It was an unforgettable Friday night May 26 at the duck pond.
Taylor High School staff member Bobbie Griffin sat at the side of the Taylor High School stadium, handing out programs to families as the proces- sional emerged from the field house and the school band began to play “Pomp and Circumstance.”
Griffin sat beside a flowing sea of students dressed in green and white robes, led by teachers wearing their own black caps and gowns.
“Oh my gosh!” Griffin exclaimed, her eyes getting misty, as some of her students passed by. “Way to go, girls!”
Soon after, graduating senior Jarvis Anderson appeared in the line, sporting a vibrant red, yellow, green and black scarf of the Black Student Association atop his ceremonial gown.
“That’s my nephew!” Griffin exclaimed, referring to the Taylor High School sports phenomenon, who just weeks earlier had won two gold medals in the state Class 4A hurdles, shattering the record for the 300meter in the process. “I’m so proud.”
Griffin was not alone in her enthusiasm among the crowd of families, friends, faculty and other community members who were cheering for the accomplishments of the more than 200 young men and women in Taylor High School’s senior class of 2023.
“Seniors, we appreciate the leadership and commitment that you have displayed this year, and we wish you the very best as you move forward,” said Taylor Independent School District Board President Marco Ortiz to the crowd of more than 1,000.
On this night, as one chapter closed for the lives of these young ducks, who are now heading for the workforce, college, technical training, or military service, Superintendent Devin Padavil had some words of advice. “Seniors, I know it is hard to believe, and we are tired of talking about the pandemic, but this the first normal year you have had in high school,” Padavil said. “Resilience is your brand. It will go along with you wherever you go, so I want to leave you with two thoughts: Remember that every time God wants to give you a gift, he wraps it in a problem. Your success and your strength is on the other side of setbacks, obstacles and tough circumstances. And remember the good book says, ‘Seek and ye shall find,’ not, ‘Sit around, and maybe it will come to you.’ Dream big for yourself and go for it.”
The evening offered many links to time-honored traditions as well.
As the students filed into a line to shake hands with Principal Matthew Wamble and receive their diplomas, they passed a small object into his hand, said Communications and Community Liaison Tim Crow. “If you look closely, you may see each graduate is handing the person they are shaking hands with something,” Crow said. “But it’s very tiny, so you have to look closely in order to be able to see it.”
That something, Crow revealed, was a tiny duck.
While the evening was filled with honor and celebration, including fireworks, moving the tassels, throwing caps into the air, and singing one last rendition of the “Green and white shall ever fly,” it was also a time of tears and reminiscing as well.
“This moment is both exciting and bittersweet as we prepare to say goodbye to the past and step into the unknown,” said Casey Weison the salutatorian who is headed to Texas A & M University in the fall, as she commemorated the life of Tyler Cobb, a classmate whose life was cut short at age 15. “Through it all, we have grown and lived, developing into the unique individuals that we are today. We have experienced joy and success as well as challenges, disappointments and great losses. Tyler Cobb left an everlasting impression on our class and community. Tyler expressed himself freely and in unique ways and inspired so many of us to enjoy life and make it ours.”
Crow, who has attended graduation ceremonies for decades and watched his students grow up into teachers at Taylor ISD themselves, said this graduation was up there in the annals of Taylor Duck history.
“It feels fantastic to see former students walk across that stage, and in this role, taking pictures of some of them whom I have known since the third grade,” Crow said. “To have the ceremony out here on this new stadium is just incredible. With the new stadium, the ‘Once a duck, always a duck,’ the statues at the entrance, it’s just a perfect setting.”
