-Press Release, Vance County Schools
Eighth graders for the 2018-2019 school year at Vance County Middle School were recognized for their achievements during a special year-end ceremony held in the school’s gymnasium on Tuesday, June 4.
Principal Heddie Somerville began the ceremony by welcoming everyone in attendance, including the approximately 350 eighth graders and an audience of about 1,000 family, friends and community members.
Eighth graders at Vance County Middle School march into the school’s gymnasium to begin their year-end recognition ceremony. (VCS photo)
Eighth graders who led the ceremony included: Zephaniah Young and Anayia Harris, who sang “The Star-Spangled Banner;” Devine Williams, who served as mistress of ceremonies; Kylie Newhouse and Breanna Kipp, who provided reflections on the school year; Makayla Terry and Isabel Cruz, who offered superlatives for their class; and Daniel Bolanos, who introduced the featured speaker Kimberly Jefferson.
Jefferson, who works for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and is a Vance County native, made remarks to the students and audience during the ceremony. She encouraged all of the students to work hard as they begin their high school careers to be successful and achieve their goals.
She talked about her own past as a student going through Vance County Schools and eventually graduating from Northern Vance High School, in the same facility as the middle school today. Jefferson even mentioned her time as a student-athlete at Northern Vance and playing basketball games in the same gymnasium.
The eighth-grade class at Vance County Middle School for the 2018-2019 school year is the first eighth grade to complete its time at the newly consolidated middle school.
Principal Heddie Somerville welcomes everyone to the eighth-grade recognition ceremony. (VCS photo)