PHOTOS ATTACHED: 'Once a Bobcat, always a Bobcat'

NORTH PORT — The North Port High School seniors celebrated their graduation Thursday with a stadium packed full of family, friends, and well-wishers.

While many students were eager to seek out the next chapter of their lives, student speaker Victoria Serrano reminded them all that NPHS would always be the place that connects them.

“Once a Bobcat, always a Bobcat,” she remarked in her speech.

Serrano noted some of the challenges that the Class of 2024 had overcome in the past four years. Their freshman year started in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as Florida began to open up; halfway through their tenure, the area was hit by Hurricane Ian.

Despite the challenges, however, Serrano said she and her classmates had come through hopeful and determined to make a mark in the world.

She credited parents and guardians of the student body for providing the foundation of that drive to succeed, particularly singling out her own mother for the example she set.

“Thank you, Mom. You are my guide post for everything,” Serrano said.

The more than 600 members of the NPHS graduating class assembled in the campus’ football stadium Thursday to receive their diplomas and mark their passage into the world beyond high school.

Family and friends in the packed stands around them could not help but cheer loudly as each name was read out from the graduating class, despite a warning from Student Government Association president Taylor Stice.

“We all deserve to be recognized without interruption,” she noted in her opening remarks.

NPHS Principal Shannon Fusco also addressed the graduating class to congratulate them and wish them well in their future endeavors.

“You still have much room to grow, and you will,” she said in her speech.

Fusco cited the movie “Akeelah and the Bee,” about a young girl’s efforts to compete in her school’s spelling bee, to urge the graduates to both respect their peers and harness their individual talents.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure,” she quoted from the movie, which in turn quoted from author and former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson.

After her speech, Fusco asked each student to stand up and be recognized for the various paths they planned to take after graduation.

Most of the class stood up to indicate that they would be going onto college; others were recognized for entering the military or the workforce, staying home to take care of family, traveling, or joining a technical skills school.

Outgoing senior Carlito Fain said that he is looking forward to attending technical school and getting his certification.

“I’m glad I’m finally here,” he said before the ceremony.

His classmate and relative, Darius Fain, reflected on what he felt was the most important lesson his time at NPHS had provided.

“Concentration is key .… never lose focus on anything you love,” he remarked.

Other key guests at the NPHS graduation ceremony included all five members of the Sarasota County Public Schools board, Superintendent Terry Connor, and Assistant Superintendent Rachael O’Dea.