Schools
UAIS graduates encouraged to keep growing
Nearly 100 students graduate from Michigan's most academically challenging high school
High School graduation is the just the beginning.
That was the message recently shared with the 2016 graduating class of the Utica Academy for International Studies.
"No one looks at a tree and judges it based on its bottom branches; they base it on its canopy," said student speaker Alyssa Sanderson. "(Graduation) may be the end of an era of growth, but there is still more to come, still more growth that has yet to commence."
More than 80 members of the Class of 2016 celebrated their graduation June 7 at Henry Ford II High School.
UAIS program director Justin Spear told graduates that the sense of hope they brought to school as ninth graders should also guide them throughout their lives.
"Hope is never about the past; it is about the future," he said.
In addressing the Class of 2016, Superintendent Dr. Christine Johns challenged the graduates to "impact the future and improve the human condition."
She said: "You are the new generation of leaders, dreamers, creators, and entrepreneurs.
Board of Education Vice President Gene Klida encouraged students to "not to just be successful in the world, but to make it better."
UAIS graduates were recognized for several achievements: $9.2 million in scholarships, an average GPA of 3.98, an average ACT of 28.1 and more than $50,000 raised for local and international charities.
The school also had 38 valedictorians and one salutatorian, out of a graduating class of 83.
Student speaker Natalie Mary Peleman acknowledged the successes of the school, saying their hard work should give graduates the confidence to pave their own path.
"One of the best lessons I think we’ve learned in our senior year and our time here at UAIS is this: don’t base your decision after high school off of what “everybody else” is doing, and don’t fret about what defines you when you find your job, because no specific job should define you as a person," Peleman said. "I think we’ve learned a great deal of the importance of being yourself by being part of this wonderful adventure."
