BY DONNA SWICEGOOD

The Statesville High School Class of 2025 did more than walk across the stage Saturday morning.

“We walk not across the stage but into a new chapter,” said De’Rell Scott as the Class of 2025, some 230 strong, ended their time as high school students and embarked on the next chapter of their lives.

Scott was one of four students who spoke at the graduation ceremony in Greyhound Hollow in front of a packed crowd of family and friends.

“Trying to fit inside a box is like trying to count the stars, and Class of 2025, I ask you why count the stars when you were born to be amongst them?” Scott said.

Scott told the Class of 2025 is more than the total of its metrics.

“We spent years being measured by points, percentiles and performance, but the most profound growth rarely happens in the spotlight. It tends to take place in the in-between moments, the ones that never make a resume, the night you stayed up talking to your friend out of giving up, the day you showed up to school with an empty stomach but a full heart, the moment you forgave someone who never truly apologized, the hours spent wrestling alone with who you are and who you are becoming,” Scott said. “Those moments, those moments are not testable but those moments, those moments are transformative,” Scott said.

Another speaker, Farrah Ramsey, praised the Class of 2025 for its determination.

“We’ve made it. We’ve worked hard and prayed hard and overcome what was meant to break us,” Ramsey said. “We made it through tough days, doubts, regrets, and sorrow. We made it through joy-filled moments when life felt perfect. … Through it all, we showed up, maybe not perfectly but thankfully.”

The Class of 2025, she said, stood tall through all of the challenges it faced.

“Even when we stumbled we chose to stand again,” she said. “To the Class of 2025, thank you for showing that perseverance is real.”

Vivan Goforth greeted her classmates by enthusiastically asking, “Are we ready to graduate?”

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, she said, was something she didn’t imagine a few years earlier since she never expected to attend SHS. After completing eighth grade at American Renaissance School, she planned on continuing her education at another charter school, but Goforth’s mother, a Statesville High grad, wanted her to “have the full Greyhound experience, just like she did.”

She admitted she was scared when she first walked through the doors at SHS.

“Statesville felt huge. It’s reputation was intense, and we all know people don’t always talk about our school in the best light,” Goforth said. “But what they don’t see is what we’ve lived — the spirit, the heart and the resilience of what makes this place special.”

Goforth said she received more than just an education at Statesville High.

“It gave me a community. It gave me memories, and it helped me to grow into someone who’s not afraid to stand tall.”

Goforth encouraged her classmates to accept the challenges the future holds.

“Let’s be brave, let’s serve, let’s give back, give back, give back,” she said.

Senior Class president Amya Wilson presented the senior mantle to the Junior Class president Promise Lovelace.

After the ceremony, the seniors turned their tassels and some tossed their caps into the air.

As they marched off the field, one senior, Maleah Bruner, stopped as she passed a group of teachers and shouted her thanks. “I’ll miss you all,” she said.

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