Schools
'Nothing in Our Way': Groves Celebrates Graduation
Almost 300 Groves seniors walked across the stage and received their diplomas Sunday at Pontiac's Ultimate Soccer Arena.
The 2012 graduates of are about to embark on a journey, but according to principal Fred Procter, they're ready for it.
"You're embarking on a journey and you don't know where that journey will take you," said Procter at the school's graduation ceremony Sunday. "You are now preparedfor that journey ... We are completely confident that you'll well prepared for the challenges that come your way."
Hope and confidence imbued the commencement exercises at Ultimate Soccer Arena Sunday afternoon, as 296 members of the class of 2012 walked across the stage and received their diplomas.
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School Board President Susan Hill said Sunday that graduation is both a celebration of graduates' academic success, but also a personal accomplishment.
"To the people that love you, you are the most important person here," Hill said. "We are very proud of you, not only of your successes but the people you are and the people you are to become."
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Outgoing Superintendent David Larson said the graduates' past 12 years in school have been akin to having training wheels on a bicycle. Now, he said, the training wheels have been taken off.
"You have what it takes," Larson said. "You know what it means to live a life of character. You know who you are when no one is looking."
During the ceremony, Groves Parent Teacher Student Association President Jill Robnett awarded the 2012 Tom Carson Memorial Award to Anisha Glanton and Bradley Goforth. The award is given to two seniors who are "law-abiding, sincere, loyal and kind" — the attributes, Robnett said, of former Groves basketball coach, Tom Carson.
Speaking during the ceremony were seniors Kaleigh Passarelli and Justice Echols, both of whom urged their classmates to remember the past while embracing the future.
"We are the class of 2012," Echols said, "and there is absolutely nothing in our way of changing the world."
Class of 2012: Profile
- Number of students: 296
- Student Congress co-presidents: Alexandra Rubin and Jake Wayne
- Vice president: Gretchen Weed
- Secretary: Hannah Katz
- Treasurer: Margeaux Phillips
- Historian: Samantha Olmstead
- Representative: Leah Duncan
- Representative: Elizabeth Mansueti
- Representative: Kierra Moore
- Representative: Sandra Toma
Class of 2012: Accomplishments
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