Virginia Gazette News |

A personal ‘yellow brick road of triumph:’ Warhill High Class of 2024 urged to take a leap of faith

More than 300 students turned their tassels during Warhill High School’s graduation ceremony at William & Mary’s Kaplan Arena on Friday.

In her opening remarks, Warhill Principal Michele Newcomb noted that 51 of the 310 students graduating received scholarships totaling nearly $7 million. Three students completed the WJCC Honors Program: Ava Kendall Boyer, Ellen Renee Gulden and Joshua Lawrence Markle. All three students took Advanced Placement classes, did community service and conducted an honors project as part of the program.

“You’ve demonstrated remarkable determination, adapting to new ways of learning, supporting one another and holding fast to your dreams,” Newcomb told the Class of 2024 graduates, calling their high school journey “anything but ordinary.”

Student speaker Patricia Nakhumicha Khisa led off her speech in her native language of Swahili.

“By the looks of your faces, I can tell most of you probably didn’t understand what I just said, so let me rephrase it,” Khisa joked.

Khisa reflected on the challenges of virtual learning amid the pandemic and related their perseverance to a whack-a-mole game.

“Every time we managed to lift our heads, life’s challenges pushed us down,” she said.

The world has conditioned people to view failure as the end, Khisa explained, but failure paves way for future successes.

“Don’t see failure as an obstacle, but rather as a stepping stone to all the good things that lie ahead of you,” she said.

Khisa shared the struggles she faced upon moving to the U.S. from a developing country and having to adjust to a different education system.

“I stand before you as the living proof that failure is not the end, but rather the beginning of something much greater,” Khisa said.

The class valedictorian and salutatorian were Joshua Markle and James Grappe, respectively. Both graduates will be pursuing degrees from the University of Virginia.

“The community of Warhill has acted as the scarecrow, the tinman and the lion, providing us all with the knowledge, passion and courage we need to succeed,” student speaker Cassidy Nicole Lee said.

Lee likened the class’ journey to “The Wizard of Oz” movie, in which everyone has their own personal yellow brick road that will always lead them home.

“The lion taught us that you don’t have to be fearless, because doing it afraid is just as great,” Lee said.

The school’s lion mascot, Lee said, acted as a constant reminder to have the courage and bravery to take a leap of faith.

“There are going to be times in our future where we lose that sense of direction and the cracks in the pavement seem too big to overcome,” Lee said. “So we must always remember that every failure is a building brick that creates that yellow brick road of triumph.”

In her closing speech, Newcomb told the new graduates to remember that the connections they forged at Warhill were more than just memories.

“They are the foundation of a lifelong support system,” she said, “a source of strength and inspiration as you navigate the world beyond these walls.”

Evelyn Davidson, ejwdavidson@gmail.com