Class of 2015 includes 176 East High graduates

By Denise Dick

denise_dick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

For Tyrell Jefferson and Catarah Eley, Friday’s East High School commencement was bittersweet.

“I’m happy,” said Catarah. “It’s a big accomplishment. It’s been 12 years.”

“We finally made it after 12 years,” Tyrell added. “More than 12 years because of preschool.”

At the same time, they’ll miss the friends they’ve made along the way and the good times they had while in high school, they said.

For Catarah, her sophomore year was the best.

“Everyone was together,” she said. “There was no bullying, and everyone was together.”

For Tyrell, the past three years were the best. Like Catarah, the class’s togetherness during those years made them stand out.

Both are among the 176 members of the East High School Class of 2015 who participated in Friday’s commencement ceremony at Stambaugh Auditorium. The ceremony included students from Choffin Career and Technical Center.

Next year, Tyrell plans to study electrical engineering at Youngstown State University. He wants to pursue a career in robotics.

“I like finding out how things work,” he said.

Catarah plans to attend either the University of Akron or the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. She plans to be a registered nurse.

Reginald Allen, senior class president, urged his fellow graduates to remember the good times from high school but to move on to the future.

“Class of 2015, this is our end to a whole new beginning,” he said.

William “Guy” Burney, coordinator of Youngstown’s Community Initiative to Reduce Violence, delivered the keynote address.

He urged the graduates not to allow their fear to hold them back.

“Fear does two things,” he said. “The first thing is it paralyzes you. It makes you not do anything.”

Secondly, it causes people to behave out of character, Burney said.

“Don’t be afraid because you’re the first to go to college,” the speaker said. “Don’t be afraid because you’re leaving. Courage is the ability to stand when everyone else is seated. Courage is the ability to speak when everyone else is silent.”

Ka-Luv Cummins and Kasheara Abron, two more new graduates, both plan to attend YSU next year.

Kasheara will major in criminal justice. She wants to be a forensic science technician. Ka-Luv will study business management with plans to be a business executive.

Kasheara won’t miss anything about high school, she said.

Both young women said they’re happy to be graduating.

“I’m happy for us but sad for our friends who aren’t graduating,” Ka-Luv said.