Lackey Pride Highlighted at 2017 Graduation

LA PLATA, Md. (June 06, 2017)—Henry E. Lackey High School is more than a school, it's a community, it's a family.

"We support each other like a family, and we know that there will always be a sense of belonging to the Lackey community," said Brett Culhane, salutatorian of the Class of 2017.

Teachers, mentors and coaches instill Lackey pride in the students and it will go a long way. "… We will never forget the influence that Lackey High School had on us," said Culhane, who will head to Colorado School of the Mines to study chemical engineering. "Our new paths may separate us from the Lackey community, but our spiritual belonging will never end."

Student leaders urged their peers to carry on what they learned at Lackey into the next chapters of their lives. To take what Lackey instilled in them, and share it with others.

"It was easy to find mentors and teachers here at Lackey," Francesca Rothell, the valedictorian, said. "Now, as we leave high school it is important to find new teachers and mentors in every step of our further education and careers." Rothell, who plans to major in biochemistry at Swarthmore College, encouraged her fellow graduates to "grab life and run with it."

"Run into the unknown, regardless if the unknown is what scares you most," Rothell said. "And dream big, because implausible success was never accomplished without incredible aspiration."

Lackey Principal Kathy Perriello told the graduates they while they have triumphed and faced tribulations, they must never forget the power of people. "Technology can be replaced, but people can not. A smartphone will never be wiser than a human being," she said.

"Never forget where you have come from or where you have been," Perriello added. "And of course, never forget your west side pride."

Lackey's graduation was the fifth of seven high school ceremonies held over three days from June 1 to 3 at the Charles County Public Schools Convocation Center at North Point High School. Lackey's senior class, made up of 239 graduates, earned $18,222,218 in scholarship offers, more than any Lackey class in the school's history, with additional offers still coming in.