable Partnership, is intended to call attention to the effort required to serve the needs of special education students.
“Recipients are chosen based on their commitment to collaboration and diligence,” Tim Lenihan, who runs the two-person Advocate for Special Education office, wrote in a description of the award.
“I created it completely out of whole cloth,” Lenihan, an Enfield resident, said in an interview. His daughter, a senior graphic design major at Plymouth State, designed the award, and Lenihan had it made into a plaque.
“I think it’s really important that we call out people for doing good things,” Lenihan said. He’s already considering which partnership might win the award next year.
His small office covers the entire state. “The need’s far greater than I can get to, so we take the most serious cases first.”
At Lebanon High School’s awards night, Nester wheeled Duchaine up onto the opera house stage. It was early during the ceremony, so Duchaine could get home. At Lenihan’s urging, her classmates cheered and chanted “M-V-P, M-V-P!”
Duchaine’s parents, Brad and Feza, have had an up-and-down journey in getting their older daughter the “free and appropriate public education” promised by federal law.
Duchaine has been in the district since age 3. She has a rare genetic disorder that renders her profoundly disabled, but was able to attend Hanover Street School for her elementary school years, Feza Duchaine said.
But the coronavirus pandemic was very disruptive, and as Duchaine’s cohort has gotten older, it’s been harder to keep her in school and integrated with her rapidly advancing peers, Feza Duchaine said. Zadie’s condition includes epilepsy, and she has daily seizures, so it’s best for her to be at home, she added. She is expressive, but cannot speak, and is unable to move or eat on her own.
For a time, district officials wanted to send Zadie to an out-of-district residential placement, but that was a nonstarter for the Duchaines. “We want her to live with us,” her mother said.
Education at home has been difficult to arrange, but the arrival of Ben Nester, who started in SAU 88 two years ago, has improved matters. Nester has been an advocate for Zadie and her family, which inspired the partnership award.
After Duchaine went without a teacher for much of this year, a new hire is due to start June 8. Consistency has been hard to find, Feza said.
“I really hope that she’ll stick around,” she said. “She has experience with kids exactly like Zadie, so that’s a plus.”
With Duchaine spending most of her high school years at home, commencement events were a rare opportunity for her to be among her schoolmates. Her three close friends, Helena Mielcarz, Lillian Adams-Coutermarsh and Grace Clancy, cooed over her outside the opera house at the awards ceremony and as they waited for commencement to start in the high school band room.
Mielcarz, who plans to study special education at the University of Vermont, befriended Duchaine in the first grade. She has an older sister named Sadie and the rhyme made something click, Mielcarz said Thursday while she waited with Duchaine, Adams-Coutermarsh and Clancy and Duchaine’s school nurse, Christina Annas, for graduation to start.
“She’s been to every single one of my birthday parties,” Mielcarz said, including one early one that included pony rides. “She definitely inspired me, because everyone deserves to have a great time at school.”
Mielcarz also has helped get her friend to homecoming and to prom, among other school events.
Adams-Coutermarsh plans to go into early childhood education, and Clancy plans to study psychology to become a pediatric occupational therapist.
Commencement was about as sunny an event as it could be. Principal Ian Smith began with a celebration of public education.
“Public schools are reflections of our community and it’s no different here in Lebanon,” he said “It’s a heterogeneous mix of interests and backgrounds that culminates in this celebration this evening, a powerful reminder that places like LHS provide that common experience that brings so many people together at this time of year.”
The class speakers — Oscar Gulledge, the class MC; Salutatorian Sarah Smith; Valedictorian Saanvi Brahme; English and social studies teacher Will Connell; and farewell speaker Sara Forman — celebrated and encouraged the graduates, urging them less toward achievement than toward kindness and mutual regard.
“The most powerful tool we have is the way we treat people and the lives we touch,” Smith said.
For Zadie Duchaine, public education continues until she’s 22, and the partnership for which she and her connections were celebrated will continue its steady work. The aim now is to get Duchaine out into the community more, and to develop in her some skills that might help her move toward independence.
But Thursday was a time for celebration.
“The district did an amazing job accommodating the ceremony for Zadie with the flooring, placing her in a spot where she is shaded and not staring at the sun, as well as keeping her at a distance from the band, as loud noises can cause seizures,” Feza Duchaine said.
Zadie surprised her with her energy through the long ceremony, she said.
“I hope she got out of it a sense of accomplishment and the feeling that she is included with her peers and friends. Also, I hope she knows how proud we are of her!”
Lebanon High School Class of 2026: Lillian Adams, work; Hamza Akram, Penn State University; Eden Ames, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Maezie Angles, Coastal Carolina University; Mena Antonious, University of New Hampshire; Parker Arrington, gap year; Abigail Auch, Rivier University; Caleb Audet, Plymouth State University; Cameron Audet; Kestyn Avery, Plymouth State University; Khyla Avery, New England College; Chase Banker, Work; Benjamin Benes, The New Hampshire School of Mechanical Trades; Nehemiah Billings, University of New Hampshire; Alex Boardman, Utah State University; Emily Braley; Saanvi Bramhe, Columbia University; Peyton Breedlove, Lafayette College; Jorge Miguel Buffo Sanchez, work; Isabelle Caffrey, West Virginia University; Zachary Caver; Reese Chapman, work; Ayden Chilton, Lakes Region Community College; Augustus Church-Cole, gap year; Grace Clancy, Mount Holyoke College; Kaelan Clark, Marine Corps; Jacob Cloutier, work; Audrey Cody, University of New Haven; Giovanni Colon, work; Jonathan Cooper, Wentworth Institute of Technology; Kaylee Cross, Saint Anselm College; Richard Cross; Zaiden Daniels; Ryder Desharnais, Plymouth State University; Reagan DiDomenico, University of New Haven; Ben DiRenzo, University of New Hampshire; Amy Dixon-Vestal, gap year; Christopher Dozier, work; Zadie Duchaine, Continued Educational Programming; Alexander Eastman; Charlotte Edmund, work; Jacob Elvira, New Hampshire Technical Institute; Lillian Estes, Plymouth State University; Rhiann Estes, Work; Taylor Farris; Sara Forman, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Colbie Fratzel, University of New Hampshire; Georgia Gaffney, Bates College; Amelia Gallagher, Plymouth State University; Michael Joshua Garcia, Rochester Institute of Technology; Clayton Godfrey, work; Christopher Gogan, Southern Maine Community College; Angelo Goodwin, gap year; Clara Grace, Plymouth State University; Oscar Gulledge, Washington University in St. Louis; Zane Halstead, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Lydia Hamilton, work; Annelies Hanna, University of Vermont; Abbey Hansen; Kevin Harkins, Ithaca College; Caitlin Hastings, Plymouth State University; Scott Hatch, work; Anna Hayward, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; William Healey, work; Hunter Heath, University of New Hampshire; Oliver Hermanson, Ithaca College; Gabriel Herring, Skidmore College; Jenna Hicks, work; Owen Hoy, Vermont State University; Sarah Joudeh; Ava Kaercher, Rhode Island College; Jaskirat Kaur, River Valley Community College; Graham Kelly, Clarkson University; Alexander Koff, Montana State University; Aidan Krol, work; Noah LaHaye, Work; Taylor Lau, Pace University in New York City; Andy Lindquist, Springfield College; Kieran Lord, McGill University; Gavin Loupis; Ryan Lundrigan, work; Benjamin Madory, George Washington University; Lauren Maloney, University of Rhode Island; Annella Marsh, Coastal Carolina University; Danielle Martin, Northeastern University; Chrisley Mascean, New Hampshire Technical Institute; Logan Mason, James Madison University; A. Jacob Maughan, University of Utah; Gabriella Mayhew, Montana State University; Helena Mielcarz, University of Vermont; Minji Moeykens, University of Maine in Orono; Dylan Moore, Wentworth Institute of Technology; Olivia Moseley, Michigan State University; James Murphy, work; Audrey Newton, Horry-Georgetown Technical College; Ngan Nguyen; Christina Ni, Keene State College; June Nicholson, Colby-Sawyer College; Solan O’Connor; Hannah Oliveira, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Patrick O’Neil, Coastal Carolina University; Mirabella Orlen, Northeastern University; Aidan Osmer, work; Nicholas Pace, State University of New York at Albany; Abe Pearson, University of Delaware; Isaac Perry, work; Alexis Pierce, River Valley Community College; Harper Rancourt, Rhodes College; Tyler Ranney, James Madison University; Kailyn Rappaport, Work; Ella Reichert, Norwich University; Preston Rheaume, University of New Hampshire; Jaden Robb; Peyton Rutherford, Rutgers University; Madelyn Sanville, Quinnipiac University; Miles Saunders, Fordham University; Jacobus Scholtz, gap year; Madalyn Shores; Vincent James Sites, State University of New York at Albany; Treyton Slarve, work; Sarah Smith, Macalester College; James Strout, work; Henry Swan, Rochester Institute of Technology; Savannah Therriault, Colby-Sawyer College; Evan Thibodeau, Plymouth State University; Yiting Tian, Chapman University; Abigail Tremblay, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Mariana Utell, University of Maryland at College Park; Madison Vidou, work; Brooke Walker, American International College; Alyssa Warner, Franklin Pierce University; Caroline Weber, Fairfield University; Lacey Whitcomb; Lydia Williams, River Valley Community College; Esther Wilmot; Jason Wood, work; and Kenneth Wood, work.
