Congratulations to the more than 110 seniors who began their journey into adulthood with last evening’s 56th Commencement at Bellwood-Antis High School.
Hundreds of friends and family, teachers, faculty members and administrators joined at Bellwood-Memorial Stadium to honor the Class of 2003.
Following a standing ovation, the audience joined the class in listening to the welcome by senior Steve Crider.
“We have finally made it,” he said. Those five simple words summed up the entire evening.
Christopher Skibo, valedictorian for the Class of 2003, offered words of encouragement to his class. He explained the difficulties and challenges the class has already overcome, and offered advice on how to possibly handle the future ones.
Danielle Patton, the class’s vice-president, introduced guest speaker Ret. Lt. Col. Samuel Enfield, a 1956 BAHS grad.
Enfield was the first BAHS graduate to attend Westpoint Military Academy, where he graduated in 1961. He joined the army that same year and worked from infantry officers to lt. colonel. He retired at that rank in 1984. Afterwhich, he worked in the private sector as a systems analyst.
Enfield discussed the importance of being diligent in the quest for knowledge. He told the class that as long as they learn a little each day, the sky will be the limit.
“You all should just allocate a little time every day to learn,” he said.
He offered three tips of advice.
First, he said the develop competitive work skills. He said to choose the skills that will still be needed in the long-term. College, vocational studies, on-the-job training, volunteer work and military – al, he said would offer that initial step.
Second, he said to learn to use computers.
“And not just for e-mail and to surf the web,” he said.
He said learning computer programming and other systems functions is essential in today’s job markets.
But he also said, as his third snippet of advice, that to “be informed beyond computers.”
He said it will take more than computer skills to succeed.
Following the presentation of academic awards by high school principal Mike Sakash, Salutatorian Jaclyn Davis offered her words on what the future holds for the class.
Her speech mimicked Lt. Col. Enfield.
“The willingness to learn is the key,” said Davis, emphasizing that success isn’t just born in a classroom or on a computer. “College does not lead to success, life-long learning does.”
She also encouraged classmates to become more involved in their communities.
Retiring school district Superintendent Rodney Kuhns commended the class on their achievements, noting it was the highest ranking academic achieving class in the last 14 years at BAHS.
He said 37 percent of the graduating class were on the Honor Roll this year; that BAHS seniors scored 16 points higher than the national average and 39 points higher than the state average on the Scholastic Aptitude Test; and that 14 seniors scored 1200 or higher on the SAT.
He also mentioned conference championships for the baseball team and the boys’ and girls’ track teams and the district champion Blue Devil basketball team.
“It’s easy to talk about excellence,” he said.
Kuhns noted that 75 percent of the graduates planned to further their education; 19 percent will enter the workforce; and six percent will enter into the military.
Following the receiving of diplomas, the students, led by Class President Steve Crider, turned their tassel from the right to the left, threw their hats in the air, and began the next chapter of their lives.
