Starting with a special invitation personally handed to them by their counselors, 2023 Valedictorians, IB Diploma, and Career Program candidates started their end-of-year celebrations with a school-hosted dinner.  

The dinner was held on Thursday, April 27 at 6 pm in Warrior Park, in front of Royce Hall. The weather was hot that evening, but gorgeous and momentous Royce Hall shaded the majority of the purple-clothed dining tables.  

Families could sit anywhere they’d like. The décor was well-spirited, containing all purple- and yellow-colored decorations. Some tables were placed under canopies, and some were not. All were adorned with cute centerpieces, purple and yellow flowers.  Dinner began with a welcome from Principal Linda Laettner. Tables were dismissed one by one to retrieve their meals which were served by JROTC students. The menu consisted of mashed potatoes, bacon-green beans, creamy mushroom chicken, Caesar salad, and a dinner roll. To drink, JROTC served iced black tea and water. For dessert, chocolate chip cookies were provided.  

Toward the end of dining, Mrs. Seay and IB Coordinator Ms. Orgill explained what the titles of Valedictorian, IB Diploma, and Careers Program Candidates are. As explained by Mrs. Seay, Valedictorians are students who, despite the disadvantage of COVID-19 and online school, maintained an accumulative GPA of 4.0 or higher. As said by Ms. Orgill, IB and Careers Program candidate students are scholars who have taken and passed all IB courses during their Junior and Senior years, as well as create their own personal or career-related projects. Following that, Mrs. Laettner announced all students by name. One by one, each student made their way to the podium to announce who they came to dinner with and what their plans are after high school.  

Kyle Yang and the Walker-Vanderpoel table filled the crowd with light-hearted laughter with jokes and cheerful and comedic celebratory screams.  

The evening ended with a goodbye and thank you, presented by Mrs. Laettner. Before students and their families made their way home, they took photos with Royce Hall, their counselors, and friends.  

Celebrated students, families, and faculty that attended the evening event.