Moving On: The Lahser High School Class of 2011

More than 200 graduates of Bloomfield Hills Lahser celebrated change and their willingness to embrace it at their commencement Sunday evening at Meadow Brook.

"The journey that lies ahead will be nothing short of incredible," said Alyssa Nicole Kitts during her senior student address. "Have the courage to speak your mind and don't be afraid to express your ideas."

Her senior counterpart, John Paul Collier, focused on how the seniors worked together to get this point and how that mindset will help navigate what's ahead.

"We don't have time to explain our lives to people who don't understand the choices we have to make," he said. "We have to get our minds ready for this new change in our lives."

Neither Collier nor Kitts were publicly announced as speakers prior to the event as part of Lahser's commencement tradition, which includes students auditioning for spots to address the crowd. The district does not rank their graduates so there are no valedictorians or salutatorians.

The seniors, as a whole, performed a record 18,346 hours of community service and earned more than $5 million in scholarships this year, said Principal Charlie Hollerith.