By By JAMES COLLINS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- A feeling of optimism for the future characterized the commencement ceremony for Brandywine High School's Class of 2004.
Family and friends gathered to celebrate this monumental day for Brandywine's 88 graduates on Sunday afternoon in the school's gymnasium.
Guest speaker Gordy Young, WNDU-TV weatherman and news anchor, addressed the graduates with a speech focusing on life after school.
He told the Class of 2004 about the path that led him to become a television anchor and how it took him awhile to find his calling in life. He said this is common for young people and encouraged them to keep moving forward.
Young's message to the graduates was to make sure that they live life to the fullest and that they pursue something that will make them happy in life.
Class valedictorian Breanna Peare gave her classmates a similar message to seek happiness.
Peare reflected on the many memories that she and her classmates have shared through the years, starting with swimming lessons in third grade all the way up to homecoming and the emotional final football game of their high school careers.
Class salutatorian Nicholas Shelton began his address by expressing some optimism about the new phase of life that he and his peers were now entering.
He acknowledged the life lessons they had all learned throughout their time in school together.
He finished up his speech by offering his fellow graduates a few words of wisdom regarding their future.
Tears, hugs and photo opportunities filled the school's courtyard following the commencement ceremony .
The congratulatory gathering was filled with relieved graduates and proud parents like Debra Daus, who saw her third and final son Andrew Daus receive his diploma on Sunday afternoon.
Daus, whose son plans to go on to Lake Michigan College to study criminology, said the most important aspect of graduation is the foundation it lays for the future.
She was also pleased with the overall educational experience provided by Brandywine Public Schools.
Jim Rohl was equally proud of his daughter Kimberly Rohl, who plans to go on to become a firefighter.