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Twenty received diplomas during graduation exercises at Escambia Academy May 16 at Bachelor Field.

A big crowed turned out for the celebration, which included a keynote address, valedictory and salutatory addresses and the presentation of diplomas.

Longtime Teacher David Walker served as the commencement speaker.

Walker centered his speech around Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8, which chronicles that there is a time for everything.

Walker encouraged the graduates to always be positive, and to respect themselves and others.

“Be challenging; don’t take the easy way out,” he said. “Try to learn one new thing every day.

“Be true to yourself and your beliefs,” he said.

Salutatorian Reiley Morgan, who went to home school prior to EA, thanked the school faculty and staff for their support.

She then thanked her family members, but couldn’t get through the rest of her speech.

Senior Class Advisor Bobbi Sasser read the rest of Morgan’s speech.

“We have become a family, not a perfect one, but a family,” Sasser read.

Family then became a central part of the speech.

Sasser read that “F” stands for find your peple; “A” stands for accept yourself; “M” stands for make mistakes because that’s how we learn; “I” stands for invest in what matters; “L” stands for let go of the need to be perfect; and “Y” stands for you matter.

Valedictorian Ana Chesley Robinson said she wouldn’t be where she is without God’s grace.

She recalled the various after graduation decisions that were made by the seniors.

“Our hardest days are yet to come,” Robinson said. “The reason we are here today is because God brought us.

“God has moved through our school,” she said. “God has the biggest plans for this class.”