FOXBURG - Seniors at Allegheny-Clarion Valley High School said the small size of the graduating class, 65, made their graduation more than a ritual Thursday evening.

In the crowded hallway before the ceremony, students posed together, laughed at jokes and gave a final thumbs-up sign before marching into the auditorium.

Angela Mazik of St. Petersburg said the class got to be like family in its time together.

For her friend, Molly Lukasavich, it was the school administration that was family. She said the night meant even more to her because her father, Superintendent Patrick Lukasavich, handed her the diploma.

Mazik plans to follow the diploma with another one from the Bradford School in Pittsburgh, where she will study hospitality and travel. Lukasavich will enter Penn State University as an undecided major.

Friends since second grade, Cassidy Best and Jessica Campbell said they grew up like sisters just a block apart in Emlenton. They shared playing cards in homeroom, inside jokes and the anticipation of graduation.

Best said she feared saying goodbye to her small class but looked forward to attending college.

Best and Campbell will both attend Clarion University in the fall. Best plans to study library science, while Campbell will major in psychology and social work.

Not everyone had an immediate plan.

Erin Cooper of Parker looks forward to a relaxing summer while planning her future. She's not sure if that will include further education or a job. Seated in the high school auditorium to cheer for her were her parents, two brothers, grandparents, niece, nephew and boyfriend.

Cooper said the senior year was stressful, especially the state standardized tests and a senior project on the history of her hometown.

Cassandra Morrison of Emlenton said during her valedictorian address that the senior year brought the class closer together.Brian Best of Emlenton, who will attend the Behrend campus of Penn State to study mechanical engineering, said he couldn't explain why the class was without cliques.After the ceremony ended, he stepped out into the parking lot where car windshields proclaimed "Seniors '05 Rock."Best said he didn't feel ready to move on with his life. "But I have to," he added.Cassidy Best and Campbell are ready to move on, but they won't have to go alone. They plan to room together at Clarion.