Vance Virtual celebrates Class of '22

Jun. 11—HENDERSON — The "virtual" in Vance Virtual Village Academy makes the school's commencement ceremony one of the most unique of graduation season.

V3's graduates were there, in the flesh Friday morning at Wayne Adcock Auditorium, but some of them were meeting each other in person for the first time at rehearsal.

"I didn't know them at all," said Naadirah Moore, who was selected to give the senior Farewell Address. "But I made friends along the way, like during the practice."

Moore grew up in Delaware and moved to the area with her mother Shemere Jackson only in the last two years. The cum laude graduate, donning a medallion for finishing in the top-10% of Vance County Schools' seniors, plans to return north for her post-secondary education at Delaware Technical Community College.

Some of V3's 29 graduates did know each other, from other Vance County schools they attended. Some logged into their classes from Nash or Edgecombe counties, even as far away as Africa.

"Anytime. Anyplace. Anywhere," V3 Principal Jessica Perry said of the school's enrollment philosophy. "We open our doors and this is their home."

Many students around the country became accustomed to learning remotely during the worst of COVID-19.

Some realized they learned better that way, or that it suited their personal lifestyles more appropriately, although Vance County Schools had plans for the academy before the onset of COVID.

"Even though you're at home, you're still supposed to work," Moore said. "You can't be lazy just because you're at home. You have to do everything that you would do if you were in school."

Henderson Councilman Jason Spriggs provided the Words of Wisdom, hammering home that Friday's graduation was a "big deal" and the graduates should aspire to graduate again, whether from a barber or beauty school, trade school or college.

Spriggs asked the graduates several pointed questions, some rhetorical and some not, like, "How many of you want to be famous?"

Ada Russell raised her hand for that one. She wants and expects to be a singer.

Spriggs told her she would indeed be famous, but implored that she and other graduates reach that status by prioritizing the needs of others first, not just their own.

Friday marked the second-ever V3 graduation, with nine more seniors on the class roster than 2021.

"We would like to see students from kindergarten through 12th grade with us," Perry said, "and have that opportunity and definitely increasing the number of students that we're able to graduate and put back in the community."

Wherever those communities might be.

V3 graduation

Instrumental music: Tyson Greene, V3A fourth-grader

'Pomp and Circumstance:' Lisa Jacobs, V3A teacher

National anthem: Jashanni Benson

Welcome address: Ahmed Alshadady

Presentation of diplomas: Dr. Jessica Perry, Dr. Cindy Bennett, VCS superintendent