1,331 CPS high school seniors receive diplomas in four weekend ceremonies

Graduation weekend for Columbia Public Schools celebrates the achievements of 1,331 graduating seniors.

There were two ceremonies Friday, Douglass High School at the Missouri Theatre in the morning and Hickman High School at Mizzou Arena Friday night.

They continue Saturday with Battle High School at 11 a.m. and Rock Bridge High School at 6 p.m., both at Mizzou Arena.

The ceremonies are being live-streamed for those who can't make it.

Salma Alamin

One of the Rock Bridge seniors is Salma Alamin.

"I'm so excited," Salma said Tuesday. "I want it to be over."

Participating in the CPS MAC Scholars program, Salma won the $1,000 CPS Home School Communicator Mike Woods Jr. Memorial Scholarship.

Woods, a liaison among parents, students and administrators at Rock Bridge, was killed last year. His widow, Derby Ridge Elementary School Principal Tina Brown, presented the scholarship to Salma.

Salma will study pre-med at the University of Missouri.

"I want to work in women's health," Salma said. "I think I've been wanting to do this for three years now and it's like the longest, I guess, passion that I've had."

Most of her other plans have faded out pretty quickly, she said.

"I've always been passionate about women's health and I'm also planning on majoring in public health," she said.

MAC stands for Multicultural Achievement Committee and it encourages students who have been underrepresented in colleges and universities to pursue rigorous coursework in high school.

She was in MAC Scholars in middle school, but she didn't pursue it in high school until her junior year. COVID struck the second semester of her freshman year and students weren't in class all sophomore year.

"Junior year is when I started going to MAC every single day," Salma said. "That's when I met Mr. Woods. That's when I met a lot of my friends and it was a nice experience. I remember we'd always have presentations on HBCUs and Mr. Woods gave us a lot of opportunity to grow as learners but also as people and to learn how to just learn to love ourselves in our own skin."

The acronym stands for historically black colleges and universities.

This year, she took advanced placement chemistry, biology and environmental science and a rigorous Latin class that isn't AP.

"I'm also in pre-calc honors, which is the hardest math class I've ever taken," Salma said.

She took a journalism course that taught her the importance of deadlines, she said.

She has several scholarships from Mizzou, she said.

Douglass High School

Nayveah Moss walked to across the Missouri Theatre stage Friday morning to pick up her diploma from Douglass High School

"I feel like Douglass made a very big impact on my life," Nayveah said before the ceremony. "I didn't think I would graduate."

She's planning to attend Moberly Area Community College to study cosmetology, she said.

Clara Thoroughman gave the senior speech. She's going to Stephens College and received six scholarships on Friday.

In her speech, Clara encouraged her classmates to be open to the world.

"Favor depth over distance," Clara said in her speech. "Savor the journey."

Other multiple scholarship winners were Rana Kakozai, Halle Long and Afrah Mahmud.

Jearlissia Jackson

At Battle High School, Jearlissia Jackson will receive her diploma, something she said didn't seem possible just a year ago.

"There's no way I could get my credits done on time," Jearlissia said. "I didn't even have rides to school."

She got involved with Spartan Academy, a school program that supports students struggling to achieve the credits necessary for graduation. It also awards credits for employment.

"There was a time I wanted to quit going to school," Jearlissia said.

She works at the Subway across from Hickman High School, she said.

She plans to move to Illinois after graduation, but she said she has had doubts about her decision.

"I'm so scared because I'm getting so much love," she said about graduating.

With Spartan Academy, students go on field trips, including to American Outdoor Brands, Veterans United Home Loans and Moberly Area Community College.

"I'm going to be an entrepreneur," Jearlissia said.

She plans to open a beauty shop after getting a license, she said.

Joining Jearlissia for the interview was Battle junior John'Eisha Logan, also in Spartan Academy. Jearlissia said everyone in Spartan Academy is like family.

She also was behind but said John'Eisha said she's looking forward to graduating next year.

"Hey, I'm on a roll right now," John'Eisha said. "I worked my way up."

Graduation will be emotional, Jearlissia said.

"I really did it for me, my mom and my mom's mom," Jearlissia said.

Her mom's mom died the day before her mother's high school graduation, Jearlissia said.

A road trip with friends may be in her plans after graduation, she said.

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Here's a look at a few of the seniors graduating from CPS this weekend