DALLAS — With just 45 minutes of her senior year remaining, Mandy Good stood in the Dallas High School gym with 197 of her classmates reflecting on her past and future.
“I’m looking forward to moving on and I’m going to miss my friends and some of the people that I’ve met here, but this is just a small chapter of my life,” Good said just prior to the start of commencement ceermonies for the Dallas High School Clas of 2019 on June 14. “I’m looking forward to going to Syracuse and getting my biology degree so I can start the rest of my journey.”
Good will attend Syracuse University in the fall were she will be on a pre-med track with her goal to become a dermatologist.
“It’s been exciting; I’ve had sad moments, happy moments and you learn to appreciate the small things more, like meeting my friend for the last time at lunch,” Good added. “You realize that it’s the last time for everything and appreciate things more.”
Good isn’t the only one looking to move on with the majority of her classmates attending higher education institutions as noted in the back of the graduation program. A handful of graduates are undecided, a few have chosen the military and some are going into the workforce.
Nicole Jacobs, Student Council president, was the first featured speaker during the ceremony as she reflected over the class’s years from junior high through senior year.
“You just don’t realize how fast time flies until you’re thinking about yesterday but you realize that yesterday was eight months ago,” Jacobs said. “We made it through every good and bad yesterday and not only because of the support of those who are here in the bleachers tonight, but because of each other.”
Superintendent Dr. Thomas Duffy boasted on the class of 2019’s accomplishments during his graduation remarks.
“The class includes, over 80 students who have completed AP courses who accumulated 144 college credits as high school students; seven members of the class of 2019 earned GPAs of over 100 and overall have an average of 1060 on the SATs,” Duffy said. “This is a class that includes a National Merit Scholar and team members of the 2019 state champion and nationally recognized Life Smarts and Knowledge Bowl teams, as well as FBLA state winners and national-level participants.”
Duffy went on to acknowledge the class’s athletic accomplishments, including district championships in girls soccer, golf, boys swimming, baseball and individual accomplishments in district wrestling, shot put, diving, cross country and swim champions.
Duffy also noted a PMEA all-state vocalist who participated in the national honors choir.
“The class of 2019 has been accepted to over 30 different nationally recognized colleges, universities and technical schools,” Duffy said.
During his speech, Duffy asked that members of the Class of 2019 stand and applaud and congratulate members of their families in the bleachers.
The superintendent asked the graduating class to reflect on their time at Dallas High School and to recognize upon receiving their diploma they are joining thousands of other graduates who make up the Dallas High School alumni where many have gone on to do great things in life. They will be a part of D-Nation, he said.
Salutatorian Raymond Perez thanked his parents, teachers and students.
“Throughout my four years at Dallas High School, I’ve learned one thing,” Perez said. “Friends make life a little easier and life more bearable. I’d like to give one last round of applause to our support systems — teachers, friends, mentors, coaches, parents and everyone who made this day possible.”
In his farewell speech, class president Eric Weiss equated high school to boarding an airplane for flight, citing teachers as the pilots.
“We must take what we’ve learned here and move forward,” Weiss said. “Life is, for the most part, only experienced relatively. Like a flight, we only acknowledge when the plane starts to take off and eventually when it starts to land, leaving the majority of the flight underappreciated and unnoticed.”
“I call upon each of us as we transition into the next phase in our lives to live in the moment, taking the time to appreciate the people around us and the memories we make with them,” Weiss added. “Our next flights are departing soon; it’s time to get started to board. However, I urge everyone here to not only focus on the main takeoffs and touchdowns of your next flight, but truly take advantage of the time you spend in the air.”