TURNER – Speakers at Leavitt Area High School’s 105th commencement Friday night told the 177 graduating seniors to accept the challenges they will face in life.

In her salutatory address at the outdoor ceremony, Cassandra Kirkland urged her fellow graduates to “take the plunge.” She said experience has taught her that apprehension about what might happen is almost always worse that the actual event.

“Live life to the fullest and remember that no matter how difficult the situation may be or how challenging it may be to our comfort zone, the greatest risk is not taking one,” she said.

Jillian Asselin delivered the honor essay in which she said, “Tonight I am here to challenge you to continue to look forward in life and discover the multitude of possible opportunities that lie ahead. I challenge you to grasp these opportunities and to explore them. Do not limit yourselves to what you know and what you are used to. Don’t be afraid to take a risk and go for something you are really interested in exploring.”

She talked about her father and his varied interests and projects through the years – Christmas lights, collections, tropical fish and home remodeling.

“He didn’t explore these interests alone. He took the whole family with him,” she said. She urged her classmates to pursue a variety of interests with the same enthusiasm she learned from her father.

“Welcome the things you don’t know and run with them,” she said.

James Legee delivered the honor oration. He talked about adaptation and the many situations – good and bad – that members of the Class of 2004 have confronted.

“We have not let these situations fool us or lead us astray,” he said.

“The day that this species is no longer able to adapt to unpredictable changes of life is the day that we, as a species, lose our foothold in the world. Thus, we must keep putting ourselves in situations where we are forced to adapt,” he said.

Legee told his classmates, “The world is constantly shifting, sometimes into darkness, sometimes into light – never into grayness, never into equilibrium,” and said the human race is destined never to reach a state of equilibrium.

After 12 years in the school system, he and his fellow graduates “emerge as hybrids,” he said. He concluded, “we need no longer ponder how we will fit into this world but how the world will form to match us.”

Tony Letourneau, valedictorian of the Class of 2004, spoke about the limitless possibilities of what he could say, suggesting that the graduates of Leavitt Area High School are embarking on a similar course of limitless possibilities.

LAHS Principal David E. Wing announced a long list of academic awards and scholarships. Among the special recognitions was the Class of 1956 Trophy, which goes to the senior who in the opinion of the faculty has made the greatest all-around contribution to Leavitt during four years. The 2004 recipient is Tiffany Peterson, whose name will be engraved on the trophy alongside past winners. The trophy is kept in the trophy case in the school’s lobby.

Wing also recognized members of the school’s administration team, school board members and staff members who worked on graduation arrangements.

He also honored three longtime instructors, Martha Thompson, who began at Leavitt in 1973; Irwin Merrill, who began in 1971; and David Meade, who began in 1968. Wing asked parents of graduates who had also been taught by those three instructors to raise their hands, and dozens of people in the audience responded.

The Leavitt Chorus performed the national anthem and “Seize the Moment.” The Leavitt Band played the commencement march, “Pomp and Circumstance,” and “Arsenal Concert March.”

Thomas J. Hanson, superintendent of schools, presented diplomas.

Leavitt Area High School’s graduating class includes students from Greene, Leeds and Turner.