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Milton Hershey School’s Class of 2024 Breaks Through to Graduation

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.

Senior Division students pose in front of the Reese's plant.

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.

Learn More about the Class of 2024Find Opportunities at MHS

About the Author

Pete Gurt ’85

Pete Gurt ’85

President of Milton Hershey School

Pete Gurt ’85 is the president of Milton Hershey School and Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning. Under his leadership, MHS has reached record enrollment of nearly 2,300 students and introduced programs to support graduate success, while CHS expanded high-quality early childhood education in Pennsylvania. Gurt has served in various leadership roles at MHS for decades and sits on multiple professional boards, including the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools, S&T Bank, and Hershey Trust Company. He holds an honorary doctorate from Elizabethtown College, a master’s in education from Penn State Harrisburg, and a bachelor’s in business administration from Temple University. His contributions have earned him several awards, including the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Coalition of Residential Excellence.

Milton Hershey School does not discriminate in admissions or other programs and services on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, sex, religious creed, or disability, or any other status protected under applicable law. Read important MHS policies on equal opportunity and diversity, equal employment opportunity, and more.