Celebrating together
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on May 26, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Casey Pursifull and Hannah Greer hug a classmate after commencement exercises for Wayne School of Engineering in front of the Goldsboro High School auditorium Wednesday night. Several student called their classmates "family" in their speeches, and that sentiment could be seen as tears filled their eyes as they celebrated in one another's arms.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Emmanuel Mekhi Adeloye throws his hands up and shouts as he and his classmates exit the Goldsboro High School auditorium Wednesday.
The Wayne County School of Engineering class of 2016 took a step toward the future at its graduation ceremony Wednesday evening.
Fifty students walked the stage. Among them, 10 were students who had stayed an extra year to gain college credit or finish out high school, while 14 would be staying for a fifth year next year.
Thirty-three students were fourth-year seniors and three received both a high school diploma and an associates degree from Wayne Community College for completing both programs within their four years.
Six students spoke at the graduation. Amy Leah Weaver, from Goldsboro, founded the Key Club at WSE and was a part of a wide variety of student leadership groups. She graduated as an honors graduate and a North Carolina scholar.
Ms. Weaver said during her speech that she came in to high school with three goals: Don't be afraid to say something, achieve greatness and openly discuss the anxiety which had plagued her for years.
Her extracurricular activities helped her check the first two off the list.
The speech she gave at graduation helped her hit the last one.
She said seeing the environment at WSE helped her crystallize her goals.
"When I got here and saw the standards they held, that's when I made the goals," she said.
Ms. Weaver will attend UNC-Wilmington in the fall. She said she plans to go in to some kind of communication field.
Emmanuel Mekhi Adeloye, from Goldsboro, spoke about the close-knit community that helped lift him up as a new student.
He said that the graduating class had become a family, and that having that family was a big part of all of their success. Adeloye plans to attend East Carolina University in the fall, where he said he has some big plans.
"I just want to take ECU by storm and leave a mark," he said.
"When I leave ECU, I just want everybody to say 'That guy's going to do some big things.'"
Adeloye plans to major in business administration.
Matt Irvin Felipe, of Goldsboro, was part of a four-person speech conducted by himself, Carman Darryl Markley Greenway, Jesus Esteban Quiroz and Nicolas Deandre Reid.
Felipe said that the social and interpersonal skills he gained at WSE were the most valuable, although he also admitted with a laugh that he'd been dragged on stage by his friends to speak with them.
Felipe intends to spend time after school working to save money for himself and his parents, though he said he has the option to go to college in the Phillipines, where he is originally from.
One speaker who was not on the graduation program was custodian Sam McClary.
He walked on stage with the four boys before they spoke, and told a story about how he came to know them.
McClary said that, after overhearing the four of them having a conversation late one day, he asked them "What are you going to do to make the school a better place?"
They began to discuss, and McClary said that the talks soon became more than just talks.
Over multiple days and many conversations, more students arrived.
McClary said some began writing poetry and going to open mic nights to perform, while he introduced them to a few professional poets he knew to stoke their interest.
He said that the kids of the class of 2016, which he called "The best class we've ever had," were special for their inclusively.
"I fell in love with these kids because they weren't selfish," McClary said. "When's the last time you saw a white kid, a black kid, an Asian kid, and a Hispanic kid together for the same cause? When I saw that, I just knew I had to be a part of it."
Everyone in the class of 2016 was, in some way, "a part of it." And it would seem that everyone, McClary included, was better off for it.