With just a few quick steps, a couple of handshakes and countless hugs, high school seniors across Hamilton County snagged their diplomas Saturday and now can officially call themselves graduates.
For about 12 hours, several Chattanooga area locations were overflowing with proud parents and beaming graduates.
Fathers cradled bouquets of flowers as mothers dabbed at tears, watching their children walk across a stage and into a new chapter of their lives.
“It’s very memorable,” said Dwanna Kimbrough after seeing her daughter, Lya, graduate from the Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences. “It was just a blessing.”
The CSAS ceremony was one of five held at the Tivoli Theatre, where families and graduates gathered under the building’s ornate ceilings to commemorate a milestone.