RIPPLE/Lindsay Craven
Starmount High School seniors wait to be seated for the graduation ceremony that took place on June 6 at Peace Haven Baptist Church.
RIPPLE/Lindsay Craven
Principal Jr. Luffman shares a laugh with a student as he presents her with an award at the class of 2012 graduation ceremony.
RIPPLE/Lindsay Craven
Christian Hurt received a standing ovation as he crossed the stage to accept his diploma.
RIPPLE/Lindsay Craven
A group of students embrace following the graduation ceremony.
The moment that the Starmount High School class of 2012 has been waiting for arrived on June 6.
Faculty, administration and staff congratulated 166 students as they walked across the stage and ended their time as high school students.
The graduation ceremony was held at Peace Haven Baptist Church in Yadkinville.
The class salutatorian, Taylor Spillman, spoke to her fellow classmates, encouraging them to remember their worth and reach for their dreams.
“I challenge each one of you to take advantage of your unique abilities,” Spillman said. “Follow your heart and find your individual calling. Take advantage of each opportunity when it comes your way. Apply yourselves and strive toward a goal that specially suits you.”
Valedictorian Brinsley Stewart chose to remind students of classmates who overcame unbelievable obstacles to sit alongside them today.
“Since he was a child, Austin Macemore has struggled battling, cancer but you would never know this,” Stewart said. “Austin is always at school with a smile that spreads to all his classmates. Christian Hurt’s senior year might not have turned out like he had hoped but his strength to make the best of a bad situation has inspired many.”
Stewart called for her fellow classmates to take the lessons learned from these individuals and make the most out of life and make the best out of every situation.
Year end awards were presented at the ceremony to the outstanding students of the class of 2012. The top eight student awards were presented to Kelsey Beamer, Brittney Casstevens, Kayla Castevens, Samantha Couch, Dillon Dobson, Ashley Everidge, Danielle Motseller and Brett Pinnix.
Service learning awards were presented to Ethan Collins with 249 service hours, Ashley Everidge with 222 hours, Austin Somers with 201 hours, Brinsley Stewart with 211 hours, Emily Wagoner with 295 hours, Brittney Casstevens with 427 hours, Kallie Ford with 2,520 hours, Travis Haynes with 876 hours and Jake Shore with 340 hours.
The Starmount High School faculty awarded the Danforth “I Dare You” awards to Samantha Couch and Austin Macemore. The Citizenship Award was given to Brittney Casstevens and Jacob Rucker. The Best All Around Award was given to Olivia Gough and Dillon Dobson.
Of the 166 seniors, 91 percent will go on to a two or four-year school, 5 percent will join a branch of the armed forces and four percent will join the workforce.
The class of 2012 received over $1.3 million in scholarship funds.
Principal Jr. Luffman left the graduating class with one last thought before sending them off into the world.
“We have had a lot of graduates from Starmount do great things,” Luffman said. “I expect to have you do things that we will talk about in the future too. We love you, we expect great things and we want you to be happy and successful.”
Reach Lindsay Craven at 679-2341 or at lcraven@heartlandpublications.com.
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