MERRILLVILLE | Crown Point High School valedictorian Jonathan Glass brought props to thank his parents and teachers at the school's 126th commencement.

Crown Point High graduated 490 students Monday night at the Star Plaza Theatre at the Radisson.

Glass, with a grade-point average of 4.5, plans to major in chemistry at Northwestern University, with plans to be a premed student and go into pathology.

"I'm going to miss all of the teachers," he said, adding it has been a great four years.

Glass, 18, jokingly said he sought some help from Wikipedia while working on his speech, and after hours of poring over the fascinating material realized he'd better start writing.

He thanked his parents for always being there to keep "food in my belly," and sparked laughter when he pulled out a Subway sandwich and took a bite.

Twins Abdullah and Yasir Malik, 18, who are co-salutatorians, are going to different universities. Abdullah will attend Northwestern University as a premed major and wants to be a cardiologist like his father, Dr. Arshad Malik. Yasir plans to attend the University of Notre Dame and hasn't decided on a major, though he said he enjoys science.

The twins, who stood together at the podium, did their speech together. Yasir reminded fellow classmates of when they came to the high school as "timid little freshmen" but said there are no boundaries to their future success.

Abdullah said although high school is over, the values the students learned will last a lifetime.

"As for what the future holds, no one really knows but stay true to yourself," Yasir said.

Nicole Brown, student council treasurer, and Kara Ingelhart, senior class president, also offered words of advice to their fellow classmates.

Superintendent Teresa Eineman congratulated the graduates and commended them for being able to compete in any arena.

She encouraged them to get in the fight for human rights, explore the world and come back home to Crown Point to raise their families and send their children to its schools.