Trace Adkins Heads Back to High School

The graduating class of Piedmont High School in Monroe, N.C., will see a tall order (6' 6" to be precise!) filled when Trace Adkins appears as guest speaker at their June 14 graduation ceremony. And just how did the students get so fortunate to snag such a high-profile speaker? They asked.

Seniors Ashley Price and Jackson Hargett reportedly wrote to Trace telling how much it would mean to their class if he could speak at their graduation, and Trace graciously accepted.

"I think it's awesome that he's the speaker, and that he's doing it for free," senior Kristin Keesler, 18, says (quotes via Nashville Gab). "It's actually a real big treat for our school's 50th graduating class. I'm a real big country music fan, so to have him is really awesome."

Student Dillon Helms adds, "We're a country school, so to have a country music star here is pretty big. Country music is very big at Piedmont."

Trace graduated from Sarepta High School in his Louisiana hometown in 1980. He was one of 32 graduating seniors that year.