Long Beach High School graduates march on

“We have reached this milestone by meeting each challenge and building our strengths,” Eric Ricci, the class of 2017’s valedictorian, told his fellow graduates. “We can look toward the future confident, and that much more empowered, because of our experiences here.”

Long Beach High held its 94th annual commencement ceremony last Friday, and 327 seniors received their diplomas and turned a page to a new chapter of their lives.

As the concert band played “Pomp and Circumstance,” graduates strode into the high school gym. To kick off the commencement, Principal Jeffrey Myers, who has been at the school for a year, spoke of how much he enjoyed the class and described himself as the “class of 2017 fan club.” He advised the graduates to take Long Beach with them wherever they go.

“Realize that the word commencement actually means beginning,” Myers said. “Your commencement today symbolizes the beginning of a new era, where you will all encounter new challenges, meet new people, learn new things, have new successes and new failures. Face these challenges head-on and show your true Long Beach colors. You are part of a community that does not believe in the word failure. Nothing is impossible.”

“You have embraced the diversity of our school and community in all its dimensions,” Superintendent David Weiss told the seniors. “You have encouraged students who were not as able as you to succeed, because you truly care, and so many of you have learned the importance of community after Superstorm Sandy. You inspire us, and I wish you all the best, as I know that you will continue to shine in the years ahead.”

Co-salutatorians Megan Sofield, who will attend Georgetown University in the fall, and Kelly DiResto, who will move on to Stevens Institute of Technology, looked back on their years at Long Beach High and spoke of the class’s unity and strength.

“Part of our journey at Long Beach High School involved taking on new experiences in order to grow as individuals,” Sofield said, “while, perhaps without even realizing it, understanding the importance of learning from every new experience.”

DiResto and Sofield focused on the network of support the class of 2017 has built, comparing it to a performance they co-choreographed in their International Baccalaureate Dance class, synchronizing their movements and relying on each other for support. “We built networks of trust, community and support that gave us a great foundation for the future,” Sofield said, “just as the lesson in weight-sharing gave us the foundation for our piece and proved the importance of trust and support.”

DiResto told a story about a pep rally at the school, at which a friend failed to rouse the crowd to cheer. She emphasized her classmates’ persistence, and how they always pick themselves up after a failure.

“All of us have faced disappointment and failure, but it is how we cope and rise up that makes the difference,” DiResto said. “The class of 2017 is successful because we know we can fall and fail, but we also know we will rise and learn from our difficulties. We can deal with failure or disappointment gracefully, because we know these experiences are temporary.”

This year’s graduating class included 43 International Baccalaureate diploma recipients, and more than 150 seniors earned advanced diplomas, 49 of them with honors. Nearly 90 percent of the graduates will attend college.

Members of the Board of Education and administration were also on hand for the presentation of diplomas. School board President Stewart Mininsky spoke of how the effort and determination that seniors showed over the past four years set them up for a successful future.

“You entered as wide-eyed freshmen, and are leaving as proud young men and women,” Mininsky said. “You should take pride in how far you’ve come and think of how far you can go. If you believe in yourself, you will be unstoppable. May your dreams stay big and your worries stay small.”

The graduates’ success through the years shows the impact they will have in the future, senior class President Sean Reilly said. “It feels like mere moments ago we were freshman being chased down the halls,” he said. “We made it here — although there were bumps in the road and three or so principals, we made it here. I can’t wait to see what change we bring to this world and what we are going to do to improve the state of our nation.”

Ricci will attend the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he will study chemical engineering, in the fall, but he said he was reluctant to leave the friendships he has formed over the past four years.

“It’s a bittersweet feeling leaving high school, because I loved it so much and I was always so close to my friends,” he said. “But I am excited to go to college and meet new people and have the whole experience.”