Plum Class of '75 to return for graduation 50 years later

Plum’s Class of 2025 will be joined this year by some peers who have a little more experience at graduation.

More than 100 members of the Class of 1975 will return to the district to be honored at this year’s commencement, 50 years after their own graduation ceremony, according to Superintendent Rick Walsh.

Walsh said he is looking forward to hearing stories from the alumni and hopes they may be able to offer their perspectives to the new graduates.

“I think the reunion and graduation ceremony together will illustrate the cycle of education and growth,” Walsh said. “We’re proud of our alumni, and we’re incredibly optimistic about our graduating students.”

The superintendent said he was initially approached with the idea by Randy Morgan, a member of the Class of ‘75 and retired Navy captain, at a distinguished alumni ceremony in the district.

In Southern California, where Morgan and his family settled, it is routine to invite alumni celebrating their 50th anniversary to the district graduation ceremony, the captain said.

He said he hopes to make that practice a tradition at Plum, too.

Though Morgan chose to stay on the West Coast, he said his mother still lives in Plum and he has maintained connections to many of his classmates over the years.

The alumni will hold a breakfast the day before commencement where, Morgan said, they will have the opportunity to reacquaint themselves with old classmates and interact with the Class of 2025, perhaps imparting some wisdom.

During the actual ceremony, he said, the alums will be acknowledged, but the focus will remain on the Plum seniors.

“We are going to be epic every day, and we want to do an epic event that will set the standard for Plum High School,” Morgan said.

For Angie Tedesco Wilson, the ceremony will be a family affair.

A member of the Class of 1975, she will also share the field with her grandson, Plum senior Logan Hanscom.

“Part of me wanted to be up in the stands with my family, but then to have the opportunity to be down on the field with him graduating is pretty awesome,” she said.

Since she graduated, Tedesco Wilson has spent the half century almost entirely in Plum. She married another Plum graduate, put both of her daughters through the district and will now join her third grandchild to graduate from Plum at the commencement.

Tedesco Wilson said her grandson, who lives next door to her, plans to attend Clarion University to study nursing. The longtime resident said she is proud that her class is starting what could become a tradition in the district.

“I’m just looking forward to seeing my classmates and seeing all these kids who are holding our future,” Tedesco Wilson said.

A member of the Plum Class of 1987, Walsh said he, too, hopes to join his classmates and the class of 2037 for his 50th anniversary.

Plum’s commencement takes place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 28.