Two-hundred-forty students departed from Laurel Highlands High School Wednesday night as the school’s graduating Class of 2003. Commencement ceremonies started with a 30-minute senior video in the auditorium, which showed the graduating class as infants and showed candid shots of them throughout their academic lives. Following an invocation by Michael Kopacko, the high school chorus sang “It’s Hard to Say Goodbye.” Laurel Highlands High School Principal John Diamond told the students that they should enjoy their graduating day because they worked hard to get there, and they should experience the warm feelings of their accomplishments. Diamond continued by telling a story from his youth of crossing a stream where, if he would step on the right stone, he stayed dry, but if he stepped on the wrong stone, he would wind up with wet shoes. He told the graduates that the options they chose in life would be like the stepping stones in the stream: the correct choices would advance them forward while they should learn from the incorrect ones. He concluded by saying the Class of 2003 was special to him, because hey were his first graduating class as a high school principal and he learned a little more from every student. Michol Monaghan, co-valedictorian and senior class president, said she and all the students on stage had one thing in common: not one of them got to where they are alone, but with the support and encouragement of so many people like teachers, parents and the classmates around them. Monaghan then shared a dream and wish with her classmates, wanting them to leave the school with sunshine and happiness following them and for the Lord to be with them wherever they would go. Co-valedictorian Elizabeth Wiltrout spoke next and encouraged the graduating class to have patience with themselves and others. Wiltrout also told the class to be proactive in everything that they will do and never give up, citing such people who had overcome failure in their lives, like Michael Jordan, Albert Einstein and Walt Disney. Salutatorian William Ashton said graduation commencement was a day they’d all waited for a long time and although they may have said they can’t wait to get out of school, they should realize that the teachers were the ones that started their journey into success. Ashton then said everyone working in the school system, from the custodians to the school board, needs a pat on the back for doing their part in helping the students reach the point of graduation. Ronald Sheba, Laurel Highlands School District superintendent, said the unsung heroes of the night were the parents and guardians that trusted the school district to have their children, and a company is only as good as its products and there’s no product more important than children. Sheba told the class: always be students and always learn, accept failure and learn from it and to do whatever they love and find success in that field. The benediction was given by senior John Perry, who quoted a line from Henry David Thoreau. “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!”

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