for a treat community programs are great you're watching peter stature will channel seven tears repair books barcode books reshelve books and help with children's programs if you would like to volunteer call your local library to celebrate these young men and women's symbolical right into and into adulthood i would like to publicly acknowledge my pride in their love for the students and thank their families for the honor of having had the opportunity to be their principal for four years at this time it's one thing the dition own sense of pride that i would like to recognize a group of guess a particular importan thank you another group of individuals most instrumental in the development of our young people in our great school district are the board of school directors at this time i would like the members of the school board to stand aside and recite their names mr james kell rogers mrs karen shar mrs marlene tovan board school directors it is with great pleasure that i welcome my fellow graduates our parents families friends and teachers to this morning's graduation ceremony for the class of one thousand nine hundred six as i was thinking about what i would say to you today i recalled a verse that's been on a wall in my home for years it's about parents and children and i think it's words embody what this day is all about there are two important things a parent can give to his children one is roots and the other is wings commencement is the perfect time to ponder the past and be thankful for the roots that have gotten us here today and to look ahead to the time soon when we will soar away on untested wings our roots are the things that have been our anchors and security for the last eighteen years i believe those roots are families friends and fa i've been extremely fortunate that my family has always been supportive of me and i would thank them for their love and guidance they've provided me with encouragement and an excellent foundation from which i can grow our friends have also been very important and we've shared a lot with him through the years we have learned about who we are from our friends and will regret saying goodbye to those who have come to mean a great deal and are lies together we rejoiced in victory and wept in defeat today we will cease to exist as a unit moving together through time we will be leaving behind something precious but taking with us many memories faith is the last of the three anchors that i believe should be recognized today when i look around at everyone graduating today i see a unique individuals with remarkable talents and strengths these traits are wonderful gifts that we have been given we have been blessed in the past and will continue to be blessed in the future and now what about the wings whether we like it or not today marks the day that we are literally being pushed out of the nest will we flutter and fall to the ground probably so when we get bumped and bruised and whirl around hoping for someone to intervene yes that will happen too but from now on we will be exclusively in charge of our own decisions and mistakes our wings in part have come from the solid education we have received peter's township high school we've been exposed to a plethora of ideas and encouraged to learn grow and become thinking individuals in a few short years have changed from dependent children into dependable young adults who are now ready to move on using our wings and moving on is not always easy it takes courage and determination to leave a place where we have been safe and secure for so long in a classic series of books the lord of the rings trilogy j r r tolkien discusses this moving on and challenges us to be steadfast until we arrive at our destination one of his middle earth songs says the road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began not far ahead the road has gone and i must follow if i can talking then says it's a dangerous business going out of your door moving on is dangerous but is also challenging and exciting fortunately each of us has acquired routes that are deep in us and wings that are strong enough to carry us on our journeys to the members of the class of one nine hundred ninety six i wish you continued happiness and success wherever your journeys may lead you thank you thank you all for coming to share this special occasion with those whispering to me today i just want to take a moment to reflect on a few things regarding our high school career and some thoughts from the future remember back in the ninth grade and why even the simplest job can use it yet even if you never use out run your line of work someday remember that knowledge of all things gives us a better appreciation of chemistry and physics we understand better the world around us  can someday hopefully answer all the little questions our grandchildren man asked the psychology and sociology we have learned to better understand and appreciate all the different kinds of people around us in the world with english and the arts we have  that when we go off to college or perhaps a career we need to return to doing our absolute best don't hold back a member of the college everything count in our efforts turn the rest of your years when you all go out into the world let me challenge you to not simply ride the tide of life waiting and hoping for things to happen but to go out and make things don't wait for that job just come to you take the initiative and go take the job in abilities i hope that from growing up with such a diverse group of people we have all learned to appreciate the differences among each other hope that we have all learned to accept people from other cultures ethnic backgrounds and various social lives we devote the best part of our lives to school and formal education so i say make the best realize that education is not only a few years in school but a lifelong process and i challenge you to fervently learn throughout the rest of your li are really the one who's graduating and wasn't just the other day that my mom would be new stories at that time ironically it was one of these entitle the adventures of alice underground by lewis carroll their man and me of the questions that i'm still asking myself the main character alice is always delving into the unknown in order to satisfy her curiosity one such quest landed her in a rabbit's hole where she found herself asking what had caused her to change she says to herself dear dear how queer everything is today and yesterday everything happened just as usual was i the same when i woke up this morning but if i'm not the same so she no longer there it was much more pleasant at home thought alice when i wasn't always growing larger and smaller i almost wish i hadn't gone down that rabbit hole and yet and yet it's rather curious you know the sort of life like alice we too are feeling a little different this morning for today we end our time here peters and embark on a new adventure new questions will arise and new pa we forge as we like alice delve into we have already gone so many changes throughout this adventure we call school and doesn't seem as though it all happened so fast just last week i went to see a bug play performed by the pleasant valley second grade kids in the midst of the songs the costumes and the dancing i cried i can remember being in their situation and i guess it doesn't seem all that long ago we have really come a long way you've come from recess kickball games to bust patrols to go books to teen centers to dream passes to licenses and some problems and all the while you've been growing now i know it's been twelve curious years but doesn't it seem like just a little bit of time and now just like alice out through the rabbit hole we have outgrown high school and the time has come to move  today we commence our journey toward that promise and those perils we will no doubt face frustration like alice yet hopefully like her will be grateful for the opportunity to experience all the next steps in our lives w need to find this sort of life return for our fiftieth reunion we too can such as an excellent example to the graduating class of two thousand and forty six now i would like to introduce to you the class of nine hundred forty six mary baird or chair gail bosch catherine margaret daniel successfully completed and failed the requirements for graduation set forth by the commonwealth of pennsylvania and the board of school directors of peter's township high school as mr kelley will speak will present diplomas and dr as the represent of the school board gives me great pleasure to stand here before you this exciting day the entire board is here to celebrate with and offer our sincere graduations to you the class of nineteen ninety six this is a very special day is the culmination of a successful journey that began thirteen years ago one nine hundred eighty three was a year as kindergarteners entering school who could have known what challenges might ultimately come before you the world and even peter's township was a lot different back then though you may not recall cold war was still being fought in the berlin wall still divided germany computers were in their infancy the now antiquated to eighty six model was just an event for the modem was just becoming readily available but the world wide web internet and even e mail and hardly be considered  tapes players and records with a choice for all ages c d s and cd rom really shown in the futuristic magazines students signed up to shop for home economics not itek or family consumer science so your phones were still a status symbol a few years away from becoming a common tool that they are today technology was a word sometimes heard not many had an understanding of what i what this means for the graduate sitting here is the to law had to adapt to a changing world a more technologically advanced world and one that will probably continue to change even a faster rate according to price pritchett in his book titled new work habits or in radically changing world there are several trends that you all want counter as you enter the workforce the economy is shifting towards service and knowledge in this information supply available us doubling every five years the workplace becoming much more global adaptation to the information age will be an ongoing part of your it has been said that new beginning a time to reflect on the wonders challenges you have met head on handle that really and learn from your lives will contain many obstacles and trials your experience here has left you prepared to handle whatever fate has to offer today you leave behind a wonderful community full of the teachers friends and family who guided you thus far today we gather one timothy matthew cri nicole elizabeth arnold melanie jane assett katherine renee hartzell jennifer laurel books bethany lynn branstad or shelley and full kimberly and button julia christine caldwell robert louis bear jason matthew frederick justin edward berman thomas clancy gallant karen charles guns and hauser courtney we actually nicole rest eugene miller robert junior now you call more joshua or adam williams william site suzanne michelle say elizabeth and cole turner you i'm not going to have this group stand up along the way those thirteen years if you had to make a little side trip to the superintendent's office for a little chat i'd like to specially congratulate you we help to get back on a track we're very proud of that having the distinction of being the last to offer congratulations class of one nine hundred ninety six is truly an honor but i must reflection i won't risk calling it a place if this were thirty years ago at a time i must confess in which i sat in a similar seat while miles south of here i would be able to say that with a high school diploma you have acquired most of the knowledge that was ever needed to be successful in life as mr kelley has stated with knowledge doubling every five years the currency is not merely possessing a high school diploma or any number of degrees of higher education but having the desire and ability to continue being able to continually acquire and apply knowledge however is only part of the equation let me suggest that there are several other factors ones i'm sure you've learned to apply well enough to give cause to celebrate are cheap and on this day first of the f s is for focus achievement requires incredible focus to set goals to avoid distractions and diversions this has challenged and will continue to challenge the  of ninety six being focused often requires sacrifice and discrimination balanced with being focused is being flexible the journey to achievement is wrought with unforeseen obstacles that will test one's ability to adapt passion represents the first appease passion is more than motivation or action is the deep driving force for the naysayers patients do not expect others to immediately share your vision or your passion as something that only you may know whereas the french proverb states to know how to wait  great secret of success therefore class of ninety six take with you your passion and patients take with you your focus and but civility and continue to achieve and so class of ninety six to forty vested in me in the commonwealth of pennsylvania in the peters township or the school directors were granted the rights privileges and immunities there on to that retaining as graduates