The doors opened, and cheers erupted over "Pomp and Circumstance" as the Bolton High School Class of 2024 walked into the second-floor auditorium, the last graduating class of a school undergoing major changes.
Bolton High School won't exist anymore at the end of this academic year, as Rapides Schools Superintendent Jeff Powell has said. On Aug. 8, selected students will begin classes at the Bolton Academy Academic & Performing Arts Prek-12 Magnet School.
Current students zoned for Bolton who don't qualify academically for the magnet will be moved to Peabody Magnet High School.
But, on a stormy Monday night at their commencement, Bolton's 109th graduating class posed for photos, laughed, hugged, celebrated their achievements and walked across the stage for their diplomas.
Families wore T-shirts celebrating their grads, and many people were ready with flower bouquets for graduates. One woman walked in with giant photo cutouts of her graduates on yardsticks. At least three people sported bouquets of dollar bills, and a balloon filled with rolled bills sat on a table outside the auditorium doors.
McKenzie Juneau was the first one to walk into the auditorium with a money bouquet. That and a congratulatory balloon were for Claina Henry, her boyfriend's sister.
"Yeah, we had to come in strong," she said about the money bouquet.
What's in their futures?
Downstairs in the cafeteria, graduates gathered and helped each other get ready. As the crowd grew larger, the noise became louder. Tammi Carlisle, the graduation coordinator, yelled over them with some reminders.
"No phones, no purses, no bags," she shouted. "You better find somebody to hand it off to, right now.
"Right now!"
And spit out your gum, she added.
As they waited for the call to march into the auditorium, they talked about future plans.
Monique Veal watched and took photos as her daughter, Jayla Allen, and her friend, Ny'Asiah Williams, as Allen adjusted Williams' gown in the hallway outside the cafeteria.
"My babies," she said softly.
Allen laughed as she realized she'd untied a string on Williams' dress, then quickly fixed everything. Both wore cords around their necks, indicating honors and achievements from their high school years.
Both had a gold, silver and blue cord denoting their membership in the Kitty Hawk Air Honor Society for their four years in Bolton's U.S. Air Force JROTC. Both also had pink cords as graduates of Bolton's Conservatory — both were in dance for four years, and Allen was in dance line for two years.
Williams also had a blue and white cord for her membership in the Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society.
The girls, both 18, are heading to Northwestern State University in the fall for nursing. Allen wants to become a pediatric nurse practitioner, while Williams intends to become a neonatal nurse.
Nearby, Celie Hillman scrolled through her cellphone. She also plans to major in nursing at NSU in the fall.
"I've always been interested in the medical field, always," said the 18-year-old. "I have a family member who used to be a nurse. I've always been the one helping with bandaging up scrapes. I've always been invested in doctor shows and watching those types of things."
Inside the cafeteria, Joseph Jenkins and Demmetric Toney stood to the side and talked. Both had set their sites on trades, instead of college, after high school.
Jenkins, 18, wants to go to school to become a welder. He knows it pays well and said that's why he wants to do it.
For Toney, also 18, he's eyeing a career in "air conditioning and stuff like that."
Standing in a crowd of graduates and teachers, Emily Morris tried arranging Stella Voorhies' mortarboard on her head as Voorhies laughed with her hands in front of her face.
Morris is heading to Louisiana State University to major in psychology. How the brain works always has interested her, she said.
"It's either that or neuroscience," said Morris, 18.
'Kinda sad to me'
Morris said she has thought about how the school is changing after this academic year.
"It's kinda sad to me, honestly, that we're the last Bolton class," she said.
Voorhies, 18, called it bittersweet, saying it was great to be the last class.
"It's a cool experience, but it's also sad because there's not going to be the same type of place to come back to. It's just not even close to being the same," she said.
Morris recalled seeing previous seniors return to the Bolton campus to visit. She won't be able to do that, she said.
Only two of her former teachers would be around to visit, while the others have left as new faculty members are selected for the magnet.
"I'm thankful that we got out before the change," she said. And both said they felt bad for the juniors, sophomores and freshmen left behind in the change.
Hillman said it was kind of "nerve wracking" to be the last class, "but it also feels like we're walking out, we're paving the way for something new.
"The name is the same," she said. "Everything else is going to be a lot different."
Williams also thought it was sad and said she and her classmates really won't be alumni or have anything to come back to at the new magnet.
"But, at the same time, I'm excited for the kids who come here," she said. "At least they'll have a better school to come to."
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