By Richard Carrier, Contributing Writer
richwrites@netzero.net

The 23 members of the Blessed Sacrament Huguenot senior class received their diplomas, accepted their honors and switched their tassels to the graduate side in a light-hearted and optimistic ceremony at Saint Edwards Catholic Church on Sunday evening.

Honor Graduate and Salutatorian Jordan Hall reminded her classmates that the Class of 2009 had been “a problematic class” of independent thinkers. “Our independence separated our class from all others,” said the recipient of over $125,000 in scholarships to the University of Michigan.

“We are not followers,” she said and advised her classmates to “have fun, but remember education and the opportunities available through both college and careers.”

The invited speaker for the evening also brought a note of serendipity to the ceremony. Dr. John E. Talmadge, Director of the Summit Charter School in Cashiers, North Carolina was far better known by the students, faculty and parents as Jack Talmadge, Principal of Blessed Sacrament Huguenot Academy, a position he held until this year. Dr. Talmadge paraphrased Spencer Johnson’s Who Moved My Cheese to point out to the graduates “If you don’t change you become extinct, old beliefs do not necessarily bring success, stop being afraid and you will feel good, dream but hang on tight, new rewards are found when you move in a new direction, the quicker you let go of old ideas the quicker you find new ones, pay attention and notice small changes early and finally, change is inevitable.”

Dr. Talmadge’s remarks were enthusiastically received.

Class of 2009 Valedictorian Joseph Pfab called for a Blessed Sacrament Huguenot Academy Hall of Fame to remind the graduates and the underclassmen that even though this was only the ninth graduating class since the merger between Blessed Sacrament and Huguenot Academy, the tiny school on Academy Road had already produced giants. Pfab named nine post-merger graduates who had earned their place in his Hall of Fame. Their achievements in both education and careers should “make us aware that we have the same opportunities to excel,” he said. “BSH is forever,” Pfab concluded.

The 23 graduating seniors, all of whom were accepted to institutions of higher learning, gathered more than one million dollars in scholarships. Hall was tabbed for the Powhatan Women’s Club Scholarship as the class Salutatorian as was Pfab for earning Valedictorian status.

The J.S. Caldwell Scholarship went to Nathan Smith and the Masonic Lodge Scholarship to Alex Winfree. Chelsea Rudd won the Knights Service Award, Russ Leboff the William Lewis Lacey Scholarship and Robert Boys the Community Foundation Scholarship. The Faculty Award, sponsored by the Powhatan Women’s Club, was awarded to Class President Roby Myers. The Presidents Award, sponsored by the Powhatan Women’s Club but selected by President James A. Fortune went to his “quiet leader” Seth Baldwin.

Boys, Hall, Leboff, Myers, Pfab, and Winfree were joined on the Honor Graduate list by Sean Rogers.

Jordan Ashman, Curtis Bailey, Neal Bass, Erin Kerr, Tracy Leo, Samantha Lewis, Shane Mullins, Glen Newlin, Christian Sill, Alexander Spitz, Kendall Trainum, Cassady Whitehead and Thomas Young completed the distinguished class of 2009.

Rising seniors Ashley Chaney, Katelyn Leboff, Allison Lanshe, Olivia Bowles and Lauren Birriel were tapped for the Jefferson Book Award, William and Mary Leadership Award, Randolph Macon College’s Academic Leadership Award, Richmond Alumni Scholarship and the Joan Farell Scholarship, respectively.