Seaford High School Seniors Receive Diplomas

For  seniors, Saturday brought one of the most anticipated days of all their young years - high school graduation.

 Hundreds of proud faces flooded the gymnasium of Nassau Community College in East Garden City to watch their loved ones turn their tassels and toss their caps as they graduated from the Seaford School District.

Graduation certainly brings mixed emotions to students - happy to open the next chapter of their life, but quite sad to leave the place they've called home for the last 13 years.  Class of 2011 Valedictorian Scott Ruona summed up his experience within the Seaford School District as a unique one that each graduate should cherish.

"Today is our momentous day, and today is our chance to show that we're capable of moving up in this world after surviving high school," said Ruona, who will be attending Georgetown University come September. "Only one of thousands of high schools is Seaford High School and only 221 of hundreds of thousands of students can say they graduated from Seaford High School."

Before the awarding of diplomas, several graduates were honored with scholarship awards from different organizations.

The Seaford High School 9/11 Committee handed out five Patriot Scholarship Awards in the amount of $2,000 each to honor and remember five Seaford alumni lost in the September 11 attacks. Family members of Tommy Haskel (Class of 1982), Timmy Haskel (Class of 1985), John Perry (Class of 1982), Robert Sliwak (Class of 1977) and Michael Wittenstein (Class of 1985) awarded scholarships to 2011 graduates John Cleary, Michael Lemkan, Ryan Harting, Scott Ruona and William Papadimas.

Also speaking from the podium Saturday afternoon was Senator Charles E. Schumer, D-NY, who wished the class of 2011 the best of luck as they moved forward with their lives and emphasized the important role each student's parent plays in their success.

"Congratulations to each and every one of you," the New York senior senator said to the graduating class. "Sometimes you'll make the wrong choice, but if my life's any indication, you'll pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move forward. If you make the right choice with a lot of hard work, a little luck and some prayer, your life will be enriched forever."

The distribution of diplomas began by honoring the top 25 students and members of the National Honor Society followed by each individual senior. Seaford's 2011 class then threw their caps into the air and walked together one last time as the band played the traditional “Pomp and Circumstance."

"Moms and Dads, you see your sons and daughters come up to the platform and take that diploma, and enter adulthood before your very eyes, and it's because in good part of your hard work and the values you've instilled in your kids," said Schumer.