(Geronimo) — It’s graduation day for Navarro High School. Commencement exercises get underway Friday night at the NHS Erwin Lee Football Stadium.
School officials say approximately 150 students will be receiving diplomas. Leading the senior class this year are Valedictorian Jacqueline Springs and Salutatorian Grace Hambric.
Springs says although she has always worked toward this accomplishment, she was humbled when officially declared this year’s Valedictorian.
“At the moment, I couldn’t believe that I was actually going to lead the class I guess because I always worked very hard to keep my grades up throughout high school and it was weird knowing that it was over like I finally made it to the end,” said Springs.
Springs, the daughter of Randal and Rissa Springs, says this moment is not only a personal victory but an accomplishment for her family.
“I did know a head of time. Every time, we get our transcripts, my rank has always been one but before high school, it didn’t seem like something that would actually happen. It was always kind of a joke that my grandfather would tell me. He’s like I’m going to live long enough to see you graduate and I want to see you walk across the stage first and I was like ‘oh yea,’ but it’s actually going to happen now,” said Springs.
Hambric, the daughter of Bryan and Diane Hambric, says she too is honored to be leading the Navarro Class of 2022. She says while it wasn’t always easy, it was well worth the effort.
“Going into high school, my goal is to be in the Top 10 so that would be like Top 15 for our class and so freshman year, we got our transcripts, and I was higher than I expected so I always care about my grades and worked hard but that just motivated me even more to want to be at the very top,” said Hambric. “It’s really an honor to be able to lead the class and give a speech and represent the Class of 2022. I’m just glad that all of that hard work ended up paying off.”
As for their future plans, Springs will be attending and playing golf at Texas Lutheran University where she will major in biology while Hambric will be attending Texas Christian University (TCU), majoring in biology.
Clay Scarborough, Navarro High School Principal says Springs and Hambric represent what has been one of the most deserving and hardworking groups of graduates that he’s ever worked with.
“In my notes for actual graduation, we talk about snowstorms. We talk about floods. We talk about worldwide pandemics and yes, these guys still got to where they wanted to go. They are still graduating. They are still getting set up for the next phase of their lives and so, I know it’s a cliché this time of year but with these guys, there is truly an element of perseverance involved with this class,” said Scarborough.
Scarborough says making the night even more special for the graduates is the return of the school’s full celebration of its traditional commencement exercise.
“Fortunately, with COVID not really being an issue and knock-on wood, the weather not being an issue, anyone can come in. We have full seating. On that note, we do have plenty of security and we have even beefed up our security the last few days of school so that shouldn’t be a problem. It’s kind of nice to have a graduation where we are not restricted by the weather or restricted by COVID sort of speak,” said Scarborough.
The graduation ceremony gets underway at 8 p.m. Friday at the Navarro football field.
Gates open at 7 p.m. Seating will be available on both sides of the stadium.
Parking will be available along Link Road and at each parking lot throughout the district. A link to view a live stream of the ceremony will also be made available on the Navarro ISD Facebook page.