POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. --Opera singer Neal E. Boyd of Sikeston, Mo., made a guest appearance Thursday, presenting an area teenager with a diploma during the second annual graduation ceremony for the Missouri Division of Youth Services Southeast Region.

The surprise went along with the theme about role models in the Bess Activity Center at Three Rivers Community College, when 56 participants of the juvenile justice system graduated from the program, six with high school diplomas and the remainder with general equivalency diplomas.

Unaware Boyd was waiting nearby to surprise him, Matthew Taylor, 17, of the Echo Day Treatment Center in Cape Girardeau, delivered the opening speech about how Boyd is his role model.

"There's no one better to choose than Neal," Taylor said. "Not only did he get up on stage, but never did he change his attitude."