The Wake County Public School System will award diplomas to 8,094 students in 21 ceremonies through Sunday, June 14.  Most of the students will continue their education in college, while others will enlist in the military or join the workforce.

Four high schools have senior classes with 500 or more students. Wakefield has 585. Enloe has 570. Leesville Road has 521. Garner High has 505. The 8,094 graduates this year compares with 7,684 last year.

Southeast Raleigh High held the first graduation ceremony on May 28. Christopher Kao gave the valedictorian address. The Southeast Raleigh High class of 2009 includes National Merit College Scholar Christopher Kao, National Merit $2,500 Scholar Kyle Swartz and NC Teaching Fellows: Arielle Ivory Chambers and Shae LaGeorgia King. The school had two students who received six full athletic scholarship offers, one earned a Robert C. Byrd Scholarship and one earned an Air Force ROTC Scholarship. 13 students earned Presidential Excellence Awards.

Apex High had Park Scholar Gretchen Louise Stokes, National Merit Achievement Scholar Lariah D. Ijames, National Merit Corporate Scholar Michael Nokes and NC Teaching Fellows Alyssa Katherine Brown, Andrew John Decker, Maret Ellen Koch, Ethan Wyatt Luke, Rachel Christine McCloskey, Corin Taylor Muller and Cameron Michele Shirley. The school had one student earn a Robert Byrd Scholarship, one earned a US Air Force Academy appointment and one earn a ROTC Scholarship. 140 students earned Presidential Excellence Awards.

Athens Drive High had Park Scholar Alyse Cristen Flick and NC Teaching Fellows Zainab Hassell Abdus-Saboor, Jennifer Leigh Dutton, Carla Renee Hutchins and Kameron Anesa Rowe. The school had one student earn a military academy appointment. 54 students earned Presidential Excellence Awards.

Broughton High had Park Scholar Tyler Confrey-Maloney, National Merit Achievement Scholar Kelly A. Wyche, National Merit Corporate scholar Jonathan H. Edwards and NC Teaching Fellows Brittany Racquel Huffman, Haley Jewell Jones, Melissa Brooke Ledford, Tierney Marie McBride and Julia Morgan Sasser. Broughton students earned 123 academic, 15 athletic and six fine arts scholarships. One student earned an appointment to the Coast Guard Academy. The school had 83 International Baccalaureate Diploma candidates As part of their graduation requirement, Broughton seniors completed approximately 65,000 hours of community service.

Cary High had NC Teaching Fellows Assir Azhan Abushouk, Quinn Nicole Bajorek, Timothy George Pattyson, Vincent M. Pratama and Kayla Elizabeth Seagroves. Robert C. Byrd Scholars included Stephen Clement, Kathryne Hawthorne and Christopher Hill. Stephen Clement, Jonathan Dobson and Jeannette Theora earned Navy ROTC Scholarships. James Phillips earned an Air Force ROTC Scholarship.

Enloe High had National Merit Achievement Scholars Amelia J. Lumpkin and Mariah Moore; National Merit Corporate Scholars Rachel C. Rowe, Pradeep B. Gopinathan and Diana L. Xie; National Merit $2,500 Scholar Alexey Vasilyev; National Merit College Scholars Lilly Y. Liu, Michael I. Chen, Rachel E.H Mazzara, Alexandra H. Snedeker, Laura C. Buff and Sara N. Lineberry; and NC Teaching Fellows Kristen Marie Noto and Lindsey Nicole Price. The school had nine students recognized in the National Honor Society of Dance, 41 complete the Medical Bio-Science Academy and 26 International Baccalaureate Diploma Candidates. 135 students earned President's Excellence Awards.

Fuquay-Varina High had Morehead Cain Scholar Julia Victoria Ramos and NC Teaching Fellows Robert Antonio Francis, Laura Elizabeth Martin and Anthony Jordan Paturzo. The school had 97 students earn academic scholarships including four Presidential Scholars to Methodist College, two Presidential Scholars to Campbell University, as well as a student earning a presidential scholarship to Adrian College, Earlham College, Arizona State University Peace College and Meredith College. Six students received athletic scholarships. 18 students are going into the military.

Garner High had NC Teaching Fellows Margaret Elizabeth Correia, Sarah Elizabeth Moore, Amanda Nicole Pierce, Linsey Grae Pittman, Carl Brunson Redd and Tiffany Nicole Williams. John Gabriel Chrismon earned an Army ROTC scholarship and Jordan Hammond earned a Navy ROTC scholarship. The school had and 22 International Baccalaureate Diploma candidates. Five students earned President's Excellence Awards.

Green Hope High had National Merit Corporate Scholar Sean M. Bartell, National Merit $2,500 Scholar Syed Saleh, National Merit College Scholar Gabriel D. Reynolds, NC Teaching Fellows Sarah Azam, Julie Ross, Regina Stepney, Kelsey Cones; Robert C. Byrd Scholars Sheila Gaynor, Brinda Monian, and Andrew Wang. Jackie Midgette and Leslie Anderson earned Maynard Teaching Scholarships Scott Heffner earned the State Employees Credit Union Scholarship.

Holly Springs High had student Adam Carswell Dunn earn both a Park Scholarship and Robert C. Byrd Scholarship and NC Teaching Fellow Sarah Nicole Eichvalds. Kevin Jones and Emmalee Osier earned West Point appointments; Lindsay Cordero and Andrew Gallion earned Air Force Academy appointments; Amelia Forbes earned a NC State Chancellor's Leadership Award, Amanda Yadeski earned a ROTC scholarship to VMI; Jacob Filip earned a UNC-CH Covenant Scholarship; and Sarah Brady earned the State Employees Credit Union scholarship.

Leesville Road High had NC Teaching Fellows Maria Elizabeth Evans, Alexis Tierra Hopper, Elayne Nichole Monjar, Kelsey Paige Rozier , Elizabeth Marie Sanders, one National Merit Scholar, two Naval ROTC scholarships, two Army ROTC scholarships and one Air Force ROTC scholarship. The school had 24 students earn Academic Excellence Scholarships and 31 earn Presidential Scholarships.

Middle Creek High had Park Scholars Ryan Alexander Collinsworth and John Michael Turner, National Merit Achievement Scholar Kaiya M. Aroyo, National Merit Corporate Scholar Sarah Phillips and NC Teaching Fellows Ashlee Marie Haga, Sarah Catherine Humphrey, Taylor Holland Lee, Elena Christine Lopez and Anamaria Moreno.

Panther Creek High had National Merit Corporate scholar John T. Primm, National Merit College scholar James D. Longley and NC Teaching Fellow Kayla Marie Walker. Nine students have earned athletic scholarships: Gabe Latigue to Elon University; Nate Latigue to Appalachian State University, Earnest Ross to Auburn University, Jaleesa Wilson to University of Denver, Kayla Walker to Meredith College, Taylor Womble to Wingate College, Alyssa Bearden to College of Charleston and Brandon and Marques Oliver to Delaware State University.

Sanderson High had Patrick Short earn both a Morehead-Cain Scholarship and Park Scholarship and Margaret K. Pennisi earn a National Merit College Scholarship. Laura Emily Hasenauer, Samuel James McFarlane, Sarah Ruth Tueting and Charnelle Larese Wilson were named NC Teaching Fellows. Four students earned Robert C. Byrd Scholarships. Sanderson students earned 116 Academic, 18 Military, eight Athletic, and two band scholarships.

Wake Forest Rolesville High had Park Scholar Ebunoluwa Ololade Olaleye, Morehead Cain Scholar Austin Shaw and NC Teaching Fellows Jessica Jean Carbon, Brittany-Ann D. Mastromatteo, Amanda Grace Shaw, Sherrie Ann Smith and Blake Elliott Taylor. The school had one student earn a Gates Millennium Scholarship; one student earn an Air Force Academy appointment; and one student earn a Coca Cola National Scholarship.

This year, WCPSS high schools will hold graduation ceremonies at the Raleigh Convention Center, the Progress Energy Center and in Holiday Gym at Broughton High. With most schools having 300 to 500 graduates, there will be additional traffic and parking demands in the area during the ceremonies.

The WCPSS Security Department, Raleigh Police Department and Wake County Sheriff's Department will attend graduation ceremonies. Only persons with an admission ticket will be admitted to a graduation ceremony. In addition, no laptop computers, packages, artificial noisemakers, balloons, or other disruptive devices will be permitted.

Related Links

1. Full List of Scheduled Ceremonies