Nantahala – One of North Carolina’s smallest schools, settled among the rivers and hills of the Nantahala National Forest, graduated four seniors Friday at a rousing ceremony with overflow seating. The whole community came out to support the four women, all who graduated with honors.
The school provided a catered dinner for the graduates and their families before the 6 p.m. ceremony. The women, all in fancy dresses, chatted together before they capped and robed.
Daphne McCoy, 17, youngest of the graduates said, “I’m going to miss hanging out in Miss Dwayne’s art class.”
Madysson Gray, the school’s Magna Cum Laude graduate, agreed. “It was a special space for us.”
Kristin Postell, recipient of the Guy Taylor Memorial Scholarship, laughed, adding, “I would run into her room first thing in the morning and be like, ‘Where is Miss Dwayne?’ ”
The women laughed with Samantha Pendergrass, winner of the Nantahala Community Club Scholarship, saying, “She’s just so welcoming.”
“The school has had smaller graduating classes, including one year where there were no graduating seniors,” school counselor Kim Bateman said. All four graduates will be attending college, which they attribute to Bateman.
“I told them that if they could work through their FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), they would be able to handle college!” Bateman said. The women laughed in response.
Despite their evident exuberance, there were somber moments.
“I’ve been with the same friends here. I grew up with them,” Pendergrass said. “I think it might be hard to try to make new friends,” she added, speaking of attending Southwest Community College in its nursing program this fall.
McCoy held less reservations about the future, saying, “I just want to grow up and explore. I want to experience everything.”
When dignitaries, including Macon County Board of Education Chair Jim Breedlove and retiring Superintendent Chris Baldwin, marched into the gym, the full house stood and cheered, making the normally solemn procession feel like a homecoming game. By the time the graduates made their march from the back of the gym to their honored seats, the boisterous crowd began shouting out terms of endearment.
“I love you Maddy!” one person shouted. “Way to go, Cricket!” another yelled to Postell. The atmosphere was festive as the students took their seats for their final act before becoming graduates.
The crowd quieted as Nantahala School Principal Andrew Pyle welcomed the crowd and acknowledged the graduates. But the room became still and silent as Jennifer Moore presented McCoy with the N.C. Fallen Firefighters Scholarship in honor of her father, who died in their own house fire when McCoy was just 9 years old.
McCoy wiped away tears, and people in the audience could be heard openly crying as she accepted her scholarship. Sitting in the front row, her mother, Amanda McCoy cried while sitting next to her son, Cole, 14, with a designated seat holding a large framed photo of McCoy’s father along with his firefighter’s jacket.
Before the ceremony, McCoy spoke about losing her house and father.
“I’m not sentimental about things,” she said, “because I lost everything.” McCoy said she didn’t want people to treat her differently. “I didn’t want their pity,” she said, adding, “I don’t let it define me. Gratitude defines me.”
Baldwin, a 1996 Nantahala graduate himself, presented the seniors with their diplomas. Despite this being one of his final duties as superintendent, Baldwin chose to remain focused on the graduates.
“I’m trying not to think about retirement,” he said before the commencement. “I want to think about these kids and the journey they have had.”
Gray would agree. Leaving the school will be hard for her.
“Everybody is so close here,” she said. “Every gathering was more than just the school, it was family. We are one, big, giant family.”