Class of 2015 walks the stage
B-A says farewell to 108 seniors, including 20 who graduated with honors
B-A bid farewell to the lass of 2015 on June 5 with its 77th annual commencement ceremony.
June 9, 2015
“Back Home” by Andy Grammer is the tune the Bellwood-Antis graduates of 2015 chose as their class song.
Considering the general theme the speakers at the 77th annual commencement ceremonies on June 5 chose for their remarks, the song selection was quite appropriate.
B-A said farewell to 108 seniors, including 20 who graduated with honors.
Melissa (Tyler) Lovrich, who graduated with honors in 1990, was the guest speaker. The overflow crowd assembled in the Richard Bower Auditorium also heard speeches delivered by Valedictorian Jeremy Wilson, Salutatorian Jacqueline Finn, Class of 2015 President Dallas Huff, Principal Richard Schreier, Superintendent Dr. Thomas McInroy, and Board President Steve Winterstein. Diploma recipients were called by Assistant Principal Cathy Adams.
In her remarks to the graduating class, Ms. Lovrich, who is the controller for locally owned and operated Imler’s Poultry – overseeing a company that recently did more than $100 million in sales – told this year’s seniors that they, like her, are a part of many teams. Her teammates, she said, included her family growing up as a child, her teammates and classmates at Bellwood-Antis, her community at Penn State University, her co-workers at Imler’s, and her husband and two daughters.
She reminded the class of the teams they have been a part of at B-A and challenged them to make their mark on the world as part of the new teams they will join in the coming years.
She also told the seniors they would always be welcome when they come back home to Bellwood-Antis, and noted that there are many opportunities to make a significant impact in your own community as she has done throughout her career.
In her remarks, Finn noted the sense of community she felt attending Bellwood-Antis, a place where she said she was proud to say she knew and recognized all of the faces of her senior class when she walked through the hallways.
Wilson said that he couldn’t have asked for a better community to spend his school years with, and he recognized many of the groups found at Bellwood-Antis individually, from scholars, to athletes, to musicians, and those headed to the military. He sent the class off with a quote from the Grammer song, saying he hopes that the group can always find its way back home.
Dr. McInroy told the class to rely on the three things in this world they can be sure of – God, country, and family, while Mr. Schreier thanked the class for making his first year as principal a memorable one. Mr. Schreier told the class he has actually known them much longer than they might think because not only did he work with them as a teacher in middle school, but his wife Gwen was their second grade teacher in 2004-2005 when she was a long-term substitute at Myers Elementary.
Dr. McInroy and Mr. Shreier also announced a special way in which the Class of 2015 made a bit of history. Prior to the ceremony, the class hung a a formal class picture that featured the class in caps and gowns as well as head shots of the class officers in auditorium lobby near the ramp. It is something both Dr. McInroy and Mr. Schreier said they would like to become a Bellwood-Antis tradition.
Huff opened and closed the program in his typically boisterous fashion. After addressing the class in his welcoming speech he led Blue Devil Nation on one final train ride before initiating the group’s “I Believe” chant after the turn of the tassels. In between, Huff said that it would be difficult for him to leave Bellwood, a place he called “a little slice of heaven.”
Senior members of the Bellwood-Antis choir, led by choral director Ms. Beth Hull, sang “Homeland” and “Like An Eagle,” while seniors Isaac Mills, Emily Estright and Alayna Roberts sang “Find Us Faithful.”
Following the ceremony members of the Class of 2015 posed for pictures with their families and were were greeted by 20 members of the high school and middle school faculty who took part in the activities.
