Bob Jones undergoes commencement Monday night
Bob Jones class of 2014 gathers on the floor of the Von Braun Center for commencement exercises.
By Nick Sellers | Staff Reporter
Shawn Ousley was so ecstatic to see his niece, Collene Simpson, graduate Monday, his embrace after the ceremony lifted her off her feet and sent her blue cap and tassel tumbling to the floor outside Huntsville’s Von Braun Center.
“I tell you what, I’ve lost my fishing buddy,” Ousley said of Simpson, who was one of 585 Bob Jones High School students to receive her diploma May 19.
Madison City School Board president Ray White spoke at the evening ceremony, as did superintendent Dee Fowler and Bob Jones principal Robert Parker.
Valedictorian Clara Wan and salutatorian Morgan Price also addressed the student body before the students walked across the stage.
Wan urged her fellow pupils to “not make assumptions,” among other nuggets of wisdom and advice often passed on at a high school commencement.
Price briefly spoke about the recent split with James Clemens High School, which opened in 2012 and received a significant chunk of Bob Jones students who opted to attend the new school.
“We see the loyalty of those who chose to stay,” Price said.
After an acapella rendition of “Happy” by the BJHS chorus and final speech from Parker, the students walked one-by-one across the stage. One student in particular stole the show, however.
The announcer, who barely stopped between names to streamline the process, said her name and paused: Kaitlyn McGinnis. After a traumatic car accident in October 2012 that caused significant brain damage, McGinnis defied the odds by walking to receive her diploma.
It took her longer than most to walk the width of the court, but it was all the better, as it allowed the entire venue to rise to its feet in boisterous applause and witness her triumphant grin on the jumbotron.
After the cheers died down and class vice president Lindsey Solomon gave the crowd one last speech, the entirety of the auditorium was released into the warm night air, signaling the end of the day and the end of 585 students’ high school careers.
