Stormy weather may have forced the final Kittanning High School commencement ceremony from the football field to the school gym Friday, but it failed to dampen the spirits of the last graduating class.
“It's exciting,” Valedictorian Gina Anthony said as she waited for the ceremony to begin. “It makes it special being the last class.”
Anthony, who received multiple academic awards and scholarships, will attend Penn State University's main campus to major in biology on a pre-medical track.
Family members, who arrived early, huddled under the football field's concession stand and under umbrellas before making a dash into the gym. School band member Sydney Morse wrung rainwater from her clothes before picking up her flute to play “Pomp and Circumstance.”
“It's like bittersweet — the easy days of my life are over,” said Brady Crissman, who plans to attend Triangle Tech to become a welder.
“This was the fastest four years of my life. Now I've got to start in the real world,” Nick Bowers said.
Bowers, who played wide receiver for the Wildcats, will be continuing his football career as a tight end at Penn State University while majoring in forestry.
The school building on Orr Avenue was built in 1955, but the first recorded graduating high school class there was in 1895, said Principal James Rummel.
Diane Fennell, who was one of the earliest senior class members to graduate from the 60-year-old school building, joined her husband, Al, to cheer on their granddaughter Kayly Lazaroff.
“I'll sit here and cry,” Diane said. “It's sad but yet it's good. I'm glad for them.”
During her valedictory address, Anthony thanked all those who helped guide and support the class and urged her fellow classmates to remember where they come from.
“Be thankful for being one of the very last Kittanning Wildcats going into the world,” she said.
Ashley Worlds, who gave the salutary address, compared the journey from elementary school to graduation as being like that of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly.
“Go into the world and do well but, most importantly, go into the world to do good,” she said. “Your wings are ready.”
When it came to his commencement address, Howard Stanley caught the graduates off guard by presenting each one with a dollar bill.
“There's a lesson in this,” he said. “When you want something in life, get off your rear end and get it. Nobody owes you anything unless you work for it.”
Stanley, who is retiring after teaching physical education and drivers education for 35 years, told students to take responsibility for their lives, to take pride in being an American and in where they come from.
“Let the memories of Kittanning High School live forever,” he said, to a standing ovation.
Brigid Beatty is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-543-1303 or bbeatty@tribweb.com.
