Spring Creek High School concluded its commencement ceremony for the Class of 2025 when the principal pronounced the assembled students graduates, saying they had fulfilled requirements set by the North Carolina State Board of Education and the Wayne County Public Schools Board of Education.

The announcement formalized the conferral of diplomas after school and district officials, students and families gathered for speeches and the reading of graduates' names. Valeria Andres Castaneda, senior class president, told classmates, “The diploma we're being presented today is not something that was handed to us. It is something that has been earned.”

Why it matters: The principal's declaration is the official school confirmation that students have met state and district requirements for graduation. The ceremony also served as a community milestone for students, families and staff and included student reflections, the reading of individual graduates' names and a senior gift for the campus.

At the ceremony, a student speaker said the senior class was leaving picnic tables as a gift for future classes, describing the tables as places for outdoor class time and gatherings. Mariana Torres, student body president, urged classmates to retain empathy and memory of their school years, saying, “Keep that little kid inside of you alive.”

Bill Joiner, identified at the ceremony as a school board member for District 4, and Dr. Richard, identified as superintendent for Wayne County Public Schools, were introduced as special guests. The principal — identified in the program as the school’s principal but not named in the transcript — read the formal language confirming graduation, saying, in part, “By the power vested in me by the state of North Carolina and the Wayne County Public Schools Board of Education, I hereby confirm and pronounce you graduates of Spring Creek High School.”

The ceremony included the reading aloud of the graduates' names. The full list of names was read on stage; the total number of graduates was not specified in the transcript. The event concluded with final remarks thanking guests, staff and families and a request for the audience to stand as graduates and guests exited.

No formal board action or vote was recorded during the ceremony; the principal's pronouncement is a ceremonial confirmation tied to district and state graduation rules.