It certainly rained Saturday, but not on the Liberty County High School graduates’ parade.
One by one, the 264 eager seniors made their way across wooden planks laid out on the spongy, wet football field in Donell Woods Stadium.
The class of 2009 was the first to graduate at the 15-month-old stadium.
Many students said they weren’t going to let a few showers ruin the day they had waited for four years.
“It’s crazy,” Amber Pitts said looking up from her wheelchair. “Absolutely, crazy! I almost didn’t make it. … And here I am. I did it,”
Pitts said she would not let anything, not even her disability, keep her from getting her diploma.
“I was teased through middle school and all through high school,” she said, “but my mom always told me they were shallow or they did not understand.”
“I was the first one out of my family to graduate. All the others did not make it and I promised that I would do it, nothing would stop me,” she said.
Parents filled the bleachers, popping umbrellas open several times during the ceremony.
As the graduates waited in line to be seated family members shouted out their students’ names.
“JP!” one proud parent yelled.
The graduates stood ready, some waving to smiling faces in the crowd, some helping classmates with last-minute primping. Others practiced shaking hands, preparing for the moment they’d receive their diplomas.
“It’s shake with your left,” Danielle Mouton said to a friend, “grab with your right.”
Off to the side, two friends reminisced about the times they’ve shared in and out of school.
“We’ve been friends since middle school,” Christina Tuck said, glancing at her friend Valencia Scott.
“We have basically gone through school together, helped each other with family problems and we’ve encouraged one another to make it through,” Scott said.
“When my grandmother died, I would call Valencia up crying,” Tuck said. “She would be there to tell me it would be alright.”
The two friends hugged, ready to take their places on the football field and make a few more memories before heading their separate ways in a few weeks.
Scott, an honor student, will attend Mercer University in the fall and Tuck leaves for boot camp in June.
Salutatorian Meagan Rowe addressed the crowd and valedictorian Brittany Butler bestowed upon the crowd a few final remarks.
“We live and we learn …” Butler said. “Each step has been a stepping stone. Don’t let your past dictate who you are, but also, don’t let it be who you will become … embrace your lives … live each moment the best you can … find meaning … when you find that meaning, you’ll find out who you really are.”
Tuck sat motionless, tears streaming down her face as she listened to Butler segue into the moment she and the rest of the class had been waiting for.
“Congrats, class of 2009,” Butler said. “We got this.”
Hats flew into the air and Liberty County Superintendent Dr. Judy Scherer presented the class of 2009 to the cheering crowd.
“I am so proud of her,” Scott’s mother Joyce Scott said. “She had some struggles, but through the strength and grace of God, I told her she could do it and she did.”
One by one, the 264 eager seniors made their way across wooden planks laid out on the spongy, wet football field in Donell Woods Stadium.
The class of 2009 was the first to graduate at the 15-month-old stadium.
Many students said they weren’t going to let a few showers ruin the day they had waited for four years.
“It’s crazy,” Amber Pitts said looking up from her wheelchair. “Absolutely, crazy! I almost didn’t make it. … And here I am. I did it,”
Pitts said she would not let anything, not even her disability, keep her from getting her diploma.
“I was teased through middle school and all through high school,” she said, “but my mom always told me they were shallow or they did not understand.”
“I was the first one out of my family to graduate. All the others did not make it and I promised that I would do it, nothing would stop me,” she said.
Parents filled the bleachers, popping umbrellas open several times during the ceremony.
As the graduates waited in line to be seated family members shouted out their students’ names.
“JP!” one proud parent yelled.
The graduates stood ready, some waving to smiling faces in the crowd, some helping classmates with last-minute primping. Others practiced shaking hands, preparing for the moment they’d receive their diplomas.
“It’s shake with your left,” Danielle Mouton said to a friend, “grab with your right.”
Off to the side, two friends reminisced about the times they’ve shared in and out of school.
“We’ve been friends since middle school,” Christina Tuck said, glancing at her friend Valencia Scott.
“We have basically gone through school together, helped each other with family problems and we’ve encouraged one another to make it through,” Scott said.
“When my grandmother died, I would call Valencia up crying,” Tuck said. “She would be there to tell me it would be alright.”
The two friends hugged, ready to take their places on the football field and make a few more memories before heading their separate ways in a few weeks.
Scott, an honor student, will attend Mercer University in the fall and Tuck leaves for boot camp in June.
Salutatorian Meagan Rowe addressed the crowd and valedictorian Brittany Butler bestowed upon the crowd a few final remarks.
“We live and we learn …” Butler said. “Each step has been a stepping stone. Don’t let your past dictate who you are, but also, don’t let it be who you will become … embrace your lives … live each moment the best you can … find meaning … when you find that meaning, you’ll find out who you really are.”
Tuck sat motionless, tears streaming down her face as she listened to Butler segue into the moment she and the rest of the class had been waiting for.
“Congrats, class of 2009,” Butler said. “We got this.”
Hats flew into the air and Liberty County Superintendent Dr. Judy Scherer presented the class of 2009 to the cheering crowd.
“I am so proud of her,” Scott’s mother Joyce Scott said. “She had some struggles, but through the strength and grace of God, I told her she could do it and she did.”