SMETHPORT — Smethport Area High School graduated 57 students Friday evening with the Hubbers’ Class of 2025.

Superintendent Brice Benson offered his congratulations to the class before class secretary Emily Snyder introduced salutatorian Emma Thomas.

“We’ve learned the value of sticking it out, the importance of caring for others and the strength of community,” Thomas said. “We’ve learned that messing up isn’t failing; it’s just a step on the way to success. And we’ve realized that the connections we’ve made here will stick with us long after we leave.

“Whether you’re off to college, trade school, work or just figuring things out, you made it. We all did, and that’s something to be proud of. As we go our own ways, let’s take these lessons with us, use them to guide us and make a positive impact.

Class vice president Trinitee Williams introduced valedictorian Haydn Riekofsky, who thanked school administrators and the board for “creat(ing) an environment where students like me could dream big and aim higher,” the teachers who “kept showing up with patience and wisdom” and “taught us how to think, to question, to stay curious and to keep going when things got tough” and his classmates for their “kindness, your humor, and even your chaos.”

Haydn Riekofsky

To students’ families, “our biggest supporters,” Riekofsky said “your love and sacrifices made this journey possible.”

Riekofsky urged the class, “As we go forward, remember: success isn’t a title or a number. It’s doing what you love, standing up for what you believe in and being kind, especially when it’s not easy. Let’s leave here today not just with diplomas, but with purpose. Let’s go make a difference.”

Class treasurer Mylee Davis then offered a vocal performance of “Slipping Through My Fingers,” prior to introducing the evening’s commencement speaker, Matthew Niles.

A graduate of Port Allegany High School and the nursing program at Mansfield University, Niles is the uncle of 2025 Casey Harris and 2024 graduate Bennett Harris and brother of Smethport science teacher and senior class advisor Theresa Harris.

Niles began his career as an emergency room nurse at UPMC Cole before becoming director of Critical Care and Dialysis units at UPMC Hamot and nursing professor at Gannon University.

Inspired by the power of organ, eye and tissue donation, he moved to Pittsburgh and later Washington, D.C., to serve as director of clinical services at the Organ Procurement Organization.

A decade later he moved to Cincinnati to become chief operating officer at LifeCenter Organ Donor Network, which he worked to merge into the Network of Hope, the 16th largest of 54 procurement organizations in the U.S., serving 7 million people in 136 counties, six transplant centers and 188 hospitals across Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. He is currently executive vice president and chief clinical officer at Network of Hope, and a nationally sought-after speaker.

Commencement speaker Matthew Niles

Niles said, “Class of 2025, you are truly one of a kind. Of the 57 graduates tonight, we have four sets of twins — yes, four sets of twins — athletes, performers, scholars and artists, and each of you are unique and a star in your own right.

He said that, rather than ask the graduates the question they’ve likely already been asked a thousand times, “What are you going to do after graduation?” he would ask a different, more important question: “Who are you going to be?”

“Because that question matters more than any job title, school name, major in college, career path or job,” Niles declared. “Don’t just chase a career or job title. Chase becoming the person you dream of being.

“Whatever job title you hold, remember your relationships, your integrity and your compassion will define your legacy more than your resume and job title ever will. Character matters more than a resume.”

He continued, “Think, do and become someone amazing, set free of any label that confines you, free to become who you dream to be. Be someone kind. Someone curious. Someone brave. Be someone who lifts up others. Let what you leave behind be something good.”

Photo courtesy of Theresa Harris

Smethport Area School District Board of Education President Daniel Wertz presented diplomas to the following students:

Jocelyn Kimberlee Alfieri**, Kenyon Allen Angell*, Owen Paul Arthurs, Adrianna Mae Claycomb*, Stephanie Nevaeh Conner*, Brayden Paul Cosper**, Lila Grace Costa**, Brynn Elise Cross, Jacqueline Hope Davis*, Mylee Shea Davis*, Raymond Scott Dinger, Lily Mae Dow** , Ayden Landon Dulski, Justin Allen Dunn*, Kaylee Elizabeth Edgar**, Zachary Forrest Erickson, Alden Michael Furgeson*, Colton James Furgeson, Justice Morine Hardy, Casey Catherine Harris*, Aidan Christian Homell, Boe Joseph Kirkman, Joyce Marjorie Loncki, Tekla Ann Loncki, Nolan Mark Mason, Elena Grace McKeirnan, Autumn Tristan Meeks, Emily Dawn Munsell, Danaka Lynn Neff, Emilie Jo Rainey**, Haydn Blaise Riekofsky**, Dominic Lee Ritts**, Sarah Elizabeth Rothermel, Drake Devon Rounsville, Owen Gregory Rounsville**, Kearstin Ann Sherry, William Osburn Sherwood, Kyra Ann Shields**, Rylan Daniel Shields**, Searah Anne Shutt*, Gracie Nicole Simms*, Emily Morgan Snyder**, Dalton Levi Stepp, Tara Lynn Stuck*, Madison Lynn Swanson*, Karlee Lynn Tanner**, Emma Jo Thomas**, Aaron Wayne Thompson, Carter Gage Vandermark, Eli Christian Voss*, Raygn Gibbs Walker**, Maddison Marie Wilkerson, Trinitee Rae Williams, Alexander Matthew Wooster, Alex Lee Yeager, Ellie Ana Yeager and Alyssa Nichole Young*

** denotes students who graduated with high honors, 93% or better 

* denotes students who graduated with honors, 87% or better