Academy of Arts & Academics

By LILLIAN STAFFORD Lillian@Chronicle1909.com

e Academy of Arts and Academics

(A3) brought an ar s c air to graduaon season – the gowns may have been plain black but students showed o their s le and personali with decorated caps and fun footwear, one student was seen wearing bedazzled heeled boots, and another wearing iridescent pla orm shoes. Last ursday, 43 seniors om A3 walked across the gradua on stage, accompanied by the A3 jazz band’s rendi on of pomp and circumstance.

A3 is a unique school with its massive arts program and modest student body of just 180 students. During the ceremony senior speaker Elsa Bell gave a noteworthy and impassioned speech, calling to ac on her fellow graduates, “ ere will not be a tomorrow if we don’t change today,” Bell said. e speech s essed how the weight of the world has been put on this generaon's shoulders, with so much poli cal s ain and climate uncertain . A er the ceremony, Bell said, “I was so honored to get to speak for my peers and make sure

See ACADEMY – 30