Williamsport’s 150th commencement ends seniors’ year of change
Trending
It was a boisterous crowd waiting in the heat of a sunny, early evening to catch sight of their favorite graduate as they entered the football stadium at the Williamsport Area High School for the 150th commencement exercises.
Catching sight of the marchers as they moved along the road, their red and white commencement gowns a splash of color against the green pines that hem the stadium, a cheer went up from the gathering of family and friends as the students who were entering as seniors, only to leave two hours later as graduates of the class of 2021.
Many of the speakers for the evening focused on the unprecedented finish these students had to endure at the end of their high school career.
"The class of 2021 is different. This has not been the normal journey," said Maya Trump, who was one of the seniors chosen to give student remarks.
"When you pull out a map, outside of your usual path, you see a line that will take you from point A to point B. For most of us here tonight I don't think we can fall into the category of using paper maps to get us places. We see the blue line that Google provides telling us how long it will take to get there," Trump said.
"Either way we don't get a preview of the highs and lows of the trip. When we entered kindergarten we were told you'll be graduating in twelve years. No one alluded to the sudden change we would experience when our elementary schools were reconstructed and we fifth graders in intermediate school instead of the big dogs in elementary school, and we could never have predicted the big red flag that the year 2020 would have thought to become," she added.
She spoke of the many obstacles her class of 298 students would have to overcome in order to arrive at graduation.
"I'm standing here tonight to reiterate to everyone, we made it," she said.
In his opening remarks to the students, Superintendent Dr. Timothy S. Bowers told them that although they had received a formal academic education during their time in school, more importantly they had gained an education in life.
"You see this life's education is the education you received when weren't' really looking," Bowers said.
"This is what you learned the first time you failed. This is what you learned the first time you got in trouble for not doing your homework," he said.
Bowers continued with different life situations that the students had experienced and learned along the way during their "life education".
"My wish for you is to take that formal education from the Williamsport Area School District and merge it with your own life's education and continue with both, because that's where the true magic is," Bowers said.
"Whether you're going to college, military, or the workforce, there will always be opportunity to further both educations. As you embrace the opportunity to continue those educations, always remember that each day is a gift and each lesson learned is a blessing," Bowers added.
During the ceremony, Dr. Brandon Pardoe, head principal at the high school, announced that Michael Fisher had been chosen as the class' Valedictorian and Michael Cendoma as Salutatorian.