Years of hard work, dedication and learning were awarded Tuesday at Central Church of Christ when the Boyd High School Class of 2024 walked the stage. Twelve graduates were honored throughout the night, which included speeches from Valedictorian Jordan Perry and Salutatorian Krista Chisam, a commencement address from teacher Chris Perry and many reminders about the faith-based education each will carry forward in life.
“I want you to embrace it and enjoy it,” said principal Donna Newby when addressing the graduates. “Always trust in God – you’ll be in a place to forge ahead and make your dreams come true. Cherish your memories of Boyd. We will always remember you.”
Perry, Chisam, Jacob Harrell, Kaizer Hillis, Emma Miller, David Mingle, Joshua Powell, Paige Sweeten, Dylan Vandeveer, Hannah Wellman, Jaci Wright and Preston Young were all on hand to receive their diplomas. Many left with scholarship money too, headlined by Jordan Perry receiving Freed Hardeman University Trustees recognition (valued at $70,000) and Wright receiving the Rex Spry Memorial Scholarship ($1,000) and UT Volunteer scholarship, TN Student Assist Award and Hope Scholarship ($9,500).
Wise words, both from their peers and Chris Perry (who was asked to speak by the class), were also something each graduate could take home with them.
Chisam encouraged her classmates, many of whom have been together since childhood, to “remember that this isn’t an ending – it’s a beginning. New journeys, new adventures and new dreams await us all. Stay driven, stay humble and embrace whatever comes next wholeheartedly.”
Jordan, who took the stage shortly before his dad delivered the commencement, read a story about a young boy and the importance of taking chances. In closing, Perry tied the story into the night by saying, “As we graduate and go on with our lives, we will be face-to-face with chances and opportunities. We might reach for the chance and miss. We may fall flat on our face in front of everybody. We may be embarrassed and hurt. We have to overcome our fears, get back up and keep taking chances because you never know what great things may happen.”
In the commencement, Chris Perry drew some raised eyebrows when he said he wouldn’t tell tales of greatness, but instead would focus on being normal. But, in Perry’s wise words and a lesson rooted in the teachings of the Bible, he presented what being normal could mean.
“There is greatness in normal. It has two main ingredients: humility and service,” said Perry. He used references of Luke 14:7-11 when talking about humility and Matthew 20:20-28 in reference of service before noting, “when you put humility and service together, you can get greatness.”
Perry concluded by saying, “I want to encourage you this evening to strive for humility and service. If you have to choose between humility and greatness, choose humility. If you have to choose between service and greatness, choose service. If you choose those, you’ll be great in somebody’s eyes.”
On Tuesday night, 12 Boyd graduates started their stroll toward potential greatness.
