Owen High School commemorates Class of 2024
Packed Warhorse Stadium cheers on 147 graduates
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
June 15, 2024
The cheers from the packed stands in Warhorse Stadium were plentiful, June 15, as 147 seniors embarked on a final walk at Owen High School.
The morning ceremony marked an emotional moment for the Class of 2024 and the hundreds of families, friends, faculty and supporters who celebrated the occasion.
“Pomp and Circumstance Marches” began playing on the public address system at 8:45 a.m., as Buncombe County Schools Superintendent Dr. Rob Jackson led Owen administration and faculty to a stage erected at the 50 yard line. Junior marshals guided the graduates to their seats. Owen JROTC Color Guard presented the flags while the chamber ensemble performed the national anthem, followed by the alma mater.
Student speaker Gillian Molina-Smith, who introduced herself as the daughter of an immigrant mother, reflected on the opportunities afforded to herself and her classmates.
“I want to emphasize the privilege we have to be young people in this beautiful country,” Molina-Smith said. “As an American citizen, I want to remind everyone of the freedoms we enjoy in this country and of the sacrifices of those who fought to guarantee them.”
The honors graduate, who was member of Future Farmers of America, student government, National Honors Society and staff editor of the Owen yearbook, encouraged her peers to engage fully richly and deeply in the living of their dreams.
“I want you all to understand the control you have over your own life and I want you to have the drive to take every opportunity you can,” Molina-Smith said. “I believe the worst thing you can do as a young person is pass up an opportunity. No matter what, by taking an opportunity you learn something. Starting tomorrow, resolve to go out and learn.”
Seniors Lilly Lewis and Ava Banzhoff followed the student speaker by performing a song written for the ceremony by Lewis. Wilson Davis and Abraha McTeague-Pospishil introduced keynote speaker Dr. Coleman Bailey.
The Owen Middle School assistant principal held the same position at Owen High School from 2020 to 2022. Bailey credited his former student for making his experience as an educator feel like a gift.
“You chose to let this crowd on stage and the crowd sitting before me to be your educators, and that’s a responsibility we don’t take lightly,” he said.
Bailey, an educator for 32 years, asked the graduating class to take in the moment.
“This valley has your back,” he said. “This is one of the most well-attended graduations I’ve seen in my entire career.”
The speaker recalled his experience, two years prior, when he worked with the class to establish the Owen Link Crew, in which student leaders assist incoming freshmen with their transition to high school.
“You were a sophomore class whose eighth grade year didn’t exist, because for all practical purposes we were going through the worst pandemics any of your parents, and many grandparents could remember,” Bailey said. “Your ninth grade year practically didn’t exist. I came to you at the end of your sophomore year, knowing you didn’t have a freshman year, wanting to bring this program to the school, I asked for mentors.”
The inaugural Link program only included room for 25 mentors, he continued.
“Over 100 people in this class signed up to lead a freshman class through an experience they never had,” Bailey said. “That went a long way with me.”
First-year Owen principal Dawn Rookey told the graduating class the path ahead was a “great adventure,” but the community would continue to be a refuge.
“Our valley is and will always be your home,” she said.
Photos of the Owen High School Class of 2024 graduation can be viewed in the gallery at the top of the page.