West Forsyth High School presented diplomas to 520 graduates of the Class of 2016 on Friday night at Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum.

With a grade average of 5.413793, John Paul Spaventa was named both valedictorian and winner of the Montague Award for having the best grades during the senior year. He is the son of Fernando and Virginia Spaventa and plans to study physics at Stanford University.

School board member Dana Caudill Jones addressed the graduates. Ana Mena Pacheco, class president, reflected on the past four years with the class.