Notre Dame Graduates 123: "The World is Ours"

The stands were packed at Notre Dame's gridiron on June 2. But instead of shoulder pads and helmets, the uniform of the day was Oxford caps and graduation gowns. The Bethlehem Township High School said good-bye to 123 Seniors, who have been accepted by 86 colleges. "The world is ours," announced Valedictorian Jessica Ann Petrakovic, an Easton resident. If Notre Dame's graduating seniors are any indication, it will be a better world.

Among all the scholarships and honors bestowed, the one that meant most to graduating seniors was a simple plaque from Diane Silviotti to graduating senior Hunter MacMillan. Silviotti, herself a Notre Dame grad, suffers from cerebral palsy, was the victim of $22,000 home robbery in 2009 and was unable to pay her property taxes. MacMillan came to the rescue, raising $1,000 by devoting a summer to collecting aluminum cans. He was aided in that quest by Principal Joseph Kramer.

Diane Silviotti

MacMillan is also the departing Student Council President.

There should have been 124 graduates. But one of them, Kimmy Gillow, passed away in her Freshman year after a courageous battle against cancer.

Students released orange balloons in her honor.

In a stirring valedictory address, Petrakovic predicted, "We will all mess up beautifully and we will all be far better people for it." Quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson, she encouraged graduates to go "where there is no path and leave a trail." But the Most Reverend John O. Barres, Bishop of the Allentown Diocese, cautioned that wherever that trailblazing might lead, it had better include Sunday Mass.

Bishop Barres used his cape to fly away when it was over.

Bishop Barres also reminded graduates of the admonition of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of writers and journalists.

"Be who you are and be that well," advised the 17th Century French Bishop.

A little more worldly, Salutatorian Jamee Beth Lopiano, of Bethlehem, spoke of high school memories that will stay with them all.

Notre Dame High School is a private, co-ed Roman Catholic high school near Easton, Pennsylvania, United States, in Bethlehem Township. With an enrollment of about 570, taught by a 40-person faculty, it includes 9th through 12 grades.