Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
CASH grads ‘destined to do great work’
490 graduating seniors described as class ‘full of tenacity’
CALN » Coatesville Area Senior High graduates gathered at their football field on a sunny Thursday evening, while their friends and family cheered them on from the bleachers, for the school district’s 140th commencement ceremony.
CASH Principal Michele Snyder congratulated the 490 graduating seniors in the Class of 2018, and described them as an “exceptional class who has a very bright future ahead.”
Snyder also commended parents for helping their children reach this point.
“This night marks a turning point in their lives as well as yours … change is on the horizon,” she said.
Valedictorian Dana Harvey also thanked family and friends for supporting all the graduates, as well as the teachers for serving as “inspirational role models to us all.”
Harvey congratulated her fellow graduates and wished them success, as their experiences at Coatesville have prepared them for what’s next.
“I for one, as I’m sure all of you are, am proud to be a graduate of Coatesville ... despite our reputation based off misperceptions and assumptions,” she said. “I wouldn’t have rather attended any other school the past four years, as Coatesville has more than prepared us for our future endeavors.
“The rich diversity here has positively impacted our outlook on the world and influences us to make a change.”
Coatesville Area School District Superintendent Cathy Taschner said the graduates are destined to do great work.
“Whether by choice or by chance, you will impact someone’s life,” she said.
Taschner mentioned a quote by author Jim Rohn: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
She encouraged graduates to surround themselves with people who will support them and inspire them to achieve great things.
“Recruit your five like your life depends on it, because in many ways it does,” she said.
Commencement speaker William “Lliam” Shaw said he wanted to have a personal talk with his classmates after getting through “cliché” commencement remarks.
“A graduating class, to me, is a special bond. A group. A union. Dare I say, a graduating class is a family,” he said.
Shaw recounted fond memories shared with classmates and noted that this class stands out because of its ability to fight back against its issues and problems, rather than sitting there and taking the punches.
“One way I could describe this class is full of tenacity,” he said. “To have tenacity is to have the quality of persistence and determination, and I can tell everyone firsthand that tenacity is most certainly something that we, as a class, aren’t lacking in.”
Shaw used his own long hair as an example of tenacity. He said he had been tempted to cut it in the past, just as he’d been tempted to give up on his activities and responsibilities because it seemed like too much to handle. But he kept his hair long as a physical reminder to keep pushing forward
and never give up, he said.
However, Shaw said “we’re all moving onto bigger things, and our reminders to keep pushing, while still nice to have, aren’t as important anymore, because this school has ingrained the desire to keep pushing in to our brains.”
He then removed his graduation cap and surprised everyone by revealing he had cut his hair short.
Shaw congratulated his classmates on climbing their first big hill together, and noted that their shared experiences will enable them to continue climbing the “mountain range we call life.”
“Class of 2018, I’m going to miss you all,” Shaw said. “I’ll miss the memories that we all shared and tenacity we all grew, together, as a family.
“But that’s okay because, much like the Force, they’re still with me. And they’ll always be with me. And they’ll always be with you too.”