[CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story had the wrong time of the graduation ceremony. The graduation ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. on June 9.]

Toni Guinyard, NBC news reporter and an Emmy award winning journalist, will be the keynote speaker at graduation this year.

“For this year’s graduation I really wanted to make sure we brought in someone who is working currently as a journalist,” Principal Deb Smith said.

Guinyard has been a journalist for about twenty years and has been recognized by Los Angeles Emmy Awards for her coverage of the Malibu Fires. As an African-American woman, Smith wanted someone who didn’t fit the typical mold for graduation speakers.

“I wanted someone who represented the other types of students in our school that have not been represented at graduation,” Smith said. “Toni Guinyard immediately came to mind.”

Graduation will take place on June 9 at 5 p.m. in the quad at Birmingham Community Charter High School.