MONTAGUE — Franklin County Technical School’s cafeteria was full of friends and family on Thursday, as the Franklin County Career & Technical Institute celebrated its 37 adult graduates, equipped with new skills for their future careers.

The graduates, representing Franklin County and beyond, ranged in age from 18 to 63 years old. They were honored for their 12 weeks of hard work through their chosen career programs in building maintenance, electrical, automotive technology and welding.

The Career & Technical Institute, offered in partnership with the MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center, is a Commonwealth Corporation grant-funded program that allows qualified candidates to apply for training in these in-demand trades without paying for tuition or the cost of materials.

Beverly Behrmann, Career & Technical Institute program assistant, said that in the six semesters since the program began in 2022, this group of graduates is “by far the best.”

“The enthusiasm, infectious. The attendance, outstanding,” Behrmann said. “Your hard work, your problem solving, your passion for learning the craft and doing the work, outstanding.”

Each of the courses required students to attend classes for five hours per night, four days each week for 12 weeks. Adult Education Coordinator Justin Lawrence said that on top of living busy lives with families and working other jobs, the graduates still found time to do the work toward earning a career for themselves and their families.

“For this hard work. You should all be incredibly proud of yourselves and know that as you leave this campus tonight, the people who have come here to support you and those people who were here to support you during the program are incredibly proud of everything that you have accomplished,” Lawrence told the graduates.

Automotive technology graduate Chris Lamere of South Deerfield offered his perspective on persevering through tough times.

“If you ever get down to a point where you’re lost, there’s always somebody to help you out,” Lamere said. “Just do the best you can to move forward.”

Lamere and a fellow student, Nikita Peshkov, were honored with the Spirit of Excellence Award for their “good-hearted nature, their willingness to be bold and committed,” and “the willingness to ask for help,” Lawrence said.

Another award, the Outstanding Achievement Award, was given to welding graduate Cody Baranoski, who Lawrence described as being “outstanding” in the program. Baranoski, Lawrence added, has the “marks of a real craftsman.”

The final recognition went to Janelle Giuliani of Bellingham, who was honored with the Jocelyn Croft Award for Perseverance. Lawrence said she “crashed through every obstacle and barrier” and showed determination in making the voyage from eastern Massachusetts. While Giuliani was not at the ceremony as she was at the job that the program helped her secure, she said in her provided remarks that she is “forever grateful” to Franklin Tech.

The graduates from each program are as follows:

Building Maintenance

Michael Bachini of Bernardston, Aleks Carey of Sunderland, Maxim Chekan of Leverett, Nicholas Cooledge of Orange, Joseph Lawton-Curtis of Greenfield and Conor Rief of Greenfield.

Automotive Technology

Wendy Bobala of Millers Falls, Jonathan Gonzalez of Easthampton, Savannah Griffin of Deerfield, Chris Lamere of South Deerfield, Koby McKemey of Shelburne Falls, Daniel Murray of Greenfield, Grady Patenaude of Plainfield, Brayden Reipold of South Deerfield and Douglas Wilcox of Cummington.

Electrical

Levi Albert of South Deerfield, Christopher Bisceglia of Orange, Dominic Carrano of Amherst, Jennifer Conrad of Shutesbury, Kelvin Gaetan of Holyoke, Bernard “Joe” Monkiewicz of Greenfield, Tyler Noyes of Erving, Nikita Peshkov of Amherst, Anthony Rodriguez of Greenfield, Devlin Selman of Williamsburg and Michael Shaw of Orange.

Welding

Cody Baranoski of South Deerfield, Kieran Bourgeois of Goshen, Leela Clark of Ashfield, Travis Cutting of Gill, David Devine II of Shutesbury, Janelle Giuliani of Bellingham, Joel Horning of Athol, Emma Mays of South Deerfield, Edward Reipold of Turners Falls, Rachel Shabbott of Chicopee and Joshua Spiller of Athol.