CARROLLTON — Carroll Academy will hold its 2009 graduation ceremonies at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the school’s football stadium.
Suzanne Downs of Carrollton is the class valedictorian, finishing with an average of 96.43. Chris Waldo of Greenwood is the class salutatorian, with an average of 93. 31.
Suzanne said her speech to her class will be one of remembrances.
“I’ve been at Carroll Academy for 12 years. My account on Carroll has been both good and bad,” she said Saturday.
Suzanne said a good number of her favorite teachers retired before she started her final year at the school.
“My senior year didn’t go as planned,” she said.
Suzanne said she received a 20 on the ACT and has a 3.86 GPA.
She was active for four years in the Beta Club and was an officer in that organization. She also was a former president of the Crown Club of the Junior Auxiliary of Winona. She was president of the senior class and a member of the varsity dance team.
She will attend Delta State University in the fall and has earned a valedictorian scholarship there. She also was awarded a $1,000 national Beta Club Scholarship and a Pell Grant.
“I’m thinking very seriously about speech therapy. I want to get my master’s in speech therapy and work with kids,” Suzanne said.
The senior has already taken six hour of college credit courses at Holmes Community College in Grenada in preparation for meeting the requirements of Delta State’s speech therapy program.
Suzanne is the daughter of Sandy and Charlie Downs.
Chris said he was looking forward to moving on.
He plans to attend the Bagley College of Engineering at Mississippi State University, where he will major in computer science. He earned a Marine Corps Scholarship worth $1,500, an $800 federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant scholarship and a Pell Grant.
Chris has been very active in the Boy Scouts and also ran track.
According to Suzanne, Chris got a 24 on his ACT.
“I was better at school. He’s better at ACT,” she said.
