Convocation ceremony was held in the Cranston East auditorium on Thursday, May 17. The room was filled with parents, families, friends and faculty all proud of their senior students and their accomplishments.

According to East Principal Sean Kelly, overall the class of 2018 has amassed over $1,000,000 in known financial aid and scholarships.

Kelly openly admitted that convocation ceremonies are his favorite event, outside of graduation.

"It is the time we as a community get to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our seniors, and reward their years of hard work in the classroom," he said.

Kelly told them they are the best and brightest of their fine class.

"Your 13 years of hard work are evidence in the many awards and recognition you will receive tonight. Let me be the first to say great job and congratulations," he said.

He went on to say how proud is of the students.

"You have met and, in most cases, exceeded my expectations.  It has been and will continue to be my pleasure to be your principal, at the greatest high school in Rhode Island. Enjoy the night, you've earned it," he concluded.

Jeannine Nota, Superintendent of Cranston Schools, offered her congratulations, as did Mayor Allan Fung and School Committee representative Stephanie Culhane.

With all the speeches out the way, it was time to get down to the business of giving out awards, recognitions, and scholarships.

Assistant Principal Joe Potemri was the host for the ceremony, and explained the process of how the presentation of academic honors, academic excellence and scholarships would go.

Potemri called up a group of 87 students who were being inducted into the Thunderbolt Honor Roll. A tradition at East since 1998, the Honor Roll recognizes those seniors who made the school honor roll the first three quarters of the school year.

For the Rhode Island Honor Society, students must maintain a career GPA of 3.25 or better to receive membership cards, blue cords, and their pins. This year, 33 students reached this goal.

Seventy-one National Honor Society students were given gold cords, membership certificates, and pins, and were inducted into the Presidential Honor Society for maintaining a 3.5 GPA and performing community service.

Having done more than 50 hours of community service since they were inducted into the Honor Society as juniors last year, another six seniors received the society’s Spirit of Excellence Award.

For only the second year, students were also inducted into the National Art Honors Society. This year 17 students were recognized.

Potemri read off an extensive list of achievements and personal qualities that highlighted the academic careers of the class salutatorian and valedictorian. 

"This year's salutatorian is a truly outstanding individual. In a quiet, modest and perfectly natural way he has embraced the challenges offered at Cranston High School East. In addition to his exceptional academic transcript, our salutatorian's participation in Cranston East's extracurricular programs is noteworthy. Nathaniel's AP Calculus teacher states 'Nathaniel is an astute, intelligent, dynamic, and brilliant student'. Our salutatorian exhibits all those qualities we wish to instill in our youth," he said.

Mr. Kelly presented an engraved Cross pen set and the salutatorian medal to Nathaniel Hardy, who will be attending Brown University in the fall.

Potemri went on to describe the attributes and accolades of the valedictorian.

"Today's valedictorian can certainly be considered outstanding. She is tenacious, well-rounded, and embodies a breadth of knowledge and pride of personal character. She is true to her values with a unique character and energy. This student has demonstrated a strong dedication to academics while never waivering from her commitment to extracurricular activities and obligations. She has held the rank of number one in her class since freshman year with a GPA well over 5.1. This valedictorian is committing herself to lofty goals. She has large ambitions and has set her sights on a career in the stem arena," Potemri said.

Hannah Joyce received the valedictorian medal and engraved Cross pen set from Principal Kelly. Hannah will be studying at Brown. She is also the recipient of the Arthur Hirst scholarship valued at $10,000.

Awards were presented to students in several areas of excellence from school, including art, business, English, JROTC, math, music, science, social studies, Student Council and World Language. While most are individuals recognized, several awards went to multiple students.

There are 35-40 in-house scholarships available to seniors. In total, they value approximately $100,000.

Students are encouraged to research scholarships on their own as well as what is made available to them at school.

A new scholarship this year was the Alice Hall Allen Class of 1935 scholarship was given to Leah Struminsky, Natasha Justa and Nathan Harding for $5,000 each student.

Chelsea Asare, Cailing Chen, Darien DiNaro, Anthony Florenz, Eve Francazio, Jabiely Guzman, Emily Mellor, Yelitza Montesino, CAroline Nagy, Mileidy Urizar and Shevanna Yee each received a $10,000 scholarship from Picerne Properties.

The Ross Family Scholarship gave 19 students $500 scholarships, and the Agnes Meade Tramonti Memorial Scholarship was divided among six students who each received $500.