Long Beach High School grads march on

Class of 2015 looks toward the future

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“Take Long Beach with you wherever you go,” valedictorian Maegan Miciotta advised her fellow Long Beach High School graduates. “The spirit of this community is a powerful one, one with a drive for progress and ingenuity. May that spirit guide you and motivate you in your future endeavors. And may there always be a small bit of sand in your shoes.”

Miciotta took the themes of her own speech to heart, beginning it by performing a song she had composed on the ukulele. In it she paid tribute to her family, teachers and friends.

Long Beach High’s class of 2015 celebrated the school’s 92nd annual commencement last Friday. As 325 graduating seniors crossed the stage on Long Beach Middle School’s Veterans Field to accept their diplomas, they began a new chapter of their lives.

The concert band played “Pomp and Circumstance” as the graduates came onto the field, and senior class officers led the Pledge of Allegiance. Members of the wind ensemble and symphonic choir performed the national anthem, and LBHS Principal William Stroud, Board of Education President Darlene Tangney and Superintendent of Schools David Weiss offered their greetings.

“The most remarkable thing about this graduating class is their sense of community,” Stroud said. “This is a highly diverse group that embraces each other’s unique qualities and pulls together in work, school and friendship.”

He offered the graduates some advice, encouraging them to be kind to others and themselves, to be safe, to participate fully, to take care of their environment and to remember that they are not alone.

“Continue to set goals, and know that they will be attainable,” said Tangney. “Today is the day for us to celebrate who you are now and who you will be as adults.”

Weiss told the graduates, “You have to trust that all you have learned from school, from your family [and] from your community will allow you to connect the dots in your future and make a mark on the world.”

This year’s senior class included 67 International Baccalaureate diploma candidates, two National Hispanic Recognition Scholars, a National Merit Finalist and a National Achievement Scholar. Over 90 percent of graduates received a regents diploma or better.

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