Tears, cheers punctuate night at BEA graduation

By Dena Pauling

WINGATE — Streams of tears and fists clenched excitedly in the air marked the emotions of the Bald Eagle Area High School graduates Thursday night.

One graduate, perhaps as expected, just couldn’t hold back, leading his class in a final shout of joy as he clutched his diploma.

“Ooohhh,” James Tice, 18, called out as the rest of the class chimed in.

Also known as “Mr. Tice,” the teen’s claim to fame at Bald Eagle was leading his peers in a cheer every day at lunchtime. Despite getting “in so much trouble” for the daily glee, Tice, who said he lives by himself in Unionville, wasn’t about to bottle it in at Alumni Stadium. As he crossed the stage, he high-fived Principal David Reichelderfer and hugged school officials along the way, too.

“I want to come back,” he was already saying moments after the ceremony was over.

There were 160 members of Bald Eagle’s Class of 2008 — a class that’s “already accomplished so much,” valedictorian Ethan Corle said in his speech before the crowd.

The spring sports season brought District 6 titles in softball, baseball and boys’ track and field. Quentin Wright, who opened and closed graduation in prayer, is a two-time state wrestling champion and someone they “hope to see in the 2012 Olympics,” Corle said.

“Apart from athletics, we still are a very successful class,” he said, noting representation at all-state choir festivals and many others he didn’t list in order to keep his speech at a reasonable length.

As he sees it, Corle said, graduation is not the first day of the rest of their lives, “as so many before me have stated.” It’s one of an infinite number of steps they’ll take. His classmates should approach each one with determination, he said, and that kind of attitude will lead to careers in military, business, science — endless possibilities.

“Go from here, not starting the rest of your lives, but continuing on the path you have already traveled so far on,” Corle said.

Salutatorian Sara Smith said the journey they face will have more hurdles along the way, but they should remember that “neither success nor failure is ever final.”

“You learn from your falls, but the sense of accomplishment when you get over those hurdles will be amazing,” she said. “Like right now.”

Each one seemed to mark their accomplishment in different ways. Katie Wedlake and Rena Struble wore feather boas — Wedlake in blue and Struble in pink.

Struble was in tears as she explained that they had found them in her room and decided to wear them to stand out. They wanted to add something “flashy” to mark their last time together with all their classmates at the school.

“I don’t want it to be over,” Struble said sadly. “It’s all I’ve known.”

Dena Pauling can be reached at 231-4619.