CCHS student has early graduation ceremony

By BRITTANY FHOLER 

Cove Leader-Press 

Copperas Cove High School Senior Caleb Frazer accepted his diploma early this year, with a graduation ceremony held Wednesday afternoon in his honor in the CCHS cafeteria.

Frazer won’t be walking with his fellow Class of 2020 classmates in May but instead will be at Basic Training after enlisting in the United States Marine Corps. 

Copperas Cove High School faculty and staff decided to have a special ceremony to honor Frazer’s accomplishments of earning all his credits and fulfilling all the necessary requirements. 

“We want to make sure that he gets the recognition that he so rightfully deserves among his class of 2020,” said 12th Grade Counselor Jessica Henderson. “Caleb here has worked very, very hard to get to where he is, taking classes over the summer, doubling up on some things and he’s an amazing young man and it shows in the work he puts out.”

Frazer wore a yellow and red cord representing his membership in the Spanish Honor Society during the ceremony. 

CCHS Principal Jimmy Shuck placed a white cord to represent Frazer’s Distinguished status and a red, white and blue cord representing his Military Service. 

CCISD Superintendent Joe Burns presented Frazer with his diploma. 

“I do want to say it’s always a pleasure to see our young people successful and doing things that they want to do,” Burns said. “It’s especially gratifying to find young people that have found a purpose in life and have a plan for their future.”

After presenting Frazer with his diploma, Burns joked that in this ceremony, Frazier was the valedictorian and salutatorian. 

Frazer is joining his brothers and father in military service. His father, Keith, was in the Army and his two brothers are in the Army and Air Force. 

Frazer said he decided to go into the Marines because of the comradery, teamwork and dedication within the branch, adding that all of this combined made them the best and most elite in his eyes. 

He made his decision after a recruiter, Sgt. Hobbs, showed up during a lunch period and invited him to a PT session. After showing up to the PT session, Frazer said he felt like a family there. 

Although he walked the stage in the high school cafeteria Wednesday, Frazer still had to come back to school Thursday to finish up his final exams.

Now that school is over, Frazer said he is preparing himself for bootcamp. 

He plans to go into law enforcement in the Marines. 

“[I’m] very excited to see that now my future is open up to any possibilities,” Frazer said. 

His brother, Jacob Frazer, who is in the Army, was at the ceremony. Jacob is two years older. 

“Seeing him graduate early, it really does make me proud to be his brother. Seeing him be one of the top of his class and being able to graduate early is something that sets him apart from all the other students, especially nowadays where being so motivated to be better than everybody else is lacking,” Jacob said. “He does prove that he’s one of the best. As for him joining the Marines, I can’t say that I’m not happy that he’s joining the Marines because we’re all one big family, but there’s always going to be that little bit of competition in there, so.”