Northampton Area High School held its graduation ceremony for the Class of 2017 June 3 at Stabler Arena, Bethlehem.

Principal Robert Steckel Jr. gave the opening remarks, urging the new graduates to go forward and accomplish much in their chosen endeavors.

Steckel welcomed the Class of 2017 into Northampton Area High School alumni, a unique group that extends back 116 years.

Guests of honor included alumni from the Class of 1967, celebrating their 50th reunion this year.

Northampton Area School District Superintendent Joseph Kovalchik welcomed the class, parents and guests.

Salutatorian Lyndsey Gallagher, a passionate runner, spoke to her classmates about her role model, Steve Prefontaine. His career as a runner began in high school with record-setting performances. He participated in the 1976 Olympics and was one of the first athletes sponsored by the then-nascent Nike.

“He died tragically in a car accident at the age of 24,” Gallagher said. “Prefontaine’s attitude is something I hope everyone gathered here remembers - the lesson is to live life with passion.”

Valedictorian Brandy Moser addressed her classmates’ growth achieved through the years and their expectations for the future.

“Northampton has given us quite a few shared experiences,” she said. “Some of our experiences became great memories, while others are remembered as shared struggles.

“We leave the comfortable world of Northampton and will need to learn to grow in the uncertainty of the world around us,” Moser said.

Class President Madison Heffelfinger talked of missing the details of her online class and her negotiation to get back into a class.

“I was given a second chance in my class,” she said. “I did well and met the commitments I made to the teacher.

“As we go forward in our lives, we need to understand the value of giving someone a second chance,” Heffelfinger said.

Following the recessional march out of Stabler Arena, members of the NAHS Class of 2017 received congratulations from their families.

(The list of senior award winners will appear in an upcoming edition of the Northampton Press.)