John Coffelt, Editor

Approximately 334 seniors assembled for the last time on Carden Jarrell Field Friday, May 23 for the Coffee County Central High School Commencement Exercises for the Class of 2025.

“Tonight is the last night we will all be together,” Senior Class President Rylee Clark said during her address, “We have experienced this all (the memories we’ve made) together. I am grateful for all of you.” 

“I am the student, athlete and overall person I am (because of my parents). Y’all have always pushed me and told me to be the best.”

Clark closed her address with the admonition to “be kind to everyone regardless of the circumstances. Be the light, you never know how much someone might need it.”

 Student Body President Mallory Rogers thanked the parents and teachers for their tireless effort to get the graduating class to this day.

“You didn’t just raise a child, you sponsored one,” Rogers said. “Thank you for never giving up on us even when we gave up on our alarms, our homework or our entire will to finish this last semester.”

Salutatorian Liam Brown congratulated his fellow graduates for their “major accomplishment.”

“Tonight is an important night for all of us,” Brown said. “We are moving on from our time in high school to a new section in our life. No matter where we go or what we do, remember that our success is not by the amount of talent, but the amount of effort we put in.”

“We are here because we were dedicated, we put in the effort and we didn’t give up,” he said.

Valedictorian Elsie Lazalier embraced the phrase “I don’t know” during her address.

“It may seem I have everything perfectly planned in my life,” she said. “But this is far from the truth. And this is okay.”

“We each need to stay open to the endless possibilities around us. You might think you may know what you want to do, but we are all just teenagers. Our brains are literally not fully developed yet.”

“Don’t feel bad if your answer is I don’t know,” Lazalier said. “Your path of I don’t knows have led you to what you do now. Do what you love to do and don’t let not knowing keep you from figuring it out.”

Principal Paul Parsley told the seniors that the diplomas they were bestowed with Friday night represents a 13-year educational journey.   

“Your graduation signifies a completion,” Parsley said. “The completion of one remarkable chapter of your lives. But just as importantly, this commencement marks a new beginning that gives hope for what you can become.”      

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.