Carroll Academy will graduate 24 seniors at its commencement exercise Monday night.
The program will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the school gymnasium. A baccalaureate service is scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday in the gym.
Reed Williams is class valedictorian, and Connor Stephenson is salutatorian.
Williams, the son of Jay and Anita Williams, was named a STAR Student this year and scored 29 on the ACT.
Stephenson, the son of Jenniffer and Larry Stephenson, had an ACT score of 26.
Williams said he’s been hard at work trying to compose his speech to his fellow graduates since he and Stephenson were informed of their honors on Wednesday.
“I’ve been thinking about that. I haven’t thought about anything good enough yet. I’ll be working on that tonight,” Williams said Thursday night.
Williams, who has attended Carroll Academy since K4 kindergarten, has been involved with the Student Council since the seventh grade. Currently, he serves as the council’s president.
He’s been a member of the Beta Club since the seventh grade and served as the club’s reporter in his junior year.
Williams has been on the staff of the school’s newspaper, the Rebel Report, since eighth grade and now is its managing editor. He also served on the staff of the school’s yearbook in ninth and 10th grades and was named to the Quill and Scroll Honor Society.
Williams plans to attend Mississippi State University and major in mechanical engineering. He will receive a scholarship based on his ACT score and a STAR Student award of $1,500 per semester.
He has a brother, Jayme, who is a senior at MSU.
Stephenson said he had started working on his speech for Monday night. He said the theme will be “Remember where you began and who brought you up here.”
Stephenson also has attended Carroll Academy since K4 kindergarten.
He is a member of Beta Club and is on the staff of the Rebel Report. He is second vice president of the Student Council.
In sports, Stephenson played lineman for the Carroll Academy Rebels for four years.
Stephenson is planning to attend the University of Mississippi in the fall and pursue degrees in law and political science. He said he has been awarded four or five small scholarships.
“I just got an email from Ole Miss saying that I’ve been accepted to the Sally McDonnell Clarksdale Honors College and the Trent Lott Leadership Institute,” he said.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
