Earlier in the week, the weather forecast looked like bad news for LaGrange High School’s graduation ceremony. Instead, the rain held off Saturday morning, and 264 graduates received their diplomas in front of friends and family at Callaway Stadium.

Principal Alton White, who watched his own daughter graduate last week, talked to graduates from the perspective of a parent, so they’d know what was going through the minds of those gathered in the stands.

“We fussed about your grades, made you clean your room and waited up pacing the floor when you were late coming home,” White said. “And now, as you graduate we are excited again. But this time, we aren’t just nervous, we’re scared to death. Oh, we’re proud of you. You’ve reached one of the major milestones in your life, a rite of passage so to speak, but now that you’ve gotten here, what are we supposed to do?”

The students that spoke reflected on the last four years and looked ahead to the future. Salutatorian Hannah Lee gave advice on how students should move forward, quoting Dr. Seuss “Oh the Places You’ll Go” as part of her speech.

“It feels like just yesterday we were all freshmen wondering what we were going to do with our lives,” Lee said.
Elizabeth Kaplan, valedictorian and STAR student, inspired the class of 2018 to go out and solve the world’s problems.

“I see a stadium full of giants, individuals who are capable of tackling the world’s most pressing issues,” Kaplan said. “In fact, we’re already off to a running start. We’ve faced and overcome many challenges. Some of us have completed Pathways. Some of us have completed college credit hours and all of us have adapted to attendance and grade policy changes… But I encourage our class to go further, to take on issues such as pollution, inequality, human trafficking and violence within our communities. I challenge our class to find solutions to these issues and to change the world one day at a time.”