Monroe High School holds first campuswide Decision Day program since 2019
ALBANY – The graduating class of Monroe High School made their after-graduation intentions known Friday, with some heading to colleges near home or in other states and some embarking on a future in the military.
For Khalia McClendon, the first stop will be the U.S. Air Force, although she plans to later pursue further education.
“I just want to travel the world, meet new people and see new things,” she said. “I want to go ahead now to start my career and do something different in my family.”
The senior, who will be the first in her family to join the military, also has another dream.
“I want to try to become one of the first black women pilots,” she said.
About 55 of the 64 seniors who have made their choices for what’s to come after graduation were at Friday's ceremony, and students from ninth-grade through members of their graduating class were on hand to cheer them on.
“Today was Decision Day for our graduating students,” Shawanna Price-Wise, director of counseling and guidance at Monroe, said.
Some of the students will be staying in southwest Georgia at nearby colleges, including Albany State University and Georgia Southwestern State University. Others will be heading as far as Kentucky State University and North Carolina State University.
The 2024 Decision Day ceremony was the first one that involved the entire campus since 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic, Price-Wise said. A scaled-down ceremony was held in 2023.
“This one had the entire student body,” she said. “It’s just amazing. I was really excited to plan this event. A lot of these students were home their freshmen and sophomore years. We wanted to really get them involved.”
There are about 210 students in the 2024 Monroe graduating class.
