Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Coatesville grads urged not to focus on negativity and reclaim their image
Coatesville Area High School graduates were encouraged to reclaim their image.
Matthew Battin, valedictorian, reflected during the June 8 graduation on what it means to be from Coatesville.
“Coatesville carries with it a massive stigma. I cannot count how many times I have told people that I attend the Coatesville School District and they give me that typical response, ‘oh you go
to Coatesville?’ I’m sure you all know exactly what I’m talking about,” Battin said. “For some reason outsiders see our poverty, our diversity, our occasional shortcomings, and amount them to us being inferior. Their prejudgments could not be farther from the truth. My experience at this school has shown me that nowhere else will you find a community so prideful, teachers so passionate, or students so accepting, as you’ll find in Coatesville.”
Battin said that during their high school career, Coatesville had “certainly been the target of a lot of negativity” and he did not provide specific examples because “negativity has no place here today.”
“I’m sure we can all imagine a time when our school and our community have been ridiculed, mocked or slandered,” Battin said. “But we cannot allow others to define us – not the media, not other schools, not even the naysayers within our own community.”
Battin said it scares him that by their 10-year reunion they might only remember the negativity and “fail to see all of the amazing things that were done here.” He wanted the graduates and their families to reclaim what is theirs: the image of the city.
Battin has plans to study historic preservation and community planning because Coatesville inspired him.
“You are a strongly united community bound by a creed of tolerance and respect for diversity. With all the odds against it, our steel city has never lost its pride or unity,” Battin said. “The resilience of this city and the never-failing pride of its people are what makes Coatesville so much greater than what outsiders would have you believe.”
That resilience became noticeable when the country stood united after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
“When the Twin Towers collapsed on 9/11, the only thing left standing were steel support trees that spread across the first few floors, even when the world came crashing down upon them, these steel beams did not weaver,” Battin said. “It’s little surprise that these resilient supports were made right here in Coatesville. It is our strength. It is our home.”
He also commended the teachers for additionally teaching life lessons to stand up for themselves when they feel they have been wronged, and to be their own advocates.
Kameron Reeves, salutatorian, encouraged his classmates to embrace the moments that quickly become memories, even the displeasing ones.
“Conquer the challenging moments. The paths ahead of us will all be different, but surely we’ll all face adversity I some form or another. Endure the disheartening moments. These are the moments that disappoint us, but we must stay the course,” Reeves said. “Keep moving forward. Every moments leads to another. Be there for someone in need. Always strive to help others in all that we do. Embrace the joyous moments. Walk with a smile when all is going well and ignore those who choose to try to bring you down.”