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Struthers’ commencement is a family affair
By Justin Wier
STRUTHERS
Board of Educa- tion President Ron Shives presented 137 diplomas to Struthers High School students Sunday afternoon, but the first one meant a little more than the others.
After an extended hug, he handed it to his daughter Karli.
When he was considering running for school board, Shives said the possibility of sharing that moment with his daughter was one thing he took into account. It was everything he imagined it would be.
“I was speechless,” Ron Shives said. “I was shaking. It’s like I was the one receiving the diploma.”
His daughter was also at a loss. “It’s indescribable,” Karli said. “There are no words.”
Shives was one of three co-valedictorians in Struthers’ Class of 2017. She was also a co-class president, and she received a scholarship from Ohio State University, where she intends to study biology as a pre-med student.
In a speech to her classmates, Karli said attending Struthers High School provided her with a solid work ethic, an obligation to be good to others and a strong sense of family.
“The kindness and compassion that exists in these halls is something the world can’t live without,” Karli said.
Co-valedictorians Madison Tomko and Tara Winebold also addressed the class, as well as co-class president Andrew Carbon.
Tomko told her classmates that their 13 years attending Struthers City Schools felt like a lifetime.
“But that doesn’t mean our lives are over,” she said. “In fact, they’re just beginning.”
Co-principal Roger Day told students he realized his time with the Class of 2017 was coming to an end earlier this month at prom, when the seniors gathered in a circle to sing “You’re Gonna Miss This” by Trace Adkins as the night came to a close.
At the end of commencement, the class again gathered in a circle and sang a song – this time it was the school’s alma mater.
“I’m not sure you’re going to miss us,” Day told the graduates. “But I know that we’re going to miss you.”