Murphy – Dr. Lisa Fletcher presided over her last commencement as principal of Murphy High School on Friday evening, bestowing diplomas on 117 of the 119 graduates who walked the line.
Fletcher is finishing out the school year this month and starting a new job July 1 as superintendent of schools in Transylvania County,
The ceremony started at 8 p.m. under a warm, clear sky, but organizers began preparing hours earlier, setting up chairs and stages, putting out water and confetti poppers, distributing programs and organizing 117 rising adults in their proper order.
There were 119 graduating seniors in the Murphy High School Class of 2023, of whom 117 participated in the commencement, Fletcher said. The preparations were nearly flawless, and the commencement went off without a hitch. The home side Bob Hendrix Memorial Stadium was standing room only, with many families bringing lawn chairs and sitting up closer to the fence or farther up the hillside beneath the shade of trees.
As far as class size, the Class of 2023 was about average. Fletcher described the class as a group of close friends who brought in some $4 million in scholarships, including one Park Scholarship to N.C. State University and one Albert & Gladys Coates Scholarship winner.
The Class of 2023 spent its first two years in high school under a pandemic-caused lockdown that resulted in unprecedented measures to keep school going while classrooms were locked tight.
“Our class has been through a pandemic that led to virtual learning and those horrific Google meets,” Emote Watson, summa cum laude, said during her student address. “But it also led to us coming back to school with all the boys growing taller, their voices deeper and their hair looking like Prince Charming and Lord Farquaad from Shrek.
“We have been cheated out of the spirit stick, watched Hamby and Jeremiah go TikTok famous, cheered on the volleyball team with the lucky turkey, taught Will Carringer that there is a such thing as shampoo and he should use it, and endured Farmer Johnson’s endless cattle stories, which now I think it’s safe to say I now know chocolate milk, in fact, does not come from brown cows.
“And through all of this, we can say that we made it.”
Harper Martin, summa cum laude, said, “In the last four years, there is no question that we have accomplished a lot. We have raised thousands of dollars for charity, earned millions in scholarships, won multiple state championships, and left a forever legacy on the Green Mile. Not every class can say that.
“And I think it’s important to pat ourselves on the back for the fact that we can. We are a class full of talent, full of humor, full of perseverance and, most importantly, full of endless support for one another. In fact, I think it is this support that got us all here tonight.”