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EHS Students' Graduation Behavior Discussed by School Board

Grads chastised, kudos given to indoor color guard and marine fitness team.

Emmaus High School students -- the good, the bad and the ugly -- were the topic of conversation at Monday night's East Penn School Board meeting.

The behavior at Saturday night's Emmaus High School graduation, held at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, has garnered a lot of attention the past few days, . In that letter, he said he's "angry, sad, and embarrassed" by what happened during the June 11 graduation and plans to take a hard look at the format of next year's ceremony.

At last night's meeting, School Board Director Alan Earnshaw said he was troubled by “deeply disruptive and disrespectful behavior” by students during the graduation.

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He said Piperato plans to meet with parents and other interested parties to discuss graduation ceremony behavior. Earnshaw said he plans to attend those meetings and suggested disciplinary measures for disruptive graduates, including withholding diplomas or having uniformed police at the ceremony ready to arrest graduates who behave badly.

At the other end of the behavior spectrum, the district paid tribute some of its students for their outstanding achievements.

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The Emmaus High School Indoor Color Guard was honored for its All Chapter Championship, Scholastic Novice Division, held in Wildwood, N.J., May 1. Among the honorees were Ariana Bortz, Courtney Bortz, Michelle Siegfried, Meghan Root, Gina Anderson, Daria Trumbo, Brittany Woo and Erica Fayad.

Their instructors were Felicia Meitzier and Elizabeth Burnett. Devon Steinmetz was the team’s technical adviser.

Also, the Emmaus High School Marine Fitness Team was lauded for its National Marine Corps Physical Fitness Championship on May 21 in San Diego.

It was the third consecutive national championship for the boys’ team and the fourth consecutive championship for the girls.

The team also boasted the individual male and female champions of the event, Jacob O’Donnell and Alexandra Fruwirth.

Team Coach George Gibbs said O'Donnell had the first-ever perfect score in the history of the championship and Fruwirth had the fourth highest women’s total ever.

Other team members are Antonio Adamo, Carmela Adamo, Steve McCabe, Meghan Melnick, Dante Downey, Kyler McGovern, William Martinez, Lindsey Bray, Emma Shubzda, Nate Tannous, Cameron Krieger, Devon Parikh, Samuel O’Donnel, Brielle Weida and Chris Picarello.

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