Katahdin bids adieu to 30 graduates

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
CLASS MARSHALS — Allison Moore, left, and Garth Bates lead the way for graduating seniors at Katahdin Area High School Saturday morning for the 2012 commencement service. Thirty seniors received their diploma during the ceremony.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    STACYVILLE — Thirty graduating seniors bid adieu to Katahdin Area High School Saturday morning following the school’s commencement exercises.
    With the class motto of “Our glory consists not in never failing, but in rising each time we fall,” looming overhead, Class Marshals Garth Bates and Allison Moore led the group of students into the school’s gymnasium, which was filled to near capacity with friends and family members. Moore also delivered the class message, taking her peers on a trip down memory lane.
    “I know that I can’t be the only one who thinks that it seems like just yesterday when we thought we were the ‘cool’ kids and got to hang out on the basketball court in sixth grade,” Moore said.
    She added that each student receiving their diploma owed it to their teachers to give one final thank you for all the hard work they put in to giving them an education and to their families for keeping them on course for the past 13 years.
    Salutatorian Nicholas Pettegrow followed with a though-provoking speech, labeling himself and his classmates as “over-doers.”
    “Every single one of us have had a rough four years through high school,” Pettegrow said. “Whether it be struggling through the difficulty of our classes, getting involved in the insanity and unpredictability known as drama, and for some, keeping silent when Mrs. McAvoy enforced ‘Rule No. 2.’ We have all faced many challenges, but we have persevered.”
    Jesse McNally delivered a tender and soulful performance of “Imagine” by John Lennon as a musical selection.
    Valedictorian Sonja Williams looked to scholars Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Oscar Wilde for inspirational quotes.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
A ROSE — Patrick Knowles is all smiles as he presents his mother Susan with a rose during Katahdin’s graduation ceremony Saturday.
    “Throughout our high school career, we have been faced with good times and bad times, but it is our perseverance that made all the difference,” she said. “Most of us have an idea of what life we want to lead, but there are others that still have no idea and that is OK. We all have our moments, some more than others, but we have all gotten through the hard times with enough confidence to continue trying to get to our dreams.”
    Williams credited a number of teachers for helping not only her, but her classmates to be better prepared for life outside of KAHS.
    “Ms. Harvey has prepared us to be ahead of our peers in college chemistry,” she said. “Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Robinson have prepared us for the 30-page research papers we well encounter. Mr. Willard and Mrs. Lyons have prepared us for the environment we will be responsible for taking care of. And Mrs. Nicholson has prepared us to deal with the imaginary parts of life we call ‘I’. These teachers have put up with us through the years and they have always been there to help us with our work and our decisions.”
    Principal Rae Bates passed out diplomas one last time at KAHS. Bates retired as principal at the end of the school year and will take a post as SAD 29 as its new curriculum coordinator. As students were presented their diplomas, each was also handed a rose to present to their parents or loved one.