BETHEL – Fifty-eight Gould Academy graduates marched under a clear sky to the cadence of bagpipes on Saturday.

Headmaster Daniel Kunkle said it was a time for celebration, reflection and hope for the 2004 graduating class.

The Honorable William G. Young, chief justice of the U.S. District Court in the District of Massachusetts, opened his commencement speech by quoting the Duke of Wellington in the battle of Waterloo. “Stand up,” the duke ordered his General Maitland. “Your time has come.”

On Saturday, Young told the students, “This is your day, your hour. Your time has come.”

He told the students they were standing on the shoulders of the giants they had studied during their years at Gould. He challenged them to use that knowledge to get to work on the world’s problems, to get involved.

The way to save the world is one step at a time, Young said, using the analogy of small fish floundering for their lives in the ebbing tide. A small boy walking along the beach couldn’t save all of the fish at once, but he could save one at a time.

Young also quoted the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who said, “Never, never, never, never give up.” He then offered a challenge to the students, asking: By what words would you live? He then gave them six words to live by.

The first three came from the West Point motto: duty, honor and country. To those, Young added believe, truth and love. “It is true that to love another person is to see the face of God,” he said.

The senior student address was given by Gabriel O. Ohlson and the valedictory address by Quinn P. McAllister.

McAllister called on paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve’s grouping of the words impossible, improbable and inevitable. When he was younger some things seemed impossible, McAllister said. As he grew older things seemed improbable, but now the future is inevitable.

Among the many awards given, Matthew Humbert received the Maine Principals’ Association award as well as the math, science and computer awards. Ryoko Arai received the top art award.