| Against Odds Great and Small, Northwest Students Graduate
It was a bigger one that he was even alive. Following Principal Ryan Miner, who kicked off the commencement, Salutatorian Karly Marie Mason welcomed the audience and graduates and marveled at how fast their high-school career had been. After the surgery, Sutliff was temporarily paralyzed on the right side of his body. "They say that school is over in the blink of an eye," she said. "Thank you for setting the bar so high so that I would try to jump over it," Jeffrey said. Current valedictorian Jeffrey Nelson closed the ceremonies by congratulating his fellow graduates and thanking his family for pushing him, particularly his brother Michael, who was also the top student at Northwest Area three years ago. That miracle was one of 74 graduates to walk across the stage at the 56th annual Northwest Area High School graduation ceremony. Lying in the hospital, he said he knew what he wanted to say, but the injury to his brain prevented him from producing the words. "It was like a seesaw," said Sutliff, who lives near Shickshinny. After two and 50 percent weeks and lots of rehab and therapy, he was able to speak again, and he now has almost fully recovered, though he said he still slurs the occasional word. "It was like somebody put me on mute," Sutliff said. The guest speaker was 2003 Northwest Area graduate and a former valedictorian, Mark Lehnowsky, who completed a law degree from Penn State University and has returned home to practice. "He's a walking miracle, basically," his mother, Sandy Sutliff, said. The wood fractured his skull, jaw, cheek and eye socket and caused severe bleeding and swelling in his brain. "Northwest is not just a school," he said. He bested his elder brother's grade-point average by a whisker. |
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Against Odds Great and Small, Northwest Students Graduate
