Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 15, 1990 TAG: 9006150489
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PETER MATHEWS NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: SHAWSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Denise Marie Sessous and Deborah Maureen Sisson share something else, too - an abiding respect for individuality in a system where non-conformity can mean unpopularity - high school.
So it was not surprising that Sessous, the valedictorian, challenged her fellow Shawsville High graduates Thursday night to embrace new ideas. "Kindle your spark into a flame," she said. "Dare to open your minds to the future."
As often happens in Shawsville, most of the 45 graduates will stay close to home. About 10 are expected to go to four-year colleges and 16 more to two-year schools - all in Virginia.
Principal Nelson Simpkins urged the graduates not to fear failure and to take time to appreciate the "significant others" in their lives. And he noted how quickly society is changing, saying that in recent years, "Long hair has been replaced with short hair, shaved hair and no hair."
Nineteen of the graduates won awards or scholarships, guidance counselor Fran Weiss said.
No one won more than salutatorian Sisson, 18, who has been accepted at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg. She was president of the senior class and was editor of the student newspaper. She finished with a 3.70 average.
Her awards included the American Legion School Award, the Moreton Graves Abbott Literary Scholarship and the Lena MacGardner Sammons Government Scholarship.
Sessous, 17, will major in art at Virginia Commonwealth University. She finished with a 3.96 average.
Her awards included the Walnut Grove Farm Science Scholarship and Craighill Masonic Lodge Scholarship.
Both admit they weren't always part of the crowd.
"If they're going to be telling me I was weird and goofy, why not live it up?" asked Sessous, who likes tie-dye clothes and unusual dress combinations. She said someone once told her, "The '70s are over. Get a life!"
Sisson was voted homecoming queen and prom queen, but she, too, described herself as something of a loner.
Sessous, who sat next to Sisson on the stage Thursday night, lauded her friend for setting herself apart.
"She became who she wanted to be," she said, "not who they thought she should be."
by CNB