Eagleton College and Career Academy in Maryville celebrates first-ever graduating class

Yahoo

17-05-2025

MARYVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — We are in the height of graduation season in East Tennessee and one high school in Blount County held its first ever graduation ceremony on Friday.
'It's been four years in the making to get to this night,' said Eagleton College and Career Academy Principal Mark Dowlen.
There were 104 seniors who walked across the stage each leaving with a diploma in hand.
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'This is such a special night preparing for our first graduation. It's a ton of work and a ton of people behind the scenes making things happen,' Dowlen said. 'To reach such a culminating experience for what the last four years have meant as we've built the school one grade at a time to add the high school and to get to celebrate with the kids their families and this community here tonight.'
One of those students, Natalie Murrell, has been at the school since the sixth grade. Her and many of the other students endured schedule changes, COVID and returned to school and trying to regain a sense of normalcy.
'We kind of just had to band together, talk to each other and lift each other up,' Murrell said. 'With all these changes, everyone was kind of getting confused, people were moving schools. We just found ourselves in each other and just helped us up.'
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Graduate Lilyann Laureano said going through all those times and being the firsts for so many things was worth it.
'It was difficult at times because we were the first to do everything. We were the guinea pigs,' Laureano said. 'We endured a lot of changes. They tried different schedules on us. They tried different classes. We lost stuff, we gained stuff and we had to go through construction. It was crazy but knowing that we would be the first and knowing that we would get to lead the way, kind of set the precedent for future students, I mean it really made it worth it.'
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Murrell told 6 News she will attend Pellissippi State and major in Supply Chain Management before transferring to the University of Tennessee. Laureano said she will be pursuing a degree in agricultural education at Tennessee.
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