St. Vincent-St. Mary valedictorian still gives graduation speech after fire destroys home

St. Vincent-St. Mary High School valedictorian Anne Rea took the stage for her valedictory at the school's graduation Tuesday evening.

Her voice was clear and loud. There were no jitters seen from her during the address.

One would never have guessed that, less than 24 hours prior, her family home had been consumed by a fire.

A grill on the back patio may be what caused the blaze, which happened while Rea's family was having a gathering on the property. Around 10 people were rescued from the house, as well as pets. No major injuries were reported.

The Bath Township home has been deemed a likely total loss, according to authorities.

Despite the recent tragedy, Anne still wanted to give her valedictorian speech at the school’s graduation ceremony, school President Mark Butterworth said Tuesday.

"Anne epitomizes a student here of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School,” said Butterworth. “We always talk about 'Be your best. Be Irish.' Anne's one of our most well-rounded students. She runs cross country and track. She's a member, integral member, of our NASA team that just recently competed down in Huntsville, Alabama. And she's our valedictorian.”

During her speech, Rea did not mention the house fire. She instead compared their four years in high school to running a cross-country race..

"Junior year, aka the crunchy part of the race," said Rea during her speech. "The time to make moves, even when your body is tired, your legs feel like rocks and your mind wants to give up. But you force yourself to stay in the race as the end is slowly coming near."

Rea concluded her speech by saying that all 151 graduates showed up to the starting line on the first day of high school, and she is confident that same number are ready to take on the starting line once again - but in a new race.

Butterworth said he saw the family Monday. Anne’s sister Julia is a freshman at STVM, and two of her siblings attend the kindergarten through eighth grade St. Sebastian Parish School, he said.

“They're resilient,” he said.

Butterworth added that the fire is a “rallying cry” for the STVM and St. Sebastian communities to join together around Anne and her family.

“We’re blessed to have her for the last four years, and this shows you the strength and the courage she has, knowing that not only her St. Vincent-St. Mary family, also her St. Sebastian family and the greater St. Vincent-St. Mary community, is rallying around her and her family tonight,” he said on Tuesday.

STVM is collecting an assortment of gift cards for the family, Butterworth said.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: St. Vincent-St. Mary valedictorian gives speech despite house fire