Cape Central Senior High School presented diplomas to the Class of 2025 in a commencement ceremony that included a campus safety briefing, remarks from a faculty commencement speaker, and student addresses by the salutatorian and valedictorian.

The ceremony opened with an event staff member reviewing severe-weather safety procedures and evacuation routes, including moving graduates into a small gym and directing guests in the bleachers to the basement if conditions worsened. After introductions of faculty and staff onstage, Coach Lamont Frazier, the class’s faculty commencement speaker and a Cape Central physical education teacher, delivered the principal address to graduates about persistence, character and showing up.

Why it matters: Commencements formally mark completion of required coursework and are the district’s public acknowledgment that students meet state and local requirements for graduation. The superintendent affirmed those requirements during the ceremony, and the program included formal recognitions that families and the school community treat as the official close of the students’ K–12 careers.

Coach Lamont Frazier urged graduates to adopt steady habits and personal responsibility. "Your goals don't care about how you feel. Your dreams don't care if you're tired," Frazier said, adding that showing up and being on time are forms of respect and responsibility. He illustrated his message with personal memories and admonitions to "carry yourself with character" and to treat setbacks as opportunities to learn.

Emily Floyd, the class salutatorian, and Royce Liu, the class valedictorian, each addressed the audience. Floyd spoke about community and gratitude, thanking teachers and family and noting the variety of paths graduates might take. Liu emphasized persistence and consistent effort: "Putting in consistent work each day will compound and carry you farther than you can imagine," he said, describing his family’s immigrant experience and urging classmates to view setbacks as chances to learn.

Principal Nancy Scheller recognized faculty, staff and parents and led acknowledgments for departmental advice and student honors. Superintendent Howard Binion presented the class to the Board of Education and stated, "We affirm that each student has successfully completed the course of study required by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, as well as the school district of Cape Girardeau." Binion then introduced members of the Cape Girardeau Board of Education by name.

The program included a moment of remembrance for a missing member of the senior class, Jude Klass. Principal Scheller asked the audience to observe a moment of silence and noted that a designated commemorative chair had been placed in the graduates’ row.

The ceremony also included formal academic recognitions: faculty invited graduating students who ranked in the top 10 percent, members of honor societies, vocational honor society inductees, and other award and designation recipients to stand for recognition. A long roll call of graduates followed as diplomas were presented.

Details and context: An event staff member told attendees how attendees would be routed in a severe-weather pause: certain numbered sections would move west toward the stage and down stairs while other sections would move east and down to the basement; guests unable to use stairs would be directed along a hallway or to lobby restrooms. The superintendent’s presentation explicitly referenced the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as the certifying authority for the district’s course-of-study requirements.

The ceremony named the faculty stage guests and multiple department chairs, and it listed Board of Education members present. The program concluded with diplomas awarded to students in alphabetical order.

Looking ahead: The district’s formal presentation of diplomas closes students’ required coursework; graduates and families are expected to gather after the ceremony for private celebrations and photographs.