SOUTH POINT — For 90 teens and some of their parents, Sunday afternoon was the last time they would take that winding drive up to South Point High School.

For those students, the days of high school classes, books, clubs and Friday night football games in the fall were over. Now, it’s on to the next stage of their life.

For many that means college; a lot of the teens plan to go on to Ohio University Southern. For others it’s more years of classes at the Collins Career Center.

But for a couple of hours on Sunday, everything revolved around them in a time of celebration as they had their graduation for the class of 2009.

Phillip Muncy showed up to give his girlfriend, Brittany Thompson some moral support. Muncy, of Chesapeake was the first class to graduate out of the new South Point High building last year.

“It’s awesome, cool,” he said about the prospect of watching Thompson get her diploma. “She is even more excited than I was.”

Thompson admitted she had a few butterflies in her stomach.

“I am really happy I finally made it,” she said. “It was a big ride.”

She plans a career in broadcast journalism, possibly becoming a news anchor. She will study electronic media at Ohio University Southern and on graduation from there plans to stay in the area for a while.

“I’ll see where it goes,” she said.

David Viglianco will be leaving one school curriculum for about seven more years of another one as he pursues his plans to become a nurse-anesthesiologist. It’s a program that he will start at OUS, then follow up with classes at Shawnee State University and Ohio University at Athens.

“I’m a little bit nervous,” he said about Sunday, “but excited to get it done.”