COAL GROVE — Mary Hullinger was a proud grandmother waiting for her grandson, B.J. Blake, to walk across the stage at Dawson-Bryant High School.

B.J. was the first of her three grandchildren to graduate and Hullinger was doing the event up right, even to a special sign she made to mark the occasion.

“I am nervous and excited,” she said. “I think I am more nervous today than when I was there.”

B.J. was one of 74 students who graduated from the Dawson-Bryant High School on Sunday. It was one of the smallest graduating classes in the history of the school.

Lea Wise already knew what she was going to do after she walked across the stage and got her diploma, follow in her parents’ footsteps.

“I am going to take some online classes at Ohio University and do some landscaping jobs, like my mom and dad,” Lea said.

Admitting to a few nerves, Lea said she will miss her friends, but looks forward to the next step in life.

Out of the 74 graduates there were 15 receiving high honors making a grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Twenty-three students brought in $477,243 in scholarship money.

Just before the event, principal Steve Easterling praised the class.

“This was a great class,” Easterling said. “It had a lot of character. It was a hard-working group of students. I hope to see them be successful in the future.”