Schools
Falls Church High School Class of 2011 graduates 324 seniors.
Sea of green and white filled Constitution Hall.
DAR Constitution Hall was a sea of green and white caps and gowns as Falls Church High School held their 65th Commencement ceremony for the Class of 2011 Friday evening.
The 324 seniors heard from Eric M. Latham, a Washington, D.C. native who in 2004 walked by foot across the nation from Nags Head, N.C. to San Francisco to raise money for cancer research.
“This is an amazing opportunity for you,” said Latham. “This is a chance for you to reinvent yourself, keep learning and improve upon your expectations.”
Find out what's happening in Falls Churchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Latham told the students his story of switching majors to journalism, traveling to France and eventually becoming actively involved in citizen journalism. He gave the seniors free copies of his book "Take Steps With a Purpose" as they received their diplomas.
“You guys have great brains,” said Latham in closing his speech. “There are a lot of students across the nation like yourself who will be graduating over the next few weeks. You have a great opportunity and the know how to solve local and state, national and even international issues.”
Find out what's happening in Falls Churchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Falls Church High School senior choir serenaded the crowd with their rendition of Stephen Schwartz’ “For Good.”
Prior to the commencement program, several senior musicians displayed their musical talents playing covers and original pieces, including senior Dao Pham’s “Something.”
Senior class president Y-Nhi Nguyen closed out the ceremony with her farewell address prior to the distribution of diplomas by principal Cathy Benner.
“There’s no more need for counting down the days and marking our calendars, because today we graduate,” said Nguyen as her fellow seniors erupted in cheers. “We were the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the ones who did things differently. But we’ve taken responsibility for our flaws and now we can move forward with our heads held high.”
As families, friends and teachers embraced the seniors one last time in the streets of downtown Washington DC outside of Constitution Hall, the newly anointed Jaguar alumni appeared ready to take on their world.
