Graduates from the La Plata High School Class of 2012 received their diplomas during the 84th La Plata High School Commencement Ceremony in Upper Marlboro on Tuesday afternoon. 341 graduates walked across the stage, the only school outside Waldorf in the county to have more than 300 graduates.
“I’m honored to speak here one last time,” La Plata High School Class of 2012 President Brianna Cole said. “We have had our adversities. These people here today have helped us. The journey has not been easy. From pulling all-nighters to waking up painstakingly early, we have survived the hardships of high school.”
“Life will change,” La Plata High School Principal Evelyn Arnold said. “Triumph happens. Tragedy happens. Adversity happens. It’s not what happens to us, it’s how we handle it.”
“Considering that this past winter was one of the warmest in our nation’s history, I know global warming is an important issue that worries almost everyone these days,” La Plata High School Class of 2012 Valedictorian Raleigh Joyner said. “With that in mind, I’ll do my best not to blow out a bunch of hot air.
“Although we refer to these annual ceremonies as graduations, the formal term for the event is ‘commencement’. Commencement because, we are often told, it marks and celebrates a new beginning rather than an end. However, in some ways, we must admit the ceremonies mark an end. The end of an era of our lives, one of rising up at ridiculous hours to pour over Shakespeare, integrals and French verbs with eyes red and watery from sleep deprivation but also an era of consistency from being sheltered by the protective eggshell that is the structure and security of high school. As of today, that shell’s been shattered and we must step out.”
During the commencement ceremony, Katie Murray was remembered. Murray passed away in February 2011 as the result of a vehicle accident. Murray, who was 16 at the time, would have graduated with the class of 2012.
The senior class chose “Good Life” by One Republic as their class song. They also performed Mark Patterson’s “Child of Tomorrow”, “America The Beautiful” and the symphonic band performed Frank Tichell’s “Cajun Folk Songs”.
La Plata High School Student Government Association President Meaghan Pfeiffer presented LPHS Class of 1962 President John Samuel Swann with a plaque and spoke about Swann during the ceremony.
La Plata graduates were awarded $6,937,688 in scholarships and grants. As is the c
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