By Kathryn Purcell
Managing Editor

    For a handful of members of the Morgan County High School Class of 2008, Thursday meant time to graduate - again.
    In total, 11 former MCHS seniors, now in their first year of college at higher learning institutions across the nation, gathered in the auditorium of their alma mater Thursday night to receive honors based on their participation in the "International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme."

    And those 11 were a mere sampling of the 36 total former IB students invited to be honored at the ceremony.
    Some of the students present were honored for successfully completing one course, some for several courses and some for the entire IB Program, which consists of higher level courses in core subject areas and elective classes as well as completion of an extended essay, a Theory of Knowledge class and hours of community service.

The graduation ceremony was delayed until the beginning of the year because IB Program results aren't received until July. Denise Frost, the school's IB Program co-ordinator, waits to hold the ceremony until these recent graduates are back in Morgan County for the holidays.
    Of those present at the ceremony, certificate recipients included Katherine McBroom and Pierce Walker; diploma candidates included Sade Simmons; and diploma recipients included Julian Booker, Andi Dangerfield, Malin Dartnell, Adam Fierman, Amber Rolader, Daniel Smith, Cecily Youngblood and Lee Adcock, who, for the first time in the program at MCHS, took both one-year science courses, allowing her to receive an extra certificate in addition to her diploma.

    Dartnell, now in the Honors Program at the University of Georgia, spoke about how the IB Program has helped her in getting through her first semester of college successfully.

    "What I found, most surprisingly, is how well-prepared I was for all my thinking classes," Dartnell said. "That was one thing I felt really comfortable with, thanks to IB."

    Booker, a Foundation Fellow also at the University of Georgia, compared the Foundation Fellowship Program to the IB Program at MCHS.

    "The Fellowship is a lot like the IB Program," Booker said. "You are surrounded by intelligent people with beautiful souls from all corners of the globe."

    "I hope that what you got from the IB Program here has been helping you," Principal Mark Wilson said, congratulating the students. "You took the biggest thing you could've done and did it, and I hope that is louder than the applause of 3,000 people."
    Morgan County Superintendent Stan DeJarnett echoed Wilson's sentiments - congratulating the students and highlighting the MCHS's IB Program as part of what makes the county's school system one-of-a-kind.

    "It's a testament to the community, to you as parents and to the care we really try to focus on here in Morgan County," DeJarnett said. "The IB Program is one of many things that make us unique and special here."

    Finally, Wilson informed those present that each would be receiving a $500 scholarship "as a token of our appreciation and congratulations for your efforts."

ABOVE RIGHT PHOTO BY K. PURCELL
ANOTHER GRADUATION Members of the newest class of Morgan County High School alumni returned to their alma mater last week for an IB Programme Graduation Ceremony.

Published in the January 15 edition.