CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – About 200 high school seniors from the Rockport-Fulton area are getting ready graduate Friday, but they'll have to walk the stage in Corpus Christi because their school is still undergoing a massive overhaul after Hurricane Harvey ripped it apart last year.
“Going into senior year, we thought the most important thing was winning the spirit contest, having fun at lunch and stuff, and it's really not,” said Mari Tucker, a senior at Rockport-Fulton High School. “It was definitely difficult. There was a week or two where we didn't go to school because everyone was picking up their belongings.”
On graduation day, the majority of the people occupying the high school are the crews who continue making repairs.
“We were very happy to have another place to go,” Tucker said.
Tucker finished up the year at another local school about 25 mins away. Her peers were divided up and were sent to other area schools across the country. Most students will return to Texas to walk the stage together at Texas A&M Corpus Christi.
Tucker said she’s excited to move forward after graduation.
“This summer, I'm prepping to go to orientation and (to) Austin this fall, so I'm super excited about that,” she said.
Tucker said she will take her values and the things she learned through her hardship with her to college.
“Being grateful for what you have when you have it and not taking anything for granted,” she said.
The high school won’t fully reopen until next year.
