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Four hundred and nineteen students graduated from Thomas A. Edison High School June 11 at 2 pm. The commencement exercises were held at the EagleBank Arena at George Mason University.
Graduates entered the arena to the traditional theme of “Pomp and Circumstance” before standing at attention for the National Anthem.
Principal Pamela Brumfield encouraged the students to be the kind, hard-working people the world wants to see. “Be the most wanted wherever you go,” she said, “because you strive to make a positive difference.”
The Edison Commencement Choir, directed by Anna Cooper, sang a familiar theme from the Broadway musical “Wicked” entitled “For Good” before the class president, Mariam Hasan, addressed her classmates.
“I like to think of life as a journey on a bike, and at this moment in time, we’ve graduated from training wheels. . . . In these past four years, look at all you’ve accomplished, and in this next chapter in life, you’ll do so much more,” said Hasan.
Stacey Kiggins, an award-winning teacher at Edison, gave a commencement address praising the students for their hard work. She implored the students to take the tools they acquired in high school and wield them as weapons against poverty, corruption, injustice, bigotry, and cruelty.
“Join me, class of 2018, in fighting the righteous fight with these tools you have been given,” said Kiggins.
Kiggins also pushed the students to go beyond what they learned in high school, warning them teachers can never fully prepare them for “the real world.”
“I had to learn my craft by practicing it, like everyone before me. And this in itself is not and will never change,” said Kiggins.
After the commencement address, the Edison Symphonic Band and Orchestra, directed by Charlie Mitchell and Josephine Cofie-Arrington, performed the now-trending musical masterpiece “A Million Dreams” from the blockbuster hit, “The Greatest Showman.”
The ceremony concluded after acknowledging certain groups of students, such as those going into armed forces, graduating with honors, or graduating with an IB diploma, and of course the presentation of the diplomas.
“[The students] are brave, in fact, I would say they’re fearless,” said Kiggins after the ceremony, referencing the students’ desire to come to school every day despite the dozens of campus shootings across the country. “[I hope to see them] in charge of Congress, in operating rooms, on the screen, everywhere. And I anticipate they will. They’ll do it.”