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Schools

Nearly 400 Graduate From Lakeside High

"Every day is a new opportunity to attack life with the curiosity of a 4-year-old," Valedictorian Anastasiya Lobacheva told the crowd.

Every graduating class has unique challenges that make its high school experience memorable. For this year’s graduating seniors at , one such challenge involved their school’s parking lot.

When construction shut down the student lot at Lakeside this past year, the class of 2011 was robbed of a seminal senior class entitlement: parking spaces. Lakeside’s principal, Joe Reed, was sure to praise the students for their sacrifice before they received their diplomas Saturday afternoon.

Reed indicated that when he is asked by the students’ children years from now about their lack of parking, he will acknowledge the difficulty they overcame.

“I promise to nod in sage agreement about the hardship you endured,” he said.

But it was not all laughs as Lakeside held its 45th annual commencement ceremony at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia. The students and their families brimmed with pride as they packed the church’s opulent auditorium.

Reed’s hands trembled and his voice quivered as he turned toward the students to bid a final adieu.

“To the students: thank you,” he said. His voice grew steadier as he boasted of the $2.9 million in scholarship money the 376 graduates earned, and the “over 100 post-secondary institutions” they will be attending.

Valedictorian Anastasiya Lobacheva urged her classmates to continue to relish life, despite the serious challenges awaiting them.

“Every day is a new opportunity to attack life with the curiosity of a 4-year-old,” she said.

Class President John Kirkland Twomey returned some humor to the proceedings when he reminisced about the political challenges of serving in student government.

“I hung up copies of my birth certificate across the school,” he joked.

Reed led the conferral of degrees at the end of the ceremony, calling the students’ names for the last time of their high school careers.

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