by patrick yost
photos by angelina bellebuono and josiah connelly

For his final address to a graduating Morgan County High School class, Dr. Mark Wilson looked wistfully over the 215 members of the Class of 2012.

This was a special class, he said. This was a class that strived to "fill voids."
They started a newspaper, they started the county's first-ever Special Olympics, they won sports championships that had eluded other classes. They dreamed, he said, and dreamed big.
"Do well finding things that are missing and put your fingerprints on them," he told the class.
For nearly two hours, amid hoopla and cheers, the graduating class crossed the stage on a pleasant spring night.
And they did it together, which is exactly how Valedictorian Kiara Chante' Smith said the class has behaved since entering the halls of Morgan County High School. "The unity of a team is much more powerful than an individual," she reminded the class. "Your common goal should be to leave your mark on the world. You will always be on the team of the Class of 2012."
The team has worked hard, said Salutatorian Laura Margaret Burbach, and has earned their accolades. "The notion that our dreams could only come through hard work is what we learned from day one at Morgan County High School," she said.

Printed in the May 31, 2012 edition