Northshore Recovery High School’s 2025 graduating class’s journey through high school has been filled with obstacles, but this year’s eight graduates have become that much stronger, wiser, and ready to face the world’s challenges because of it.
The school’s 19th annual graduation ceremony at the Second Congregational Church in Beverly saw eight students earn their degrees, a day which some students themselves said they never imagined coming.
The graduates include Sadie Crowell of Salisbury, Brenda Garcia Matias of Haverhill, Tyler Jenkins of Andover, Henry Lund of Waltham, Nevin James Wasswa Luti-Musisi of Stoneham, Bree Nichols of Haverhill, Angel Turner of Beverly, and Felix Wright of Danvers.
“Many of our students came here feeling invisible or that they needed to fight their way through the day just to feel safe, feeling like they didn’t belong anywhere,” Principal Michelle Muffet-Lipinski said.
“And over time, slowly, imperfectly, beautifully, they began to realize they do belong, that they do belong, and that their voices and their futures are worth fighting for. To our graduates, your presence here today is proof that you are strong beyond measure.”
NRHS, which is in Beverly, was opened in 2006 by the Northshore Education Consortium to serve students from ages 14-21 with substance use and mental health challenges.
The ceremony’s keynote speaker, 2016 Recovery High graduate Emilia Collado, shared her own story of difficult beginnings at the start of her high school education, with a long and challenging journey of sobriety eventually leading to self-discovery.
“Although I always knew who I was, I just didn’t know how to handle who I was,” she said. “I’m still me, just slightly less feral. At my core, I’ve always been an empathetic, fun-loving person who occasionally jumped on a table to change things up a bit.”
Graduate Sadie Crowell spoke about her lifelong struggle with school, attending three of them in the last four years before feeling most at home at NRHS.
“So many things happened in my life that survival was my first concern, and academics took a back burner,” Crowell said. “… RHS helped me in so many ways; I learned that people here had gone through similar things that I had, and I realized that the teachers here don’t just care about grades.”
Graduate Brenda Garcia Matias was introduced by RHS staff as funny, strong, creative, and most of all- resilient, moving to the U.S. as a young teenager from the Dominican Republic with her family.
“Brenda is an old soul, she speaks about family, as it is at the forefront of everything she does,” NRHS staff member Ana Lanzilli said. “She loves to write poetry, and her writing speaks about love, her hopes and dreams, her heartache, her sadness, and her struggles.”
NRHS staff described graduate Tyler Jenkins as a caring person with a big heart, prompting staff like recovery counselor Chad Gaetano to suggest using his own experiences and personality to lead him into the helping professions.
“Life, as we all know, can rear its ugly head at times, and this was no different for Tyler,” Gaetano said. “What always impressed me the most about Tyler was his resilience and his ability to bounce back.”
Graduate Henry Lund thanked NRHS staff for their motivation, understanding, and dedication to helping him to discover interests and talents that he was never aware of.
Classmate Nevin James Wasswa Luti-Musisi reflected on his own self-discovery and how attending NRHS allowed him to see the potential that others saw inside of him for himself.
“… When I came to NRHS, I was shown how to connect and open up about myself to other people and be vulnerable about how I’m feeling and thinking,” he said. “In doing so, I was able to learn more about myself and how to be a better version of myself.”
Graduate Bree Nichols described her feelings of anxiety upon first attending NRHS. Though her older sister Erin was a previous graduate of the school, her own experiences at her old high school had left her unsure if the path was right for her.
“I am definitely ready to be done with school,” she said, “but I know things will be different, which is sometimes scary, but not a bad thing at all.”
Classmate Angel Turner spoke about how NRHS was a school taught entirely by “Miss Honeys” from the movie “Matilda”, a character described as “one of those remarkable people who appreciates every single child for who she or he is”- an appreciation which Turner felt throughout their time at the school.
Graduate Felix Wright thanked the many teachers who played a role in their education and their mother.
“My mom was truly the one who helped me the most,” Wright said. “I really could not have done any of this without her presences and support.”
Michael McHugh can be contacted at mmchugh@northofboston.com or at 781-799-5202