MARTIN COUNTY — South Fork High School graduates, family, friends, teachers and others honored one of their own May 21, while sharing smiles and cheers, too.
They honored Christopher Brooks, 18, at this year’s graduation ceremony, with flowers, words and the moving of a tassel, following Brooks’ death earlier that morning in a car crash near the school.
Brooks was on his way to graduation practice when his 2007 Honda Accord slammed into the back of a dump truck at about 8:30 a.m. at Pratt Whitney Road and Southwest Bulldog Way.
“There are no perfect words for a loss like this,” Principal Jaime Thompson said to those in attendance at graduation. “His absence will be deeply felt.”
Smiles but somber
The school’s gym, where the mostly upbeat ceremony took place, was filled to capacity. Classical music before the ceremony began gave way to “Pomp and Circumstance” that was set at times to a slower tempo.
Students walking down the aisle to their seats smiled while others were somber. A sense of melancholy was present.
“This day is a celebration of your accomplishments,” Thompson told graduates. “Today is your day.”
But she acknowledged members of the 2026 class who are “not with us.” Yet, “they are forever part of this class,” she said.
Speaking more generally, graduate Levidan Mejia, who gave the “Everyman” address, reminded his classmates that, “It’s OK to fail sometimes.”
More importantly, he said, take care of yourself and take care of each other.
Echoing Thompson, Mejia said of the classmates who are gone, “We can carry them with us.”
In the name of Superintendent Michael Maine, the Class of 2026 made a donation to Elev8Hope — a Martin County nonprofit helping struggling families with children, Thompson said. Elev8Hope, in turn, paid that donation forward to the Brooks family, she said.
Maine’s words
This is “the worst day we could ever have gone through,” Maine told graduates and others at the ceremony.
“There is no question are hearts are heavy,” he added. “One spirit will be deeply missed” but not forgotten.
“Stay hopeful,” Maine told graduates. “Hope turns pain into purpose.”
And do not wait to tell people what they mean to you, he said.
South Fork High School graduated 444 students May 21, Thompson said. Nine students earned an associate’s degree when they graduated. Twenty-one seniors graduated with an unweighted grade point average of 4.0.
As students walked on stage to receive congratulations from Maine and Thompson, the mood turned more celebratory with applause, cheers and screams for graduates.
Turning of the tassel
But as the ceremony wound down, graduates Austin Mulcahy and Matthew Dennis stood on stage with a cap and tassel in hand.
“As we prepare to turn our tassels,” one said, “we remember our dear friend Christopher Brooks,” moving the tassel on Brooks’ cap to the other side.
And on a chair at the front of the gym, Brooks was remembered with flowers, notes and a stuffed bear — fitted with a cap and gown of its own.
Keith Burbank is TCPalm’s watchdog reporter covering Martin County. He can be reached at keith.burbank@tcpalm.com and at 720-288-6882. TCPalm breaking news reporters Will Greenlee and Laurie Blandford contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida high school remembers senior who died hours before graduation
Reporting by Keith Burbank, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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