Bill Egan

PHOTOS: Thousands Cheer on the NCHS Class of 2020 During Graduation Parade 

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Thousands of residents lined South Avenue, Main Street and the road through Waveny on Monday to cheer on the New Canaan High School class of 2020 during a special parade to mark their graduation. 

Holding signs, horns and bells and waving from the side of the road along a four-mile route on a picture-perfect summer day, the community came out in full force to celebrate seniors whose final weeks of school and traditional graduation ceremony were disrupted by the COVID-19 public health emergency. 

Dressed in traditional white and red cap-and-gown, the smiling seniors waved from inside and atop a line of more than 250 cars decorated with their names and in some cases, photos, black and red balloons, NCHS slogans such as “From Lambs to Rams” and the colleges and universities they’ll enter come fall. Escorted by police, fire and EMS, the parade of cars started at NCHS, where the high school band played them out from a parking lot near Farm Road, then followed South Avenue into the downtown, back out by Main Street and up Farm Road to South Avenue and then through Waveny, where teachers, faculty and administrators with their own families cheered them on. 

In many cases, the seniors could be seen crying as they waved goodbye to their teachers, who lined the main road through Waveny near its Lapham Road exit. “I am so excited,” senior Sofia Delicata said at the NCHS staging area. “I feel like I’ve graduated six times because I’ve put this outfit on so many times. But I’m happy it’s finally here and now I can be with all my friends.”

Her fellow NCHS 2020 graduate, William Dantini, said the community-wide parade made the class stand out and was “unique.”

“I think it’s cool because we are like the one year that has a different graduation from everybody else,” he said.

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NCHS Senior Drew Pyne Signs Early Letter of Intent To Play Football at Notre Dame

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New Canaan High School senior quarterback Drew Pyne on Wednesday signed an early Letter of Intent to play football at the University of Notre Dame. Pyne said he’s always dreamed of playing at the storied Indiana university. “[Rams Football Head] Coach [Lou] Marinelli gave me the right path in high school to make all this happen, so all thanks to him,” Pyne said moments before a signing ceremony in the Wagner Room at NCHS attended by more than 50 relatives, friends, classmates, teammates and coaches. “I’m blessed with this great opportunity so I’m very excited.”

Asked what special NCHS memories he’ll take with him, Pyne said, “All of high school has been fantastic, whether football or academically.”

“Mr. [Bill] Egan, our principal, has made it a great experience for me. And Coach Marinelli has made it unbelievable as well.

Bill Egan

New Rule: No Cellphone Use in NCHS Classrooms

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Starting this year, New Canaan High School students are not permitted to use cellphones in class during the day, Principal Bill Egan said Monday night. In the past, the decision on cellphone use had been left up to individual teachers’ discretion, but the feedback from those educators has been that it’s simply “not a great thing for anyone,” Egan told members of the Board of Education during their regular meeting. “The cellphones are a distraction, so we want them out of the classroom,” Egan said at the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at NCHS. “So they will not be there during the class. They will have cellphone cradles that we will put them in.

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High Praise for Two NCHS Workers Who Saved Choking Student’s Life

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Two workers at New Canaan High School—both former employees of state agencies—are earning high praise from district officials after saving a choking student’s life last month. The public schools “are filled with dozens of wonderful stories taking place throughout the district on a daily basis,” NCHS Principal Bill Egan said. “The lifesaving rescue by Tom Brown and Patrick Mainolfi certainly rises to the top of this list. New Canaan High School, in particular, recognizes and appreciates their valiant efforts.” At about 3:30 p.m. on April 20 (a Thursday), Mainolfi—a campus monitor at the high school who had worked for 21 years in the state Department of Corrections—spotted a teen running down a set of stairs near the locker room in the athletics area of NCHS.

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‘Her Soul Sat Up’: NCHS Community Gathers To Dedicate Bench Honoring Kelly Devine

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Evan Remley, chair of the English Department at New Canaan High School, used to see fellow teacher Kelly Devine every day during passing time, standing outside her classroom and greeting students with a smile. It became part of his routine to encounter the beloved NCHS figure this way, and eventually, Remley recalled, he came to rely on “her steady, optimistic and kind soul to cheer me up.”

“One day I asked her, ‘How can you possibly be so cordial and peppy every morning?’ ” Remley recalled Thursday with a smile, addressing 100 of Devine’s family members, friends, colleagues and former students gathered in front of the high school on a brisk, sunny afternoon. “She smiled and laughed in her infectious way and explained that it had just become a habit. It was second nature to her, being kind and open. Kelly always knew what is so easy for the rest of us to forget: Appreciate the people in your life.