Commencement exercises Sunday for 46 graduates

by Peter Jakey-Managing Editor

Forty-six Onaway High School seniors will wind up their high school careers this weekend with their commencement ceremony Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.

 

ONAWAY HIGH School’s Class of 2014 will be led into Sunday’s commencement exercise by its top ranking students which include, front from left, valedictorians Mariah Ehrke, Sara Fullerton and Emily Glass. In the back are honor student Sarah Marsh and salutatorian Jordan McKenzie. The ceremony begins at 2 p.m. (Photo by Richard Lamb)

The traditional playing of “Pomp and Circumstance,” ushering the graduates into the OHS gymnasium, will be played by the high school band led by Jennifer Smercina to begin the ceremony.

Principal Marty Mix will welcome friends and family, while interim superintendent Rod Fullerton will deliver opening remarks.

Additionally, the Class of 1964, the first to receive their diplomas in the current school building when it opened during the winter of 1963-64, will be acknowledged.

The Class of 2014’s top five students will then proceed to the podium for their graduation speeches, starting with honor student Sarah Marsh and salutatorian Jordan McKenzie. They will be followed by co-valedictorians Mariah Ehrke, Sara Fullerton and Emily Glass.

The itinerary will continue with th

e high school band selections, including a graduation ceremony staple, “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

That will be followed by graduation recommendations and the presentation of the Class of 2014.

Elise Arkwood, 2015 class president, will read the names of the graduates before each one proceeds up the stairs to the stage to receive his and her diplomas from members of the board of education.

The event will be capped with a slide show and the turning of the tassels. That’s when it usually gets a little crazy in front of the stage with the celebration that has been 13 years in the making.