NWHS Senior Class PRESIDENT
A fist-bumping farewell At NWHS’ graduation ceremony, senior class president sits at the end of the row so he can bump fists with classmates passing by after receiving their diplomas by CHRIS BURRITT NW GREENSBORO – In a few weeks, Northwest Guilford High School senior class president Rycor Coon is headed to Provo, Utah, to start his freshman year at Brigham Young University. A year from now, he will be preparing to embark on a Mormon missionary trip somewhere in the world, though he’s
not sure where. So to make sure he bid farewell to his classmates, Coon secured an end seat during NWHS’ graduation ceremony. He bumped fists with them as they passed with their diplomas.
Photo courtesy of Rycor Coon
“This summer, I want to NWHS senior class president Rycor Coon make sure I spend time with (left) and classmate Hana Ishige celebrate my friends,” Coon said in a after their graduation ceremony. recent interview. “I’m going to be pretty far away. I know I won’t be ing remotely, walking around his house able to see them much after that.” listening to class on wireless headphones. Coon has lived all of his 18 years in Oak Ridge, attending kindergarten at Oak Ridge Elementary before going to Northwest Guilford middle and high schools. He had never imagined spending most of his senior year study-
“With everything changing so much, I learned to expect everything and nothing at the same time,” Coon said. The COVID-19 pandemic “created some bad situations, but it helped
us to grow and improve so much.” Near the end of the school year students, with the help of parents, planned private parties to replace prom, one of numerous senior traditions derailed by the pandemic. “Students came together and said ‘we can have our own prom,’” he said. “We had the willingness to do things for ourselves.” Last week Coon was among the first to receive his diploma during the graduation ceremony at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center. When he returned to his seat, he convinced his friend, Cameron Copenhaver, to switch seats with him. That put Coon right next to the aisle. “I knew that if I were on the outside, every student would walk past me and I could give them all fist bumps,” he said. Coon had been eager to return to the classroom in March.
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Congratulations to the Class of 2021! Job well done! ONWARD and UPWARD
JUNE 2021
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