At 9:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, 316 seniors from George C. Marshall High School entered Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. for commencement exercises. As the students filled the hall, band director Bryan Baldwin led the school band and the wind ensemble in "Pomp and Circumstance." The Fairfax County Police Department Color Guard presented the colors.
Entrepreneur Raul J. Fernandez, chairman and CEO of ObjectVideo and owner of the Washington Capitals hockey team, gave the commencement address.
This year, 49 Marshall grads were recognized as International Baccalaureate diploma candidates.
It was announced that the class of '06 would donate money for benches outside the Marshall cafeteria.
Special guests attending the ceremony were Ilryong Moon, chairman and member at large of the Fairfax County School Board and School Board member Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner. Also attending were: assistant superintendent of Cluster II, Dr. Ellen Schoetzau; assistant superintendent of Cluster VI, Leslie Butz; director of Cluster II, Ulysses Cox; and Col. Robert B. James, U.S. Army (Ret.), director of Outreach Programs for the George C. Marshall Foundation.