Henderson, Whigham Grace’s valedictorians

Published 6:34 pm Friday, May 15, 2009

Two seniors at Grace Christian Academy have tied for the top academic spot.

Ronald Anthony Henderson II and Tatiana Monique Whigham will both represent GCA as co-valedictorians.

Close on their academic heels is Jonathan Lewis Ward, GCA’s 2009 salutatorian.

Email newsletter signup

Along with their excellent grades at Grace, all three of these seniors were in the Bainbridge College Accel program. All maintained a 4.0 average over the past three semesters at BC.

Tatiana Monique Whigham is the daughter of Allen and Diane Whigham of Bainbridge. During her high school career, she received numerous honors including DAR award winner, president of the senior class, Kiwanis Outstanding Student, and Benaiah medallion recipient. She was also inducted into the Mu Alpha Theta Society (Math Honorary) at BC.

Whigham excelled in sports. She was named first-team All-Region Honorable Mention in soccer, Most Valuable Player in basketball, and, and her teams reached the Final Four two consecutive years in basketball.

Whigham will attend Auburn University on a full Army ROTC scholarship. She intends to major in biomedical engineering and to minor in military science. Her hobbies and interests include playing sports, reading and writing poetry, singing in the choir, reading the Bible to the elderly at various nursing homes, and tutoring at Kids World Academy and in the BC math department.

Co-valedictorian Ronald Anthony Henderson II is the son of Ron and Vedia Henderson of Bainbridge. Not only is Henderson outstanding in the classroom, he served as the president of the National Honor Society. Henderson was awarded the University of Georgia Certificate of Merit and the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence.

Henderson is a superb athlete. He was recently named the 2009 Basketball All Star MVP in the Panhandle Christian Conference and awarded membership into the 1,000-point club for GCA basketball. He was also a key member of the GCA soccer team.

Henderson will attend the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He will major in industrial engineering and management at Georgia Tech. His goal is to obtain a master’s of business administration. Henderson’s hobbies and interests include basketball, soccer, band and church.

Jonathan Lewis Ward, salutatorian, is the son of Jonathan “Joe” and Margie Ward of Bainbridge. Ward is a member of the National Honor Society at GCA.

Ward received the Wheatley Academic Scholarship at Georgia Southwestern. He will attend Georgia Southwestern and major in pre-medicine. He intends to transfer to the University of Georgia his junior year.

Ward is a gifted athlete and scholar. He played basketball and soccer for GCA. His hobbies and interests include guitar, skateboarding, snowboarding, basketball and soccer.

Graduation will be on Friday, May 22, beginning at 7 p.m. at Perry Memorial Gymnasium.