(Editor’s note - This is an excerpt from Wando High School Principal Lucy Bekcham’s speech to the Class of 2009 graduating class last Friday).

Tonight you will notice that many of these seniors are wearing cords. Some of the cords represent recognition from the various honor societies.
You should also note that more than 300 cords are being worn in recognition of having completed a major - four elective courses in one area of concentration. Some students have completed more than one major.
Some students did not complete a major but took courses in several areas which help them narrow the search for their future career.
Tonight we have the following breakdown of majors completed this year by the Class of 2009:
•Arts and Humanities - 152
•Business and Information Systems - 28
•Heath, Human, and Public Services - 52
•Math, Science, and Engineering - 59
•Our AP major - 4 or more AP courses - 53.
Now, I would like to take a moment to speak personally to these fine young people who are candidates for graduation. The Class of 2009 is a very special one to me. You embraced change, worked with us, and helped us make your school better. Your work in raising more than $20,000 for Cliff’s Cause to support cancer research and pediatric oncology at MUSC in honor of the son of one of our teachers. Kirk Beiike, is amazing. Your class stands out as one which truly cares about others and which is willing to help whenever asked. You have supported one another and your teachers who have faced health issues and personal challenges. You took classes well beyond the minimum required to get a high school diploma. You moved from the old view that finishing high school was the goal to our new reality that you need to take everything you can in high school to be better prepared to succeed at the next level. Now 63 percent of you are heading to 4-year colleges, 29 percent to 2-year colleges and 2 percent are joining the military.
You have excelled academically, athletically and in all areas of Wando life. You have filled the halls of Wando with your energy and vitality. You have supported one another through tough times. You have focused on all that is good and worked to make Wando better.
In your four years at Wando you have compiled an incredible list of achievements:
•State marching band champions for 4th year in a row with more all-state musicians than any other high school;
•Best student newspaper in South Carolina for the 9 consecutive years and best student newspaper in the southeast;
•AFJROTC unit has earned an outstanding rating all four years which is the top award from the Air Force;
•The musical, 42nd Street, is one I will never forget;
•Our choral program ranked 3rd in All-State placement;
•Our art and orchestra students also won state and regional awards;
•Lacrosse - one of the top club programs in the state;
•And the list could go on and on.
•Athletically, this year's results are equally impressive:
•We just learned last week that we won the state's top award - Wando ranks 1st in the state among the 48 AAAA high schools for the overall success of the athletic program based on our 19 varsity teams and their results in the playoffs.
•State championship in varsity girls tennis for fifth straight year.
•State champion in boys track, Lower state champion in volleyball, girls soccer, and baseball.
•14 region championships in boys and girls swimming, volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls golf, boys and girls track, boys and girls soccer, baseball and boys and girls tennis.
•Sixty-one student athletes recognized as All-Region players.
•Forty-six seniors recognized as Scholar Athletes by the High School League.
As you leave tonight, some of you have definite plans for the future. However, there are a fair number who are really not sure what you are going to next. You are just not sure what is ahead for you. I want you to know that I know that you are ready for whatever comes.
I want to conclude by reading you a letter which I received several weeks ago from a man whom I have never met. He is a Wando grad. Class of 1977. After I received the letter, he followed up with a phone call. He told me that he moved to Mount Pleasant from New York during his 9th grade year. He said that the adjustment was tough. Life was slower in the South and the focus on academics was new to him. When he finished high school, he did not have the money to go to college. Here is his letter which has some wonderful words of wisdom for our seniors:

Ms. Beckham,
I am a former student from Wando High School and decided to e-mail my thanks for the great education the school provided me. I attended Wando from January 1974 until 1977, and upon graduation joined the U. S. Army. As a result of my education, I was able to select any career field I wanted. I chose finance and accounting. However, after a few years in finance and accounting, I was selected to become a counterintelligence special agent, where I conducted counterintelligence investigations, and counter espionage operations for the U.S. Army. I retired from the Army having been a special agent, polygraph examiner, and computer forensics investigator.
Currently, I am deputy chief security officer for the Executive Office of the President, in Washington, DC. Why am I -writing...just to say thanks to the school for the education it gave me. I was an average student, and probably had a few behavior problems. I think that it's important that students know that it is not where you came from, but where you go that is important. As I said, I do not think I was the best student, but there were many teachers at Wando who took the time to encourage me to be the best. For that I am grateful.
Please let your students know that with a little luck, hard work, and a blessing or two working at the White House can happen.
Best regards,
Stacey E. Williams
Deputy Chief Security Officer Executive Office of the President

God bless you!!!