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The thirty-second annual commencement exercises of the Rappahannock Couity High School were a personal triumph for principal Dennis Wingfield.
Accolades and standing ovations given the 16 year veteran who was ousted last month by the school board overshadowed the presentation of diplomas and the award of scholarships.
Wingfield and Mary Botts Quaintance, teacher and principal in the county's public schools for 48 years, were the two guests invited by the class of 1982 to speak at the graduation ceremonies. The graduates in their caps and gowns led the audience in rising to their feet when Wingfield was introduced. They were followed by parents in reserved seating and students, friends and patrons who were packed like sardines on the bleachers and in the entrances to the gymnasium.
In her valedictory address, Margie Jane Menefee described the principal as a very special person who deserved a very special thanks for his 16 years of dedicated service. Then, following the announcement of scholarship awards, senior class president Lavonne Gay Adkins presented Wingfield with an honorary high school diploma on behalf of the class of 1982. The teachers, in awarding their $300 faculty scholarship to Earl Jewell, designated the award as the Dennis B. Wingfield Scholarship and presented the principal with a silver bowl which will be inscribed with the names of the scholarship recipients.
In his speech, Wingfield compared the class of 1982 to an athletic team that showed up for daily practice for 12 years with coaches—parents and teachers—providing direction from the sidelines. “You’ve made the starting team,” he told the graduates, pointing out the fans “with grand expectations” packed into the gymnasium, all in recognition of the students' achievements.
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