GRADUATION GRATIFICATION

June 9, 2014 at 12:05a.m.

Canfield speakers stress importance of kindness

CANFIELD

Mallory Allen and Christopher Halley were excited to be chosen to speak during commencement exercises at Canfield High School on Sunday, but neither particularly cares whether they’re remembered for their remarks at the podium.

Instead, both said they’d rather be remembered for what they did in the years leading up to that point.

“I hope more than anything that people remember me as a friendly person who was kind to people,” said Allen. “I don’t care whether they remember that I spoke at graduation. I just hope they remember me as someone who was a friend.”

Halley’s thoughts were nearly identical.

“I want them to remember me as a kind person who was always looking to help others,” he said. “That’s what’s most important to me.”

Allen and Halley were among more than 230 students who received diplomas Sunday afternoon, marking the end of their high school careers at Canfield High. Commencement traditionally occurs in the football stadium, but was driven indoors to the auditorium due to rainy weather.

Student speeches at graduation are generally given by the valedictorian and salutatorian. But beginning this year, Canfield no longer bestows those titles on its graduates, switching instead to the Latin-based cum-laude honors system that is used in colleges.

Any senior whose grade-point average placed cum laude or higher was invited to submit a brief speech to be considered for a commencement address. The 11 speeches submitted were judged by a panel of faculty, with Allen and Halley ultimately being chosen to speak.

“I feel really honored to be one of the people chosen to speak to our class,” said Allen, 18. “I feel like I’m a person who can represent or relate to everyone in our class, not just the highest-ranking or the smartest, but everyone.”

Her speech was about “seizing the moment,” and realizing that the graduates’ next four years will fly by as quickly as their high school years. Allen will study biomedical engineering at the Ohio State University, although she’s unsure what career path she eventually will follow.

She said her family has been her biggest influence, and her faith in God is what lifted her in times of struggle.

“It helped me to realize that some problems just really weren’t all that big or important,” she said.

Halley, 18, will major in mechanical engineering at the University of Akron, where he’s looking forward to new challenges and later wake-up calls.

“In high school, it was more difficult to get up early every morning and do the same thing every day for four years,” he said, laughing. “Waking up early was never my thing.”

Halley said he didn’t discover a passion for public speaking until he joined the school’s speech and debate team as a junior. That’s what spurred him to toss his hat into the ring as a prospective graduation speaker.

A mission trip to Jamestown, N.Y., a year ago with others from Western Reserve United Methodist Church is what helped Halley see the light about how much he enjoys helping others.

Alisha Boykin, who turned 18 Saturday, said she was excited to leave high school, but sad to be leaving her friends behind, realizing that they will eventually drift apart and lose touch.

But she is looking forward to making new friends and memories at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she will major in mass media and communications.

“I hope [people] remember that I was energetic and that I was friends with a lot of people,” said Boykin, who said she was involved in several clubs and activities at Canfield High.

“When you don’t get involved, then you don’t meet a lot of people,” she said, noting that she was in all of the school’s musical productions during her four years. Her favorite show was “Beauty and the Beast.”

While many of his classmates are off to college, Nick Donofrio said he’s going into the trades, beginning an apprenticeship in the fall with Electricians Local 64.

“I went to the Mahoning County Careeer and Technical Center for the electrical program,” said Donofrio, 19. “I liked it, and so I just stuck with it.”

He spent last summer doing electrical work for Joe Dickey Electric and realized that he’d like to make it a career. He had to apply and interview to be accepted into the apprenticeship program.

“After five years, I’ll have my journeyman’s card and then I can pretty much go anywhere in the country to work, so I’ve got some time to think about where I want to go,” he said.

Principal John Tullio said the Class of 2014 is a group of hard workers and achievers.

“They’re a good class and I’m proud of them,” Tullio said. “They’ve set the bar for the next class.”