Seniors look to commencement

TRI-COUNTY AREA--High school seniors throughout the area will be celebrating an academic milestone this weekend. Area school districts will hold graduation ceremonies recognizing student achievement and distributing diplomas over the course of three days, running from Thursday, June 23 through Saturday, June 25.
The Dundee graduating class of 2016 will hold their graduation ceremony Thursday, June 23. There are currently 57 members of the class of 2016 tentatively set to graduate. This number is down from last year's class, which graduated 67 students. Graduation will run from 6 to 8 p.m. on the front lawn of the school. Dundee will also be presenting a diploma through Operation Recognition to Roland Harrison, who left school in 1953 to fight in the Korean War.
Dundee Superintendent Kelly Houck said this is a resilient class who came together to support one another when they needed it most.
"This year's class is extremely enthusiastic and very involved," Houck said. "They have a great way of showing their school spirit, and they are going to be missed."
Penn Yan will be hosting their graduation ceremony for the class of 2016 Friday, June 24. The ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. The class of 2016 has 129 members, which is the same as last year. Penn Yan Superintendent Howard Dennis describes this year's class as an amazing group of kids whose "overall enthusiasm and passion for life is awesome." He added they are a very giving class who gives back to the community.
Hammondsport will also be holding their graduation ceremony Friday, June 24 at 6 p.m. The class of 2016 has 39 members, which is up from last year's 36. Hammondsport Superintendent Kyle Bower said the class has members who were selected to all-county and all-state for chorus and band. Members also have both county and sectional championships for athletics, as well as the county championship for academic all-stars. Bower said members of the class also created the school mascot, Captain Laker.
"[They are] a great group of young adults ready to take the world by storm," Bower said. "My favorite memory is witnessing the mutual respect and cohesiveness of a very diverse group of personalities throughout their senior high years."

The Odessa-Montour class of 2016 will hold their graduation ceremony Friday, June 24 at 6 p.m. This class has 53 graduating seniors, which is down three from last year.
Superintendent Chris Wood said this was another outstanding group that had met a number of challenges head on and will have great success in the future. He said this class did a great job of supporting each other and were great role models for the underclassmen.
Watkins Glen's graduation ceremony is Saturday, June 25 at 2 p.m. Watkins Glen Superintendent Tom Phillips said this year's class will graduate 74 members, which is down from 89 last year. Phillips describes the class of 2016 as "a very competitive and athletic group of students with several sectional champions and state qualifiers for both girls and boys athletics." He said two students will be going abroad after graduation, with Portia Wells going to the Netherlands and Lucas Wickham going to Chile.
"They lived through the construction and transition to a single campus and truly didn't miss a beat," Phillips said.