CCHS holds commencement ceremony today

This morning, about 257 Culpeper County High School seniors will receive diplomas for their years of hard work at school.

The graduation ceremony is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at Broman Field.

Culpeper County Public Schools expects about 2,000 family members and friends at the event.

The Culpeper County Academic Boosters Club recently recognized some CCHS seniors for their academic achievements based on GPA percentages.

They received their scholarships during Thursday’s convocation ceremony at 6:30 in the school’s auditorium.

Historically, the Star-Exponent has spotlighted the valedictorian, salutatorian and honor grads preceding graduation. However, the Culpeper County Public School system decided last year to change the way it determines its top graduates. This year, the division chose to announce the top five percent at each school.

The Star-Exponent began featuring the top 1 percent (two students from each high school) on Friday with Eastern View seniors and CCHS seniors in today’s paper.

Michael Ly

Michael Ly, 17, has plans to take classes at Germanna Community College for the next two years before heading off to George Mason University.

He received a $500 scholarship from the Academic Boosters Club on Thursday during convocation.

The 2008-09 CCHS senior class president wants to study accounting and finance. In high school, Ly was a member of the National Honor Society and treasurer of the Future Business Leaders of American during his senior year.

During the 2009 recognition of excellence ceremony last month, Ly won two academic awards: One for social studies and the other for biology.

He says he going to miss the class of 2009.

“I’m happy and sad at the same time,” Ly said. “It’s bittersweet.”

Connor Toth

This fall, Conner, 18, will head to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg to study architecture.

After college, he says, he wants to land a job with a big firm. Conner said he would like to focus on mainly residential and commercial structures.

He received a $500 scholarship from the Academic Boosters Club during Thursday’s convocation.

In high school, Conner served as class vice president and as a member of the National Honor Society during his junior and senior years. He said he’ll miss all of his friends as he transitions into college.

“I’ve made a lot of great friends over the years and it will be really difficult to leave my friends,” he said.

Not to fret. Conner has a lot to look forward to at Tech.

“There will be a larger amount of freedom and you get to do more of what you want and when you want,” he said.

CCHS’s Top 2%:

Michael Ly
Conner Toth
Jacob Aber
Daniel Eustace
Anh Nguyen