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Monterey graduates throw their hats in celebration after the graduation ceremony Saturday at Monteray High School. (Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

Heath Payne hugs his niece, Emily Woodrum after her graduation. (Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

Jacob Charpentier listens during a the Monterey High School graduation ceremony Saturday. (Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

Sydney Woodruff begins to cry while Bailey Book sings during the Monterey High School Graduation Ceremony Saturday. (Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

Bailey Book smiles to the crowd after being anounced a high school graduate of Monterey High School Saturday. (Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

Monterey graduates listen as scholarships are announced at the ceremony Saturday at Monterey High School. (Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

MONTEREY — After 13 years of reporting to the same buildings with the same classmates, Monterey High School’s class of 2016 said goodbye Saturday afternoon.

The 28 graduates marched proudly across the stage to receive their diplomas, a ceremony marked by half of them completing their secondary education with some kind of honors.

The last four years have been long, graduate Shelby Morace said, but “As a class, we can’t express how happy we are to have achieved this point.”

Valedictorian Bailey Book said that while high school is technically about academic learning, her learning experience at MHS was about more than about “learning to use a log cosign to solve a problem,” and she was thankful to teachers, coaches and others “for teaching me things I would not have learned anywhere else.”

High school helped the graduates find out who they are, Book said, and to learn that “perspective is everything,” while being able to participate in sports and clubs taught them to be thankful for what they have.

Leaving is bittersweet, Book said.

“Monterey High School will always have a place in my heart and always be my home,” she said.

Salutatorian Merrideth Chapman said that the graduating class made up a family of brothers and sisters who had spent a minimum of 40 hours a week together — or 50 if they played sports — for years, but now those siblings were getting ready to leave the safety of the high school nest.

“We have all demonstrated at some point the qualities of determination and perseverance,” Chapman said.

“I know each and every one of us has the potential to succeed in that big, scary world that awaits us.”

MHS’s class of 2016 had a total of seven honors graduates and seven special honors graduates.

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