welcome welcome to the commencement ceremonies for the class of two thousand and four on behalf of our graduating seniors the administration faculty and staff first like to welcome t distinguished members of the class of nineteen hundred and fifty four along with the family friends and fans of our graduating seniors at this time i would like to introduce the members of our board of school directors please stand when your name is announced and remain and the members of our faculty and staff who are in attendance evening please stand and be recognized graduates administrators distinguished alumni families and friends welcome to the commencement of peters township high school's two thousand and four graduating class classmates we come together tonight to honor the successful completion of our high school education more importantly however we are here now in celebration of a pivotal moment in each of our lives this is a point in which we recognize the complete transcend e of the dignity honor and discipline right through years of steadfast dedication to academic excellence into the characters of the individuals that we are today sadly tonight may likely be the very last time that we spend together as a class although i'm in charge of the reunion so you can trust you'll hear from me again a lot nevertheless this night will be the final time that many of us will ever see each other by implore you never forget the qualities principles and above all the lifelong lessons that we have learned side by side over the years each of us has taken steps to become more independent but together we have all learned the greater value of interdependence as each of us has benefited at the hands of supportive families teachers and classmates alike those of you who have read henry david thoreau as walden may remember the quote i know of no more encouraging the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor we've all heard it and now as recruits we reach the close of this chapter in our lives together we believe it at this point on behalf of the class of two thousand and four it is my honor and privilege to introduce to you a group of individuals well acquainted with the significance of a life founded on the education acquired and qualities attained during the years spent in peter's township high school fifty years ago these very men and women stood in our shoes and faced essentially the same formidable decisions to now limit our futures their success proves a testament to the achievements attainable through life based on the principles we too have obtained while at p t h s for their example we will now honor them by name graduates of the class of nine hundred fifty four please stand when your name is called i like to ask that all those in attendance hold your applause until the end the hell on behalf of myself and my peers in the graduating class i would like to express to you our thanks for your gracious attendance at our commencement tonight we are encouraged by your example and your lifelong success is an inspiration to each of us thank you again to my fellow graduates always remember the significance of the education you have received while our peers township high school that we not only view our diplomas as a symbol of our work accomplished but also as a working symbol of an infinitely meaningful chapter of our lives best of luck to each and every one of you in your futures and god bless thank you very much so very much for being our foundation and strength mr growth maturity so many people have impacted our lives and we do state our gratitude to you now seniors according to my i watched about ten to eight every one of us sitting on the edge of his his or her seat half listening to what is being said and more focused on something seemingly more imminent like grad party to attend tomorrow case in point we are all eager to get out of here i just have one word for you all good good because you're going to need to be eager what lies beyond those doors is not necessarily a parking lot but moreover our future our past leading up to this has been formed to fit an educational and emotional bond the classes we've taken the clubs we participate in have all molded who we are but as the mass of door to life after high school has opened we are called to enter the world as mature heirs to this nation's future college will indeed there are talents and prepares for a career but as far as the physical emotional and mental arsenal needed to combat the dangers of society we are ready i ask you one favor them remember your roots and never forget where you came from everybody has a history and everybody has a story to tell be respectful and listen to someone else's story then tell them your tale tell them of how you came to be and how you grew up many people here may not want to preach their story but i say be proud of where you came from this is the life you have and you might as well be proud of it as i stated the future needs consideration the past however does need to be remembered in your life you'll become so head over heels in work or some other activity you won't know how to move on i ask you cherish the past you've had here and let that be your guide under the course of life a question still remains though how will we know after some time if we're doing a good job and contributing to society i've a short story that i would like to use i was driving home one day from school and i had the misfortune of catching all of the pleasant valley school buses filing out right before i was about to pull out as we cr along one bus was periodical letting children off on to make merry i think it seemed much because i was somewhat far back but after several cars and buses went their separate rounds i found myself directly behind the bus making stops on the very road i didn't think much of anything until i witnessed a profound thing one of the last children got off the bus and was greeted by his mother what surprised me most was the overwhelming love and affection that this child received from his younger siblings younger children rushed to their older brother and were genuinely ecstatic at his arrival looking as proud as can be the mother had an enormous smile on her face while the whole clan of ankle biters were enjoying their time with their heralded older siblings i don't know the family that lived there but they taught me an important lesson if we can learn from those little children and strive for compassion to one another we're doing our job if at any point you feel like you're lost and you have no other resources i bet exchanging a couple words with mom and dad would help because by the looks of it they've done a pretty good job themselves ladies and gentlemen the future is on the mantle of life just waiting for us i say be eager take it stand tall and make your mark on life  fellow students esteemed faculty friends and family thank you for joining us on one of the most important days of our young lives your presence tonight is important because you are with us now to share in the excitement the pageantry and the honor that we cannot of come to experience without your help your support and your love and some may wish to add your monetary aid to the list no matter how many things we add to the list each graduate today could add many other personal ways you have helped us that cannot be categorized or defined only a word or two let's now take a moment to reflect upon the impact that our friends teachers and relatives had upon our lives i personally would like to acknowledge mrs flanagan for her laughter optimistic attitude support and dedication tonight however i would like to share with you the stories of two very special people in my life who with their own laughter and optimism have been a true inspiration to me and it helps me to become more tolerant and compassionate of others differences one is my great uncle jim and the other is my cousin sarah their daily lives and actions have had a strong impact upon my life and hopefully they can be an inspiration to you as well my uncle lives in total darkness for he has been blind since birth despite his visual impairment he never complains he not only is eager to help other people but he is always ready to try new endeavors with confidence and courage he approaches new experiences with bigger and determination he has even learned to play the accordion and piano he also volunteers this time in various group homes he has never been better about his blindness nor has he ever considered it to be an obstacle everyone who has met him has truly been inspired by his behavior after spending time with jim while growing up i have gained a different perspective on life he reminds me not to sweat the small stuff and to do the best that i can do in all my endeavors not to compare myself to the best others can do but to do the best that i can do as i am reminded of the small pleasures that i enjoy that he cannot i become more compassionate more and unselfish more loving and more tolerant my cousin sarah has alopecia which is an auto immune disease resulting in the loss of hair sarah began losing her hair just as she was beginning an important phase in her life kindergarten although it is not a life threatening disease it can be emotionally devastating especially for a little girl sarah is now in fourth grade and wears a wig most of the time during those early painful years sarah approached her condition with courage and made it easier for those who love her to accept it she has always been a happy go lucky child and her acceptance of the disease from its onset has made everyone proud of her sarah has never been depressed with her situation and approaches each day with confidence and a positive outlook she is very well adjusted and does not complain about not having any hair in fact she often jokes about it she has shown me how to fe overcome one's inadequacies and look to one's inner resources for strength my uncle jim and cousin sarah are two individuals with obvious differences however each and every one of us is a unique individual you must embrace each other's differences and become more compassionate and tolerant everyone graduating here tonight has such a diverse range of talents and interests that is what makes us all so different each of us a success story in the making and you to find your niche and excel at that and tonight let us all try to celebrate each other's differences to everyone in the peters township class of two thousand and four i wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors you will be missed thank you we're all gathered here for quite possibly the last time it's pretty scary if you think about it what have we been doing here the past twelve years of our lives is just a mindless regurgitation of information over and over again or something more some higher purpose our time spent here at peter's has given us not only textbook lessons but life lessons the most important thing the we take with us when we walk out of here is that what we learn from the books but what we learn from experience life is a bumpy road we all hit the bumps we all make mistakes it's part of human nature in a world in which we are all so different the one thing that unites us all the common thread is imperfection we all make mistakes no one here can say they haven't but all mistakes give us the chance to make ourselves better that is what we so often overlook the most important thing is not what we've done but what we've learned what we've taken from the experience what we've become that's what it's all about isn't the whole purpose of the educational system for us to learn we learn from what we do so that we don't make the same stakes again a one way street you can't turn around you can't go backwards you can't undo the things you've done but you can learn from them we've been in the back seat for most of our lives but now we're the ones behind the wheel we are the ones steering to where we want to go and this is where all the lessons we've learned become so important this is our tabula rasa our clean slate our kids start over sure we're all excited to get out of here but we don't realise just how easy we have right now how much we take for granted life's been hard but it's only going to get harder in this is where we need to use our mistakes to grow to reach our full potential to become the people we are capable of being with the end of public education looming over us tonight we tend to wonder about what's going to happen in our future the one thing that i know will happen to you all the one thing that i will promise you is that you're going to meso it happens to us all and i'm sure that all role models in the audience can testify to that but what we need to realize is that mistakes are obstacles there are opportunities opportunities to improve ourselves we all want to second chance and that is why we must learn from our mistakes today so we might become better people tomorrow we all make bad choices but that doesn't make us bad people the best advice that i can give to you is the advice that a friend gave to me he said it's not about how you get knocked down it's about how you get back up that is what shows you truly are and that is where you take with you for the rest of your life dollars in scholarships and grants many of our seniors have been admitted to the most prestigious and competitive colleges and universities including duke university vanderbilt university notre dame john hop's johns hopkins the university of virginia carnegie mellon university columbia university and the air force academy just to name a few and we have two national merit finalists william shepherd i'm very sorry that your name appears in the wrong category in our program but i personally congratulate both you and alex tyler for being named a national merit finalist congratulations to both  while nearly ninety percent of our seniors are planning to enter four year colleges there are also many students who are planning to attend two year colleges or technical schools or move directly to the world of work and begin to collect that paycheck and hopefully get some benefits along with it we are proud of each and every one of you graduates and we wish you the best this group is also artistically talented i'm sure you have attended some of our plays or concerts or other productions throughout the school year if you did you saw our brilliant seniors who will be pursuing careers in areas such as music theater dance the visual arts and in media related fields and we are pleased that several of our individuals from this year's graduating class will be pursuing the art of teaching this group is also athletically talented many of our teams led by seniors captured section championships participated in w p i a our playoffs and state competition are far  taught us off to a great start with a winning percentage over eight hundred and we thank our band and cheerleaders for adding so much excitement and color to our activities this class earned  championships in boys soccer and hockey and our baseball team is currently pursuing a p i double a title congratulations to this  remarkable and character the members of the class of two thousand and four have certainly displayed character they have exceeded our expectations in so many ways they demonstrate respect responsibility and honesty every day and believe me they have taught us some lessons about integrity they have been involved in community in the community through activities and service our students with strong senior leadership have produced hundreds of programs with the assistance of our local cable t v station recently we hosted a mock crash in cooperation with all of our local authorities and that's an important and important reminder out to our seniors and maybe some of us adults the class of two thousand and four has five two gold winners and as always we are thrilled that several of our seniors are planning a career in the most prestigious service at all and that is service to our country in closing it's my distinct pleasure to present to you dr kirk and to you mrs abraham the group seated before you known as the class of two thousand and four these students have completed the requirements set forth by the pennsylvania department of education and the peter staunch of school district and they are ready to formally receive their parents friends peters township faculty administration and staff and especially good graduating seniors it's with great pleasure and excitement that i welcome you to this evening's commencement ceremony it is always an honor for the president of the school board to address the graduating class each year but this year for me is a very special privilege but i to share the pride and happiness as a parent as my daughter as a graduating senior i have so many special memories of the students in this room oh boy memories of your elementary school plays your concerts your sports events teen centers chaperoning teen centers so many numerous high school events i know so many of you personally which makes my responsibilities this evening such a special treat have so many personal thoughts i would love to share with all of you my fishel role this evening is to speak to our graduates on behalf of our school board and our community as you complete your education i ask you to reflect on the role your community has played in helping you achieve the goal that you will fulfill this evening now we're all very blessed to live in this community that cares about our young people  community that takes the commitment to quality public education very seriously there are many residents of peter's township who have supported your education far beyond simply paying the tax bill individuals have come into the classrooms to talk about careers either saval into your time to tutor math or work with you on reading skills yet others volunteered numerous hours coaching sports teams coaching law to see the mind in other activities many of our veterans in our community have come into the classroom and shared their works perience says the businesses in this community have supported your activities they've got so many ads from so many people who for so many programs and yearbook they've donated food supplies equipment for so many of the extra things that have enriche experience here your school board administrator have worked together to develop quality programs we've hired enthusiastic teachers and staff and have provided you with an environment to keep you safe and secure the support staff in our schools the paraprofessionals nurses cafeteria workers janitorial maintenance staff the bus drivers the secretaries these folks have all been a part of the we support throughout your school years and then there are your teachers and guidance counselors they really have been your true mentors sometimes friends always guiding you maybe even sometimes dragging you along the path through childhood and adolescence toward young adulthood and of course i would be remiss to forget to mention the love and support your research see from your parents and your famil you may not have taken the time to reflect and realize the importance of all those who have played a part in your educational experience here in peter's township and you may be wondering like is there something now that's expected of us well someday it will be your turn to support the next generation but until that day comes you have a responsibility to use the gifts and the talents that you have been blessed with to make a difference in the communities in which you will live and work work hard continue to learn and take a little time every once in awhile to thank those special people who helped you along the way and by the way it would be really great for you to remember to remember peters township and to keep in touch with this community that cares class of two thousand and four congratulations you've made your community very proud thank you i access christine abraham maria angela jennifer and be about daniel program john out dominic bradley alan grime justin m jackson michael david co kristen and killing michael coleman lock anthony richard christin jennifer and robin's and victoria susanne walker what i guess you all know what comes next class of two thousand and four but tonight i have the privilege of being the last to offer my congratulations and best wishes to you and your families during your twelve years in ship of which will be concluding in a few minutes one of the persons you grew up with and who probably had some impact on each of you was mr fred rogers as you contemplate the expanding neighborhood that you will be entering into as you close out this chapter of your life i would like to share with you some of and yes even disappointing but recalling the four principles mr rogers may help you deal with these issues first principle was always have what helps you make everything in your future life you rarely have time for everything that you may want to do and accomplish in this lifetime therefore you will be challenge to make choices hopefully your choices will come from a deep sense of who you are and what you believe the second principle is understand in love when we love a person we accept him or her exactly as they are however the only way that we can do this is by accepting ourselves in that very same way if the day ever comes when we are able to accept ourselves and our children for exactly who and what they are i believe will be very close to the ultimate understanding of a good parenting is one of the most important gifts that we give a child is the gift of accepting the child's uniqueness you students bring all you ever were and all you are to any relationship you will have today and that you will have in the future the third principle hope you will have enough confidence in yourself and in the life lessons that you have learned to keep wishin and dream in all the days of your life take time every day to help make all of you wishes come true i'm proud of you and all of the wishing and the dream and the learning that you have done that has helped you to arrive at this wonderful point in your life and i hope you are final principle as we are all neighbors you heard a little bit more about the peters township neighborhood tonight all of us at some time or another need help whether we are g or receiving help each of us has something valuable to give to this world if you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet each how much impact you can have on the people that you may have never met there is something of yourself that you leave every meeting with another person and imagine what our neighborhood could be like if we each offer as a matter of course just one kind word to another person sometimes all it takes is one kind word to nourish another person one hind empathetic word has a wonderful way of trying to many my suggestion to you as you leave the peers township school district neighborhood is your ex at this phase of your life embrace your new and exciting horizon take the thoughts of mr rogers the values of your parents and generations that preceded you and the lessons of your teachers and that you adapt to the changing times but cling to the ingrained core principles that you have to do your best every day to be a better person and to make this a better world i ask you consider one last admonition from your friend and neighbor mr rogers and that is in all that you do in all of your life i wish you the strength and the grace to make those choices which will allow you and your neighbor to become the best of who ever you are graduating class of two thousand