Early College graduates 42 seniors

Cleveland Early College said goodbye on Thursday to what Principal Amber Nichols described as one of the most resilient groups of students to walk through the school halls.

"This is a group that spent most of their junior year remote and had their sophomore year interrupted. They met every challenge head on and of course conquered every obstacle that came their way," said Nichols of the 42 members of the school's class of 2022. "This group, even the ones who chose to remain remote, stayed plugged in. They came to any kind of function or event we were able to have. And of course they are great academic scholars."

Nearly all of this year's class are graduating with an associate's degree or certificate from one of Cleveland Community College's trade programs.

"Many of them are business administration, criminal justice and welding. We have our first student to get a first aid nurse certificate, so that is new here. We are very thankful that we have been able to get added to that program," said Nichols. 

The few students not leaving with a degree or certificate still have more than 50 college credits they can transfer to any accredited school, Nichols added.

Thursday's graduation is the first of many in Cleveland County in the coming weeks. 

North Shelby celebrated its senior class on Friday. Burns, Crest and Shelby high schools will celebrate graduation on Friday, June 3. Pinnacle Classical Academy and Kings Mountain High School will host graduation on Saturday, June 4 

Dustin George can be reached at 704-669-3337 or Dustin.George@ShelbyStar.com.