Schools

Life at Harriton Comes to a Close for 'Spectacular' Class of Rams

The 215 graduates turned their tassels in a Monday night ceremony.

In a 90-minute Monday night commencement ceremony at St. Joseph’s University’s Hagan Arena, 215 Harriton seniors graduated and received their diplomas.

Class of 2011 graduate Elliot Levy, who has won a number of awards in the area for his poetry, kicked off the ceremony with a brief performance.

“You’re probably all wondering why I gathered you here today,” Levy joked.

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Levy reminded his peers they are constantly changing and that it’s important to keep doing so.

He said there are “too many things we’re supposed to do, too many people we’re supposed to meet, too many records we’re supposed to break and too many families we’re supposed to have” to stay in that moment. 

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“Let the world know that we are coming,” he said, eliciting cheers from his classmates. 

Principal Steven Kline said the Class of 2011’s enthusiasm, passion and dedication accounted for their success.

Kline reflected on many of the accomplishments of the Class of 2011, from Harriton’s football team beating Lower Merion’s, to producing 18 National Merit Scholarship students (the national average would be five), to the success of the girls’ tennis and lacrosse teams, to the many Cappie awards earned by Harriton Theater Company’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Techincolor Dreamcoat, to the Science Olympiad team winning its 14th consecutive state championship and placing eighth nationally.

And for the first time since 2006, one student, Sarah Hammer, earned straight As in every class during her four years at Harriton, Kline said.

Lower Merion School Board President David Ebby added to Kline’s praise, noting the school’s Mr. Harriton competition raised more than $7,000 for Hodgkin’s lymphoma research. And while he also commented on the championships Harriton sports and academic teams alike had won, he said their legacy is the influence they’ve had on Harriton underclassmen.

“Class of 2011, you have been spectacular,” Ebby said.

Salutatorian Gregory Kurtzman talked about the importance of confidence, in knowing he doesn’t need medals to validate his achievements, and about the importance of taking risks, which he learned to appreciate in his singing-sign language performance in .

Drawing comparisons from Rebecca Black’s song “Friday” (and laughter from the crowd gathered in Hagan Arena), Kurtzman said they’re looking back at the week and “looking forward to the weekend” or toward the rest of their lives.

“But don’t forget to have some fun, fun, fun, fun,” Kurtzman added, with Black’s lyrics. 

Valedictorian Eli Derrow said he almost wasn’t a part of the Class of 2011, since his preschool teacher questioned whether he was “mature enough for kindergarten.”

When Derrow was learning percussion as a child, a music teacher taught him that the beauty of music lies in the silences, he said. Derrow said that resonated with him and that he still understands the importance of listening to others, especially in a world that’s so tuned in to technology.

Finally, Superintendent Christopher McGinley challenged students to think not just about what they wanted to do but about who they wanted to be. He said he hopes the Class of 2011 can reflect on their common experience and can look forward to many more great experiences.

He encouraged graduates planning on moving away from home for the first time to remember to call their parents and to maybe not bring trash bags full of laundry with them every time they return to visit.

And while many people talk about saying goodbyes, McGinley said his high school best friend is still his best friend and that his senior prom date is now his wife of 30 years.

After the students flipped their tassels and tossed their caps into the air, they gradually began to find their families and friends and pose for pictures in their white or red caps and gowns.

Graduating senior Michael Livornese said the thing he’d miss most about high school were his friends.

“That’s all high school really is—or most of what it is,” Livornese said.

Barclay Walsh, who is attending Penn State, and Andrew McLaughlin, who will go to Drexel, said they’d miss their friends, too.

In addition to their diplomas, graduates also each received a puzzle piece. The puzzle pieces they received had a picture of the old Harriton High School building on one side, Walsh and McLaughlin said. On the other side was a picture of the new building they entered in 2009.

Leni Guez, who plans to go to Drexel University and then to medical school, said she’ll miss her friends and added that it hadn’t quite sunk in yet that high school is over. The ceremony, though, was exactly what she had hoped for.

“It was beautiful,” Guez said. “And funny.”

For more photos of the ceremony, see our .


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