With perfect weather on hand, family and friends gathered to celebrate the graduation of the Pleasant Valley High School Class of 2022.

PVHS Principal Kelli George welcomed everyone attending the graduation of 319 students Friday night. The first speaker of the night was Salutatorian Jacob O’Neil. The theme of his speech was to “live in the now.”

“Do not get so caught up on expectations, personal responsibilities or the future. Instead, I challenge you to live in the now, to jump at the chance to experience new things, to participate in new activities and meet new people,” he said.

O’Neil encouraged his classmates to embrace every happy, sad and frightening moment.

“Do not let your fear of failure restrain you from enjoying the moment or from reaching your dreams and goals,” he said.

While at PVHS, O’Neil was vice president of the Future Business Leaders of America. He was also committee head for the National Honor Society, a member of the Health Occupations Students of America, and has been involved with Students Against Destructive Decisions, the Science Honor Society, and Greek organizations: Rho Kappa, the National Social Studies Honor Society; Epsilon Lambda Alpha, an honor society; and Mu Alpha Theta, a national mathematics honor society.

O’Neil plans to attend Villanova University and major in mechanical engineering with a minor in business.

Following O’Neil, the Senior Choir members sang “This is Me” from the movie “The Greatest Showman” and the class officers also addressed their classmates. The officers include: Olivia Altman, president; Kendyl Ramsay, vice president; Jordan Kautzsch, treasurer; and Maryam Mattson, secretary.

Altman said this new chapter is scary, but encouraged them to embrace the high and lows.

“While we will revel in our successes, we must also embrace our failures, as it is those failures that will shape us into who we will become,” she said.

Ramsay said that what makes this class special is that they supported each other whether they were athletes, performers or smart kids. “The Class of 2022 shows up for each other.”

Kautzsch said she learned procrastinating on a class project isn’t a good idea, but school isn’t just about academics. The extracurricular activities are important, too.

“The bonds and relationships created during these years can serve as lessons, whether they were good or bad.”

Mattson said it’s hard to believe that high school is over.

“I remember being told that high school would pass by in the blink of an eye, and it did,” she said. “The memories we created here at Pleasant Valley will last forever.”

The officers said the class gift would be a donation of the remainder of their funds to the PVHS Parent-Teacher Organization.

Valedictorian Zachary Dooner told his classmates, “Class of 2022 let’s carpe diem, because tomorrow is the first day of the rest of our lives.”

Dooner said high school was a good experience for him, but it isn’t a good experience for everyone.

He said he recalled a conversation he had with a friend which concluded that there is one thing everyone can relate to and that is a fear of loneliness, a fear of not being accepted.

He said that over the years, through his own mistakes, he has learned a few things that has set him free.

“Things like being able to take strife and embarrassment with grace and good humor. Being able to see others from a compassionate and self-reflective perspective. Being able to make peace with the fact that you will sometimes have to walk alone,” Dooner said. “And along with all those virtues I try to remind myself to let go once in a while.”

Dooner encouraged classmates to remember the people who have loved and supported them as they grew up.

During his high school career, Dooner was president of the Future Business Leaders of America. He was also captain of the Envirothon team and Scholastic Scrimmage team, and was a conservation ambassador for the Wildlife Leadership Academy. Dooner was also involved in music in high school. He played the clarinet for the marching band, concert band and Carbon County Band.

He has received a scholarship to attend the University of Notre Dame and plans to major in mechanical engineering.

After everyone had received their diplomas, they joined the Senior Choir in singing the “Alma Mater.”

The evening concluded with the traditional ringing of the bell by the class officers.

The bell hails back to the days when it hung in the steeple of the original school at the intersection of routes 209 and 115, Fairview Academy in 1881. It was rung twice a day - at the beginning and the end of each school day.