TURNER – The valedictorian and salutatorian both stressed to their peers the importance of making the right choices as they embark on a new beginning during Leavitt Area High School’s 104th commencement Friday night.

An estimated 1,800 people watched 164 seniors receive their diplomas on the football field.

“Today marks a new beginning in our lives as we begin to make decisions that are entirely our own,” said Salutatorian Matthew Carey, in his address to the graduating class.

He told his classmates to be passionate about their endeavors in life. “If you are passionate about what you do, you will be successful,” Carey said.

Kira Beeckel was the valedictorian. She talked about how her goals have changed from the time when she was 8 years old until now. Beeckel called the commencement “the beginning of a whole new life.”

She talked about dreams and aspirations and likened them to bank accounts where the correct choices should be withdrawn. Beeckel stressed the importance of making the right choices to her classmates. “Are we going to spend our time doing things? Or, are we going to invest it? We can only take out of the account what we put in,” Beeckel said.

Principal David Wing said the class of 2003 was an interesting group of students to work with the past four years.

“It was an interesting class. They were champs. They gave us fits. When it was all said and done, they graduated. I was pleased with them. It was a good group. They were a lot of fun,” Wing said. “We’ve got a lot of students going on to good schools. I think their futures look good.”