Clay-Battelle Class of 2022: 'They're good people'

Jun. 1—BLACKSVILLE — The Class of 1959 at Clay-Battelle High School was nicely done out as it waited in a hallway this past Sunday afternoon.

There were the young ladies, with their Sandra Dee 'dos and Mom's pearls, borrowed just for the occasion.

And the young lads, with their Butch Wax flattops and bowties that could have put Gordon Gee's to shame.

Yep, pretty good class, those Cee-Bees of 62 years ago were, framed in their group portrait on that hallway wall with other alums from other classes who went forth from the school in western Monongalia County.

That's the thing about this attendance area.

There's all that history. All that family.

And then came the Class of 2022.

This assemblage is the 83rd among the annals to be woven into the fabric of the above. And maybe one of the more memorable, Principal David Cottrell said.

Cottrell, a Clay-Battelle grad himself whose parents were high school sweethearts at their shared alma mater, sounded like a proud dad as he discussed that dynamic Sunday.

That was as he waited for the newest crop of outgoing seniors to line up for commencement on the sunny, 79-degree afternoon on the football field.

"We've got 50 kids in this class and they pulled down $450, 000 in scholarships, " the principal said.

"Fifty kids. That's huge."

It wasn't just about achievement, he said. It was about character.

"They're good people, " he said. "They're there for their families and their community. They're there for the kids in the younger grades. And they're there for each other."

And service to others, he said, was setting the tone.

Three weeks from now, Braden Coen will stand at attention for the first time at Parris Island, S.C. — he enlisted in the U.S. Marines last year as a 17-year-old and is shipping out quick. Right now, he's planning on a career.

"My parents are a little nervous, " he said, "but this is really all I've ever wanted to do."

Brady Ammons, meanwhile, was so shaped by the pandemic that he wants to work on the business side of health care, managing hospitals or other medical facilities when the next virus mutates.

"I didn't like the idea of the world stopping, " he said of the COVID-fueled shutdowns and quarantines that marked the last three years, "but I also think everybody did the best they could at the time. This was unprecedented."

Audrey Simpson begins her studies this fall at Fairmont State University to become an elementary school teacher.

Sunday, she presented classroom poise, in advance.

As vice president of the senior class, she was set to deliver closing remarks, which she had written down. Her papers didn't make it to the podium, though.

She gave a little grin and pushed on, to applause.

The younger selves of many in the stands are also on those class portraits in the hallway.

Moms, dads. Grandmas and grandpas. High school sweethearts, even, and Simpson had some words for them, too.

"Well, I had something prepared but I can't find it, so I'm just gonna go off the cuff, " she said.

"We appreciate everything you've done for us. Thank you. "

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