AUGUSTA – Oak Hill High School graduates received awards of great honor Monday night as they were handed their one-way tickets to the future: their high school diplomas.

The ceremony for the 112 seniors was held at the Augusta Civic Center because the Litchfield school’s gymnasium was too small to accommodate the crowd.

Almost completely coordinated by the graduating class, the event was smoothly conducted by class president Michael Healey, who managed to wittingly sneak in a standing ovation from the audience.

In his advisory speech, salutatorian Jason Guerette urged fellow graduates to get out of their “comfort zones” and step up to the challenge.

“If we run away from challenges, we won’t make it very far and our lives will be very average,” he said. “I don’t plan on living just an average life – I want to succeed.” He said that one must not back down from challenges but instead should confront them head on, much like he had done to take the stage that night.

“This is the only way we will be able to look back, when we are older, and be proud of whom we are,” he said.

Valedictorian Elizabeth Dionne reminisced on what the past four years meant to her and how an outsider looking in could never truly understand the chemistry of their class.

“Today, we leave Oak Hill. We leave four years of our memories and stories,” she said. “But what we won’t leave are the friendships that we have forged since freshman year.”

Before names were called and tassels tossed, the event was paused to give students an opportunity to recognize the ones who helped them along the way.

The civic center was flooded by a sea of red and blue gowns as graduates climbed to the highest tiers of the arena to embrace, laugh and cry with friends and loved ones while the class song echoed through the sound system.

Soon after, students were embracing and posing with one another. One graduate sprinted down the aisle and leapt into the arms of one of her classmates.

When the last name was called, the tassels were flipped and the cheers commenced. Most had to wait to celebrate their new honor, with family impatiently waving to the audience from over a divider.

This didn’t interfere with graduate James Chadburn’s celebration because his father was in the seat next to him. Delaying his graduation from the Oak Hill Adult Education Program, Brock Chadburn was allowed to graduate with his son.

“I have been here for 25 years now and I have never seen this done before,” Vice Principal Patricia Doyle said. “They put in a request to the school board and they graciously approved it.”

Principal Bruce Johnson and Superintendent Paul Malinski presented the diplomas to the school’s 28th graduating class.