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South Pacific Academy “Home of the Dolphins” bids farewell to 20 grads

SPA 2021 graduates
tony@samoanews.com
“Knowing how to weather a storm is important, but so is dancing in the rain”

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Saturday morning, June 12, the “Home of the Dolphins” – South Pacific Academy hosted their 21st Commencement Exercise to bid farewell to 20 Seniors who graduated with a special theme to send them out into the real world – “Knowing how to weather a storm is important, but so is dancing in the rain”.

SPA, which has had a difficult year which included a teachers’ strike, is a private school that takes pride in delivering a quality education.

Principal Noanette Snow-TafaoSnow-Tafao told graduates, “This day, this moment, this very second, all of you are surrounded by the people who have loved and supported you from the moment that you took your first step from the time you took your last high school final.”

Lt. Governor Talauega Eleasalo V. Ale was the keynote speaker. Pointing to the success of graduating “despite all of the storms and turbulence of the past year, you made it through,” he noted the importance of not only weathering the storm, but ‘so is dancing in the rain’ or as he put it — “whatever challenges come your way, don’t freak out, it’ll be okay. Stay calm, as one very smart person once said, ‘It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see’.”

Talauega said, “It is important to manage your perspective and mindset, knowing that you are going to be okay.

 “Sometimes storms are useful, because they force you to adjust to different challenges and sharpen your mind to face bigger problems of life.”

Following the keynote speech was the introduction of the two top students for the class of 2021 for SPA: Valedictorian Zoe Tuvaelagi Yolanda Falenaoti Mavaega and Salutatorian Arianne Andrei Porciuncula Adriano.

South Pacific Academy’s 2021 Valedictorian: Zoe Tuvaelagi Yolanda Falenaoti Mavaega [photo: Tony Gasu]

Officially confirming the eligibility and acceptance of South Pacific Academy’s class of 2021 was the chair of the SPA Board of Directors, Fiti Sunia.

South Pacific Academy’s 2021 Salutatorian: Arianne Andrei Porciuncula Adriano. [photo: Tony Gasu]

After awarding the diplomas to the graduates, Principal Snow-Tafao and her staff moved onto their awards presentation.

         Congressional Awards: All 20 graduates of SPA

         Male and Female Scholar Athlete Awards:

         Haven Asifoa, Jake Huang, Nancy Satele, Jessica Satele and Rebecca Biukoto.

         Perseverance Award:

         Zoe Mavaega, Jasmine Wyberski, Elisapeta Kava, Nancy Satele, Jessica Satele.