"Over 2,500 years ago, Plato said this, '"I would teach children music, physics and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning," said Mario Acerra, board president of the Lehigh Valley Charter HS for the Arts.

No other school in the Lehigh Valley exemplifies these ancient words more than Charter Arts, and its broad focus on all the arts necessitated a name change from the School for the Performing Arts.

"I hope you remember fondly Charter Arts - or for this class the LVPA," Acerra told the graduating class at Lehigh University's Packer Chapel June 16.

It is a time of transition for these graduates beyond a simple name change, and Acerra said, "I believe the integration of arts into the curriculum has provided each and every one of you with a superior overall educational experience."

Principal Sharon Fehlinger-Ricker said the 106 students leaving this year have punctuated their time with more than $2 million in scholarships and awards that they will take along on the next step of their journey.

But, she said the monumental discipline they have learned in the performance of their arts is only one lesson, and another to always bear in mind is to face the challenge of failure.

"You've been given all the tools you need to succeed, but success doesn't come sometimes without failure. Take some risks. Dare to dream. Be brave," she said. "We are all so proud of you."

Class speaker Pierce Campion noted the limited success the school had with its name change - both names still appear on some letterheads - but focused on the school's transforming a stale, mechanical education system into a place that breaks patterns.

"As I think about it now, public school looks and feels and smells like an industry. Thanks to this school, we're no longer part of the machine. Sometimes I think to laugh out loud when I remember our school was built out of a factory."

Describing the attitudes of students and faulty, and even the physical idiosyncrasies made to the school over the years - built in art and color-schemes - Campion said he hopes something of the same spirit will be recognizable when the new building is completed on the Southside for the 2015 school year.

He said Charter Arts is, "Less of a school … more of something else."

All the Charter Arts students were applauded for their skills and dedication, but winners for excellence in their fields include: Kelly Kercher, dance; Pat McGee, instrumental music; Anelise Diaz, theater; Alexandra Schnabel, visual arts; Jenna Atkinson, vocal music; Velvet Alvarez, figure skating; and Ian McGlynn, academic.

Class speaker Brooke Houle, a hopeful future naval officer and winner of a $180,000 Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship, was visibly touched as she spoke of her teachers and friends, and summed up her brief and heartfelt words:

"You're the weirdest bunch of people I've ever been lucky enough to know."