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Schools

North Oconee Graduation to Honor Memories of 3 Classmates

A moment of silence and three empty chairs will honor Jordan Ellis, Matt Coscia and John Bishop.

Two hundred and forty-four graduates will be honored on Sunday as recognizes the 2011 senior class.

They will highlight the of honorarian Julia Cochran, salutatorian Clayton Wing and valedictorian Alanna Uhde.

But there will be a moment of silence at the ceremony in the University of Georgia’s Stegeman Coliseum, and three empty chairs will also sit alongside the graduates as they remember the losses of Jordan Ellis, and John Bishop, who died this school year.

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For the school, which is seven-years-old, it’s been a trying year. This is the first year in the school’s history where a current student has died during the school year.

Counselor Mike Kulp said his office ran out of tissues on Thursday morning during a parent conference.

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“That tells us what kind of year we’ve had,” Kulp said. “It’s been a huge blow to a lot of kids, but I’ve been amazed with how they’ve come together and supported each other.”

Lynn Heyen was Bishop’s teacher and case manager, who helped him adjust to school following a car accident and traumatic brain injury earlier in his high school career. Heyen said Bishop enjoyed music and pretty girls, and one of her most vivid memories of him was his creativity.

“The fact that he was a student, period, makes him missed,” Heyen said. “He added a lot to my class.”

To help the grieving process, Facebook pages to remember Ellis and Coscia have 1,845 and 748 fans.

Kulp knew Coscia well. He knew of Coscia’s childhood days growing up in this community, then when he moved to Kentucky and returned as a sophomore. Kulp said there was a “lovable silliness” to Coscia, who played pranks on teachers and classmates. Coscia’s absence, Kulp said, left a “pretty huge gaping hole” at the school.

One of the teachers who was the subject of Coscia’s pranks was Spanish teacher Emily Johnson, who taught him in the spring semester last year.

“Wherever he was, there was just an immense amount of laughter,” Johnson said. “The school’s not the same without him here.”

Kulp and Johnson both said Coscia had a passion for polo in part because his father played professionally.

“He was definitely not ashamed to be himself,” Johnson said. “He had a sweet spirit, and was caring to his friends.”

Titans’ baseball coach Dwayne Sapp coached Ellis for his entire four-year baseball career.

“He was infectious,” Sapp said. “You knew everything he stood for, and the type of kid he was, in 10 minutes.”

Sapp said he spent a lot of time with Ellis throughout the school day, and Ellis was the “heart and soul” of the baseball team.

“He was that kid that had all of the leadership,” Sapp said. “They seemed to really, really focus and follow him.”

Ellis player pitcher, catcher, first base, pretty much anywhere Sapp asked him to play. There are several memorials to Ellis around the baseball stadium; from a bench near the dugout, to a Japanese red maple tree, to patches on teammates’ uniforms.

“His class, these kids, won’t ever forget him,” Sapp said.

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