Telling stories of shared success

And they deserved a little fun, according to class valedictorian Matthew Cippollone, who will attend Harvard in the fall.

He noted that four members of the class will attend Ivy League schools, six will attend Tufts, and 15 will enroll at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The success, he said, was everyone's.

"What is important is that all of our life paths converged," he said, adding that the class grew together like a morning glory around a central structure - Medford High School.

The school's headmaster, Paul Krueger, lauded that growth and maturity as well as the group's academic achievement, praising grads from both Medford High and Medford Vocational Technical High School.

He congratulated them on an "incident-free" prom, harbor cruise, and karaoke night.

He also gave the class high marks for setting school records in state achievement tests and Advanced Placement exams.

And, he said, seniors have enrolled in a list of colleges as impressive as "that of any other public, private, or parochial school in the state. Way to go!"

That prompted a roar from the graduates, one of several on the evening. Salutatorian Christopher Vaudo told friends to maintain that fun-loving spirit.

"Goof around, have some fun, and learn to laugh at yourself," he said in his address.

But don't forget the gravity of this new frontier, class president Phillip Laguerre advised.

"Life as we knew it is going to drastically change," he told classmates, eliciting a momentary hush.

School Superintendent Roy Belson and Mayor Michael McGlynn also spoke. They advised graduates to prepare for a changing world.

The imminent change had at least one graduate on edge.

"It's really scary, because I don't know what I'm doing after school," said Stephanie Picano, who plans to wait a year before attending college. She thinks she may want to become a history teacher.