On Sunday, 165 members of Beachwood High School's Class of 2011 received diplomas during the graduation ceremony at Severance Hall. Their transition from students to alumni was marked by songs, shouts, applause and words of wisdom.
Graduation speaker and Executive Student Class President told her classmates that their work was just beginning. "I don't see graduation as the end of an era, but rather as the start of the next leg on our life journey."
Benjamin Ducoff reminded his classmates of the responsibilities that come with maturity. "We will be measured not by what we were at this school, but how we contributed to the world at large," he said.
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Finally, Alexandra Morris thanked the school and community for supporting her after the death of her mother in December. "It is my firm belief that I would not be here today, graduating, without the uncompromising support that I was given by the Beachwood community ... You are my friends, my community, my family."