RUMFORD – For Mountain Valley High School’s 127 graduating seniors, Saturday’s commencement ceremony was a time for remembering the past, celebrating the present and anticipating the future.

“It is an honor to have you all gathered here today,” said senior Taylor Smith in her address to the enormous audience at Puiia Gymnasium. “As we look back, we realize all of the trials and tribulations we have been through are to our benefit. We have become stronger by overcoming failure.”

The Class of 2009, said Smith, has been profoundly affected by stunning technological advances. Some also participated in a historic event last year.

“Some of us had the opportunity last year to vote in our first presidential election,” Smith recalled. “We’ve gone from a country that would not even allow African-Americans to vote to electing our first black president.”

She urged her class to act on their dreams and always believe in the power of the individual.

“The noted anthropologist, Margaret Mead, once said, ‘Never doubt that a group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world,'” Smith said.

Also, she encouraged her classmates to hold tight to their morals and stand up for what they believed in.

“Stand your ground, even if you’re the only one standing,” she said. “Just because we are the land of the free doesn’t mean we are free of critics and naysayers.”

The Class of 2009 included four exchange students who each received a certificate of attendance. Peter Krause-Kjaer, Peerapoom SangPoomPong, Alexander Samuel Szeps and David Vojtovic had the opportunity to march with the class and each were awarded a warm round of applause as they received their certificates.

The graduation marked the end of an era, as SAD 43 will no longer exist as of this summer. The school district is merging with SAD 21 and SAD 39 to become the Western Maine Foothills Regional School Unit.

The presentation of diplomas was a particularly emotional time for seniors and their families, as they knew that one chapter of their life was closing and another one was beginning. Principal Matthew Gilbert, Superintendent James Hodgkin, and SAD 43 Board of Directors Chairwoman Linda Westleigh presented the class with their diplomas.

Once the diploma presentation concluded, it was celebration time. The class proceeded to do so in a most unconventional yet highly entertaining way by singing “Here I Go Again” by the 1980s rock band Whitesnake. The earsplitting rendition was met with equally thunderous applause.