Peachtree – The Tri-County Early College High School Class of 2021 received its diplomas Saturday morning in a ceremony on the school’s campus.
The school enables select high school students from Cherokee and Clay counties to take classes both at the Early College and Tri-County Community College, with some earning an associate’s degree in addition to their high school diploma. Of the 31 students who graduated from the early college this year, 22 also earned an associate’s degree; some students went as far as earning two associate’s degrees.
The graduation ceremony was originally scheduled for Friday evening, but was pushed back due to heavy rains.
Summa Cum Laude graduate Moriah Miller, who had the second-highest grade point average in the class, told her fellow graduates they should be proud of themselves for all they accomplished.
“I know that it has not been easy for any one of us, but we’ve overcome all of those things,” Miller said.
She also told her peers that they would find what they looked for in life.
“What I mean is that if you seek for specific things, you’ll notice them more in your life,” Miller said. “So I encourage you to look for the beauty of it. Look for opportunities to help. Look for things to be thankful for.”
Cassie Lorance, the student with the highest GPA, told her classmates to value their experiences.
“I hope we can all continue this pattern of experiences past what we’ve done here,” Lorance said.
After the ceremony, graduate Haili Queen said she was excited to be starting her next chapter but would miss the hands-on learning at the Early College. She plans to attend Young Harris (Ga.) College to work toward a degree in communication studies and minor in psychology.
“We’re either doing a project in class
or a project schoolwide, and the teachers are very helpful in every way possible,” Queen said.