A grandmother faced with leaving everything behind for an uncertain future in America. A principal reading stories from a school rooftop to celebrate reading goals. Students dancing under floating lanterns at prom like characters from a fairy tale.

These seemingly unconnected moments wove together Tuesday night as 138 graduates from Lehighton Area High School’s Class of 2025 received their diplomas during the school’s 140th Commencement Exercises.

Valedictorian Natalie Paige Blair shared a powerful family story about decision-making and courage. She spoke about her grandmother, who was raised in Saigon, Vietnam, and faced a life-changing decision to emigrate to America at age 26.

“She made a difficult choice based on her lived experience and perspective on the world,” Blair said. “She trusted that moving to America would be the fruitful thing not only for her, but also for a potential future family.”

Blair used her grandmother’s story to encourage her classmates to face difficult decisions with courage.

“When you are terrified to go off to college, or boot camp, or enter into the workforce, think of her courage,” Blair added. “When you are scared to go for a promotion, when you’re unsure if you should take the harder class, when you’re scared to run in front of others, apply for the promotion, take the harder class, and sign up for a 5K.”

Salutatorian Allee Ann Maini focused her speech on the importance of passion and obsession in achieving success.

Quoting Kevin Durant, she told her classmates, “Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard,” but added her own perspective. “It’s a quote I strongly believe in, a quote many of us have heard before, but a quote I feel lacks a very important characteristic, that being obsession, in the best kind of way,” she added.

Maini, who will attend an Ivy League university, emphasized that natural talent alone wasn’t sufficient for her achievements.

“I am not naturally the smartest person on this stage, and certainly not in this stadium,” she said. “With my god given talent alone I would not have earned the honor to speak to you all today. It was not my talent that got me where I am, instead it was the hours, the nights, and the weekends spent studying at my kitchen table.”

Class President Anna Howland reflected on the journey that brought her classmates to graduation night.

“We gather to celebrate not only the ceremony of graduation, but a 13-year journey — one filled with early mornings, late nights, coming of age moments, and moments where we turned obstacles into victories,” she said.

In her address, Howland used a travel metaphor to encourage her fellow graduates to pursue their dreams despite obstacles.

“Success doesn’t come from simply being hopeful; success comes from being bold, determined, and willing to act,” she said.

She compared achieving goals to booking a dream vacation that requires connecting flights.

“The reality is that reaching our goals often requires extra steps — effort, uncertainty, even sacrifice,” Howland said. “You don’t get handed your dream; you earn it by being willing to pay the price of hard work, dedication, and belief in yourself.”

The Class of 2025 as a whole made history as part of what Principal Sue Howland described as “the largest graduating class in U.S. history, with an estimated 3.9 million students receiving their diplomas this year.”

“You are part of a record-breaking group of young adults stepping into the world — a generation with more voices, more ideas, and more power to shape the future than ever before,” she told the class.

The ceremony also included nine early graduates who earned their two-year associate degrees on May 21 through a joint program between Lehighton Area School District and Lehigh Carbon Community College. These students received both their associate degrees and high school diplomas.

Superintendent Jason Moser addressed the graduates about the paradoxes of graduation night.

“First, graduates, this evening is all about you and your accomplishments, and yet at the same time, it is about all others who have come before and will come after you as you and your class becomes part of an interwoven tapestry that is 140 years old,” Moser said.

He used the metaphor of a blank canvas to describe the graduates’ futures, referencing artist Paul Cezanne’s quote: “It’s so fine and yet so terrible to stand in front of a blank canvas.”

“What I can honestly tell you is that while the last thirteen years have certainly shaped who you are, they do not necessarily define who you will become,” Moser added. “You all, after this evening, have a brand new blank canvas in front of you.”

Sue Howland concluded the ceremony with personal reflections on her relationship with many of the graduates, whom she had also served as elementary principal. She reminded them of shared experiences, including reading “The Principal from the Black Lagoon from the roof when you crushed your reading goals” and participating in the Color Run “covered in paint and slime — because you raised money for your school and never stopped pushing yourselves.”

Howland noted how the graduates’ goals had evolved from elementary school basics like “learning your ABCs, reading by the end of kindergarten, mastering math facts” to high school achievements including “passing classes, Keystone Exams, AP tests, exploring who you are, and figuring out who you want to become.”

The ceremony also included recognition of the Class of 1975, celebrating their 50th reunion, with Class President Carol Trainer Rivest addressing the new graduates.