TUPELO – Saltillo High School Principal Tim DeVaughn told the graduating class of 2012 they are a special group he will always remember as they moved their tassels across their caps and graduated.

“I would say this class is a group that has pretty much done everything we’ve ever asked them to,” DeVaughn said. “I know each class has pranksters, jokesters, things like that, but we didn’t really have that in this class. This was a class that was low-key with lots of smart kids.”

The students spoke of a kind-heartedness shared by the graduates.

“I would say this class has been a source of happiness for me,” said salutatorian Christopher McKee. “I have gone through a couple of things, not necessarily life-changing, but I’ve gone through some stuff in high school and I’ve always been able to be around these people they’ve always been friends.”

Sarah Childers said the group of students couldn’t have been more perfect.

“I don’t know how, maybe by the grace of God, but it just seems like the perfect group of people,” she said. “Everybody was nice and it just so happened that none of us were harsh or mean, but open to everyone.”

Ryan Wall said the class encouraged each other. “We have stuck together throughout high school,” Wall said. “I’ll always remember all the support we’ve shown for each other.”

Valedictorian Anna Katherine Letson echoed the sentiment.

“We were really close and the teachers always told us we were just a good class,” she said. “We were one student body.”

She reminded students to be more like the lead of a pencil and not the eraser.

“The only purpose of an eraser is to discard mistakes,” Letson said. “As we continue through our lives, let us choose to be the lead, continuing to write the story.”

jb.clark@journalinc.com