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Grace Bouzan

Postgraduate Sam Morse and Principal Sean Bevan pose with Morse's diploma. Morse graduated from the Community Access Program (CAP) on Thursday, Sept. 22.

Postgraduate Sam Morse celebrated his graduation from the Community Access Program surrounded by his family, friends and teachers on Thursday, September 22.

After graduation, Morse plans to attend a program at Horace Mann Educational Associates [HMEA] in Franklin, MA. There, Morse will spend time in the community in order to gain hands-on job experience. 

“He’ll work on some things there, then go out into the community for some work experiences,” Special education teacher Caitlin Hynes said.“Then he’ll go back to the building [HMEA] at the end of the day before going home.”

Morse will be missed by his classmates and his teachers. For Hynes, who has worked with Morse for three years, the moment is bittersweet.

“I’m happy for Sam because he’s ready to move on and get some experiences outside of Algonquin, but I’m sad because he [Morse] was my student for many years,” Hynes said. “I’ll definitely miss him and it’ll be weird without him, but I’m excited for him to get new opportunities.”

According to Hynes, Morse was an outstanding student in many ways. He always put in his best effort, and loved to help others whenever he could.

“[Morse] really likes working, wants to be helpful and to do things in the community,” Hynes said. “He loves to be around other people…and being involved.”

Although Hynes will miss Morse at Algonquin, she is happy for him to have new opportunities.

“I’m going to miss Sam’s presence,” Hynes said. “He loved to make silly funny jokes with people in the classroom.”

Speech-Language Pathologist teacher Lisa Pagan has had Morse as a student since he was in 4th grade. One of Pagan’s favorite memories of Morse was the enthusiastic high-fives he’d give at Unified Basketball games.

“Every time he scored a basket, he would run into the stands and give me and my own kids high fives,” Pagan said. “Even though I would try to teach him to stay on the court, it was something I’ve always enjoyed secretly.”

According to Pagan, it’s always mixed emotions when someone from the Community Action Program leaves Algonquin.

“He’s one of the longest running students I’ve ever had, and it’s very cool to see how he’s progressed and how far he’s come,” Pagan said. “At the same time we’re gonna miss him a lot at the CAP Program, but he’s ready to go.”