FARMINGTON – Even without all of today’s technological marvels at their fingertips, it’s likely that the Mt. Blue High School Class of 2009 would still manage to keep in touch.

At Saturday’s graduation ceremony, Valedictorian Samuel Cohen told his 179 classmates how he survived four years of high school without having a cell phone. He gave a humorous account of learning about cell phones and the jargon associated with them.

“No one made fun of me or gave me a hard time for asking questions,” Cohen said. “Then I realized I have my own Verizon network, and it’s called the Class of 2009.”

We live in an age of networks, he said. “On our network, we don’t have restrictions; we don’t have dead zones. Our network is up and running, and it will never stop running.”

Another senior speaker, Marjorie Hardy, encouraged the class to savor their achievement.

“It’s important that we share this moment together,” she said. “We are all splitting off and going our own separate ways. There’s something out there for each one of us.”

Leigh Ronald’s speech reflected upon the class transforming from dependent children to mature young adults ready to take on the world’s challenges.

“Our entire lives have been dependent on our parents; however, those years are quickly coming to an end,” she said. “We are starting a new chapter of our lives. We have more freedom, more responsibility, and more choices.”

The other senior speakers were Mike Cormier, Ava Amador and Melissa Poulin and Devon Jones. All of the students who spoke thanked their families, friends, teachers, staff and other mentors for helping mold them into the people they are.

Mt. Blue High School Principal Monique Poulin had the opportunity to watch the class grow up from the time she worked with them at Mt. Blue Middle School. She encouraged the graduates to remember their high school experiences and to take pride in their accomplishments.

“I feel a great connection,” Poulin said. “I’m just so pleased that you’ve turned into such wonderful young adults. When you think about the journey you’ve been on, it’s pretty amazing.”