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Geibel Catholic High School will hold its 46th commencement exercises at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the school gym.

Emily Solan of Acme has been named valedictorian of the Class of 2009. Alexa Szelc of Perryopolis was named salutatorian.

The daughter of Gerard and Cecilia Solan, Emily attends St. Raymond of the Mountains Roman Catholic Church in Donegal where she is a lector and was a member of the Pro-Life Group. She has volunteered at Conn-Area Catholic School as a tutor and assistant volleyball coach.

She is a member of the Spanish National Honor Society, Peer Ministry, participated in the spring musicals and student council, is vice president of National Honor Society, and has been a four-year member of the Geibel volleyball team. She was a captain as a senior, and has won three letters. This year she won All-County, All-Section and WPIAL Third Team honors.

Solan won the Challenge Program Highest Grade-Point Average Award for three consecutive years and received the Women in Science Award/Scholarship in Chemistry at Seton Hill. Connellsville Elks and Connellsville Chamber of Commerce both honored her as Student of the Month.

She was awarded the E. Stanley Philips Award, Fayette County Scholar Athlete Award, Sister Lucy Memorial Chemistry Award, Bausch & Lomb Honorary Science Award, and Presidential Award for Educational Excellence. Geibel also presented her with excellence awards for outstanding performance in Spanish literature, social studies, anatomy and physiology and mathematics.

Solan was awarded the Trustee Scholarship from Allegheny College and aacademic and leadership sScholarships from Saint Vincent College. She was accepted to Grove City College and the honors program of Mount St. Mary's University with the Presidential Scholarship.

She will attend Westminster College, where she received the Trustees Scholarship, and will major in early childhood education/special education.

Szelc, daughter of Bob and Sue Szelc, is a member of St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Perryopolis. She was involved in several activities during her years at Geibel.

She was the vice president of Student Council; captain of the varsity Academic Quiz League; member of the National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, Math League, Calligraphy Club; and participated in the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science competition for six years.

Outside of school, Szelc volunteers at Frazier Community Library. She is an employee at the Perryopolis Dairy Queen, a job she has held for the past three years.

Some of her awards and honors include the Duquesne Sage Award, Duquesne Academic Scholarship, student of the month from the Fayette Chamber of Commerce and Connellsville Rotary Club, Excellence Award for College Algebra, Spanish IV Award, Science Department Award, Social Studies Award, JK's County Market Academic Award, Hospital Club of Connellsville Award, E. Stanley Philips Award, Presidential Award for Academic Excellence and Challenge Program's 2007 Best Attendance Award. Szelc was also featured in the Tribune Review's Student Spotlight.

She has been accepted to Duquesne University and the Pennsylvania State University, University Park campus. She decided to attend Duquesne in the fall, where she will spend the next six years studying for a Doctorate of Pharmacy degree.

Commencement speaker is Arnold E. Burchianti II, founder, owner and chief executive officer of Celtic Healthcare Inc., a home health care and rehabilitation services provider in Western & Central Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio. He has served in this leadership capacity since 2001, and has led the company through a significant period of growth by utilizing technology to improve the efficiency and cost effectiveness of business processes and workflows.

He said Celtic Healthcare Inc. is an industry leader in health care-related information technology, with CIBS, a proprietary software platform that manages the efficient delivery and workflow of home health care services that can considerably reduce the need for paper handling by keeping medical records online and efficiently automating workflow assignments. This utilization of information technology has allowed Celtic Healthcare Inc. to make Burchianti's vision of providing low-cost high-quality, health care a reality.

Technology initiatives have allowed the company to rise to the stature of being named the "2006 No. 3 Fastest Growing Life Sciences Company" by the Pittsburgh Business Times and honored as a "2007 Top 50 Best Places to Work in Western PA" and "2007 Top 100 Best Places to Work in PA" company.

Celtic Healthcare Inc. has evolved into a full continuum home health care provider offering geriatric care management, private-duty living assistance services, home care and rehabilitation, palliative and hospice care, he said.

From 1995 to date, Burchianti also held the position of president of a Celtic subsidiary company, formerly Functional Integration Inc., now Celtic Rehabilitation Services Inc., which provides subcontracted rehabilitative services and outpatient rehabilitation services to the home health care market. In addition, Burchianti is a licensed physical therapist. He served as head physical therapist at Gibsonia Sports Medicine from 1994 to 1997.

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