Newnan Salutatorian: A welcome to Drake Stadium
By Mary Brooks Gallagher, SalutatorianNewnan High School Class of 2012
Welcome to Drake Stadium. I’m so happy that I can say those words.
Even though there were doubts that the construction would be finished in time for our graduation, I think we knew that it would be ready in time for the Class of 2012. So here we are in the beautiful new stadium on May 25, 2012. In a few moments we will become the first class to graduate in the New Drake. Thank you so much to the people who worked on it every day for the past five months so that we could be here today. Thank you to our families and friends who supported us on our journey from the first day of ninth grade to tonight. Thank you to the teachers and staff of Newnan High School who prepared us for this moment and for our futures.
But there is one thing that we all share — tonight, our graduation. Tonight is our night to look back on our past four years of high school. So welcome graduates, friends, family memers, and the staff of Newnan. Thank you for sharing this moment with us. Graduates, welcome to the moment that will forever bond us together for the rest of our lives.
Welcome also to our future. In the future, we’ll continue to grow and change in different ways. We are going to different colleges and careers as well as the military.
We’ll live in different cities, different states, and maybe even different countries. As we welcome our futures, we can’t really be sure what those futures hold, but we will always be Newnan High School’s class of 2012.
To paraphrase the words of someone very important to me, “Tonight seniors, we say goodbye to Newnan High School.” We not only say goodbye to our past, but we also say hello to our future.
I would like to leave you with the inspirational words of Dr. Seuss from his book “Oh, the Places You’ll Go.” “You’re off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!”
Thank you!
