ADAMS TWP — Pride and potential shone on the faces of 238 graduates Thursday night at the Mars High School commencement ceremony.

Students, clad in dark blue caps and gowns, milled about and took selfies in the cafeteria as their smiling families streamed into the auditorium on the warm, sunny evening.

“I'm excited to move forward in life and go on to college,” said Kendall Angeletti of Mars.

Angeletti will attend High Point University in the fall as an events manager major. She named Darcy Silbaugh as a Mars teacher who inspired her during her 13 years at Mars.

“She is a really fun teacher, and I liked all of her classes,” Angeletti said.

She also appreciates the support of her parents as she grew and changed from kindergarten to high school.

“I'm very thankful for them, and happy they get to see me accomplish this big step in my life,” Angeletti said.

Nick Pecora of Adams Township, who spent all of his 13 school years at Mars, grasped the gravity of graduation on Thursday night.

“It's kind of bittersweet, because it's the last time we'll all be together,” he said.

He said teacher Tammi Redmond helped shape the course of his life.

“She inspired me to have a passion for music and get involved in music education,” said Pecora, who will study that subject at Northwestern University in the fall.

Courtney McKinnis of Middlesex Township is also a native of the school district.

“I'm excited,” she said. “I'm finally done after 13 years.”

She said Diane Iman is a teacher she will always remember.

“She is very helpful and student oriented when she teaches,” McKinnis said.

She will study accounting at Robert Morris University in the fall.

Jordan Elder said the idea of graduation hadn't set in yet as he chatted with friends before preparing for the long walk up the aisle at the auditorium.

“I'm ready to move on to other things,” he said.

Elder, who will enroll this fall in the electrical technician program at Rosedale Tech, said Jason Walter is his most memorable Mars teacher.

“We related easily to each other,” he said.

As they waited backstage before the ceremony began, the Mars administrators and school board members wished all the best for the graduates.

“It's another great class from Mars Area High School,” said principal Todd Kolson. “We have high expectations for them as they move to the next chapter of their lives.”

School board member Christine Valenta said the entire board is proud of the students and certain they will be successful.

“This is a truly momentous occasion for the students and their families,” Valenta said.

Acting Superintendent William Pettigrew agreed.

“We wish the Class of 2015 the best in all their future endeavors, and we are proud that they graduated from Mars,” he said.

In his speech during the ceremony, senior Brendan Knox said his class was the first to receive district-issued laptop computers, saw half of the seniors earn a 3.5 grade point average or higher, and was the eighth-grade graduating class that made middle school principal Rich Cornell cry.

“We would not change these 13 years for anything,” Knox said.

Speaker Morgan Herold thanked the parents in the audience for their selfless work in helping the students as they grew and learned from kindergarten to commencement.

She said her parents volunteered with flash cards in early math classes, chaperoned dances, badgered her about academics, and happily sat through her two-hour eighth-grade graduation.

“Thank you, parents, for sending us off to kindergarten 13 years ago and watching us get on the bus as you cried,” Herold said.

After the school board presented diplomas and Pettigrew officially pronounced the Mars High School Class of 2015 graduated, the students switched over their tassels and officially moved into the adult world.