Struthers grads, families go the distance for achievement
By Sean Barron
STRUTHERS
Bob Mitzel was more than happy to travel 1,600 miles to watch Jeremy E. Miller travel about 15 feet.
“I always told him that when he graduates, I’d be here,” Mitzel said in explaining why he and his wife, Terri, drove from their Roswell, N.M., home to see his nephew walk several yards to accept his high school diploma. “I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Miller and 154 other graduates walked the short but significant distance to be handed their diplomas during Struthers High School’s Class of 2012 commencement Sunday afternoon in the Struthers Memorial Fieldhouse.
Mitzel, who retired from working in the food industry, added that he expects a bright and promising future for Miller.
Part of that future includes entering the Pittsburgh Technical Institute on July 18 to study multimedia technology. Miller’s career goals are web design and video editing, he noted.
“I’ve always been into art, but I want to design something everyone will see, and web design lets me do that,” he explained.
For now, though, Miller is grateful for friends he’s made at Struthers High and seemed content to cherish the many positive memories associated with his four years of high school.
Also thankful to friends and family is Laura M. Miller, who plans to spend four years at the Mahoning County Career & Technical Center to study horticulture, hospitality management, computer graphics and multimedia.
Miller, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, said she hasn’t allowed her disease to slow her down. Her summer plans include being with family, continuing with certain strengthening exercises and traveling, though she doesn’t have a destination in mind, she continued.
“I want to say congratulations to my family for helping me throughout the years and being there for me,” Miller said as her sisters, Carol-Ann Miller and Joy Miller, stood by her. “[And] congratulations to the Class of 2012.”
Addressing the audience and fellow grads were Ellie M. Bodnar, Marsha L. Drabenstadt, Nicholas W. Gigax, Sarah Lofaro, Jordan J. Sapp, Emily Shipley and Christian J. Walker, seven of the class’s 12 valedictorians.
The other five were Natalie M. Agnone, Hannah J. Dubec, Michael A. Kunzer, Jeremy Miller and Zachary L. Shively.
Shipley cried briefly as she ticked off several middle- and high-school memories and expressed gratitude toward friends, family and teachers she said believed in her and her dreams.
Drabenstadt said she’s thankful for friends she met while on the school’s tennis team, adding that she deeply appreciates her mother’s having pushed her to excel in school.
Bodnar, Lofaro and Walker also touched on similar themes.
Citing former basketball superstar Michael Jordan’s initial failures, Sapp told fellow grads about what he sees as a link between failing and being successful.
“Success depends on how you react to failure,” he said.
Samantha J. Basista, senior class president; Kristen M. Fechtel, a 2012 graduate; Mary Ann Meadows, principal; and Robert A. Rostan, superintendent, made additional remarks.