News Photo by Julie Riddle Graduate Chase Faircloth shakes the hands of his teachers Friday night after being presented with a diploma at the Atlanta Community Schools 2019 commencement ceremony.

ATLANTA–A class of 15 smiling young people turned their tassels Friday night at the Atlanta Community Schools 2019 commencement ceremony.

In the hallway, a senior-painted cement-block mural gave colorful testimony to the lives that came together for a little while in a small town, while, on the other side of the wall, the gym vibrated with proud family and speakers sharing words of encouragement with the class.

We make 3,500 decisions each day, commencement speaker and 1977 school alumnus Erin McDonald Kieliszewski told the class. Each of those decisions defines who a person becomes.

“You get to decide who you are going to be,” she told the graduates, urging them to make decisions that allow them to go beyond merely dreaming of a better future.

“Your dreams serve a purpose,” Kieliszewski said. “They inspire and motivate you. But goals can change your life.”

Salutatorian Sara Blanton spoke cheerfully of the freedoms that accompany graduation, thanking her parents — “You are now officially unemployed,” she told them from the podium — and the teachers who guided her through high school.

“Thanks for the memories, and goodbye,” Blanton said.

Chase Hooper’s parents draped the valedictorian medal around her neck, laughing a bit as it got snagged on the corners of her square mortarboard cap. The graduate spoke to her classmates of the scariness of leaving behind what she called one of the easiest parts of their lives, facing futures of doing their own laundry, paying their own bills, and nervously preparing for job interviews.

“Don’t let fear paralyze you,” Hooper urged her classmates. “Let it push you forward in life.”

Carl Seiter, superintendent of Atlanta Community Schools, spoke affectionately to the graduating seniors, urging to look for little ways to make big changes in their world.

“You ask yourselves: Will the world get any better? The answer is within you,” the administrator said. “Start by changing that little piece of the world around you.”

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com.