During Whitehall High School’s 119th commencement ceremony, more than 370 students joined the ranks of WHS alumni. The ceremony was held June 5 at the PPL Center, Allentown.

Class speaker Syenna Young explained her high school years were marked by writing essays and speeches using reliable databases and the works of renowned authors. However, she wanted to take her class back to the first expert they ever knew - Dr. Seuss, specifically his book “The Lorax.”

“When we were just starting out in elementary school, our hopes and dreams were aplenty and colorful as a forest of Truffula trees,” Young said, meaning there was nothing stopping them from being a doctor, president or actor.

Young went on to say the trees began to fall as they were “bogged down by expectations and slapped in the face by reality.”

Like in “The Lorax,” Young and her classmates became trapped in the factory of their minds until they found the last seed of hope. She concluded her speech by saying their parents, teachers and friends laid down the dirt and supplied sunlight, but now, she said, “It’s time for us to plant the seed and grow into our future.”

WHS Principal Dr. Peter Mayes acknowledged the outstanding academic achievements of many students, including those wearing stoles and multicolored cords.

Mayes also listed the 13 outstanding students in each discipline as recognized at the senior awards ceremony, held June 1. Haley Bartosh and Maliec Rivera were the recipients of the Class of 1973 scholarships.

“Approximately 13 years, 4,748 days and over 113,00 hours ago, we began our journeys as Whitehall Zephyrs,” Bartosh, class salutatorian, said.

Each student was a part of a small community consisting of their families at the beginning of their journeys. Now, after making memories, encountering obstacles and spending time together, each individual’s community has been permanently intertwined, she said.

Zachary Onsinyo, class president and valedictorian, reflected on his unusual four years of high school during his speech. Onsinyo spoke of walking through the doors the first day of freshman year and getting lost. He remembered feeling relief when it was first announced school would be closed in March 2020.

His first year of high school still felt unfinished through sophomore year hybrid and online classes. Onsinyo said entering the school with a mask his junior year was a new feeling, yet familiar all the same.

Onsinyo closed by saying “So, one year from now, two, three, four, maybe even 50, fellow graduates, what memories will we make? What impacts will we leave behind?”

In his closing remarks, Mayes remembered Isiah Bedocs, who died in August 2022. Isiah would have graduated with the Class of 2023.

Business teachers Robert Brewster and Carol Reitz, along with art teacher Michael Lynn, were acknowledged as retiring at the end of the school year.

Class officers included Onsinyo as president, Antoni Szlagiewicz as vice president, Lujane Alkmos as secretary and Alexis Quach as treasurer. Family and consumer science teacher Fiana Spangler served as the adviser for the Class of 2023.