Berwick grads look to the future

BERWICK — Berwick High School sent its biggest graduating class into the grown-up world Thursday. Young women led the way.
Eight girls, all with perfect 4.0 grade point averages, were Berwick’s valedictorians.
One of them is Gabrielle Adams, who is also the class president. Adams talked about lessons learned in elementary and junior high schools. Her own junior high lesson included the day her best friend walked up to introduce herself and say, “I’m deaf.”
“Those three years taught us an incredibly important lesson. That lesson was acceptance …,” Adams said. “It also taught us that it’s OK to be different.”
Not all the experiences were happy. Adams mentioned Dylan Dinger, a classmate who died in January 2015.
“That experience taught us many lessons that we’ll all carry through life,” Adams said. “We learned never to take our friends and family for granted, and to take full advantage of every day and every opportunity that comes our way.
“Dylan would want us to make the most of the lives given to us, and I know that he’s here with us today and will walk across the stage in the hearts of the Class of 2016.”
The other valedictorians were Taylor Bourgeois, Isabella Braus, Madeleine Hover, Vivian Nguyen, Arly Salinas, Katherine Theriot and Chelsea Vining.
The scholarships won by graduating seniors were added up and announced. The leader there was Nguyen, who qualified for more than $72,000 to attend Xavier University.
Principal Buffy Fegenbush told the 140 graduates, who had marched from the high school to the football stadium for the commencement ceremony, that her biggest honor “is to walk you from that building where you’ve spent so much time to the very spot where you now sit.”
The principal said her greatest hope is “that you’ve learned so much more beyond that which is taught in a book. …
“I hope you have learned that hard work pays off. We’ve watched you march in the heat of the summer so that you could perform under the lights on the field. We have watched you practice for hours on end so you could cheer with your teammates after the big win. We have watched you push yourself for that exam score so that you could get that grade you deserve. ….
“I hope you’ve learned that the community truly loves and supports you.”