Featured photos: The Buncombe County Schools mid-year graduation ceremony took place on Jan. 30, 2022, in Asheville's Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.
By: Benjamin Rickert
BCS Communications Dept.
Downtown Asheville was a sea of caps and gowns on Sunday, Jan. 30, as graduating seniors and their families gathered for Buncombe County Schools’ mid-year graduation event. Including 184 graduates from 11 area high schools, it was the largest mid-year graduation celebration since 2015. With diplomas in hand and ready for their next challenges in life, the Class of 2022 proudly walked across the stage of the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Harrah’s Cherokee Center of Asheville.
“We are so proud of you — the Class of 2022 — for this monumental academic achievement,” said Superintendent Dr. Tony Baldwin. “You have displayed much perseverance, flexibility, and fortitude in reaching this important day. It has been our honor to serve as your educators, and we wish you the best for the future.”
The program began with a brief welcome by BCS Director of Secondary Education Ms. Tonya Robinson. The A.C. Reynolds High School Army JROTC Rocket Battalion then performed the Presentation of Colors, and the Madrigal Singers performed the National Anthem and “The Road Home” by Stephen Paulus. Reynolds choral director Mr. Phillip Haynie served as the pianist for the processional and recessional. Mr. Benjamin Alexander, principal of Valley Springs Middle School, served as the inspiring commencement speaker.
After the final graduate crossed the stage, Dr. Baldwin invited the Class of 2022 to symbolically move their tassels from right to left. Some chose to throw their caps high in the air, while others cheered and waved to friends and family members in the surrounding auditorium. It was a day that the graduates will never forget.
Congratulations to the 2022 mid-year graduates of Buncombe County Schools!
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