FINISHED: PLAS seniors graduate

Published 3:02 am Friday, May 19, 2017

By Jacob Holmes

The high school journey of 43 seniors at Pike Liberal Arts School has officially come to an end.

The students walked across the stage at Claudia Crosby Theater Thursday night and received their diplomas.

Of course, there were a few speeches first to give the seniors a few last pieces of advice before they closed the doors on their high school careers and began their futures.

Sign up for our daily email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

The featured speaker for the night was State Treasurer Young Boozer.

Boozer kept his message short and simple for the graduates.

“My observation is the longer a politician has been in office, the longer they talk,” Boozer said. “I haven’t been in office very long so be ready to get your diplomas in short order.”

Boozer told the graduates his goal was to make the speech memorable. If nothing else, he said they’d at least remember his name.

“There’s a very good chance you’ll remember my name, Boozer said, having already joked about the entendre of his name earlier and mentioned it’s been called “the worst name in politics” by Jay Leno.

“Here’s my theme: the three ‘-ations,’” Boozer said. “Inspiration, perspiration and congratulations.

“You have to have the want-to… You also have to put in the work. You may have to break a sweat. It’s not easy to complete your education like you all did. The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”

Finally, Boozer left the seniors with a congratulations– and one last homework assignment.

“I want you to all go and google the poem ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling,” Boozer said. “I’ve lived my life by it and it has worked pretty well for me.”

Boozer then read them the poem,a poem written by Kipling to his son about how to be a good man.

Also speaking to the high school class were salutatorian Ivy Helms and valedictorian Madison Brown.

“We’ve come to class every day in one of two ways: we’d either overslept or we hadn’t gotten enough sleep and felt like the day would never end,” Helms said. “We’ve leaned on each other for support… When senioritis set in we became expert procrastinators and when project deadlines came up we became scholars.”

Brown told her classmates to follow their dreams and to work at them.

“We all have dreams,” Brown said. “Sometimes it’s hard to keep the dream alive… Set your goals and vision. You can get there with dedication.”

With the advice given, the seniors finally participated in the long-awaited moment of recieving their diplomas.

Headmaster Becky Bagget sent them off remiding them to trust in God in all that they do.

More News

Caroleene Dobson gears up for District 2 general election

Troy Exchange Club donates to Pike Regional Child Advocacy Center

Dr. Mark Bazzell gives update on Pike County School System

Troy drops midweek game with Jax State

Print Article

  • Polls

    What do you think of the new roundabout on Highway 167 in Spring Hill?

    View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...

  • Friends to Follow

  • Calendar of events