MORGANTOWN — Principal Kim Greene smiled and shook her head as the first of the cap-and-gown wearing contingent began gathering by the entrance to the main floor of the WVU Coliseum on Friday night.
Commencement for the Class of 2018 of University High School was about to, well, commence, and Greene had a couple of minutes to reflect on the more than 270 seniors who just finished making their way through a tumultuous year.
After all, the principal said: This class wasn’t just preparing for college, or the workforce.
Nor was it focused entirely on football Friday nights, prom or other aspects of the day-to-day of life in a high school, she said.
Along the way, Greene said, this class found itself in the middle of a life-on-the-fly lesson plan.
This class stood up for UHS teachers and staffers who were part of a statewide work stoppage over salaries and benefits.
This class walked out in solidarity for the victims of gun violence at a Florida high school this year.
And, on Friday night, this class waited patiently for the security checks required before it could take that Coliseum floor: A high school in Texas was still reeling over shootings and killings that occurred just that morning.
But through it all, the UHS principal said, the Class of 2018 never lost its enthusiasm, its school spirit and its collective drive to do better than just coasting through senior year.
Oh, yeah, she added. There was a sense of humor, too. Soared higher than a hawk, no matter what.
“I just liked coming to work this year so I could be around them,” she said.
UHS valedictorian Michael Gharib, a serious student who is off to South Bend, Ind., and the University of Notre Dame this fall, unleashed his inner stand-up comedian during his remarks.
Gharib, who transferred to UHS from a much smaller school, was initially intimidated by lot of Hawks — the multitudes of students he saw in the main hallway on his first day there.
“Who knew how it was gonna turn out?” he asked.
“Who knew I was going to stand up here and get to give an hour-long speech tonight?” he asked, to a mix of laughs from his classmates and (understated) groans from the audience.
“I’m just kidding,” he said. “It’s only 45 minutes.”
