The Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School District is pleased to announce the Valedictorian and Salutatorian for the Class of 2022. Shriya Sivakumar, of Seekonk, has been named Valedictorian, and Emily Matheson, of Medway, has been named Salutatorian.
Tri-County’s Valedictorian, Shriya, is an Engineering Technology and Advanced Manufacturing student and maintains the highest cumulative GPA of 4.545. Since her sophomore year, Shriya has served on the Student Council and is currently the President. She also joined Students in Action, National Honor Society, and became a Student Representative during her junior year.
In addition to mastering rigorous academic classes, Shriya volunteers at the Miriam Hospital, helping in the transport of patients. You can find Shriya working at her cooperative position at S.W. Cole Engineering or at Barnes and Noble, working as a part-time bookseller when she is not volunteering.
Shriya is looking forward to pursuing a degree in Biology/Biological Sciences from a university in the Northeast and traveling after graduation.
Tri-County’s Salutatorian, Emily Matheson, maintains a cumulative 4.504 GPA as an Engineering Technology and Advanced Manufacturing student. While maintaining a demanding academic schedule, Emily has earned real-world experience at CSI Groups as a Parts Finishing and Quality Control Intern and currently as an intern at Allurion Technologies in Natick.
In addition to being a dedicated student, Emily enjoys giving back to her community. She serves as a CCD Volunteer at St. Joseph’s in Medway and as a Girl Scout where she helped make holiday boxes for the elderly and collected debris from public parks as part of an initiative to help educate the community about environmental issues.
Emily will pursue a degree in Biomedical Engineering and pursue a career in research.
Both Shriya and Emily mentioned the NASA HUNCH program as their favorite projects during their time at Tri-County. HUNCH is a collaboration between NASA and high schools nationwide. Working with a team and attempting to solve issues currently facing astronauts was challenging but rewarding.
“It is a pleasure to recognize Shriya and Emily as top scholars. Their hard work exemplifies our ‘Work Hard, Today Counts’ motto, and we know they will excel in their future endeavors. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for each of our graduates.” Karen Maguire, Superintendent.
As Valedictorian and Salutatorian, Shriya and Emily will lead the graduation procession and are scheduled to address their classmates at the Commencement Ceremony scheduled for Sunday, June 5, 2022.
Tri-County RVTHS’s Engineering major participates in the HUNCH Designing and Prototyping Competition each year and was proud to have three teams of finalists in 2021. Their hard work and dedication was evident to Stacy Hale, HUNCH Founder, when he selected Tri-County as one of the school’s to participate in a special project, the designing and building of EVA Wire Ties. These wire ties are used on the International Space Station (ISS) when an astronaut goes on a spacewalk for a repair. Wire ties are wrapped around cable bundles used during battery replacements.
Hale visited Tri-County in November of 2019 to work with the students for three days. During this time students learned the specific and critical specifications required for the wire ties and created a computer-aided design (CAD). The students worked alongside Stacy building, inspecting, and performing quality control measures to ensure each piece was the exact size and shape required.
Tri-County was one of a handful of schools selected throughout the country to work on this project. Our students from the class of 2021 and 2022 manufactured approximately 250 wire ties using an assembly line process. Most, if not all, are currently being used on the ISS.
Hale returned to Tri-County to have a storage locker used in the ISS signed. The honor is used to recognize the hard work and dedication during the manufacturing. The storage lockers are filled with goods that are being shipped up to the ISS and then used to send refuse back to Earth.
The Fall Mayflower Athletics Conference All-Stars
Tri-County prepares our graduates for a wide variety of fulfilling career and education opportunities upon graduation. Our alumni apply their knowledge to make meaningful contributions to society. Take a look at our Alumni Spotlights to see where their education has taken them and the lessons they have learned along the way.
Current Position: Geographic Information Systems (GIS)- Environmental Scientist
Employer: State of Arizona
Current Location: Phoenix, AZ
Tri-County Career Program: Engineering Technology
Tell us what you have done since graduation.
Since graduating from Tri-County through the Career Program of Engineering Technology in 2014, I received my Associate’s Degree from Dean College in Environmental Studies in 2016. I continued my education at Framingham State University earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science and Policy in 2018. During college, I volunteered for the Blackstone River Valley Watershed Association doing water quality testing to assist in watershed improvement. Having family in Arizona, I always wanted to relocate and secured a position in the state of Arizona conducting water quality testing and environmental work. After two years of water testing, I started to mentor with colleagues in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) that were nearing retirement. This allowed me to gain skills and step into the position when it opened up. While honing my skills at work, I was studying to complete his Master’s Degree from Arizona State in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) which I completed in the fall of 2021.
Has your career path changed since graduation?
My career started with volunteering in water testing. I jumped on the volunteer work as it allowed me to gain skills quickly. My volunteer work helped me secure my current position because it showed I was interested and willing to do the work around being a college student. I was able to couple the skills learned while volunteering with the skills I learned from the Engineering program with my college education and really refine what and how I wanted to structure my career.
After securing a position in water quality testing in Arizona, I was able to work into a GIS position due to the computer and mapping work that I completed while earning my Bachelor’s Degree and having on-the-ground experience doing the work.
How well did Tri-County prepare you for the challenges that you have faced, or will face, in your career?
Tri-County helped me develop the skills necessary to excel. The ability to work with my hands and solve problems were honed during my time at Tri-County. Working with people and different technology and programs allows me to work within any industry and feel confident because I’ve been doing it since freshman year of high school.
What is the most exciting element of your career?
Being able to work with the private sector, federal agencies, and other state agencies. I have my foot to the fire and conduct plenty of public outreach. I like knowing we are creating something that will make the community better. I am in the sweet spot where I am connected to a variety of people, technologies, and new ideas/studies that allow me to keep learning and gaining experience while also serving the public in a way that is rewarding and challenging.
What is the most difficult thing you have faced in your career?
Looking for the perfect opportunity and knowing when to go for it and then also knowing what its going to take to prepare for the opportunity and what I should do today, in preparation to exceed.
What advice would you give to anyone looking to enter your line of work?
Start off small/local and go for volunteer or non-paid internships if it will help you gain skills and experiences it will help you get you through doors for a paid position. Skills are important but attitude is everything.
How did Tri-County support you in your career goals?
The engineering program taught us a vast variety of disciplines. It would switch between topics ranging from civil engineering to architecture which gave me the working knowledge I needed to excel in a multi-faceted environment. Sometimes I feel like an encyclopedia because what we learned was not narrowed down to one thing. So in ways I feel I have a working knowledge of a lot of different work and can speak to it as it arises in my current work.
Did Tri-County help shape your career aspirations and plans? If so, how?
There was so much to learn and the different opportunities within the discipline helped me decide what I wanted to do. I didn’t feel pigeon-holed into a specific discipline and it helped shape what I wanted to focus on during college where I could then really dig into the material and shape my future work.
What is your favorite memory of studying at Tri-County?
The projects including my Senior Project. In engineering, ideas would be thrown at you and you would need to present to the class no matter how silly or odd the project seemed. It helped me show different products and ideas and how to think and create on the fly and I will still remember them to this day.
Imagine you were going to start high school over again- with the benefit of hindsight- what advice would you give yourself?
Take on more. Get involved with robotics, other programs. Ask more questions. Read more. Ask about experiences both good and bad. All of the instructors and teachers are there for your use, ask them the hard questions, ask them what they would do differently. You never know what pitfalls or paths that you want to take and they very well might’ve experienced something that will help you along the way.
Would you recommend studying at Tri-County, why?
I would definitely recommend studying at Tri-County. The staff are awesome and no matter which program you enter, the teachers have experience in the field. They create an environment that makes it easy to ask questions and you get down-to-earth answers. Tri-County provides a constructive environment to learn and the staff supports you and pushes you to excel. They take a real commitment to you and your success.
Is there anything else you would like to share with our current students?
Ask questions and dive in. Check your ego at the door and don’t be afraid to get messy or fail.
The restaurant is open to the public for dine-in, take-out, and curbside Wednesday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Gerry’s Place will be closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, half days, and any day when school is not in session and on days as announced.
Online ordering will be open from 7am to 12:10 pm. For contactless pick-up, please wait in the parking lot and pop your trunk. Placing a sign with your name on your car will expedite the process.
Order here: https://olo.spoton.com/5fcecea29adef366f5da520b
The Early Education Program prepares high school students for various careers working with young children. The ability to work directly with preschool children within the on-campus facility located in Tri-County Regional High School in Franklin at 147 Pond Street allows students to acquire skills and confidence in teaching.
Tri-County Children’s Center is led by three highly qualified teachers in the Tri-County Early Education Program and assisted by students in the Early Education Major. The Preschool sessions are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8:50 to 11:20 a.m. for the three-day program. Class size is limited to 30 children and tuition is $36.00* per week (*subject to change).
Placement is limited to the residents of the 11 towns within the Tri-County District, Franklin, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Norfolk, North Attleboro, Plainville, Seekonk, Sherborn, Walpole, and Wrentham. Admission is decided through a random draw which will take place on Friday, March 4th, 2022. Names not selected in the drawing will be placed on a waiting list.
Due to the COIVD-19 Pandemic, registration and information sessions will be held virtually this year. Registration begins on Monday, January 24th. Applications will be accepted through Thursday, March 3, 2022. Registration is limited to children who are at least 3 years of age by September 15, 2022. Enrollment is limited to two years or part of two years for the preschool program, as long as the child is age-eligible. For more information about Tri-County’s Preschool Registration, please visit https://tri-county.us/tri-county-childrens-center/