Up first for Class of 2015: Wayne Country Day School
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on May 22, 2015 2:25 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Shahim Graham-Muhammad, Wayne Country Day graduate, shares an emotional hug with his grandmother, Octavia, after the ceremony Thursday evening.
The 44th commencement exercise at Wayne Country Day School on Thursday night was rife with milestones -- not just for the students receiving diplomas but the school family.
"This will be our last time graduating on property," Headmaster Todd Anderson said before Thursday evening's ceremony. "Next year we'll be at the top of the 1A schools with 135 in the high school so we have gone in just three years after building that addition, from 90 (students) to 135."
There were 19 candidates for diplomas -- six had already returned to their homes in the Republic of China, leaving a baker's dozen lined up one last time as a class in the hallway.
"It's overwhelming," said Natalie Brown, valedictorian and Student Government Association president.
Classmate Jason Jones had mixed feelings -- "low-key nerve-wracking."
"It's bittersweet and exciting, but it makes me nervous a little bit," added Crawford Tanner, who has been at the school practically her whole life, she said.
Tiffany Larsen, who enrolled at the school five years ago, said she will miss the camaraderie.
"Probably considering how many years some of these kids have been together and there's only 13 of us, we're closer than most because there's not too many," Jones said.
"I'm happy," said Victor Miller said, drawing a more candid response from fellow graduate Jackson Warren.
"It's over finally!" he said.
Another perk of having fewer students is the entire graduating class gets to sit on the stage together and face their friends and family in the audience.
"This is a special class and a bittersweet graduation," Anderson said as the ceremony began. "This is our last small class, not small but intimate."
He told the audience that things will be different next year, with the increase in enrollment.
"So the Class of 2015 will have the legacy of saying, 'I was the last one to graduate in the gym,'" he said.
The ceremony also marked the end of an era for one family at the school, Anderson said.
This year the school had three co-salutatorians -- Taylor Willman and twin sisters Mary Crawford Tanner and Margaret Tanner, with only 1/600th of a point separating them, officials said.
All four of the Tanner children -- father is Hal Tanner III -- have been salutatorians at the school. Hil Tanner held the distinction in 2012 and Georgia Tanner in 2010.
Matriarch Leigh Tanner, chairman of the science department, also had an impressive resume at the school since being hired in 2003. She was teacher of the year in 2005-06 and has given the faculty address in 2008, 2011, 2013 and this year.
Thursday night, Mrs. Tanner was one of three recipients of Anderson's "pau hana" service awards (pronounced pow hana, Hawaiian for "finished work"). He shared that not only was the school losing her family, but that she was embarking on a sales career and leaving the school as well.
The other two recipients of the appreciation award were Kent Warren, board member for six years, chairman this past year, and longtime teacher and staff member Barbara Ann Vinson, whose "indelible mark" on the school will be forever remembered, Anderson said.
Two "teachers of the year" were also named. Recognized for the Lower School was Tracey Benton, with Connie Whaley being named the Upper School teacher of the year.
Addressing her students one last time, Mrs. Tanner expressed appreciation to the staff and faculty, as well as the special group of young people she had ushered into high school as their ninth grade science teacher.
"This class, they're the perfect example of persistence," she said, going on to impart four lessons that have had the greatest impact on her own life -- derived from feelings, fears, failure and finding happiness.
In her valedictorian address, Miss Brown reminded her classmates that this was the day they had all been waiting for.
"All of our hard work has paid off. This is an extraordinary day, but we shouldn't forget to enjoy the ordinary days also. We often wait and wait for the future and wish our time away. We have the habit of rushing through our lives," she said. "Find the joy in not only the extraordinary days but the ordinary days.
"Remember that our lives are limited, but our accomplishments are not."