Graduation ceremonies at Clarksburg High School were a bit different this year as social distancing requirements cut considerably into the usual attendance and cut out much of the direct person-to-person contact and post-commencement celebrations that one typically expects at these yearly events.
But they got the job done Friday night as 22 graduating seniors turned their tassels and received their diplomas in Carroll County’s first graduation of the season, putting a period on a senior year halted by the coronavirus pandemic back in mid March.
Seniors filed into the gym to “Pomp and Circumstance” and took their seats, though more spread out than is usually the case, and Principal Lori Leasure welcomed the soon-to-be graduates, as well as their family members, which were limited to only five guests per senior.
The assembly was treated to a video tribute to the senior class prepared by Robin Buttrey, and the senior class song was played.
Senior Class Historian Krista Noble, Salutatorian Ashlyn Yarbrough, and Valedictorian Hannah Wood each delivered speeches in turn, and then outgoing Director of Schools Dr. Tony Tucker shared a few words with the graduating class.
“This is the last time I get to do this,” said Tucker. “You all are a special class to me.”
Tucker encouraged them to view their time at Clarksburg School as a stepping stone on whatever path they choose to pursue in the future.
When it came time for graduating seniors to receive their diplomas, rather than being handed their diplomas and shaking hands with school board members and school administrators, graduates came forward one by one as their names were called and retrieved their diplomas and award certificates from a table set at one end of the gym.
The event concluded slowly in stages, as, one at a time, the new graduates met with attending family members near the gym exits, where graduates presented family members with roses before leaving the gymnasium.
Members of the Clarksburg High School Class of 2020 include: Samantha Starr Autry, Chelsea Elise Boyd, Lakota Dale Ryan Brown, Logan Randall Carter, Peyton Shane Collins, Caselyn Elizabeth Derryberry, Brayden Michael Dillon Dusch, Sierra Courtney Gentry, Harley Elizabeth Gossett, Scott Everett Horn, John Chester Hudson, Justin Taylor Longmire, William Tanner Longmire, Dyllan Robert Lee Melson, Krista Danae Noble, Cameron Bryce Perritt, Noah Alton Rich, Chloe Nicole Staggs, Rachel Renee Tucker, Austin Tyler Walls, Hannah Grace Wood, and Ashlyn Hope Yarbrough.
