On Thursday, June 22, the Tuckahoe High School senior class walked across the steps of the school for the last time to receive its diplomas.
Friends and family gathered on Sinoway Boulevard to cheer on the 68 graduating seniors from the Class of 2017. Included in the audience were members of the Class of 1967, who sat in the front row.
High school Principal Dr. Bart Lineman began the evening with a speech where he encouraged the students to “think critically, behave positively, and feel compassionately.”
Lineman went on to remind students that their success comes from “hard work that creates prosperity.”
Of this year’s senior class, 15 students graduated with honors, and 29 students were inducted into the National Honor Society.
Salutatorian Adrianna Santorelli delivered a speech where she told her classmates that despite the direction their life goes after high school, they should always take time to reflect. She encouraged students to ask themselves, “‘Is this really what I want to be doing?’ and if not, then change it.”
Midway through the ceremony, the graduating seniors delivered roses to their family members in the audience, while Tuckahoe High School’s senior chorus and band performed Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up.”
The final student speech was given by Valedictorian Maria Kyriakakos, who concluded by offering words of encouragement to her classmates.
“I think we now have to say goodbye to being the senior Class of 2017, and hello to our futures. I expect them to be bright,” she said.
