Five local students were among the graduates of the Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding. Huntington Ingalls Industries hosted commencement exercises Saturday for 148 graduates at Liberty Baptist Church Worship Center, Hampton.

Local shipbuilders graduating were Robert Alan Hansford of Hayes (production planner), Austin Tyler Kemp of Mathews (millwright), and Nathan Winslow Dolan Jr. (sheetmetal worker), Hailey Marie Kahlbaum (coatings specialist) and Jonathan Ross Vannoy (pipefitter), all of Gloucester.

In her first commencement as president of Newport News Shipbuilding, Jennifer Boykin discussed the role the company’s newest shipbuilders will play in building its future.

“It’s such an exciting time to be a shipbuilder,” Boykin said. “We are transforming how we build ships, how we run our business and how we improve the work experience for all of our people.

“We are working smart every day to innovate, to rethink and reinvent the busin...