FARMINGTON – Walking into the warm gym, lines of graduating seniors wore blue robes with gold sashes and fanned themselves with ceremony programs.
Mt. Blue High School held its graduation ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday. Heavy rain forced the 202 graduating seniors to be honored into the packed Mt. Blue gym, but the crowd and students remained upbeat.
Class President Anthony Barker gave the opening speech.
“I would like to welcome all family, friends, faculty, and, of course, students.”
In his speech, Barker compared life after graduation to riding a skateboard down the street in his home town of Weld. He compared real-life problems to the hazards of the sport, such as contrasting graduation to “a small hill (with) a very sharp turn” and warning against “frost heaves and bumps in the pavement.” Barker also presented the Class of 2006’s gift to the school. He and his class mates opted to give the aging Cougar mascot a new costume, which can be seen next year.
Malina Dumas, the class valedictorian, gave a speech congratulating her fellow students for their achievements. She thanked the faculty and Principal Joseph Moore, saying he had made “an amazing difference in this school in his first year.” Dumas talked about the students at Mt. Blue, comparing them favorably to the characters on the popular show “The OC,” although she did humorously add that “it’s too bad we don’t have Seth Cohen.” Dumas also told her classmates to live life to its fullest and to always be themselves. She closed with a quote from the author Dr. Seuss: “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” She then smiled and admitted that he had also said “I am a zizzer zazzer zuss as you can plainly see.”
Student Nicole Allen also made a speech, thanking the Mt. Blue faculty. Musical performances included Britny Lee singing the National Anthem and the Senior Chorus singing the song “Blackbird” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Class Salutatorian Isaac Raymond, with students Dan Hayden, Kevin Quinn-Kelly, and James Rossi, sang and played guitar to “Drive My Car,” also by Lennon and McCartney, and received a standing ovation from the packed gym.
Principal Joseph Moore followed Raymond and the others, enthusiastically saying “now it’s time for my song.” Instead, the first-year principal left the podium and spoke directly to the students, telling them “the secret to life is to love.” Moore allowed students to plan many aspects of the graduation themselves, and was thanked by several of the students as they made their speeches and performed their musical pieces.
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