190 graduate in CHS Class of 2023!

By Editor | May 23, 2023 |

CHS Class of 2023 throws their graduation caps at the end of the graduation ceremony, celebrating their big achievements

Photo by Deborah Farmer

Congratulations to the Cook High School Class of 2023!

One hundred ninety (190) CHS seniors, including 85 honor graduates (almost 45 percent of the total), graduated on Friday evening, May 19, during the annual ceremony on Veterans Field at Cook High Memorial Stadium. The weather was absolutely beautiful, clear and relatively cool for a mid-May evening in South Georgia.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Tim Dixon has described the Class of 2023 as “exceptional” and “very bright.” He noted the nearly $245,000 in total scholarships received by graduating seniors to further their education, an outpouring of local support which many communities much larger than Cook County “can’t touch.” He also emphasized the number of students advancing to higher education beyond high school.

The number of CHS graduates has remained stable in recent years, 184 in 2019, 203 in 2020, 202 in 2021, and 199 in 2022.

Friday night’s ceremony started with a viewing of the Senior Video on the stadium’s Jumbotron screen (the high school’s AVTF students were busy filming the event). The Senior Slideshow featured baby pictures and current photos of the happy grads. The graduate processional, Pomp & Circumstance, played in accompaniment to the 2023 seniors walking onto the field. Emmie Bush, Senior Class Vice President, then gave the opening invocation. Lucas Ward, Senior Class Secretary, led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem.

Dalton Sumner, Senior Class President, welcomed the gathering, and Emma Kate Lawrence, Senior Class Treasurer, introduced honored guests.

Jasmine Kaur delivered the Third Honor Graduate Address; Halle Griffin, the Salutatorian Address; and Allie Simmons, the Valedictorian Address. (Please see the speeches in this week’s issue.)

CHS Principal Dr. Joi Williams invited the graduating seniors to walk across the stage for the ceremonial presentation of diplomas by Dr. Dixon and Board of Education Chair Corkey Taylor.

The event concluded with the graduates’ turning of their tassels, singing of the CHS Alma Mater, and performance of the Class Song, “Five More Minutes” by Scotty McCreery.

At the end, the new graduates tossed their caps in celebration high in the air over the field.