Graduation 2025: 'A very impressive group'
Roll out the pomp and dust off the circumstance: Beginning today at 6 p.m., approximately 721 young adults will graduate at high schools across Crawford County as Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 fills stadiums, auditoriums and gymnasiums with the sounds of stately elegance.
The festivities begin with the three PENNCREST School District high schools, all of which have their indoor ceremonies at 6.
'They are a very impressive group,' Principal Erica Howick said of the 73 graduates at Saegertown Junior-Senior High. 'They're just generally nice kids — they work hard, try hard and support each other. ... They made this year very easy.'
Approximately 80 seniors will mark their symbolic entry into the 'real world' of adulthood as they cross the stage in the gymnasium at Maplewood Junior-Senior High, where Principal Dana Mason is wrapping up his first year at the school.
Describing them as easy to work with and 'always happy to see you,' Mason will be sorry to see the seniors move on.
'I was overwhelmingly impressed with the reception they gave me and the way they treated me as a newcomer to their building their last year of school,' he said Wednesday. 'They could've been cold to me and could have wished that my predecessor was still here for their last year, but you would have never guessed that I was the new guy in the building. They were very welcoming.'
At Cambridge Springs Junior-Senior High, 51 seniors will begin the day in their regalia as they walk to the school down Venango Avenue, with family, friends and community members lining the street. In the evening, the excitement moves to the auditorium for the graduation ceremony.
The school is a busy place this week, according to Principal Kylene Koper, as staff members are working in the background to transfer nearly everything movable in the building into the gym by Friday in preparation for another summer of extensive renovations.
Like the school itself, Koper said on Tuesday, the soon-to-be graduates are mostly ready.
'I always miss the kids once they leave. Certain kids,' she continued, 'it is definitely different without them in the building, but because we're so small, many find their way back to visit or help out in other areas. Like yesterday at the softball game — you'll see tons of graduated kids at those type of things.'
A little later this evening, about 147 seniors will graduate at the Conneaut Area Senior High (CASH) football field.
The 7:30 start time for the CASH ceremony has a lot to do with the outdoor setting.
'Basically, it's about the sun being in everyone's face if we do it outside,' Principal Ed Pietroski said. 'The 7:30 start time gets the sun over the tree line better.'
The event is just as fantastic inside, he added, but if inclement weather seems a possibility, a final decision on location will be postponed as late as possible.
Like the seniors who will receive their diplomas, 2025 marks the fourth year at CASH for both Pietroski and his fellow principal Matt Vannoy.
'They're a special group for Mr. Vannoy and myself — our first year at CASH was this graduating group's freshman year,' Pietroski said. 'They're the first group that's gone through with us a full four years. That's always a group you remember.'
An emphasis during those four years has been to offer multiple pathways that allow students to prepare for life after high school, according to Pietroski.
'It's a group that is going to do a lot of really great things as they move on with their lives,' he said.
On Friday, the ceremonies continue at 6 p.m. in the county's southeastern corner, where 133 Titusville High seniors will graduate at Carter Field. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will shift to the gymnasium.
At the same time in Meadville, approximately 173 seniors will graduate at Bender Field.
Concerns about the weather are Principal John Higgins' biggest source of stress in the countdown to the big event.
'You can't trust this northwest PA weather,' he said. A final call on the location for the event will be posted by 4 p.m. today, he added. If a move inside is necessary, the ceremony will take place in the gym.
'We're hoping to keep it outside — if you could say a prayer for us,' he added with an eye on a forecast that had dropped from a 75 percent chance of rain to a 60 percent chance. 'We've got our fingers crossed.'
Whatever the location, Higgins was optimistic about a group of students he described as 'resilient' and ready for the challenges they will face.
'They're going to surprise us,' he said. 'They're going to change the way we do things.'
Crawford County graduation season winds up with a 7 p.m. start in the gymnasium at Cochranton Junior-Senior High, where 64 seniors are expected to cross the stage to collect their diplomas.
It's a moment years in the making that often can't seem to arrive quickly enough for those about to don their mortarboards. Some who have seen these moments play out numerous times, however, suspect that it won't be long before nostalgia sets in.
'It's always nice to be able to reconnect and see how adult life is treating them,' Koper, the Cambridge Springs principal, said of recent grads. 'They're always like, 'You were right, we should've not tried to grow up so fast. High school was better than adulthood.' And I go, 'Yeah, I told you that.''
The lesson learned is one that might be appropriate for a commencement address.
'You think it's so bad when you're in high school,' Koper continued. 'Your whole life you want to grow up, but then when you grow up, you wish you could go back to being a kid.'
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