With hats thrown and tassels turned from right to left, the Class of 2026 will graduate from high school.

The graduation ceremony will be held on May 22 at 7 p.m.

Preparations for the graduation ceremony are in full effect.

“We have made the plan and the schedule,” Mrs. Lisa Laug, guidance director, said. “We have the chairs we are using for graduation, we ordered flutterfetty, the programs for Honors Day and graduation are underway, so that is where we are at right now.”

The Class of 2026 will end with speeches from students and administrators.

“We will do the national anthem, speeches by our welcome speaker as well as our valedictorian and our salutatorian, and Mr. Gasaway will highlight a number of awards that students have achieved as groups and individuals,” Mrs. Laug said.

The weather is constantly changing, but the location of the ceremony is set in place.

“The ceremony will be in the main gym,” Mrs. Laug said. “We have looked at having the ceremony at different spaces before, and there are a lot of reasons it has been chosen to go into the gym: safety and weather which is unpredictable. The weather doesn’t mean just rain which can completely change, but also it could be unseasonably cold or hot, which can be a concern for medical related issues.”

In order to have a successful ceremony, seniors and administrators must practice.

“On the Thursday after the sunrise breakfast, May 21, we go right into practice,” Mrs. Laug said. “Practice will be at 8 a.m. and last for an hour and a half.”

Seniors will be given wristbands to give to their graduation guests with the choice to use them all or leave some.

“At the end of practice, each graduate will be handed eight wristbands. We will ask if anyone is not going to use all eight. Then, we will ask students to stay if they need any more tickets, and we will then distribute the tickets,” Mrs. Laug.

The Class of 2026 will be able to live the high school dream of throwing their caps.

“I am excited about getting my diploma as I am very excited to leave. I am most excited about that moment of throwing our hats into the air and moving the tassel,” senior Eden Nicely said.

At the commencement ceremony, students will hear from senior Thomas Satterfield, valedictorian, who plans to reminisce on the seniors’ journey through high school together. 

“I do not want to make my speech about myself but instead about the school and everything we went through together. I want to make it more about us and how now we are moving on to the next great part and continuing our careers,” Satterfield said. 

There are many aspects of excitement for seniors as their time in high school commences.

“I signed up to be one of the speakers, so hopefully I will do that,” Nicely said. “I would be the one that ends everything and tells everyone to turn the tassel over. Hopefully, I get that. If not, I am very excited to shake hands and hug my teacher, Mrs. Applegate.”

Connections with teachers are vital for students.  

“I had Mrs. Applegate for trigonometry, and this year I have her for probability and statistics. I sit in the front seat so we have those small moments of teacher and student,” Nicely said. “There were only six girls in that class, so she took all of us girls in.”

Although teachers may be retired, they are still able to hand diplomas.

“Mrs. Trotter is handing me my diploma,” senior Aubrey Summers. “I helped her with the Quest kids until she retired.”

A vital aspect of graduation is the decoration of senior caps, and Nicely has hers figured out.

“Because I moved seven different times, my graduation cap says ‘I might have moved seven different times, but I am right where I should be,” Nicely said.

Seniors had the choice of decorating their caps

“I am not decorating a graduation cap because I would only wear it once and never again,” Summers said.