Goldsboro High School: Turning the tassels
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on June 10, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
John Henry Oliver III dances on stage as he walks up to receive his diploma Thursday night on the football field at Goldsboro High School.
Goldsboro High School held its 2016 graduation ceremony Thursday with nearly 130 students receiving diplomas.
After Jaliyah Davis delivered the national anthem, Sterling Hamm-Jones, 2016 class president, took the stage to greet her classmates.
Ms. Hamm-Jones, who graduated with numerous honors, offered thanks to the educators who had pushed her to succeed, even when she may not have wanted to herself. She also thanked the JROTC leaders at the school.
Above all else, however, she thanked the parents. Ms. Davis said that the unwavering support of the parents was the reason they were all there.
"We all worked hard, but none of us would be here without our parents," she said.
After principal Robert Yelverton introduced the members of the Board of Education who were present, salutatorian Na'Shir Bowden took the stage.
Even before he began speaking, he was smiling and barely suppressing a laugh.
Bowden talked about the bond that the Goldsboro High seniors had developed over the years.
"Most of us have been together since fifth or sixth grade, so we've always had that bond," he said. "The first day of high school, we all walked through the halls already knowing we were running everything."
Bowden, a Goldsboro High football player who graduated with a wide array of honors, talked about an experience during his first year that made him take high school a bit more seriously.
"We did hit a few bumps during our journey through high school. Starting with Mr. Peterson ... First day of school, all upperclassmen told us the same thing, 'If you see Peterson on your schedule, drop it.' We didn't believe or think he was that bad so we all just kept it pushing and walked into his class, just thinking it was a regular first day of class when you turn in your papers from open house but no. We all went in class and sat down with friends, laughing and giggling and then next thing you know 'Clear your desk, take out a pencil, and no talking once I pass out this test.' Kid you not, first day and you have a one hundred question test. Yeah, at this time we're all saying, 'We're dropping his class.' But most of us ended up taking his class three different times for three different classes and in everything that we all went through in his class, we made it out. Also, I do have to give him his props, he really prepped a lot of us for the next level of our educational journey."
Bowden finished by telling his fellow classmates to "aim high and dream big," and then took out his phone for a selfie with the class.
Valedictorian Deja Matthews spoke as well.
Her speech, which was punctuated laughter, involved a story of how she and Bowden made the promise during a shared class to one day become valedictorian and salutatorian.
"I'm happy to see he kept his promise," she said.
Ms. Matthews offered words of encouragement for her fellow graduates and words of praise and appreciation for the staff who helped her get this far. She left the graduates with a call to action.
"Whatever you put your mind to you can do it, because we, the class of 2016, are a powerhouse of creativity."