For a Class of 2016 which has achieved so much, they might simply be remembered for their sheer size.

One hundred and thirty-three seniors graduated from Southern Boone this year – a record that might not stand for more than a few years – and the crowd at the high school on graduation day was bigger than ever.

“I think we handled such a large crowd pretty well,” said Principal Dale Van Deven. “We had about 70 people in the high school auditorium where they had audio and video and that went well.”

Van Deven noted that the auditorium experiment had been tried in the past and failed – but it will become a fixture at future graduations.

Another change was that this year the annual slide show – pictures of graduates as young children – began shortly after the doors opened – and the crowd responded favorably.

~ Find out more in today’s Journal ~