Milton Hershey School’s Class of 2024 Breaks Through to Graduation
By Pete Gurt ’85, MHS President
This school year, the Milton Hershey School community centered our focus around shattering real and perceived barriers to become the very best versions of ourselves. Not only have our students and staff achieved an immeasurable number of Breakthrough accomplishments, but they have elevated standards of excellence on our campus and beyond.
Most notably, nearly 200 members of the Class of 2024 will soon become MHS graduates. Collectively, they have completed 5,020 community service hours, 175 students completed internships and co-ops at our Hershey entity partners and local businesses, and 150 completed college-level courses. Not to mention that 14 students received their pre-apprenticeship certification from the Manufacturers’ Association before the school year even started.
But most importantly, they have learned the values of commitment to mission, integrity, positive spirit, and mutual respect.
They have honed their passions and career interests through our robust Career and Technical Education program and Career-Focused Education opportunities. This school year alone, our nearly 2,100 students have participated in 1,340 career exposure opportunities. These experiences and lessons are designed to help our students in pre-K through 12th grade discover careers that they may not have ever considered.
In the 2023-24 school year, these opportunities have included learning from employees at MHS, Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, The Hershey Company, Penn State Health, Hershey Trust Company, and The M.S. Hershey Foundation.
For the Class of 2024, these opportunities and connections have opened new doors to achieve career and life success far beyond our campus in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Their post-graduate plans include earning two- and four-year degrees, jumping into the world of work, and enlisting in the military. We look forward to seeing this next generation of young leaders, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists thrive.
Our founders Milton and Catherine Hershey knew that career-readiness skills were important to finding success. They created a trades program that has gone on to lay the foundation for thousands of graduates. More than a century later, we continue to build and develop our students’ skills to ensure they find career and life success.