Leflore County High School graduates will walk for their diplomas on Monday at the Leflore County Civic Center.
The ceremony begins at 7 p.m. with 57 graduating.
Until then, seniors at the school in Itta Bena are celebrating this passage from the small-town school most of them have attended all their lives to the next place on their individual journeys.
Testing is finally over, and the school, with its high ceilings, tall windows and polished wood floors, feels as relaxed as its two top graduates, valedictorian Jasmine Green and salutatorian Karrington Stockstill.
Green, who is graduating with a 3.87 grade point average on a 4-point scale, has been at Leflore since kindergarten.
Math was the subject that interested her most.
“I love learning how to solve problems, focusing on a problem and finding a solution,” Green said.
In the fall, she will take her skills to the next level at Delta State University, where she plans to study nursing.
Green said making it to the top of her class was the result of good study habits and resulting good grades. She didn’t spend a lot of time on extracurriculars as a high school student but used her time researching the career she wants to enter, hanging out with friends and focusing on her classes.
Now, she’s ready to leave the cozy nest of Leflore County High School and the people there who she said “are like a big family.
“It feels like a relief to be through, but it’s frightening at the same time because it’s the real world we’re entering.”
Green said she has always been a hard-working person.
“I know things don’t come easy,” she said. “I’m grateful to my family, friends, the community and the staff of the school for supporting me through hard times.”
That will be the subject of her valedictory speech on Monday night.
Joining her at the podium will be Stockstill, Leflore’s No. 2 student with a 3.77 GPA.
Stockstill said her inspiration to excel in high school came from her grandfather.
“He had cancer,” she said. “And one day he said to me he wanted to be at my graduation, to see me be the valedictorian or salutatorian.
“That was it.”
Stockstill’s grandfather will be in attendance, cancer-free, when she delivers her speech on Monday, talking about her high school experience and thanking her parents for all they have given her.
“They’re already crying,” she said, laughing.
Stockstill said her strongest class was English throughout high school. Next year, she will attend Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia, where she will study to become a physical therapist.
“When my brother broke his leg, I was right there with him,” she said. “It seems like a good fit for me.”
Stockstill passed high school awash in extracurricular activities. A cheerleader, she was Miss Leflore County High School and senior class president. She participated in Beta Club and volunteered in the community while excelling in academics.
Green and Stockstill agree that excelling in school is all about persevering, even when things are tough.
“Don’t take things for granted,” Green said. “You have to keep working even though things may be hard.”
Stockstill said effort trumps failure every time: “Nothing beats a failure but a try.”
nContact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
