Class of 2026 stays dry during Classic Center ceremony.
Attendees of Oglethorpe County High School’s graduation ceremony were thankful for the location change to The Classic Center as rain passed through Northeast Georgia on Friday night.
The ceremony was scheduled to take place at Patriot Stadium, but was moved to Athens on May 19, just three days beforehand. Graduation is typically held at the stadium, but it was also moved to The Classic Center in 2018 because of weather concerns and held there again in 2019 because school officials liked the venue.
“I think it was a nice change because everybody’s so used to the football field,” graduate Aurora Hendrix said.
About 2,075 students, families and teachers filled The Classic Center Theatre as graduates celebrated the end of their high school careers. Afterward, families gathered throughout the lobby to take photos.
For Beverley Levine, the night also marked a milestone.
Levine, who will retire at the end of June, attended her final graduation ceremony as superintendent. She delivered bracelets to the graduates and accepted the graduating class.
She later described the ceremony as one of the best she had seen.
“It was nice to go out on such a positive graduation,” Levine said. “The graduates were amazing and everything went off without a hitch. I never really had time to think it was my last.”
Graduates reflected on their emotions.
As graduate, Ashlyn Poe walked across the stage she noticed her family sitting in the audience.
“It felt like a lot of tension, a lot of emotions,” Poe said. “Seeing my family in the crowd made me very happy.”
Poe said she had been told she would never graduate.
“They said I was never gonna make it,” Poe said. “But I’m here now.”
Graduate Braylon Hull said the ceremony felt overwhelming as each person began a new stage of life.
“It’s really just a start with something new, so it’s gonna be a little nervous, but I think everybody’s gonna do all right,” Hull said.
Principal Bill Sampson welcomed the graduates before Carlie Gabriel and Elin Turner performed the national anthem.
Honorarian Callie Bridges compared the graduating class to dandelions spreading seeds into the world, while salutatorian Kayden Watkins encouraged classmates to embrace the new opportunities ahead of them.
Valedictorian Amber Tiller encouraged the graduating class to take two traits with them in adulthood: dedication to their community and appreciation for one another.
The ceremony finished with Emilee Cutsail leading the turning of the tassels, officially marking the end of their high school careers.
Many of the teachers and educators who influenced each of the students on the stage watched from the front two rows.
“This is my third graduating class. This year’s kind of hit me a little harder,” special education teacher Mareta Spencer said.
Spencer said watching these students overcome so many challenges made the ceremony special for her.
“Watching them walk up on the stage and sit down. I cried,” Spencer said. “I’m just so incredibly proud of so many of these kids. They’ve overcome so many obstacles in their schooling.”