HONESDALE, PA — Heralded by songs and speeches, the 2025 graduating class of Honesdale High School took the stage on Friday, June 6 to receive their diplomas—and to start the next chapter in their lives. 

Click here for more photos from the event. 

The class dignitaries gave a trio of speeches that collectively spoke to the past, the present and the future. 

Class president Erin Meagher, in her speech, titled “Remembering the Past,” extended thanks to the families and class advisors who made the students’ school experience what it was. 

“As we walk this stage tonight, these walls will now hold memories of our class. Our school spirit will linger, our hard work will inspire and our impact will stay forever,” Meagher said. 

Salutatorian Megan Kretschmer, in her speech “Embracing the Present,” said she struggled to decide what she wanted to talk about in her graduation address. 

“Tonight, I want to share a simple truth that shaped our journey in so many ways, and can guide us more in the steps to come,” she said. 

That truth? “The present is all we really ever have, so lets choose to fill it with love.”

Valedictorian Rylan Montgomery, in his speech “Looking Toward the Future,” said that the evening marked a crossroads in their lives. 

“The past—the comfort zone—remains, to shield us from the future,” Montgomery said. “But the future, it’s just another opportunity to capitalize on opportunities and continue to grow the life you desire and are destined to achieve.”

The evening also contained a moment of remembrance for a member of the graduating class who did not get to see the stage. 

Fluck, a member of the 2025 class, unexpectedly passed away in November 2022; he was a member of the football team and had a cancerous tumor in his chest. Fluck’s parents took the stage to receive a posthumous diploma in his honor.