Early College High School kicks off LCPS commencements Wednesday
Lenoir County Early College High School graduating seniors donned mortar boards Friday for the school’s annual Signing Day event, where members of the Class of 2022 revealed their future plans. Of the 44 seniors in the graduating class, 40 have already completed requirements for an associate degree or certificate from Lenoir Community College.
Graduation season for Lenoir County Public Schools gets underway Wednesday when 44 members of the Class of 2022 at Lenoir County Early College High School receive their high school diplomas. The next night, 40 of them will be awarded associate degrees or certificates from Lenoir Community College.
Commencement exercises for LCPS’s four other graduating classes are scheduled for the first week in June.
Because Early College operates on a school calendar that aligns with that of LCC, where the high school is located, it starts and ends the school year several weeks ahead of the district’s traditional high schools.
Its 2022 commencement is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the LCC gym. After two years of pandemic-related precautions, which limited attendance, there is no restriction on audience numbers this year. Still, the ceremony will be live-streamed.
As is tradition, the Early College graduation program will put the spotlight on the school’s seniors. Top seniors Bryan Letchworth and Kate Benson will deliver keynote addresses and three other seniors – Isiah Canady, Cintja Cordova and Albert Lin – will reflect on their time at the school.
In truth, the great majority of this class’ seniors completed their high school core courses two years ago and largely moved into the college curriculum, following the plan at Early College that allows students to earn both a high school diploma and a degree or certification from LCC in four or five years.
Among the 40 associate degrees or certificates earned by the Class of 2022 are the first ever awarded in aviation management, culinary art and graphic art.
Thirty-two members of the class are headed to a four-year college or university. Five are returning to a two-year college, six plan to go into the workforce and one is going into the military.
The schedule for the four other LCPS graduation exercises is:
· Lenoir County Learning Academy – 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 1, at the chapel at Kennedy Home, where the school is located.
· South Lenoir High School – 9 a.m. Saturday, June 4, in the school gym.
· Kinston High School – 11 a.m. Saturday, June 4, in the school gym.
· North Lenoir High School – 1 p.m. Saturday, June 4, in the gym at Lenoir Community College.
