Lampeter-Strasburg High School (L-S) will hold its commencement ceremony on Friday, May 30, at Pioneer Field at JK Mechanical Stadium beginning at 7 p.m.

The gates will open at 6:15 p.m. If there is inclement weather, the ceremony will be moved indoors to the L-S Performing Arts Center, and only those with tickets will be permitted to attend. Regardless, the district's YouTube channel will livestream the proceedings.

Approximately 220 members of the Class of 2025 will receive their diplomas; the valedictorian, salutatorian, and the third in the class will be announced during the ceremony.

Senior class vice president Catherine Wolgemuth initially feared cloudy skies during the annual Senior Sunrise on Sept. 6, 2024, would be a harbinger of bad things to come, but it was the beginning of a banner year for the group. "We still had fun, and we still got Long Johns," she said.

Catherine, who is planning to study marketing at East Carolina University in the fall, said she enjoyed the pep rallies and Clash of the Classes events. "It's really interesting to see your class come together to compete, and watching the class cheer everyone on is fun," she said.

Class president Preston Schonour, treasurer Carson Zook, and secretary Danny Weichler were members of the Pioneers football team that played in the state championship game. "The football season was super memorable," said Preston, who will attend William & Mary. "How we've come together as a senior class and all the activities we've done together have been awesome. The musical productions and concerts made me realize how talented our class is. It was great to see the seniors get their moment in the spotlight and see what they can do no matter what area of expertise that may have."

Carson, who is planning to study mechanical engineering and play football at Grove City College, touted the class camaraderie. "I feel like our class has a lot of intermingling between different groups of people," he said.

Preston, Carson, and Danny served as class officers throughout high school. Danny, who is a triplet, said he did it in an attempt to get bragging rights over his brothers Joey and Brady. "I kind of want to be better than my brothers," said Danny, who will study mechanical engineering at Temple University. "I think I can show a little more if I am involved in more things at the school." Danny conceded that his brothers probably are not particularly impressed but added that, more significantly, his parents are.

The Class of 2025 took a trip to New York City on May 22. Forgetting a teacher was in the room, Preston let it slip that a Senior Skip Day was planned. The day before graduation, the seniors will gather for Long Johns in the morning before attending a barbecue sponsored by the school's PTO.

"The Lampeter-Strasburg Class of 2025 has done an exceptional job throughout their high school career, as they have achieved so much success in their academics, athletics, music, art, and extracurricular activities," L-S principal Benjamin Feeney said. "The Class of 2025 has demonstrated characteristics of solid leadership, humility, empathy, generosity, and integrity. I am confident that the Class of 2025 is prepared to take their next step into college, military, or the workforce, and they will find a tremendous amount of success. I am so proud of the L-S Class of 2025 and wish them all the very best upon graduation. Congratulations, L-S Class of 2025. Roll Pios!"