ladies and gentlemen please rise and remove your hats for the singing of our national anthem followed by the peters township all mater sung by graduates martha batchelder sam bennett courtney good evening and welcome to the two thousand and fourteen peters township high school commencement ceremony as principal of peter's township high school it is my honor to present to you this exceptional group of students the spirit and character of the class of two thousand and fourteen was built with the aid of quite a few people i would like to take a moment to acknowledge those people who are sharing with the celebration tonight first and foremost are the parents and families thank you for providing the constant guidance life lessons enlist transportation much laughter and shoulder to cry on this night is as much for you as it is for our graduates graduates please stand and take a moment to applaud your mom and dad and your famil to our high school faculty it is your caring guidance and insistence on excellence that has helped our students achieve their potential high school teachers and counsellors please stand come on stand we thank you for the early morning tutoring the late afternoon review sessions the countless hours working with our students both in and outside of the classroom your passion and dedication has inspired us all thank you from kindergarten through their senior year our students have attended more than two thousand four hundred days of school over one thousand six hundred of those days are spent with elementary and middle school teachers some of whom are with us this evening elementary middle school teachers please stand thank you for planting the seeds of success and establishing a strong foundation for learning leadership and character often on recognized are the administrators at the building level and district office who visit whose vision and leadership provide the foundation for excellence in our schools to these individuals accolades means less than student success their decisions are driven by what is best for kids before we recognize these individuals i'd like to ask d oh to join me on stage for those of you who don't know this is dr fragos last commencement ceremony he has been an administrator in the peters township school district for twenty three years that is a long time he spent the majority of his career at mcmurray elementary but he has put in a good bit of time at the high school and at the middle school all of the students here know dr freyd oh quite well we want to talk honor him tonight with an applause and a thank you for your service to peter's  thank you now the other administrator district in building lever level administrator take a moment to stand i know they were just standing to applaud dr freedom but they all deserve credit for the work that they do throughout the school year to ensure our students success seated behind me as a school board of directors it is because of their work and difficult decision making that all of this is possible it really takes a special individual to serve voluntarily in this capacity it is moments of celebration like this one that remind us all of what is important and allows us to take a moment to recognize the work that they do mr macmurray mrs gregg mrs anderson mrs bowman mr dunne levy mrs ehrenberg dr hardy mr merrill and mrs smith smith we thank you and finally just a few mentions i would like to make on all of those people who work behind the scenes to make this evening go off so smoothly the amazing media and tech teams the teachers counsellors secretaries my system principals the custodians and maintenance staff and all of the students who volunteer their time many many many thank you's this evening has turned out beautifully the weather has held up for us and this couldn't have been done without you so one more round of applause for all of those now moving on to more important things at this time please join me in welcoming a very special person to the stage our senior class president anthony leon to th i feel so blessed to be part of such a great group of hooligans and lovely ladies but i would also like to thank you guys i am i'm so lucky to share these four years twelve years with you and and i'm just i'm really happy to be able to represent you but also like to thank you administration faculty and staff for clearing the way for us over the past four years or twelve years i have four years but it's actually twelve  they've done so much and i'm sure we all thank you and all of you the parents and the civil and the grandparents whatever problems can do us in our teenage danks you were there with unfailing support and there are now four hundred almost four hundred fine young adults sitting in these chairs ready to receive their diplomas because of you so thank you a senior class president i have the honor of upholding a long standing peers township tradition to honor the class of nine hundred sixty four before i introduce the members in attendance i'd like to read an excerpt of a letter written by mr m teachers in the development of the students of the class of one thousand nine hundred four their dedication inspiration and personalities infused most of us with not only a thirst for knowledge but more importantly with a desire to live full lives it catered to our beliefs families communities and country in many ways they have lived on through us it will never be forgotten mr wood floors words so eloquently represent the tie that binds the class of nine with you guys at the percentage of high school the teachers not only teach subjects in the classroom but instill in us how to become the best people we can be on behalf of the class of two thousand and fourteen i'm proud to introduce the men and women who have provided provided us with such a strong foundation please stand as i call your name and please hold all applause until all names have been read barbara alton  carla blatche means david c bramer albert bonnie carper lucian ronald  robert e guthrie grace hamill michael george am hot nak claire clara carolyn kasten craig rosemary longo mary paul mary william bill matthews luther chip mill spa jr wayne rankin eileen richards the lower so james a stark earl timothy track thank you for representing peters out of school this year and you are the reason this school has become what it is and has such a prestigious reputation  insert incredibly smooth transition here so i know what you're thinking how the heck is anthony leone going to encompass fifty years of history into one speech what whimsical connection is he going to dare make on february first nine hundred sixty four the beatles i want to hold your hand vaulted to the number one spot on the u s singles chart i'm going with the beatles tonight had answered beatlemania why were the beatles so hot ask any female member of the class of nine hundred sixty four and i'm sure they're going to tell you when they listen to i want to hold your hand they were thinking oh fully stuff of course you can hold my hand even fifty years later when i listen to this song i think john stop absolutely  hold my hand i did the beatles do it how did they invade the most powerful country in the world why did their music have such an impact that eighteen year old high school senior class presidents still listen to their music the beatles made music that was honest they wrote well came to mind and in a decade of fear during the cold war they provided people with a sense of relief they delivered music with passion and in a society of rules they took risk i think the class of two thousand and fourteen can learn something from the class of one nine hundred sixty four before we grab our diplomas and run take risks and do everything you do with passion we've already done it so many times guys so many time the hockey team won states out there that was only this year there have been many other sporting teams girl soccer girls tennis you know all you guys do great we play with passion  there and period seven lunch we sang christmas carols every day for two weeks until the holiday break every day not one brick the simple melodies filled the room and maybe you weren't in period seven lunch but if you went to peter's out of high school you were part of the school and you share memories like that one all of you are riddled with passion and i know with a little risk mixed in you are all going to do great things everyone sitting in those chairs today has the potential to be great and change the world i ask you to leave this stadium today and do what you feel passionately about until this point we have held each other's hands and honestly all i want to do is keep holding them but starting tomorrow we start a new chapter of our lives with new people in new places we will have more choice in freedom to do what we want than ever before urge you to choose like the beatles to take risks and to do what you love thank you thank you anthony please join me in welcoming clayton wunderlich our senior class speaker graduates parents grandparents and people who just show up to these types of things i feel our first responsibility here today is to apologize to the younger siblings in the audience who were forcefully dragged here and must be bored out of their tiny minds my name is clayton wunderlich and it is an honor to be a two thousand and fourteen commencement speaker i'd like to once again congratulate the class of two thousand and fourteen a class that some are calling the single greatest graduating class to have ever graced the hallways of peter's township with their presence so far only i have said that but trust me it will catch on i myself am thrilled to be graduating today especially considering i may or may not have passed freshman swimming depending how you feel about to be honest this week's graduation rehearsals were little rough in fact we were having so much trouble learning how to walk on stage there was even talk of bringing in arthur murray to help teach us but eventually we got it down on behalf of the class of two thousand and fourteen i'd like to say thank you to all of the teachers for being constructive role models and for working tirelessly to give us the best education possible regardless of where the majority of us end up whether it's penn state our teachers have done a tremendous job preparing us for the next step and most importantly i'd like to say thank you to all of the parents in the audience we could not have done this without you you remain our strongest foundation and our greatest inspiration everything we've accomplished is because of you to my fellow graduates some of whom i've known since the very first day of kindergarten i'd like to say it's been a long four years and even though the ultimate goal is to burst the p t bubble there is no one else with whom i'd rather share this moment our class has witnessed a lot of extraordinary events over the past four years as juniors our school lost power and we endured w infamously remembered as the blackout for hours we were in darkness and in the close proximity memories were formed friendships were shared and a sort of archaic barter system was set in place i personally remember trading my last used box for a space closer to the window because i was beginning to forget what the sun looked like also members of our class recently gathered for a grand spectacle of electronic dance music fog machines glowsticks crowd surfing and sweat soaked neon headbands i'm referring of course to the spanish clubs trip to see don quixote the ballet more it was pretty cool to the hockey team one states it's pretty cool i think there is something about the girls soccer team winning things but let's be honest all of our attention rests on our one favorite sport men's volleyball who brewster goose and most notably the person even a wallflower it was filmed at our school yet is a big deal paul rudd pretended to teach english literature in the very same classroom where i sat every day pretending to learn english literature but my favorite memory from high school is not when i got my first parking pass it's not dancing to frozen so let it go at the prom fashion show as not even when chipotle a opened it's when a fellow classmate who was sitting in the audience today gave me the best advice i've ever heard he told me find something to do that you can be proud of and the next time you hear something cool that you want to try go do it don't dream of trying it actually try it this is a seamless segue into the advice giving portion of my speech class of two thousand and fourteen i haven't lived any longer than you and i can only hope to one day be as wise as some of you but what i can say is that everything good in life comes from trying new things there's no greater graduation cliche than follow your dreams while it is true we should follow our dreams i'd also like to raise the question what if our dreams are ridiculous dreams change and if they didn't the world would be overrun with princes and power rangers think about how much we've changed in just four years we've become different people and our goals for the future have advanced delete next part was not appropriate the point is trying new things because your dreams will change the most successful organisms are the ones that adept lewis carroll once wrote if you don't know where you're going any road will take you there so change your major make a new friend play a new sport take a class about something you've never heard of write your message in the sky nothing and leave every door open until you've been through it thank you i tell you what there's no way i could top those two gentlemen that are pretty fantastic all i can say to you class of two thousand and fourteen and we've said a lot this past week we've had a lot of good times actually last couple of weeks together as as i think that you all have come to come together quite a bit as a class recently but that made me really start to think about this past year and our first meeting together as a class beginning of your senior year so i thought that to september third two thousand and thirteen it was the day i stood before you much like any other day at the beginning of every school year and we have our annual grade level meetings these are ones i know you look forward to every year mr les net miss sanders and i stand before you and we talk to you about the school rules and all of the expectations that we have for you you know the power point it's the one you love so much we talk about the attendance policy and the dress code some of your favorite topics but seriously during those grade level meetings we try to impart to you some additional wisdoms that we hope will positively impact your year and hopefully your experience in high school we wonder sometimes are you listening do you hear us mr less net talked about petey pride he said be the change you wish to see in your school don't let high school happen to you be present get involved and maximize the experience were you listening i talked about grit and perseverance not giving up at the first sign of difficulty were you listening we talked about your leadership and being role models for the underclassman for the first time in four years we told you to consider what you wanted your legacy to be now your seniors this is something you need to think about were you listening i'll be honest with you i wasn't sure you got the message you left that day and i really wasn't sure year went on i wasn't so sure don't get me wrong i saw examples every day of students who had p t pride grit and i bet you on any given day there was probably half of your class wearing some attire associated with a team club activity or performance at p t a h s and you don't get more gritty th having a p classes no lunch and getting straight a's or fighting through an injury to come back and win a championship but those are all individual examples what i was looking for was the class coming together building a legacy together as a group i saw a lot of examples of individual students doing amazing things every day all the time i was very proud of that i was very proud to see what you were doing individually but what were you doing as a class together but you didn't disappoint me the class of two thousand and fourteen you came together in fact you may be the most upbeat and tight knit graduating class i've ever seen yeah you should give i watched you turn a corner at some point in the year and i'm not sure quite when that happened i watched as you rallied the student body behind the boys soccer team as they want to win people championship the hockey team during their quest for the penguin cup and the state championship and then set a positive positive tone for a pep assembly that to be honest i was very nervous to have i saw your faces have genuine compassion as you watched a match crash scene with your classmates and listen to the heart wrenching story of a devastated mother and prom prom it was great the chant we are p t at the end of the night pretty much said it all your legacy class of two thousand and fourteen is your unification it's your unification of your your class the class of two thousand and fourteen and your unification that will carry on through the underclassman because they've been watching you and they've been learning from you through your humble leadership your genuine p t pride and your unwavering perseverance you have left a positive mark on this school so as i thought about what kind of new wisdom is i could share with you as you start yet another journey in your life i just want to keep it simple steve jobs said i'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneur from the non successful successful ones is pure perseverance so seniors keep your grit may your years ahead continue to be characterized by empathy compassion and objectivity build new friendships and cherish old ones stay true to yourself and follow your dreams take risks as your other students leaders have said have grit and have every success and enjoy every moment i wish you every success in the future it has been my honor and privilege to serve as your proof principal congratulations class of two thousand and fourteen it is my honor at this time to welcome dr janine french superintendent of schools to the podium and fourteen i've only known you for a moment but i stand before you great hope and i must confess a bit of envy i look out at you and i see a cloudburst of potential there are those among you whose voices will lift spirits whose hands will heal whose minds will solve great mysteries and whose hearts will end wars and it's true i know that we are all small we are so small in this world but know this your deeds will carry from miles and transcend time choose to be deliberate in your actions so that when you are gone this world will never forget that you were once here so i say to you go work hard be truthful and be kind and for that you will be remembered for you i wish the best please welcome mr thomas mcmurray president of the peters township board of school directors to introduce our honorary teacher speaker thank you good evening on behalf of the peter's times of school board congratulations to the class of two thousand and fourteen our next speaker was chosen by the members of the class of two thousand and fourteen who were asked to consider a faculty member that they liked admired respected and in their eyes made a difference in our high school career and this person was to offer winners words of wisdom as am park on our life's adventure it is my honor to introduce this faculty member mrs tiffany koch and mrs koch and has been teaching high school english with a peter stacia school district since the year two thousand she currently teaches a p english language and composition world mythology and speech mrs koch and is the senior class sponsor and has also been a short moderator the ninth grade basketball coach and a junior class sponsor she is a progress at the university of pittsburgh and slippery rock university mrs koch and her husband robert have three children andrew matthew and caroline who according to mrs koch and got their charisma stunning good looks and so i looked in the mirror at myself and i thought either look like lord farquaad from shrek or an overly educated to mentor from harry potter nevertheless i'd like to say good evening as i am humbled and honored to be here with all of you a special welcome to the parents families and friends of our class of twenty fourteen graduates one of the other things i can't believe i got a parking pass i thought for sure it was green and i thought for sure that it would say  i k very important coke and however it did not but it but the interesting thing about it is anthony clayton and i were all given a microphone at this at the same time on the same night and clayton anthony did a wonderful job to the parents of this class i thank you from the bottom and depth of my heart these kids are special they do amazing things and it's it was all on you you did it so let's give a big round of applause to moms grandpas grandmas anyone anyone out there this very poignant speech planned i spent some time i edited i redrafted i used a fifty cent word or two and then i sat on my porch last night and said this is all wrong and so instead i thought about what all of you are going to hear as what i would have wanted to hear as well l was the founder of taoism the end of the end and one of his most prolific statements ever is this when i let go of what i am i become what i might be and so you think is this and saturday night live joke what's coming next and what's coming next is just some advice that you'll forget by the end of the is a myriad of opportunities instances and questions on us on a very very regular schedule we overanalyze we discern scenarios and connections and we try to navigate through our daily lives the best that we can however there are quite a few things that i want you to take away today the first and foremost thing is please have face and your abilities unless you've spent the last four years and attention if that's the case we might want to rethink some plans but nevertheless have some faith in what you've learned what you know to be true and who you are you're fine young men and women and we are all extraordinarily proud of you you want to commit to mastery the best way for you to earn respect is to know your craft and whatever it is stand up stand up comedian high school english teacher whatever it may be and don't compare yourself to others take the time to gauge your own successes take the time to know that you are who you are and you're not anyone else nor will you ever be education doesn't end when the bell rings or when you toss this mortar board that makes me looks amazing right but it just keeps happening and i want you to take that time to recognize and realize that it's happening and be mindful manage your energy and not your time time is transitory it will pass you it will not stop and ten years later you'll be looking back saying i'm going to be union who the heck am i going to talk to so manage your energy take leaps into uncertain waters unless you're in detroit michigan or baltimore maryland if that's the case don't take leaps of faith in the uncertain water waters stoppin us for directions or call someone worrying about things helps no one not one single person our society is obsessed with worrying and showing our worry you can't do anything about it but if you see a crocodile or perhaps a large rattlesnake then you should worry take time to reflect think about what you've done did you act like an idiot during lunch leave it at the laughter and playfulness will provide perspective laugh at yourselves laugh at your friends laugh with others don't lose your imagination laugh at be real there's only one you no one else can do it no one else can do what you do and people love you for that please make sure that you remember those things  because the most important thing i can tell you is people really matter and what i mean by that is get your phone up from the i phone thanks tell people you care about them call your mom call your dads call your grandmothers call the coke and call someone to let them know how you are this is the moment you've been waiting for class of two thousand and fourteen it's now time to present the diplomas to the class of two thousand and fourteen first row seniors please rise and proceed to the stage andrew charles al and alan alissa taylor apparatus celia grace allison madeline merry old sam christopher glenn bennett devon patrick berry mitchell william bianco grace hope josie elizabeth bo marriage jack robert battle ryan thomas black hayley elizabeth len brend adam peter blank jesse michael born rebecca and brought naomi lynn burke matthew william briscoe maria elizabeth carbon era john carlo brush ryan vincent book of  brock christian burn lucas james serve an a evan james gina marie andrew j clark carrots alexandra corey robert matthew james cody christian marcus coleman kristen marie john richard quarter krupa and decide matthew patrick crawl angela robb as busy though morgan ashley patrick dorman hannah claire foster emily marie france  hristian been ard think gauge nicholas from  christian daniel fry grant anthony theory nicholas robert theory autumn rose richard edward griffith junior elizabeth rose hill brian ronald adam charles harsh kelsey lynn hunter matthew s higgins and lats go kayla michel louis matthew spencer mar been sent anthony necessary catherine of marie mcgovern family claire mackenzie morgan miller sean carroll mcnally rachel elizabeth moore nicholas daniel mahal ski alexis elizabeth john maxwell o'hare britney and peterson joanna marie pawla connor james pike christine jessica r ryan thomas connor edwin mackenzie pope richard andrew ra chelsea marie shower nicholas james ray julia diane shirley reid edward raber megan kaye shores lawyer angelina grace simmons matthew james ruin cody samuel ruffing john paul shock nicole diane kathleen ruth rose adam christopher show brian matthew smith brenna lynn sweeney tristen drew snyder jenna m to moody david christopher s anthony michael steel derek james stewart andrew james stroud gina marie ville sack shane michael taylor jordan s troop and when you'll or joshua mark verner madison shay nicholas patrick white alex josephs was new ski kenyan mark nathan andrew wal stephen michael you're in now with the authority by the secretary of education of the commonwealth of pennsylvania i pronounce that peter township high school class of two thousand and fourteen graduated ladies and gentlemen this concludes our graduation ceremony we thank you for a tendon we attending we wish our graduates much success for the future we wish you a safe travels home thank you