Hatboro-Horsham Grads Look to Past and Future

The graduating class cheered and threw their graduation caps into the Hatters Stadium sky, diplomas in hand, as friends and loved ones cheered back from the bleachers.   

Donning either the traditional red or black robes, the class of 2011 comprised 435 seniors, 92 percent of whom will continue onto post-secondary education. Of those students, 70 percent will attend four-year institutions and 22 percent will attend two-year institutions. Some students have obtained employment, or joined the military.

“I look out at this class and see some very serious potential,” said principal Dennis Williams. “Students, savor this moment.”

After performances from the school’s symphonic band and the senior members of the school choir, class valedictorian Kate Alina Hentschel and class salutatorian Jonathan Brewster Coombs addressed their peers, reminding them that they stood at the cusp of the past and future.

“There are two things that are irreplaceable in this world,” said Jonathan Brewster Coombs. “The person who is next to you and the second that just passed.”

Williams spoke of what distinguished the class of 2011, be it their academic achievements or charity work with organizations like Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Red Cross. According to Williams, the students had an 84 percent pass rate on advanced placement exams and 10 Ivy League acceptances. They had 39 National Honor Society Members. Their average SAT score was 750 and the class grade point average was 3.1.

He urged students to be confident, to learn from failure and to be curious.

“You must continue to dream the wild dreams that you had when you were a kid,” he said.

“I thought it was really nice. Sad but nice,” said senior Shannon Ahern after the ceremony.

Ahern wishes good luck to her classmates and will herself attend West Chester University with plans to teach elementary school afterward. Her parents attended the ceremony and her two older siblings also graduated from Hatboro-Horsham.

“She’s our third and our last,” said her mother Janet Ahern. “And we’re just really proud of the person who she has become.”