Hampton City Council Ceremonial Session Recognizing 2025 Valedictorians and Salutatorians - May 28, 2025
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Hampton City Council Ceremonial Session Recognizing 2025 Valedictorians and Salutatorians
The Hampton City Council held a ceremonial session on May 28, 2025, at 6:00 PM in Council Chambers to recognize the valedictorians and salutatorians from Hampton City Schools' four high schools. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jimmy Gray, with all seven council members present, and adjourned at 6:25 PM. The recognition was led by Brian Marchese, Outreach and Creative Coordinator, who presented a video highlighting the students' accomplishments and introduced each school's delegation.
Recognition of Valedictorians and Salutatorians
- Phoebus High School: Executive Principal David Coccoli, Academy Principals Lindsay Jackson and Reginald Crawford. Recognized students: Robert Staton III (Valedictorian), Dante James (Co-Salutatorian), and Owen Smith (Co-Salutatorian). The students departed early to attend a 7:00 PM regional soccer playoff game.
- Bethel High School: Executive Principal Dr. Tanya Howard, Academy Principals Shermaine Pase-Poole and Travis Oliver. Recognized students: Isabella Mendez (Valedictorian) and Jamya Ribbon (Salutatorian). Note: The meeting minutes indicate Jamya Ribbon was recognized, but the transcript states she was unable to attend the ceremony.
- Hampton High School: Executive Principal Haneef Majied, Academy Principals Alexandra Snyder, Jerrelle Griffin, Damien Collins, and Ronnie Ratliff. Recognized students: Nirmani Brahmbhatt (Co-Valedictorian), Nishtha Brahmbhatt (Co-Valedictorian), and Noemi Flores (Salutatorian).
- Kecoughtan High School: Executive Principal Dr. Dwayne Lucas, Academy Principals Sharon Graham, Kimberly Riggs-Poole, and Vincent Bryant. Recognized students: Lucy Brady (Valedictorian) and Williard Davenport (Salutatorian).
Each student was introduced via a video snippet and given the opportunity to share their reflections. Many credited their families, teachers, faith, and the opportunities provided by Hampton City Schools (including the academy system, mental health programs, and extracurriculars) for their success.
Key Outcomes
- Recognition: All valedictorians and salutatorians were formally recognized by the City Council, presented with awards, and celebrated by attendees.
- Encouragement: Mayor Gray and Brian Marchese encouraged the students to return to Hampton after their education and careers to contribute to the city, noting opportunities for future leadership roles.
- Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 6:25 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening and uh welcome to the uh Hampton City Council Spotlight session. This is our spot special session where we recognize people who are doing or have done uh important things in our community, and we have some very special people that we're gonna recognize this evening from Hampton City Schools. Uh so with that, I'm gonna ask the clerk to get us started by calling the rope. Councilman Bowman, present, Vice Mayor Brown. Councilwoman Campbell, present, Councilwoman Faraby, present, Councilwoman Harper, present, Councilwoman Muggler, present and Mayor Gray. Present. So uh tonight I'm pleased to welcome you as we congratulate this year's valedictorians and salutatoriums from out from our high schools. Uh but before I start, I want to recognize some important people from Hampton City Schools who've joined us this evening. Um we have uh chairman of the school board, Dr. Richard Mason. And uh we also have our superintendent of schools, Dr. Raymond Haynes. We have uh deputy superintendent and chief of staff, Dr. John Cagliano, and uh Chief Academic Officer. I see um Mr. James Harris out there, uh not here yet, okay, and then uh Ms. Shamika Pollard, and then we have uh principals from our schools. We have uh Dr. Tanya Howard from Bethel, Bethel High School, uh Dr. Dwayne Lucas, Kikatan High School, and Mr. David Cockley from Phoebus High School, Copkin. And uh I can't see whether uh Mr. Dr. Majeed is here. Oh, he's back there. Yeah, Mr. Haneef Majid. Good afternoon. Thank you for being here this evening. And so with that, I am gonna turn over to uh outreach and creative coordinator, Mr. Brian Marcese, and he will take it from here. So, Brian. Good evening, Mayor. Thank you. Members of council, City Manager Bunting, uh, City Attorney Sidnore, and honored guests here tonight. The spotlights we do in May are some of the most joyful and inspiring ones we hold each year because we get to see right in front of us um Hampton's future on full display. Two weeks ago, uh we looked at our dual enrollment grads, um, and tonight we celebrate some of Hampton's uh most outstanding young scholars, Hampton's 2025 Valedictorians and Salutatorians. And while every student has their own strengths and story, these students have distinguished themselves through their academic accomplishments, a reflection of the dedication, talent, and potential we see across all of Hampton City schools. But they didn't get here alone, so let's take a moment to acknowledge the people who have helped them shine. Their teachers, their mentors, principals, school staff, friends, and most especially their families. Your support and your sacrifices and your belief in these students have made all the difference. Before we get to the awards, I do want to take care of a little bit of housekeeping so you everybody kind of understands how this goes on. Um we have a video produced by Hampton City uh the Hampton Channel 47 team, which is Wu Bay, Matt, uh Jasmine and Steve, um, that highlights the journey and accomplishments of these incredible students. These are just snippets of a longer interview that we did with each student, and we're gonna release the full interviews uh on channel 47 and on our YouTube channel in the next coming weeks. Um so we're gonna take a look at those, and then we're gonna uh start with Phoebus High School because they I believe have a soccer game they have to get to. Um we're gonna have them come up uh after each snippet. So we'll have Phoebus High School have the students come up to take pictures and get the awards, uh, and then we'll do Bethel Hampton and Kikatan in alphabetical order. Um so that's it. So parents, another big announcement here. Parents, you are more than welcome to come up front, front and center here and take pictures uh too with your students.
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