Thanks from a Graduate

I graduated from  in Attleboro on June 13, 1967. That was 45 years ago yesterday. Wow!

I was the first deaf student to come to this school in the fall of 1963. Thanks to my first principal, Sister Mary Urban, who took a chance on me.

When I went to this school, we did not have sign language interpreters in the classrooms to help me understand all the information that was available for the regular students. It really took a lot of patience to sit there, sometimes feeling totally lost about what was happening.

Thanks to the perseverance and help of many of my teachers and classmates, I was able to succeed. They helped me by giving me copies of their notes to use for my studies. Thanks to my second principal, Sister Mary Mercy, who handed me the diploma on my graduation day.

I was pleasantly surprised that Bishop Feehan President Christopher Servant honored me as the 10th recipient of the Humanitarian Award, the school's highest honor, on Feb. 12, 2001.

My friend Skip Flanagan, the school's second deaf student, graduated from Bishop Feehan last year.

I really miss all my classmates, teachers, principals, friends and school staff.

Jimmy Kelly
South Attleboro