At the ceremony, Alana was joined by family members, including June and sisters Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon, 23—who was granted custody of the teen last year—and Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell, 28, who is battling cancer. The three cheered for her loudly, as seen in videos they shared on social media.
“We pretty much screamed the whole entire time,” June told E! News. “Yeah, some naysayers commented, like, ‘Man y’all didn’t let anybody else hear their child’s name.’ But that’s really what you’re supposed to do on graduation, whoop and holler like crazy, because we weren’t the only family there doing that.”