LEWISTON – Diplomas were presented to 273 members of the graduating class of Edward Little High School at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee Saturday evening.

Taking the number seven as the theme for their speeches, the top students of the 2007 class created imaginative devices for delivering advice to their classmates.

Valedictorian Sucheta V. Desai said she could see parallels between “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” of fairy tale fame as she looked back on her high school years.

She called the small men the “real heroes” of the story, and said she believes every graduate shared characteristics with the Disney cartoon cast.

Dopey came out in everyone when “our mouths moved faster than our minds,” she said, but she went on to encourage her friends not to lose their Dopey side.

She saw positive attributes in all the characters and urged the graduates to make the most of being Grumpy, Happy, Bashful and advice-filled Doc, but she warned them to beware of being Sneezy and Sleepy.

Dinesh D. Costlow, third honor part, used the “seven grueling rounds” of the NFL draft as his topic. Noting that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was a sixth-round pick, he told the graduates to remember that “failure exists only when we let others define achievement.”

Taking the super-spy nickname of James Bond – 007 – as her motif, fourth honor part Alyssa N. Coyne reminded the audience that, like the Bond movie title “Tomorrow Never Dies,” James Bond wouldn’t allow a wasted tomorrow.”

She said, “Tomorrow is the next road on the journey of life.”

Moriah J.C. Churchill, fifth honor part, spoke about the seven deadly sins, and the importance of counteracting them.

“You can choose right now to start all over,” she said. “Let the past be the past.

Among her suggestions to oppose the temptations, she said the answer to gluttony, however it’s interpreted, is to “learn when to hold back.”

Instead of yielding to greed, she advised, “Be generous. You are not an island.”

Salutatorian Masline E. Williams chose not to deliver an address at the graduation ceremonies.

In her welcoming remarks, Class President Breanna L. Wing spoke to all the parents and said, “Thank you for believing in us.”

A presentation was made to retiring Auburn Superintendent of Schools Barbara J. Eretzian. She was given a bouquet of 34 roses representing each year of her service to Auburn schools.

Graduate Kelly A. Davis sang the national anthem and “A Change in Me” from Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”