Class of 2007 Bids Farewell To Child City

Mooseheart seniors Stephen Tezanos-Pinto (from left), Katherine Morones and Melissa Quitoriano share a light moment on stage.

> Graduation at Mooseheart means much, much more than simply leaving behind a high school and a set of friends.

When they receive their diplomas and vocational certificates, Mooseheart graduates are preparing to leave their homes. No matter what they do after graduation, the Child City will always be a place to visit, not to live for the rest of their collective lives.

So tears flowed freely on the morning of May 26 during Mooseheart’s 2007 Commencement. There were certainly tears of happiness but there were also tears of sadness--tears that come when one is about to move to the next phase in life.

And as they prepared to take their first steps outside the Child City campus as full-fledged adults, the Class of 2007 received final words of advice. A few came from Mooseheart Executive Director Scott Hart.

“To the graduates, I say, reach for your dreams,” Hart said. “Stay focused. We’ve talked before about surrounding yourself with people who are going to build you up and casting off those people who are going to bring you down. Everyone in this room believes you can do great things.”

Class Salutatorian Melissa Quitoriano was the next to speak. She was a self-confessed “newbie” to the class, arriving just two years before graduation.

“When I first came to Mooseheart, it was nerve-wracking,” Quitoriano said. “Just as nerve-wracking as it is to stand here and make a speech in front of everyone today.”

But Quitoriano said she was fully accepted from the first day she arrived on campus. And that feeling extended beyond the class members and assembled staff at the graduation ceremony.

“Even though I may not know everyone out there in the audience today, I know that because you are a part of the Mooseheart family, I can trust each and every one of you. And I must say, it is very comforting to know that I have such a large support group as I go out into the world.”

Perhaps the most poignant words of the morning came from a member of that support group -- Mark Penzkover, who delivered the main commencement address. The Valedictorian of the Class of 1984, Penzkover spent time in his speech addressing the graduates as “a much older brother.”

Penzkover said he remembered his mixed emotions from his own graduation from the home at which he lived for 15 years.

“I remember about halfway through the ceremony, it finally hit me that I was leaving the only home I’d ever known,” Penzkover said. “Would I be able to live up to everyone’s expectations? Could I be successful entering a strange world without my support network?”

Penzkover found ways to succeed. Holding both bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering as well as an MBA, Penzkover is now a senior engineer and project manager with Elm Consulting, LLC, a Milwaukee-based engineering firm. He is also a member of the Mooseheart Board of Directors.

In his remarks, Penzkover reminded the graduating class that receipt of their diploma and vocational certificate was an ending but also a beginning.

“Nobody knows what lies ahead for you, but I can say with some certainty that the next few years are going to be filled with changes and challenges,” Penzkover said. “How you respond to your individual changes and challenges will ultimately determine who you are.”

The first thing Penzkover advised the graduates was to set aside their achievements at the Child City--not because they aren’t important--but because the things he is most proud of today “are my intangible accomplishments that cannot be captured with an aware or displayed with a trophy.”

Among these, Penzkover said, are parenthood, success in business, community involvement and membership and service to the Moose and Mooseheart.

In moving from Mooseheart to the “real world” outside the Child City, Penzkover said the 2007 graduating class would encounter “bumps and obstacles.” He gave some practical advice for working beyond those hindrances.

“During my first year of college, there were times that I just wanted to quit and do just about anything else,” Penzkover said. “That would have been the easy thing to do.

“But that was not how I was raised. And it was not how you were raised,” Penzkover admonished.

Arturo Fernandez receives his Mooseheart diploma from Mooseheart Board Chairman Don Cotnam, PSG.

Class Valedictorian Stephen Tezanos-Pinto reminded the Class of 2007 that “we have shared this immense bond with each other. In the beginning, we wouldn’t call each other brother and sister. Now, that's how we refer to one another.”

Tezanos-Pinto mentioned something positive about each of the other 18 graduates, saving words for twin sister Adrianna for the end of his speech.

With their diplomas and vocational certificates in hand, all that remained was for the class to toss their caps into the air and proclaim themselves graduated--which they did with gusto.

Reflections On Literally Growing Up Together

A few in Class of ’07 sat next to each other in high chairs, years before their graduation day.

Robert Picker and Tara Janssen arrive at the stage prior to the graduation ceremony.

By DARRYL MELLEMA

> Just before the ceremony marking their graduation from Mooseheart, three members of the Class of 2007 each took a few moments to reflect on their time at the Child City.

Tara Janssen spent 11 years at Mooseheart prior to her graduation. She is sponsored by Elgin, IL Lodge 799. Janssen rattled off the litany of 2007 graduates who spent at least a decade at the Child City: Katie Morones, Tomisha Bennett, Adrianna Tezanos-Pinto, Stephen Tezanos-Pinto, Jasmin Barnes and Chris Fitzgerald in a list that encompassed the bulk of the 19-member class.

Morones, Bennett, and Fitzgerald had come to Mooseheart as toddlers; their first campus home was the Baby Village.

“We all pretty much grew up together,” Janssen said. “We were all childhood friends.”

Those long-term relationships will undergo changes after graduation as the class heads in a number of different directions.

“It’s scary,” Janssen said. "Mooseheart's my home and I’ve been here for 11 years. It’s crazy to think that I’m leaving here forever. I will never live here again and it’s sad.”

Janssen said her time at Mooseheart is something she’ll always treasure.

“I would not have traded my childhood here for anything else,” Janssen said. “As much as I had rough times here and didn’t follow the rules or do what I was supposed to do all the time, I loved it. When I look back, I wouldn’t have picked anywhere else to be.”

Janssen said some of that feeling is borne from her knowledge of what she gained when she arrived at the Child City.

“My family situation wasn’t good,” she said. “I appreciate what Mooseheart did for me. They took me in, gave me a home and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Janssen said she would always come back as an alumna and visit the place she has called home for most of her life. She also had some special words for the men and women of the Moose .

“Thank you for all that you do,” Janssen said. “I don’t know what I would have done without you. It meant so much to me and it means so much for me to able to walk across the stage at graduation with your help and support. You have helped not only me but the rest of my class.”

Class Valedictorian Stephen Tezanos-Pinto went through an emotional day as he prepared to leave his home for the past 10 years. Tezanos-Pinto is sponsored by South Sacramento, CA Lodge 255.

He laughed and smiled a lot, but also found words difficult during his speech to the assembled crowd. After the ceremony, Tezanos-Pinto shared some tear-filled moments with Superintendent of Education Gary Urwiler.

“It feels like I’m leaving home,” Tezanos-Pinto said. “It’s a day of taking a step forward. It’s really exciting. But at the same time, I’m leaving my family.”

Pinto hadn’t heard of Mooseheart before his arrival and said he wasn’t very happy when he first arrived.

“I was away from my parents,” Tezanos-Pinto. “I didn’t see the opportunity. But as I got older, I got wiser and I’m now very grateful for everything that’s happened to me here.”

Stephen’s twin sister Adrianna was also a member of the Class of 2007. Both intend to join brother Joseph, the 2005 Valedictorian, when they all will go to the came California college.

“I’m really excited about that,” Stephen Tezanos-Pinto said. “I’m leaving my Mooseheart family. But my blood family, I’m glad I’m going to be living with them. So it won’t be as hard.”

Tezanos-Pinto had profound words of appreciation for the support he received from the Loyal Order of Moose in his years at the Child City.

“I cannot be more thankful for everything they’ve done for me,” Tezanos-Pinto said. “They’ve shown me everything I have. They’ve sent me away from here with impeccable credentials. Everything I do, I’ll make sure I keep Mooseheart in it, because I appreciate everything they’ve done. I’ll go to college, but they still love and care for me and support me.”

Renee James waves farewell to the Fieldhouse crowd.

Jasmin Barnes came to Mooseheart in 1997. She was sponsored by Indianapolis, IN Lodge 17. “It’s so exciting,” Barnes said. “But there are so many feelings. It’s sad, happy and exciting.”

Barnes said most of the class with which she graduated was already at Mooseheart when she arrived, or arrived shortly after. “These are people I’ve been with my whole time here and that makes it hard,” Barnes said. “I’ve built a lot of strong relationships that I’ll have the rest of my life. It’s something truly memorable.”

To the men and women of the Moose fraternity, Barnes had words of thanks: “I want to thank them for everything. I wouldn’t be this far without them and for everything they do for everything here.”

As she heads to college, Barnes is aware her connection with the Moose continues. “I’ll always be in touch with Mooseheart,” Barnes said.

“When I turn 21, I’ll become a Women of the Moose member and always stay connected somehow.”