Uniontown Area High School graduates
Uniontown Area High School will hold its commencement for 141 seniors on Friday, June 2 at the Margaret A. Emelson Auditorium.
Valedictorian is Malcolm Patton and salutatorian is Grant Barcheck.
While attending Uniontown Area High School, Patton has been a member of the cross country team, academic league, math team, science olympiad team, Spanish club, drama club, marching band, and art club, as well as being one of the media center interns at the high school. Academically, he has maintained highest honors during all four years of high school while taking a number of honors and advanced-placement classes.
Outside of school, Patton has volunteered with the Wilderness Experience, Leadership, and Service Program, helping to provide middle school students with opportunities to learn leadership skills through outdoor activities. Having loved music for many years, recently he has been working as a freelance musician, participating in pit orchestras, as a substitute church pianist, and as the accompanist of the Greater Uniontown Chorale.
He has been named as a National Merit Scholar and will be part of the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University in the fall, majoring in mathematics and linguistics. He also plans to continue to pursue his passions in music and theater. After college, he plans to go to graduate school to pursue a career as a researcher and a professor.
Patton is the child of Patricia and David Patton, and has two older siblings: Lucy and Caleb. He is also the grandson of Mary and John Moore, and Dolores Patton and the late John Patton.
While attending Uniontown Area High School, Barcheck maintained highest honors during all four years of high school, taking numerous honors and advanced placement classes. He has been a part of the gifted program since he was in fourth grade. His activities include senior class president, National Honor Society president, an Eagle Scout of Troop 608, Interact Club, Envirothon, Science Olympiad, four-year cross country letterman, three-year soccer letterman, three-year track letterman, and two-year football letterman.
During his time as president of National Honor Society and as an Eagle Scout, Barcheck participated in a multitude of community service acts, including events to clean up Bailey Park, work and organize a school blood drive, ring bells for the Salvation Army, and help to organize a high school Relay for Life team for the American Cancer Society.
He also enjoys hiking, camping, and fly fishing.
Barcheck will attend Penn State University at University Park in the fall with a major in environmental systems engineering. At Penn State, he plans on joining hiking and fishing clubs as well as a running club. After college, he plans to pursue a career in environmental engineering with a focus on mine and river reclamation.
Barcheck is the son of Mark and Diana Barcheck of Uniontown, and has one sibling: an older sister, Ashlyn. He is also the grandson of Edmund and Dolores Barcheck of Uniontown, and Rose and Tom Richardson of New Salem.