Jason Bociek and Andrew Calzone scored two goals with an assist to lead the Bulldogs.

Isaiah Booker scored two goals and Jake Cayton had two assists for the Red Devils.

See the next edition of the Star for complete game story.

Abby Cerone scored six goals and Maggie Bodington had five for the Red Devils (9-6-1).

Ryane Newall scored three goals with an assists and Lily Mudre had two goals and an assist for the Lady Bulldogs (3-13).

See the next edition of the Star for complete game story.

One of the locations is a parking lot at Stratford’s shuttered Army Engine Plant. Here an instructor signals to a participant, while others circle and still others wait their turn, on May 4. Not braking in a turn and keeping eyes looking out ahead are a couple of the tips that smiling students walked away with.

The program runs here March through October.

For more information: 860-255-3671, or Ride4Ever.org.

Donzella Brown receives her diploma from Stratford Public Schools Interim Superintndent Margaret Lasek at Continuing Education graduation ceremony May 9.

At the average high school graduation, a guest may hear one or two references to overcoming obstacles or learning life lessons the hard way. Those stories tend to warm hearts and add some joy to all the achievement.

When a graduation is filled from start to finish with stories of failure, bumps and bruises, and loneliness, the heartwarming and pure joy are multiplied when the diplomas are in hand.

At the graduation ceremonies of Stratford Continuing Education, the joy was beyond measure.

Twenty-three students in the Stratford program completed their high school credits or passed the five sections of the GED test and received their diplomas from interim Superintendent Margaret Lasek on May 9 in the Stratford High School auditorium. Most arrived at that day after dropping out of school, coping with the adversity and deciding to go back to get a diploma.

Valerie Marino of the Connecticut Department of Education said of the program, “Sometimes life happens, and adult education gives a first-class second chance.”

Interim Administrator of Stratford Continuing Education Richard Hageman commended his students for withstanding “bumps and bruises in life.” He spoke of the journey being perhaps lonely and sad at times, and off course onto side roads and dead ends.

“You could have gotten stuck,” Hageman said, “but you got back on the road.”

Stratford Public Schools Chief Operating Officer Michael Feeney had the honor of giving the graduation address. “Each of you before me has chosen to face every challenge that life has thrown at you head on, and for that I am inspired,” Feeney said. “There is always that point in life where one may find it easiest to just give up and throw in the towel, but that isn’t what life is all about. Life is about overcoming challenges, battling through obstacles. Being able to balance a family, employment, and other pressures of life truly shows your character in its strongest form.”

The students not only made the hard turn to go back to school and graduate after dealing with failure and doubt, but now they are evangelists for others.

Erika Valentin told the gathering in plain terms that she had “failed.” She became a single parent without a job, and she dropped out of school. Now she tells others, “Some failure is inevitable. Don’t let failure set you back.”

Christian Rivera-Forti took his turn at the microphone and said, “What’s the same about all of us is that we have been criticized for dropping out of high school. What others say holds no bearing anymore, because we [graduated]. We’re good at dealing with adversity and proving others wrong.”

He had dropped out three-quarters of the way through his junior year. In Continuing Ed he finished the remaining year and a quarter in less than a year, but taking “every class available, four classes online and 100 hours of community service.”

Eduardo Campis told The Star that he finished his diploma by taking two classes in a year while working. He advises “those fooling around, you’ll regret it. Use that time for education. Do it for yourself.”

Oscar Brown sounded more like a teacher than the graduate he is when he said, “Go forth to use the skills that you used to graduate here to meet challenges with confidence and determination.”

The 11-week, part-time program runs from Tuesday, May 28 through Friday, Aug. 9. It includes six hours of educational seminars, four hours of direct patient care and one on-call experience per month. Classroom sessions will take place weekly. Schedules for clinical training will be arranged with participants.

For more information, call Clinical Pastoral Education Coordinator Sister Sara Ann Buckley at 203-384-3948.

Matt Nolting, Cam Belliveau, Ronnie Rossomando, Brian Valeriano and Nick Giammattei notched three base hits apiece, while Matt Alcantara had two hits and scored three runs.

The Bulldogs (13-7) are the No. 2 seed in the South-West Conference tournament and will host seventh-seeded Masuk High of Monroe on Monday afternoon in the quarterfinals.

Alec Ward went 2-for-3 for the Red Devils, while Nick DiIulio had a two-run single. Stratford finished the season 8-12 and will await the Class L state baseball pairings to be released on Friday, May 24.

For the full game story, check out next week’s Star.