Family and friends filled the Harry M. Ward Auditorium Saturday morning to wish the 60 members of the Mathews High School Class of 2022 all the best as they prepare for college, careers and all the adventures that lie ahead as high school graduates.

“We are gathered here today to celebrate the Class of 2022,” salutatorian Joice Small said to the assembled crowd. It was a path that, for many, began at kindergarten.

“Our paths have not been identical because, as a class, each of us are very different people,” she said, adding that “our differences are what make us great.”

She recalled some of the “similar stops along the way” for the Class of 2022, such as being “terrified in fifth grade that Mrs. Moore would take away one too many HABIT letters so we couldn’t go to the party at the end of the quarter,” as seventh graders hiking through the nature trail with Thomas Hunter teacher Jerry Ligon or being “robbed of the spirit stick sophomore year when a junior cheated in the tiebreaking event.”

“Our 13 years together have made us closer than we ever could have imagined as kindergarteners,” Small said. “The best part about this journey so far has been walking this path with my classmates.

“To the Mathews High School Class of 2022, this is my charge to you: be supportive and kind to your fellow travelers on life’s journey, use what you have learned in this building to succeed and have a positive impact wherever our path leads us,” she concluded.

“We have worked hard for this moment for over a decade and we should be proud of ourselves,” valedictorian Carson Brown said in his address. “We grew up together, we helped each other, and we laughed with each other.

“This graduation is a very important milestone in our lives,” he continued; “however, it is not the last one.” Many will continue their education and then put that education to use. We “will soon start our careers and even our own families. This is only the beginning for us,” he said.

“I hope all of you have thanked the people who have helped you get where you are. For me personally, I would like to thank my mom and my dad,” Brown said. “They supported me no matter what I wanted to do.”

He did add some levity, saying that when he was writing his speech, he knew he wanted to thank his parents “even though every time I asked for help on my homework, Mom would say ‘This is too hard for me,’ and Dad would be snoring on the couch.

“I would like to thank my fellow students for making my time as a student at Mathews High School amazing,” he concluded. “We are all excited to move forward and make a difference in the world, but we should never forget where we came from, and helped us get there. I can’t wait to see what’s next for us.”

As its gift to MHS, the senior class restored and renovated the Arts and Academics Trophy Case in the school’s cafeteria. “Class officers donated hours and hours of their time and creativity to repairing and repainting the trophy case and it looks fabulous,” Small said in her role as senior class president.

Awards

Though normally a separate program leading up to graduation, the MHS Senior Awards was incorporated into Saturday’s ceremony.

Among the top awards presented, Small was given the General Excellence Award and the Leland B. Machen Excellence in Mathematics Award; Cameron Stearns and Small were named the Male and Female Athletes of the Year; Tatianna Braxton received the John Philip Sousa Band Award; Grayson Camp was the recipient of the DAR Good Citizen Award; Riley Bell and Desiree Dixon received the Excellence in Journalism Awards; Zoe Sawyer was named the English Department Student of the Year; Dixon and Small received a certificate, Merit letter and Merit star from the SCA Merit Point Program awards; Savannah Smith received a certificate and Merit letter in the SCA Merit Awards; Brown and Small received the U.S. Marine Corps Scholastic Excellence Awards; Brown and Olivia Coons received the U.S. Marine Corps Distinguished Athlete Award; and Camp and Henry Barnett received the U.S. Marine Corps Semper Fidelis Award (for musical excellence).

Fifteen students were recognized as Early College Scholars—Barnett, Lily Baucom, Kelly Britt, Brown, Camp, Makayla Church, Brandon Gandee, Henry Hospodar, Sawyer, Small, Smith, Stearns, Emily West, Cole Wheeler and Dylan White.

Gloucester Health Science Academy Completers—Hannah Canady, Church, Aaliyah Henderson, Smith and Wheeler. Nurse Aide/Health Occupations Students of America certificate recipients—Smith and West.

CTE completers, Family and Consumer Sciences—Church, Coons, Colin Frazier, Henderson, Richard Hogge, Charity Hudgins, Jenna Hudgins, Daveon Johnson, Lanie Moncrief, Raiden Perry and Meghan Pruitt. Carpentry—Colton Barrick, Ja’marri Henderson, Hogge, Jared C. Emanuel, Riley Jarvis, Daniel Moughon and Bray Wright. Engineering—Brown, Hospodar, Stearns and White.

Scholarships

MHS recognized 49 local scholarships representing 39 different organizations and individuals associated with Mathews County, totaling $73,750. The students also earned various other scholarships totaling over $363,000.

“It is so wonderful that even in times of a global pandemic, our students have still received overwhelming support from our community,” said MHS director of counseling Katelyn Dodge, who presented the scholarships along with school counselor Shannon Duff. Recipients were:

Cameron Stearns—Bill Hudgins Scholarship, $500; Thomas W. and Lolita Gayle Memorial Scholarship, totaling $14,000.

Kelly Britt—University of Lynchburg scholarship, $21,000 renewable for four years, totaling $84,000.

Cole Wheeler—MHS Class of 1965 Scholarship, $1,000; John H. and Annie C. Miles Scholarship, totaling $5,200; Lions Club Scholarship, $1,000; Gloucester-Mathews Farm Bureau Scholarship, $1,000; Four Liberty University scholarships (Liberty Academic Scholarship, $3,500; Middle America Scholarship, $5,495; Liberty Virginia High Achievers, $800; Liberty Champion Award, $1,000).

Daniel Moughon—Lynne R. Rowe Memorial Scholarship, $200.

Desiree Dixon—Mary Virginia Green Scholarship, $750; Servetus Scholarship (given by Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Rappahannock), $4,000; John E. Brown Scholarship, $500; Kingston Parish Scholarship, $1,000; Mathews Memorial Library Scholarship, $1,000; Class of 1967 Scholarship, $500.

Dylan White—Bernice White Memorial Scholarship, $800; Harry M. and Margaret H. Ward Memorial Scholarship, $750; Kingston Parish Scholarship, $1,000; Richard Sadler Memorial Scholarship (through Mathews Insurance Agency), $500; Central Village Homemakers Scholarship, $500; Piankatank Ruritan Club Scholarship, $1,000.

Carson Brown—Honors Program at Christopher Newport University, up to $40,000, payable up to $10,000 a year for four years; Canon Virginia Leadership Scholarship, totaling $20,000.

Grayson Camp—Captain Orrell Memorial Scholarship, $1,000; Nellie Mae Callis Memorial Scholarship, $1,000; Ruth Smit Memorial Scholarship (given by Cricket Hill Chapter of NASDAR), $500; Thomas W. and Lolita Gayle Scholarship, totaling $14,000; Mathews Rotary Scholarship, $1,500.

Joice Small—Bill Hudgins Scholarship, $500; C. Aubrey White Memorial Scholarship, $800; C. Aubrey White Memorial Scholarship, $800; Georgienne B. Laws Memorial Scholarship, $750; Moss-Henderson Scholarship, $750; Gazette-Journal Scholarship, $500; Lauren Owens Scholarship (given by Mathews Insurance Agency), $500; Gloucester-Mathews Farm Bureau Scholarship, $1,000; St. Paul United Methodist Church Scholarship, $1,000; Piankatank Ruritan Scholarship, $1,500; Harvard Alumnus Award, $1,500.

Meghan Pruitt—EFI General Endowed Scholarship (given through RCC), $500.

Henry Hospodar—Appointed to U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, equivalent to a scholarship worth approximately $290,000 over the four-year period.

Savannah Smith—Captain Sally Tompkins Scholarship (given by UDC chapter), $1,000; J. Martin Diggs Memorial Scholarship, $750; Clarence Minter Scholarship, $500; Elizabeth H. Hudgins Memorial Scholarship (given by American Legion), $500; Kingston Parish Scholarship, $2,000; H. Marston Smith Memorial Scholarship (through RCC), $1,000; Central Village Homemakers Scholarship, $500; Lions Club Scholarship, $1,000; PEO Chapter CA Scholarship, $500.

Tatianna Braxton—Mathews Woman’s Club Scholarship, $1,000; Virginia Owens Memorial Scholarship, $1,000; Judy Ward Memorial Scholarship, $2,000; Betty and Jim Kenley Citizen Voting Award Scholarship, $1,000; Emmaus Baptist Church Scholarship, $500.

Torrance Roberts—Kingston Parish Scholarship, $1,000; Lazarus Award, $500; PEO Chapter BT Suzy Jones Scholarship, $500; Mathews Chapter of the Continental Society Scholarship, $1,000; and two RCC scholarships: the William F. and Catharine K. Owens Foundation Scholarship, $750, and the Arlene Cannon Memorial Scholarship, $500.

Zoe Goodwin—James R. Lewis Memorial Scholarship, $250; Lazarus Award, $500.