Excitement was high Friday afternoon at Gammon Stadium at Vanden High School, where 44 of 60 Travis Education Center and Alternative Education graduates celebrated their academic achievements.
As the music faded the crowd was greeted by Principal Janelle Preston, who praised the graduating class for overcoming much over the past few years, especially during distance learning during COVID-19. She said she enjoyed watching their growth amidst challenges.
“It was my great privilege to see how you’ve all grown in grit and perseverance through these times,” Preston said. “Yes, some of you needed that loving harassment we sometime give at TEC, but in the end, here we are proudly wearing your TEC graduation blue gowns.”
Teacher Doug Ivey encouraged graduates to continue to reach for great heights in both their careers and their personal lives. In order to receive more prosperity, he said, theymust be ready to work for it.
“Don’t wait for opportunities to excel, go make it happen,” Ivey said. “Wake up every day with the attitude that you will accomplish something today that will both better you and those around you.”
Graduate Lucy Dingcong, known to her friends as Di, told her class to never stop being themselves.
“We won’t stop being loud, we will wear whatever we want and we will say whatever we want,” Dingcong said. “We won’t feel bad about it anymore.”
Reflecting back on her time in high school, Dingcong said she was inspired by her fellow graduates.
“Hopefully I will see you all around because it’s definitely not goodbye forever,” Dingcong said. “It’s just see you later.”
Among the 44 graduates, 9 of them were juniors who managed to graduated over a year early. Not knowing what to expect, Christopher Loney reveled in the moment.
“It was a great experience. I had the help, the push, the motivation to go ahead and finish school,” Loney said.
Preston closed the ceremony with a turning of the tassels and told graduates they will always have a family at the Travis Education Center.
“Once a T-bird, always a T-bird,” she said.
