It will be the end of one chapter and the beginning of another for 393 Warren County High School seniors Friday night.
Graduation is set to begin at 7 p.m. at Nunley Stadium with the extended forecast calling for high afternoon temperatures in the 90s, but no rain.
Seniors should be at McMinnville Civic Center no later than 5:30 p.m. Friday to load buses for the ride to Nunley Stadium. Line up on the track begins at 6 p.m.
In a change this year, the WCHS band will play the processional music. Cheyenne Clark will sing the national anthem with Lorin Rubley singing “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” by Carrie Underwood.
The 11 class of 2012 valedictorians will give a combined speech entitled “The Journey Begins.”
In other graduation changes, executive principal Tony Cassel says he hopes to eliminate beach balls and other inflatable objects being batted around by seniors during the ceremony. He also wants to limit parental access to the track due to safety issues.
“I’ve listened to concerns from parents and people in the community and I’d like to bring back the sanctity of what graduation is supposed to be about and not have the distraction of the beach balls and things like that,” said Cassel. “I’ve talked to the seniors about this and I’ve told them the night is not only about them but it’s also about their parents. So I’m hoping they can control their activities and if not we’ll have school resource officers on hand to take appropriate action.”
Senior Trisha Mitchell is ready for Friday night’s festivities as she’s decorated her graduation cap with cowboy boots and a guitar. She plans to attend Tennessee Tech in the fall to work toward a career as a veterinarian.
“Being a vet is something I’ve planned since sixth grade,” she said.
Jared Bozarth is happily undecided about his future career, but he plans to start with mechanical engineering at Tennessee Tech.
“I have no idea what I would do with mechanical engineering,” Bozarth said. “I took a test in eighth grade that said I would be good at it so I’m going to give it a try. Other than that, I have no direction.”
Micah McColloch is planning a career in physical therapy and wants to get started at Motlow. He said he just barely slipped into the top 10 percent of his graduating class to get to wear a blue gown.
“I’m No. 36 and the last one in the top 10 percent,” said McColloch.
Jonathan Anderson wasn’t exactly sure of his class rank.
“I know it’s in triple digits,” he said while also providing an explanation. “I’d usually get my homework done five minutes before it was due.”
Anderson plans to attend Freed-Hardeman University to major in youth ministry. Asked why, he had a sensible response.
“I like God,” he said. “I like to preach and I like to help people.”
Lolita Terrazas plans to attend Tennessee Tech to major in accounting, making three of the five seniors interviewed bound for Tech.
“A large number of students from our class are going to Tech,” said Mitchell. “But it won’t be the same as high school.”