Amanda Elzy High School will have 94 seniors graduate at its commencement ceremony Thursday.
The group of soon-to-be Panther alums will walk the stage at Rice-Totten Stadium at Mississippi Valley State University to receive their diplomas. The ceremony will begin at 11:30 a.m.
The graduates will include valedictorian Natalya Brownlee and salutatorian Dontavius Brookins.
Brownlee, whose GPA is 4.21, will attend the University of Southern Mississippi, where she plans to major in nursing.
While at Amanda Elzy, Brownlee was vice president of the senior class and trumpet section leader for the band. Outside of school, Brownlee said she stays busy being a choir member of Empowerment Deliverance Temple and working at Pizza Inn.
Brookins, whose GPA is 4.01, will attend Alcorn State University, where he plans to major in biological sciences with a goal of an ecological or veterinarian career.
While are Elzy, Brookins participated in the school’s basketball and track teams and was a member of the Future Business Leaders Of America. He also tutored others, including some work in preparation for standardized testing.
Both Brownlee and Brookins were also alumni of the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce’s Young Emerging Leaders of Leflore (YELL) program, which offers different activities to help high school juniors develop leadership skills.
Both said they will cherish the friendships they made at Elzy.
“I met a lot of my closest friends that I have now. They’re considered like family to me,” Brookins said.
Brownlee said she will think back fondly to the smaller student population when she goes to USM. “I’ll miss the small school size. I basically know everybody in my class, and I know a lot of people around the area,” she said.
They admit their senior year was a bit more challenging to navigate because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District held classes through distance learning during the 2020-2021 school year.
In March, the option for hybrid learning, which combines both in-person and online learning, was offered, but only around 500 students opted in.
Both Brownlee and Brookins continued their virtual learning schedule and said they took away valuable lessons and skills from it.
“I learned a lot about myself and how determined I was to stay on the right track,” Brownlee said.
“Something good that came out of virtual was that knowing a lot of colleges do their class virtually, so I got a chance to work with platforms like Canvas, Zoom and Google Meet, which I’ll probably be using once I get to college. Now, I will remember to operate and navigate the world of it,” Brookins said.
Brownlee said she couldn’t have made it through school without her mother — whom she called her “motivation” and her “everything” — or without the power of will her classmates provided.
“I just want to thank my class for being able to overcome everything, for staying in school and being able to graduate,” she said.
Likewise, Brookins said his mother helped push him, and he also gave a special thanks to Areka Watkins-Thomas, a teacher at the school. Watkins-Thomas was instrumental in making sure traditional senior events for the school, including prom and the honoring of Mr. & Miss Amanda Elzy, continued despite the pandemic.
Aiyetoro Roy, the school’s principal, said she is excited to see what the students achieve after high school. Having worked at East Elementary before Elzy, Roy said she has seen most of these students achieve great things on their educational paths.
“It has indeed been a pleasure to educate the class of 2021 and watch you all transition from elementary school to high school,” she said reflecting on the group of students. “Your class was destined for greatness; now it’s your time to be great!”
- Contact Adam Bakst at 581-7233 or abakst@gwcommonwealth.com. On Twitter at @AdamBakst_GWCW.
