Hampton City Council Ceremonial Session.

Madam Clerk, you call the roll, please.

Councilman Bowman.

Present.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Here.

Councilwoman Campbell, present.

Councilwoman Fairby.

Present.

Councilwoman Harper, present.

Councilwoman Muggler, present.

Mayor Gray.

Present.

And this evening we have some very special presentations for those in the audience as well as those watching at home.

And so with that, I'm going to turn it over to Mr.

Brian Marcese of uh Marketing Department Outreach Coordinator.

Brian.

Thank you, Mayor Gray, Vice Mayor Brown, members of Council, City Manager Bunting, and City Attorney Sidner.

And welcome to all of our honored guests here joining us tonight.

From our school board here, we have Dr.

Richard Mason, the chair of the school board is here.

And Joe Kilbord is here as well from the school board.

And from Hampton City School's uh leadership, we have Dr.

Raymond Haynes, Superintendent.

And Ms.

Shimika Pollard is here, the chief of secondary school leadership.

So we also have a lot of uh principals and um uh academy uh chairs and stuff like that as well, and I'll talk about them a little bit later as we get through the schools.

Um, but they're all in attendance as well tonight.

Um the main spotlights are some of my personal favorites of the year, and I know you guys as well.

Two weeks ago, we celebrated 69 students who earn their associate's degree before earning their high school diplomas.

Tonight, we turn the spotlight on another group of extraordinary young people, Hampton City Schools, class of 2026, valedictorians and salutatorians.

Every one of these students has a story, and what strikes me each year is how different those stories are from year to year.

Different paths, different passions, different people who lifted them up along the way, but they all share one thing.

They showed up, they did the work, and they distinguished themselves at the very top of their class.

Before we get started, a word to the families in the room.

These students will be the first to tell you, and we have some videos where they do say it, tell you, that they didn't get here alone.

You were in the stands, you're in the carpool line, around the kitchen table at midnight.

The pride that you feel tonight is well earned, so you deserve the credit as well.

So, a little bit of order um for how this is going to work.

So the students um did some interviews with the TV station a few weeks ago, and their longer interviews, and tonight we're gonna play some short clips from those interviews.

Um we're gonna move through the schools in alphabetical order, um, and I'll pause between each school so Mayor Gray and the council members can come forward and give you guys um some plaques and some photos.

Uh parents, um, you're welcome to come up and take pictures as well.

Um, and before I roll the first clip, um, I want to let you know that uh and give a quick shout out to Hampton City School's TV team who interviewed each of these students and produced the videos you're about to see.

Wu Bay Gabray, Matt Buckwalder, Stephen Fryer, Anaya Neal, Alyssa Alpert, their work made this uh all come to life, and so we appreciate them as well.

So, with that, I'd like to um start with Bethel High School.

So, uh leading Bethel High School, you have Dr.

Tanya Howard, the executive principal, and the academy principals for Bethel High School are Charmaine Pace Poole, Travis Oliver, uh Mr.

Patrick McCray, and Miss Uh Catrice Pace Pearce.

Um, Bethel is represented by two students who each bring a genuine sense of purpose and to everything they do.

Uh first is their Bethel's Vallectorian, uh Drury Patel, and their salutatorian Ava Tanner.

And so with that, I'm gonna play the video clip of the two of them.

Let me click it over here.

Hey, I'm Judy Patel.

I'm validatorian of Bethel High School of Classic 2026.

I thought that to be an HDS graduate because it gives me so many opportunities, such as the government school, science and technology, which I've made so many firms that know who I am.

I made professors that have big PhDs, people I would have never met without them.

I've met teachers that have actually confided in me and helped me learn how to believe in myself.

They're they're always telling me you have to be yourself, you can't be someone else.

They were there, they are already taken.

Some people you like to think or acknowledge along this journey of yours so far.