This school year was a celebration for Fox Creek High School, as it closed the chapter on a decade of school history.
The theme for this year was "Making H15tory." The Class of 2015 accomplished that - earning $1,366,416 in college scholarships and grants, earning an excellent rating on the school report card, the boys basketball team advancing to the first state championship in school history and winning the first region football championship in school history.
On Thursday night at Aiken Technical College, 98 students were awarded the rights and privileges that come with being Fox Creek graduates.
"Many valedictorians will urge their classmates to go out and change the world," Morgan Bookstaver, Fox Creek's valedictorian, said in her speech to her classmates. "I'm not going to suggest you do that. I'm going to suggest that you change your world. ... Decide that you're going to spend the rest of your life becoming a better you."
Bookstaver urged her classmates to not stand still at any point in their lives, and to continuing learning no matter where their paths take them.
"Remember that even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there," she said. "Be accepting and willing to learn from others. Minds are like parachutes - they only function when they're open."
She also told them that the paths they plan to take will come with their own hardships.
"Know that life is going to be hard," she said. "Life is going to be challenging, and it will require a lot of work. We will fail far more times than we succeed. Remember, the only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. We're going to fall down. The world doesn't care how many times we fall down as long as it's one fewer than the number of times we get up."
The salutatorian, Caroline Yano, took time to thank the many individuals who shaped this year's class.
"We wouldn't be sitting here today if not for the amazing teachers, staff, parents and friends we have met through our time at Fox Creek High School," she said. "The theme for this year was making history, and now that the year is over, we can proudly say that we have, in fact, made history. ... To us, the memories we made at Fox Creek will be what we remember years from now. I will always cherish my memories at Fox Creek, as I'm sure we all will. No matter where we go, or what we end up doing after graduation, we will remember our time at Fox Creek. We set out this year to accomplish our theme of accomplishing history, and we did. From academics to athletics, we have made Fox Creek history and earned recognition from all over the area."
Scott Rodgers is the news editor at The North Augusta Star and has been with the paper since 2013.