Principal Susan Willis, Hall Principals Bill Downie and Michael Hill, Guidance Coordinator Keith Smith and a special education coordinator were all absent from last Friday’s commencement exercise for William Fleming High School. But for the 350 graduates, the day was all about optimism and looking ahead.
Willis and Downie, implicated with the others in steering some students away from Standards of Learning tests in order to keep the school’s overall performance grade higher, were listed in the program as taking part in the ceremony, but they were replaced without fanfare by others from the school.
Mayor David Bowers, one of many city council and school board members on hand, talked about the commitment made by the city to build a new high school at William Fleming, something that becomes a reality this fall.
“Next [school] year in September we start a new beginning,” said Bowers.
Assistant principal Susan Morris, filling in for Willis, noted that “the walls may come down [but] the memories will remain.”
Guest speaker Nikki Giovanni, the noted poet and Virginia Tech professor, related the story of Christopher Columbus and his quest to seek the New World, “We sail on… we continue to learn something – you must sail on.”
Salutorian David Krawczyk said the education received at Fleming “will allow us to go forward with a new approach,” while valedictorian Jesse Jenkins hailed fellow students as “quite possibly the greatest people I’ve ever known.”
William Fleming’s troubles related to the SOL testing scandal seemed to matter little, if at all, as seniors walked the stage to receive their hard-earned diplomas, part of the last class at the old campus.