The valedictorian of Tamaqua Area High School’s Class of 2004 told fellow graduates that it is time for a new start, and time to do something really meaningful.

“It’s over. Coming to this place every day, 180 days per year, is done, kaput, history,” Hunter Ruch said during Thursday’s commencement exercises. “For some, it’s a relief, and for others, a complete nightmare, but it doesn’t really matter. The future doesn’t wait.”

Ruch said that the class of 163 graduates should take advantage of a clean slate.

“So whether they were acquaintances or adversaries, look at the person sitting next to you and realize you made it,” he said. “But life is just beginning, and unless you grab it, you might just watch it fly by you. Wake up, get up, and get out there, friends, so maybe someday, you can tell us about all the things you were able to accomplish.”

The guest speaker was Eric Lech, a 1996 Tamaqua graduate and director of curriculum, instruction, and educational technologies at Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21. Previously, he was a Spanish teacher and swim coach for the Tamaqua school district.

Lech told graduates, “Don’t settle for a spark, light a fire instead.”

A spark, he said, is something that inspires, like being on stage, learning how to maintain a car, or job shadowing a nurse.

“If it inspires you and if it brings you joy, pursue it, believe you can do it, or be it and follow that inspiration,” he said.

The oxygen needed to turn the spark into fire are those whose nurturing helped shape a person.

And finally, he said, there is fire.

“Allow your fire to be a light in your life, provide you with the warmth you and your family need,” Lech said.

Class of 2024 President Stephen Behun IV spoke about the area’s history and why graduates should be proud of their roots.

“Our heritage, our home and the life we live today is because of the hardworking men and women who helped to turn William Penn’s Woods into the thriving center of industry that coal country became known as,” he said. “They quite literally changed the world, cutting and digging both above and below the surface of the earth. We cannot forget the tenacity and stubbornness that enabled miners, colloquially known as coal crackers, to work in those tunnels.”

Behun said it is the class’s job to carry the legacy forward.

“In a world filled with disinformation, growing partisanship, and an ever-increasing gap between the wealthiest and those tired, poor and huddled masses whose forefathers built this nation, we must be the coal crackers, the innovators, and the leaders of tomorrow,” he said. “When faced with adversity, hardship and odds that never seem to be in your favor, remember that you are not just an American, and you are certainly not a Pennsylvanian. ‘Yous guys’ are from the Skook, ‘bot’, and be proud of it.”

Behun passed the gavel to Ignatius Neifert, president of the Class of 2025.

“The junior class has some big shoes to fill for the next year, taking over varsity spots and assuming leadership positions with the same humility, respect and enthusiasm as their predecessors,” Neifert said.

High school Principal Thomas McCabe issued words of advice.

“Do what you love. That is extremely cliché but I couldn’t give you better advice. Nothing else will make you happy,” he said.

McCabe noted that Sarah Hope is ranked second in the class.

Of the graduates, he said 65 plan to go directly to a four-year college or university; 85 plan to go to associate degree programs, business or trade schools; three plan to enter the profession of education; one plans to enter the military, and nine have made commitments to employment.