BHS holds 125th graduation
BUTLER TWP — “Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to great places! You're off and away!”
With the graduation theme of Dr. Seuss' “Oh, the Places You'll Go!” in mind, 555 Butler High School seniors commenced at the school's 125th annual graduation ceremony Thursday evening.
“It's definitely more relevant than 'The Cat in the Hat,'” said Joseph Greaves, an honor student with distinction who spoke during the ceremony. “... It's the journey, not the destination, that you'll enjoy the most.”
While there are proverbial bumps in the road, what's most important is to keep trying.
There was one of those bump just before graduation as officials switched the ceremony from outside to in the gymnasium because of thunder and threatening dark clouds.
Alexis Miller, another honor student who spoke, reflected on a recent road trip she took with a friend, and how the ride there was more fun than the destination. She thinks life should be looked at in a similar way.
“There are no wrong roads to take, as long as we keep going,” she told her classmates.
In the minutes before walking, Jessica Dawes helped her friend Chancellor Werner tie his bow tie. A friend's phone displayed step-by-step directions.
Dawes, who said she was “so excited” to graduate, was dressed in a National Guard uniform. Carefully using her fingers, she swooped the bow tie fabric back and forth to make a proper knot.
She completed basic training last summer, and for a year and a half beginning in July she'll be stationed at Fort Gordon, Ga.“I'm going to miss all the people here,” Werner said, trying to keep still for her.The ceremony Thursday night seemed to be a surreal experience for some.“It doesn't really seem real. It feels like just another day,” said Devin Rodgers, who will attend Butler County Community College this fall. “Most of the kids you don't see anymore after this.”Abbey Murdick and Cassie Nading said it will be friends and teachers who they'll miss most.“I have mixed feelings about it. I'm excited to be done, but I can't believe it's over,” Nading said, who will attend Lock Haven University next school year.The fresh graduates also marked the end of an era at the school district — wrapping up a year before five out of 11 elementary schools close and grades are reconfigured this fall.“I'm so thankful that we didn't have to change anything,” Murdick said, who will study criminology at California (Pa.) University. “It's nice getting the individual attention with class sizes now.”Several students also had concerns about whether sophomores, juniors and seniors could all fit into one building.“It's going to be so packed next year,” said Ally Burchett, who will study pre-nursing at BC3.Hayden Huff, who overall is “so pumped” to graduate, said he watched a video passed around by his friends of the last bus to pull out from Meridian Elementary School, his first alma mater.“It was rough,” Huff said, who's also going to BC3 next year. “So many good memories at that elementary school.”He cherishes friendships he made while at Meridian — he's remained friends with many of those same people throughout high school.“Shout out to the 482 crew,” he said referring to many Meridian phone numbers that begin with those digits.Brandon Ragland, who attended the culinary program at the Butler Vocational Technical School and has plans to attend culinary school at Indiana (Pa.) University, said he's thankful that his elementary alma mater, Emily Brittain, will remain open.“My little brother goes there now,” Ragland said. “And I'd rather have him go there.”However, Rodgers feels differently about the whole consolidation process.“Environments always change. People always adapt,” he said.Looking forward, after all, is what most students were focused on.To quote another stanza from “Oh, the Places You'll Go!”:“Will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.) Kid, you'll move mountains.”
