May 15, 2008

Commencement exercises for the 2008 graduating class of Ava High School will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at the Ava High School football stadium. Several special events will be held this week leading up to graduation, including the Senior Awards Program which will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, and the Senior Assembly which begins at 12:45 Friday. The Spring Athletic Banquet will be held at 6:30 p.m. tonight (Thursday) in the high school cafeteria. Friday is a special day for the seniors, with all the events at hand. Senior class sponsor Payree Short said all seniors must be at school by 8:30 a.m. Friday and will leave for the football field at 8:45 for rehearsal. They will arrive back at school for the Awards Program at 10:30, and afterwards will eat pizza and have formal pictures taken (if desired). Parents are advised there will be a charge for these photos which must be paid for in advance. All seniors must be in cap and gown for the Senior Assembly at 12:45. Seniors are also advised they must come to school on Friday and stay the day for all activities. The commencement program on Saturday will open with the entrance of seniors to the traditional “Pomp and Circumstance” played by the Ava High School band. High School Principal David Rickner will give the welcome and a senior choir will sing, after which Dr. Andrew Underwood, superintendent of schools, will introduce the featured speakers, Salutatorian Trey Hathcock and Valedictorian Caitlin Elliott. Mr. Rickner will then present the class to the Board of Education. Following the presentation of diplomas by Board President Don Scrivner on behalf of the board, senior class president Chance Davis will lead the class in the traditional turning of the tassel. Immediately following commencement, the seniors and their adult sponsors will head to Springfield where they will spend the rest of the evening at the all night Project Graduation party at Drury University. The seniors will return to Ava together Sunday morning for breakfast prepared by the Ava Lions Club. The 2008 school year will wrap up for the remainder of the Ava student body on Friday, May 23. The seniors and their parents gathered with the community in the high school gym last Sunday evening for the annual baccalaureate service. Members of the Top 10 Percent of the Ava High School Class of 2008, in addition to the valedictorian and salutatorian, are Chance Frederick Davis, Bradley William Mills, Sarah Elisabeth Maas, Adam Robert Heriford, Brittany Nicole Amundson, Wil Morgan Shrable, Leslie Ann Pitts, Emily Christine Lamb, and Mark Anthony Philpott. Other members of the 2008 graduating class of Ava High School include: Kelsey Elizabeth Adams, Chelsey Marie Barnum, Jonathan Ryan Batcheller, Anthony J. Berryman, Austin Cole Bogart, Sarah Michelle Box, Brenna Lynn Boyd, Bobbie Jo Breshears, Kayla Lee Ann Bridgman, Victoria Alexandria Bristol, Amy Carol Burchell, Dustin Tyler Burress, Joseph Cardone, Heath M. Carnall, Kelli Marie Carter, Danielle Louise Cheyney, Russell Matthew Choate, April Lynn Christian, Kurt Rylan Clements, Cody Dustin Cole, Joseph W. Conrad, Kylie Ann Coonce, Cameron J. Cooney, Joshua C. D. Crosby, Dessiree' Ann Davis, Maria Lynn Davy, Matthias A. Dever, Ransome S. Degase, Jenifer Leigh Eastland, Nichole R. Eaves, Ashley Leann Elliott, Allana Nicole Engelhardt, Kristoffer L. Eubanks, Paige D. Evans, Staci R. Fossett, Timothy Martin Giles, Nathan Lee Goodall, Brandy Nicole Graham, Jethro Bodine Hamilton, Craig E. Harder, Brian Christopher Heier, Johnathan Michael Holland, Ethan L. Horn, Deanna Gene Hutchinson, Gerald "Bear" Ingram, Amy Suzanne Isaacs, Dustin R Keller, Donald Tyler Kelley, Taylee Shaye Kjar, Jacob Scott Knepley, Ashley P. Kratky, Kody Lee Lawrence, Megan Renae Little, Michael Weston Loftin, Austin Scott Maggard, Ryan L. Magoon, Ashton Lorraine Mason, Kati Ann Mason, Andrew David McKenney, Aaron D. McNeil, Jonathan Adam Merriett, Jasmine Renae Miller, Sarah Ashley Miller, Brandon Lee Mills, Dustin Morgan, Corey M. Neal, Brandon Wayne Nelson, Catherine Lee Patricia Nelson, Manuel Terrill Page, Ely Wade Parker, Janine Allynn Parker, Ariel Elizabeth Phinney, Dustie Dean Plumb, Melanie E. Potter, Brady L. Curtis-Quackenbush, Michael C. Ramsey, Jacob Lee Rieken, Colten W. Roberson, Jesse Leigh Robertson, Miracle Joy Robertson, Johnny Ray Roscoe Jr., Zane C. Scott, Justin Corey Severson, Emily Ann Shelton–Lancaster, Justin Lee Shortt, Nicholas Shortt John Stephen-Alan Spurlock, Miranda S. Stephens, Keisha L. Thompson, Levi Bodie Thornsberry, Chelsey Shay Todd, Ethan Ousley Wagner, Angela Nicole Walker, Bradley L. Walker, Crey Allen Walker, Suzy Williams, Travis J. Wilson. The senior class has selected for its class flower the yellow rose. The Class colors are blue and gold, and the class song is “Don’t Blink” by Kenny Chesney. The class motto is “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail,” by Ralph Waldo Emerson.