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“It’s really nostalgic being able to come back to Annette Perry and see all my old teachers,” said Audra Slater, a Lake Ridge High School senior. “It’s so crazy just seeing all these kids supporting you not even knowing who you are but they still look up to you as if you’re their big sister or big brother.”
The teachers enjoy seeing their old students just as much as the graduates.
“There’s a couple emotions that you get,” said Kevin Dodge, a fourth grade teacher at D.P. Morris. “First you’re really jarred by how old they are which in turn makes you feel really old and you start contemplating how much longer you have left on this Earth. Then you think, but that’s okay because I was able to make an impact.”
When the students meet with their former teachers they often reminisce on memories from their time in elementary school.
“You get all these great memories back from when you were young,” said Lake Ridge High School senior, Omar Quinones. “Walking through the hallways, the school is so much smaller than it usually was because when you were a little kid you thought the school was humongous.”
The seniors also share what their plans for the future are.
“My heart fills just with pride to hear what their choices are and the decisions they’re making,” said Sondra Thomas, the principal of Annette Perry from 2009-2014. “I can’t wait to hear in five years what they’ve accomplished.”
The seniors wear their cap and gowns to show the current elementary students that they, too, will graduate one day.
“One day when I grow up I want to be just like one of those high schoolers,” said D.P. Morris fourth grader, Liliana Garcia.