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Freddie Wayne Mango Jr. receives a scholarship Family and friends of graduates pack the bleachers on the football field Friday at the Delta Charter 2019 graduation ceremony in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Family and friends of graduates pack the bleachers on the football field Friday at the Delta Charter 2019 graduation ceremony in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Valedictorian Lara Elisabeth Boothe gives her speech Delta Charter Graduates sit together Friday at the Delta Charter 2019 graduation ceremony in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Delta Charter Graduates sit together Friday at the Delta Charter 2019 graduation ceremony in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Delta Charter Graduates sit together Friday at the Delta Charter 2019 graduation ceremony in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Family of Kierra Geshanna Neal sit together Friday at the Delta Charter 2019 graduation ceremony in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Family and friends of graduates pack the bleachers on the football field Friday at the Delta Charter 2019 graduation ceremony in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Graduates listen during a a song performed by Cloi Cummings and Emily Smith Friday at the Delta Charter 2019 graduation ceremony in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Salutatorian Colson Wade Thornton walks back to sit with other graduates after delivering his speech Friday at the Delta Charter 2019 graduation ceremony in Ferriday. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

FERRIDAY — Twenty-eight of Delta Charter School’s athletes, scholars, heroes and comedians graduated to the next chapter of their lives Friday evening.

Colson Wade Thornton, Delta Charter’s salutatorian and son of Wade Thornton and Cindy Peterman, said he and his classmates put in a lot of hard work over the past 12 years of their lives, all for a piece of paper with their name on it.

“Who of us is excited for four more years of college and student debt? … At least it only gets easier from here,” Thornton said, jokingly.

Jokes aside, Thornton said he, and the rest of his class, have a lot of people to thank for helping them throughout grade school, including his family, teachers and fellow classmates.

Thornton maintained a 97.10 grade point average throughout high school and plans to study chemical engineering at Louisiana Tech University this fall.

“I have seen bonds transcend blood,” Thornton said. “I’m not saying that this class in particular is a family … just that most of us now have new brothers and sisters, both young and old.”

Lara Elisabeth Boothe, valedictorian and daughter of Leo and Kim Boothe, said she felt extremely proud of all of her classmates, some of whom would depart from Delta Charter School to play sports for universities or fight in the U.S. military.

Boothe maintained a 97.14 grade point average throughout high school and plans to attend Louisiana State University this fall and pursue a medical degree.

“While we sat in class, I watched you as you stressed over tests, obsessed over what new strategy the team learned for the upcoming game and complained about having to rush to work after school,” Boothe said to her classmates. “In these moments, I have seen the best in each of you.”

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