A-C Valley students sent off Sunday
FOXBURG — Donning blue-and-white caps and gowns, 43 seniors showed a spectrum of emotion as they sat in the gymnasium of Allegheny-Clarion Valley High School for one final time as students Sunday.
Before the ceremony, the graduates rallied with friends in the band room. Photos were taken. Caps were fixed. Smiles shown all around.
Jessica Jordan, wife of secondary Principal William Jordan, helped graduate Mackenna Sherry pin her hat to her hair keeping it in place.
"It’s super exciting,“ Sherry said. ”My friend Cailyn (Shaffer, a fellow graduate) spent the night, and we got ready together.“
Sherry, the daughter of Amanda and Dana Sherry, of Nicholville, plans to attend Edinboro University to study criminal justice.
“I want to help people,” she said.
Trace Forsythe shared a laugh with some friends before the big moment.
“I’m excited for the next chapter in the book of life,” Forsythe said.
Forsythe said he plans to enter the workforce immediately with a dream of owning and operating a catering company.
“I figure if I’m good at something, I might as well start a business with that,” Forsythe said.
Both graduates said their peers will be the part they miss most about attending school.
Sherry said she will miss those cherished friendships.
“Some of these people I might never see again,” she said.
Forsythe said he will never forget his gym class companions.
“It was a good group of guys,” he said. “We had a good time, especially the last week.”
In the crowd, parents, grandparents and other relatives readied their cameras, and some giggled as they remembered their own experiences.
Kathy Shanafelt, grandmother of Darren Shanafelt, said the day was touching as the last of her grandchildren graduated. She said her grandson really buckled down this year, and she sees a bright future for him.
“He made us proud this year,” she said. “He’s doing really well.”
Principal Jordan said he, too, was proud of the class as a whole, and he characterized them with great care.
“They have grit. They have toughness. And, they have great work ethic,” Jordan said. “They are great people.”
Emlenton native Brett Snyder provided the commencement address. Snyder is the senior vice president at GreenBench Companies in Washington, D.C., and has been involved in thousands of building projects that cumulatively involved more than $6 billion.
Snyder told the seniors before he reached such heights, he was where they had been, roaming and causing small bouts of trouble in the halls of Allegheny-Clarion Valley High School.
Just before diplomas reached wanting hands, the senior choir sang “I Lived.” One choir member, graduate, Maxwell Lowrey, grabbed a guitar and played “Time of Your Life.” He dedicated the song to his classmates.
“It’s something unpredictable. But in the end, it’s right. I hope you had the time of your life,” the lyrics said.
