Porter’s Chapel Academy Head of School Chris Williams presided over his final graduating class Saturday when 26 seniors took part in commencement services at First Baptist Church of Vicksburg.

“This class will always be special to me,” Williams said. “Now, in the words of our valedictorian, that’s all I got.”

Williams will be turning over the reins to new PCA Head of School Blake Purvis for the 2024-25 school year, but before graduation ended Saturday, 2024 PCA Valedictorian Chase Hearn had a little more to say after all.

“Some of you probably know me as the guy who had the shortest baccalaureate speech of all time,” Hearn joked. “This one is gonna be a little longer than that.”

Hearn said, regardless of what comes next for his class, PCA will always hold a special place in the hearts of himself and his classmates.

“Today is the day we can finally say we are graduates of Porter’s Chapel Academy,” he said. “Whether we are going to college, entering the workforce, enlisting in the military, or even becoming the next big YouTuber, all of us are opening doors to a new chapter of our lives.”

PCA Salutatorian John Wyatt Massey also spoke of the impact PCA has had on the Class of 2024.

“On behalf of the entire Class of 2024, we say thank you,” Massey said. “Thank you to the school we called home. It is a school that has allowed us to grow and become the people that we are today. I hope the Class of 2024 has left an impact on PCA, because I know that PCA has left an impact on us.”

The Porter’s Chapel Academy Class of 2024 includes Elijah Edward Atkinson, Thomas Easton Azlin, Corbin Michael Bass, Allison Deserie Blackmon, Peyton Nicole Combs, Joseph Michael Courville, Olivia Mae Dawson, Mason Dale Dixon, Sarah Bradford Felker, Chelsea Allaina Fuller, Madison Elizabeth Grey, James Chase Hearn, Jessa Grace Hubbard, Brayden Matthew King, Taylor Reid Labarre, Tikerrionne Dai’Shaun Mack, Lauren Twilah Madison, John Wyatt Andrew Massey, Hayden Bryce McDougal, John Wesley McGee, Nicholas Gage Neihaus, Bradley Mitchell Pecanty, Noah Angelo Porter, Gavin Joseph Pugh, Jae’La Dnyjua Smith, and Gavin Blake White.