Unaka High to bid farewell to Class of 2016 on Saturday
Published 11:01 am Thursday, May 19, 2016
On Saturday morning, Unaka High School will say farewell to “unique” group of students as the Class of 2016 graduates.
Unaka High School will hold their graduation ceremony on Saturday at 10 a.m. in the gymnasium at the high school. Graduates need to arrive at the school at 8:30 a.m. to prepare for the ceremony, UHS Principal Betsy Oliver said.
The UHS Class of 2016 features three Valedictorians — Danielle Combs, Jordan Peters, and Sierra Wright. Also a member of the senior class is Savannah Agan, who was named one of five Niswonger Scholars for the entire Northeast Tennessee region for 2016.
Instead of bringing in an outside keynote speaker for the ceremony, Oliver said the Senior Class Officers were deliver an address to their classmates.
“The Class of 2016 at Unaka High School is very unique,” Oliver said. “The students are very goal-oriented. These students have displayed in their work ethic a very positive attitude as well as an enthusiastic spirit.”
While graduation will mark then end of their high school career, many of the departing Rangers will be going on to continue their education in some fashion.
“Most of our graduates have either two or four more years of education ahead of them,” Oliver said. “We have very few that are not going on to college or a technical school program.”
Among the colleges these post-secondary schools will be heading to are: Northeast State Community College, Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Elizabethton, Milligan College, East Tennessee State University, Tusculum College, Carson-Newman College, the University of Tennessee, Virginia Tech and the Jenny Lea Academy. Four of the graduates will be going on to serve in the United States military after completing high school.
“They are very excited about the work ahead of them,” Oliver said. “This class has a clear understanding of what they desire to achieve.”
“They will push themselves to their limits until their potential is fully reached,” she added. “I believe they will seize the opportunities they have been given to obtain their life goals.”
