Friends and family members gathered Friday evening in a warm middle school gymnasium for the 137th annual commencement of Weatherly Area High School.

Some brought along bouquets of flowers for members of the Class of 2005, filling in floor seats and bleachers, while many more held up cellphones to capture the moments diplomas were placed in hand.

The Class of 1975 entered first, followed by the 42-member strong Class of 2025, taking seats on opposite sides of the gym.

Weatherly Area welcomed back one of its own to give the commencement address, Alyson Hoegg, a 2009 graduate and now a senior meteorologist and supervisor for AccuWeather in State College, who spoke about perseverance.

Hoegg first pointed to basketball great Michael Jordan, who was cut from his varsity team in high school, but overcame disappointment, honed his skills and persevered despite the odds.

Hoegg then pointed to her own life and the difficult college courses she had to master to pursue her childhood dream of being a meteorologist.

“If I was going to be someone who had the privilege of predicting storms such as the Blizzard of 1996, Hurricane Katrina, or the deadly tornado outbreaks that ripped across the Southeast in 2011, I knew I had to persevere,” she said.

Hoegg also knew she had to study, and study hard to succeed, not unlike Jordan.

“When these challenges come up, always remember that it is OK to fail the first time, or many times,” she told the graduates. “Without failure, there would never be successes.”

After college, she joined AccuWeather as a shy 22-year-old with anxiety about speaking to clients on the phone, but love of the job, determination and perseverance that allowed her to become comfortable in the role and take on new challenges.

“As new graduates from Weatherly Area High School, you all have persevered through the last 13 years of school to make it to this moment,” she said. “For some of you, that took far more perseverance than others.

“My hope for you is that even when life gets tough, you find ways to persevere and overcome any difficulties that life throws your way.”

Weatherly Area’s Class of 2025 valedictorian Rachel Rosenlund talked about celebrating their growth in the past four years, beginning with freshman year, when every comfort zone they knew got tossed.

“But that is when we grew,” she said, and the uncertainty of that first year of high school planted the seeds of their futures.

“As each school year went on, we got a little less clueless.” Rosenlund said. “Sophomore year was the year we started getting involved — spreading our roots.”

That growth continued into their junior year, one of the hardest of the four as they dealt with the pressure of their nearing futures and began sprouting into the people they are today.

“This year, we bloomed,” Rosenlund said. “We’ve bloomed in our own different ways, becoming the role models we’ve seen in people from past grades. We are the captain, officers and people others look up to.”

She told her classmates to look back at what helped them grow as they say goodbye to high school.

“As we walk across the stage, I want you all to think back to when you started high school four years ago — look how far you’ve come.” Rosenlund said. “Look how you’ve bloomed. I am proud of all of you in the Class of 2025.”

Salutatorian Ava Sahaida recalled a teacher’s words with dealing with anxiety, “Let go or be dragged,” and applied them to their journey through high school.

She told her classmates to let go of this chapter in their lives as they move forward to pursue their dreams, while holding onto memories.

“This place has shaped us into who we are today,” Sahaida said. “That’s why we cannot completely erase it from our memories or our lives. This place brings us all together.

“Our childhood shall be frozen in time on these streets, and it is important to remember where we came from. My wish for each of you is that you find your own way of letting go, while still keeping a piece of Weatherly in your heart.”