Gov. Shapiro delivers commencement address at West Scranton High School

Yahoo

20 hours ago

Jun. 12—SCRANTON — Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday told the West Scranton High School Class of 2025 graduating class that there are many different paths that their journey can take them down.
"And hear me on this — there's no wrong path," Shapiro said. "There's only your path. There are many avenues to success. And we've got to respect — and support — all of them."
Shapiro spoke directly to the 338 West Scranton High School graduates, their parents and teachers and staff, reminding the graduates that they represent the opportunity to chart their own course and succeed in Pennsylvania.
The ceremony was held at the Lackawanna College Student Union building in Scranton.
Since day one, Shapiro said he has worked to open doors of opportunity for all Pennsylvanians, no matter their path.
On his first day in office, the governor said he signed an executive order announcing that 92% of state government jobs are open to Pennsylvanians without a college degree — and since then, nearly 60% of the Commonwealth's new hires do not have a four-year degree.
Shapiro said he also made historic investments in public education — creating real opportunity for students, supporting teachers and school staff and delivering results across the Commonwealth.
The governor said he has secured more than $2 billion in additional funding for K-12 public education — the largest investment in Pennsylvania history.
And just two days earlier, the governor was in Berwick to announce that Amazon is planning to invest at least $20 billion to establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and artificial intelligence innovation campuses across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
He said this initial investment from Amazon will create thousands of good-paying, stable jobs as Pennsylvania workers build, maintain, and operate the first two data center campuses — one in Luzerne County and another in Bucks County.
Shapiro said this marks the largest private sector investment in the history of Pennsylvania.
In his address, Shapiro said the students are key to Pennsylvania's future.
"We have literally invested in your success," Shapiro said. "That is money very well spent. And you more than held up your end of the deal — you studied hard, tried new things, and accomplished a ton. And now, you're about to set out on your journey through life, stronger because of your West Scranton education."
Shapiro said his administration has increased funding for vo-tech, career and technical education and apprenticeships, while investing in making college more affordable.
"Consider this — right here at West, nearly 60 students from your graduating class completed classes at the Scranton-Lackawanna CTC," Shapiro said. "They studied everything from automotive and culinary arts to nursing and robotics. And 22% of your classmates here today — nearly 80 students — are going to take the skills they learned and go straight into the workforce. Another 10% are going to trade school; 8 of you are going into the military to serve our nation; and about half of you are going to college."
Shapiro told the graduates that they are a great representation of the diversity of opportunities available here in Pennsylvania.
"Each of you — no matter what path you choose — has the opportunity to be successful," he said. "And so if you remember only one thing from our time here today — remember that your governor showed up at your graduation because he gives a damn about you and asked you to blaze your own path. Chart your own course and follow your own gut. Live your own failures and find your own success."
The Governor shares his story
"When I graduated high school, my dream was to go to college, play on the basketball team, study pre-med, and then become a doctor — or maybe even be good enough to play professional basketball," Shapiro said. "You see how that turned out. I am none of those things. Instead, I flunked out of pre-med and got cut from the basketball team — on the very same day.
"But I didn't give up. Instead, I found a passion for service that's guided my life's work ever since."
Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.