Supt. Michael Faulk to Address Graduates

More than 260 seniors will receive their diplomas Tuesday, May 20 during Central High’s 101st graduation ceremony.  It is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at Bethany Church in Baker.  Supt. Mike Faulk will address the graduates.

It is Central’s second largest graduating class since the creation of the Central Community School System in 2007 and one of the best, according to Central High principal David Prescott, who is completing his first year as principal.

The valedictorian is Claire Holmes, who earned a 4.67 average, and the salutatorian is Andrew Craydon. They head a list of 76 Honor graduates. Baccalaureate services will held at 5 p.m on Sunday, May 18 at the Central High Auditorium.

Prescott said, “We’re very pleased with this group of young people.  They have raised the ACT scores, and many classes are seeing 100 percent passing rates on End-of-Course testing, but more importantly, this is a great group of students.  It’s the best I’ve ever seen. They are very respectful and have a lot of character.  They are a real tribute to their parents and how they were raised. The top tier of our students is truly amazing. They are very driven.  They will go far,” he said.

Guidance counselor Scott Worsham said 143 seniors earned TOPS scholarships with a value of more than $2.3 million.

In addition, six students reported other scholarships totaling $418,000.  The school does not survey students on the scholarships received.  Worsham noted that a large number of seniors also received athletic scholarships.

The 76 seniors who are graduating with Honors include:

• 37 students who are graduating cum laude with a grade point average of 3.5-3.85

• Three students who are graduating magna cum laude with an average of 3.85-3.95

• 36 students who have earned the title of summa cum laude with an average of 3.95 or higher

Prescott said that, overall, both the junior class and the senior class have increased the school’s ACT scores, which were already among the highest in the state.

Supt. Mike Faulk said this year’s graduating seniors are the first to have begun their high school career at the 9th Grade Academy.  He said this is also the first class where all members of the class took the ACT test in their junior year.

He said, “Every class is unique in its own way, but this is a very outstanding group.  Because some students took the ACT test in their junior year who normally would not have done so, it spurred them to study harder in their senior year.  This means a lot to our overall success in winning TOPS scholarships.”

Faulk cited progress in End-of-Year testing in math, English language arts, and social studies.

He said, “The seniors did well in Advanced Placement testing, which will provide them with a great advantage by earning college credit while still in high school.”

Prescott said this year’s seniors are a studious group.  A total of 221 are Core 4 graduates, who focused on college preparatory courses.

Prescott commented on the social skills of Central students.  “This is a very friendly group of young people and very accepting

of others.  You can see that in how they treat the community-based kids and how they treat substitute teachers.”

He said Central had six foreign exchange students this year from five countries — Brazil, South Korea, China, Finland, and Sweden.  He said having them was a good experience for all concerned. They were all sophomores and juniors.

When asked about the violence in many schools in East Baton Rouge Parish, Prescott said, “Well, that’s not the case here.  We don’t have those kinds of issues.”

“I’ve never heard of any violence here.  We don’t have students confronting or threatening a teacher. That wouldn’t be tolerated.  We’ve had a few fights but certainly nothing ever directed at a teacher.  In all my years, I can remember two cases where a student touched a teacher but those did not involve any violence.  If that happened, they would be taken away.”

At Central High, teachers teach and students learn, and violence and disciplinary problems are not part of the equation, he said.

“We have a mix of backgrounds in our student body, but they get along well together,” he said.

Central High has 1,246 students enrolled with 128 staff members, including 82 teachers and the remainder paraprofessionals and clerical and cafeteria workers.

It was another great year for Central High School football.  The Wildcats ended the season with an 11-2 record.  They were undefeated in District 4-5A play, ending the season 6-0.

Central was the District Champion, Bi-District Champion, and Regional Champion.

Along the way, Central earned one of its all-time greatest victories by beating long-time football powerhouse West Monroe 14-0 in the regional playoffs.

In the Quarterfinals, the Wildcats had a legitimate chance to win the game against Covington in the final minute of play.  Down 20-14, Central marched to the Covington 20 yard line but an interception ended the chance to get to the semi-finals.

Before the creation of the Central Community School System in 2007, students were transported to Central High from all parts of the parish.  At one point, the school had more than 1,500 students but half were from outside Central.

Since the creation of the Central school system in 2007, the largest group of graduating seniors was the Class of 2013, which included more than 290 graduates.

Prescott recalled that he served as Assistant Principal for discipline for several years before becoming principal last summer.  He said being principal allows him to see a different side of the students and the school as a whole.

He praised the seniors as a pleasure to work with.

Prescott said one of the high points of the 2013-2014 was watching the Central High student body react to little 11-year-old Trevor Sims’ battle with a rare cancer.  Despite his own pain and suffering, Trevor wanted to help feed hungry kids.  The Central High student body, led by Student Council president Ashton Kennedy, raised over $16,000, which provided 83,000 meals for the hungry.  “What they did for Trevor was really heart-warming,” Prescott said.