Sussex Tech students rise to occasion

To the Editor: I would like to take this opportunity to remark upon a heartfelt moment shared by everyone in attendance at Sussex County Technical School’s graduation ceremony. As is customary, the seniors were seated on the stage of the Mc Neice Auditorium, and the people in attendance were seated in the audience. After singing the opening bars of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” the soloist, who had sung the national anthem at many events in the past, became overwhelmed with emotion and could not go on. The class president immediately went to the podium to hold her hand to give her encouragement to proceed. Without any intervention on the part of the instructors, the entire senior class began to accompany their classmate in singing our national anthem, and the crowd of at least 1,200 broke into song. As I stood in the back of the stage, I was so very proud of this graduating class, who inspired this moment of solidarity. I want to thank all the seniors for their outstanding demonstration of team work. I would also like to thank our instructors for preparing our students for their futures and instilling work ethics in them as a part of their everyday programs. Eileen Arvary Supervisor of Career Education Programs Sussex County Technical School, Sparta