Class of champs graduates from Florence

Florence Township Memorial High School Class of 2005 celebrated their graduation ceremonies on June 17.

By: Scott Morgan
   FLORENCE — For some, it was no doubt a dream come true. Thank winter for that.
   Florence Township Memorial High School was supposed to graduate on Monday, but thanks to a winter that made few demands on the school’s snow days, there was a spare day to play with. So the Florence High School Class of 2005 got the rare chance to get out of school a little early this year, and the 93-member class marched its proverbial last mile onto the football field on the picture perfect Friday evening of June 17.
   The evening seemed twice as nice for the school’s valedictory duet, Daniel Senni and Scott Rein. Normally, of course, there’s only one valedictorian, but this year, a pair of longtime (and ever-competitive) friends scored a tie and shared the title.
   "We were always friends, but we were always competing," Daniel said Tuesday. Just a few days before, to his graduating class, he said looked not so much at the past as at the future.
   "This family of ours stands facing the future as if standing in a hallway full of doors, each leading to different, exciting opportunities," he said. "When we will make one of those pivotal decisions or try something new or take advantage of a situation we will pass through one door of that hallway. While we may no longer have our parents or closest friends immediately by our sides to guide us through these difficult halls we have the keys of strength, confidence, and determination in ourselves and we have the experience gained here at Florence High School."
   The experience Daniel gained at Florence may prove handy next year when he heads to the University of Maryland to study business. In the meantime, he said, he’ll spend his summer helping his alma mater prepare for next year’s high school crew.
   And, speaking of the future, the Class of 2005 received $21,500 in scholarship aid from the community Friday, part of a roughly $2.5 million financial aid and scholarship package for the class to help them navigate through college. One graduate, salutatorian Francis Ogowe, will get a combined $41,000 a year to attend Brown University in Providence, R.I. — where school costs $44,000 a year.
   If there was an underlying theme in last week’s commencement, it was that the members of the Class of 2005 were champions. Champions on the sports fields, in baseball, football, basketball and tennis, and champions in the classroom. And if you remember that there were two valedictorians, such a statement seems far less fetched than most.
Florence Township Memorial High School Class of 2005:
   Jeanna M. Allen, Ryan William Arroyo, Josie Marie Babino, Drew Christopher Baldorossi, Michael R. Baxter, Nicole Marie Beck, Heather Rene Bennett, Richard Bingham, Joseph Allen Bischoff-Marrero, Stefanie Krystal Borota, Amanda Colette Brown, Chelsy Amanda Bryant, Brett Wallace Burg, Maurice Martin Anthony Calhoun, Jessica Lynn Carroll, James Scott Chambers, Austin Charles Chase, Andrew David Cipriano, Kristina Lynn Connors, Nicole Dixon, Amanda Jeannette Duhrkoop, Christopher Andrew Eckel, Jeffrey M. Erlston, Jennifer Lynn Evans, Joseph R. Fitzpatrick, Richard Michael Freeman, Lauren Grace Furth, Christopher Michael Giambrone, Dabinder Grewal, Allegra Haldeman, David Lee Havens, Joseph Vincent Havens, Erika Lyn Higham, Stefanie Amber Hitchner, Briana Jessica Holmes, Matthew L. Ingham, Dashon T. Johnson, Carl S. Jolstad, Melissa Lynn Kenney, Willie Bobby Krangar, Monique E. LaCass, Shane Kiffer Lanza, Amanda Elizabeth Lavenberg, Ryan Wayne Lee, Taylor Davidson Lovejoy, Dana Nicole Lubrano, Joshua Paul Lukis, Kyle A. Lutz, Iovanna Xiomara Marrero, Akirah Tiye Massenberg, Kelly Christine McGill, Patrick E. Montalto, Ray Alexander Montgomery, Ashley Jewel Moore, Christopher Thomas Mudrick, Stephanie Ann Muni, Vivian N. Ogbonnaya, Matthew Joseph Ordog, Kimberly Ann Ostrander, Martha Anne Parkes, Kathleen Diane Patterson, Christopher Lawrence Perko, Christina H. Piechota, Jessica Emily Popso, Amanda Portalatin, JaVonne Elizabeth Pruden, Shara Lyn Purnell, Scott William Rein, Robert Render, Zachary Rinaldi, Shalonda Robinson, Rafael Rodriguez, Stacey Marie Rowley, Desaree Franchon Rutledge, Matthew J. Schleig, Sarah Ashley Schnoering, Kenneth Allan Schoonover, Simone Aileen Schouten, Daniel Paul Senni, Robyn E. Shelen, Autumn Lynn Siwak, Kalarzyna Anetta Strus, Stephanie L. Timick, Amber Lynn Tolifero, Amanda Kristine Trost, Francis Efosa Ugowe, Finesse Lynne West, Dierre Guy Todd Williams, David John Wojcik, Daniel A. Woolston, Reece Jon Woolston, Wiolete Katarzyna Wronska, KyAsia Letia Youngblood.