A day after torrential downpour caused Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School to reschedule its commencement ceremony, faculty, friends and family celebrated the class of 2026 on Sunday, May 31.
The school’s first superintendent, John Oliveira, spoke at the graduation in celebration of the school’s 50th anniversary. The 97-year-old urged the 129 graduating students to choose the “quiet power” of kindness in a noisy, fast-paced world.
“I have lived nearly one century of history, and I’m still seeing changes in technology that I never thought possible, but I have yet to see a substitute for the simple but powerful standard of kindness,” Oliveira said.
He told the graduates how they treated people will be remembered far longer than what they accomplish in their lives.