Over their time at Haven, many seniors can develop deep bonds with teachers.
For senior Eme Choi, a bond with music teacher Mr. Nicholas Pignataro arose from a mutual passion and commitment to music.
“I took instrumental music, and I’m also a violist, so I’m in the school orchestra. He’s also the conductor for YMO, which I joined when I was in sixth grade, and he’s also our sponsor for PMEA,” Choi said. “He’s just given us so many different opportunities to be involved in music.”
Aside from his leadership roles, Choi also believes that Pignataro’s personality greatly impacts the quality of experience for the student musicians of Haven.
“He’s hilarious, and even though orchestra can be kind of mindless and bland sometimes, he knows how to really make it fun and make it lively,” Choi said.
As much as seniors have been shaped by their teachers, they have also had an impact on the adults that have watched them grow since their very first year in the building.
English teacher Mr. Dan Peterson cited the unique situation of the COVID pandemic as having a distinct effect on the freshmen of 2022.
“One of the things that made those freshman classes special was we all kind of appreciated it in a brand new way, just being together, being able to experience discussions in the class, and just enjoying each other’s company,” Peterson said.
After virtual learning and adjusted schedules since spring 2020, the class of 2026 threw themselves into the arts and activities that Haven had to offer. English teacher Ms. Reagan Lattari reflected on the impressive passion and enthusiasm that the class of 2026 displayed from her very first classes with them.
“I was really lucky to have just brilliant, thoughtful, engaging students,” Lattari said. “They wanted to talk, they wanted to discuss things. They wanted to debate and fight. I think maybe they were just kind of in need of it; they had a kind of fractured middle school experience.”
Peterson also pointed out the large shoes that this year’s senior class will leave behind for incoming grades to fill.
“We’re going to miss them,” Peterson said. “I think there are a lot of really good leaders in this class who just had a lot of maturity and a lot of strength that were good role models for the other kids.”
Peterson and Lattari are in agreement that the class of 2026 was a group of dedicated, hardworking, and talented students — and certainly a memorable one.
“I remember from freshman English, Mark Ball singing the French national anthem during a book talk,” Peterson said. “I remember Casper Stockman reading a love poem to another student while throwing out chocolates to the whole class.”
Lattari shared that her freshman classes of 2022-2023 brought her further into the Haven community, building new connections and introducing her to more aspects of student life. After learning of some of her students’ passion for dancing, she attended her first Dance Haven performance.
“I went to see them, and my mind was blown,” Lattari said. “I cannot believe that I had been teaching for this long and never saw a Dance Haven performance, they were just mesmerizing.”
While Haven teachers will miss the seniors that they have grown alongside for the past years, Lattari and Peterson expressed their excitement and anticipation to see what the class of 2026 will do next.
“You just watch them develop, and they become these amazing people. I’m just so looking forward to all the amazing things they’re going to do,” Lattari said.
