Graduation

Graduation

From Page A1

Blue Grass ditty, “Bluegrass State of Mind,” written, played and sung by graduating seniors Brian Taylor and Anthony Clinedinst, and accompanied on the guitar by School Superintendent Dr. Robert Chappell, in cap and gown.

Speeches being the essential ingredient in graduations, this one did not disappoint, though the tempo of the palaver was marked by a desire to keep the ceremony moving along, and no one bogged down the audience with excessive platitudes.

The first to the podium, John Wesley “Wes” Mills, School Board Chairman, reminded the audience that a third of the graduating class would be moving into higher education, while another third would enter the work force, and a final third would join the armed forces.

“Take the responsibility,” he told the graduates, “to see beyond the moment, to see the beauty of our home.” He urged them to say, “I did my best. I have no regrets.”

Class Salutatorian Lara Kreyling, who will be attending the University of Virginia, along with 20 other graduates who are going on to universities and colleges, borrowed from popular songwriters in her address, quoting Joni Mitchell (“You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone”) and Bob Dylan (“May you be forever young”).

Class Valedictorian Thornhill, who will be attending the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., thanked those to whom she gave credit for getting all the graduates to this day. She talked about parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and neighbors who “shared” the job with “love, effort, time and wisdom.”

She said, “Our lives are like a book. We are ending Section One” and beginning a new chapter which will afford the graduates with “choices, right decisions, choosing the right people to admire, and waking up every morning with goals,” among other new challenges.

She wanted to know how to judge success, according to the dictionary’s definition, or