The graduation march we know as “Pomp and Circumstance” is No. 1 in a series of five Pomp and Circumstance Military Marches composed between 1901 and 1909 by Sir Edward Elgar.

Most of the Regional School Unit 10 seniors marching to it June 11 at Dirigo High School in Dixfield and and June 12 at Buckfield and Mountain Valley high schools, the latter in Rumford, won’t know or care about title, composer, or date any more than my classmates and I did when we graduated a few centuries ago.

It’s the graduation march and that’s that.

What is not so cut and dried as the graduation traditions, the music, the cap and gown, the tassels and the tears, is the status of the newly formulated school system that serves 12 towns and 2,900 students and employs 600 people.

The amalgamation of three school districts began with the new school board in January 2009, followed in short order by the appointment of Thomas J. Ward as superintendent in February.

Ward began his career in education fresh out of Orono for the 1977-78 year at Rumford High School. In the years since he has taught, coached, served as principal of Mt. Blue (Farmington), Marshwood (South Berwick), and Dirigo high schools, and as superintendent of SAD 21.

There was controversy about RSU10 and resistance to it: In the minds of many, the new entity was too big, for one thing. In fact, Tom Ward told me, it takes him about 20 minutes to get from the RSU10’s center in Dixfield to Buckfield, still less to reach schools in Mexico and Rumford.

Well, too, there was the threat of losing each area’s identify. To address that concern, the superintendent and his steering committee have worked hard to ensure equal representation of the three areas. The success of that effort was reflected in the late May workshop.

“Future Search” participants included students, teachers, parents and representatives of municipal government, business, clergy, advocacy organizations, higher education, and the community in near equal parts and from every corner of RSU10.

There’s more to tell about the promise of RSU10 than available space here. Distance learning, for example, will give students access to many more courses, advanced calculus, for one, and more foreign languages. And distance learning is a promise in the new administrative structure that couldn’t be made in the smaller school administrative districts.

Change is hard, Ward reminded me, and people fear change. Not surprising, therefore, that the superintendent was elated at the outcome of Future Search. The workshop “ … far exceeded my expectations,” he said. It demonstrated that the people of RSU10 and its community, “ … are at a point where people want to share the great work they’re doing … ”

Linda Farr Macgregor is a freelance writer. Contact her by e-mail at: [email protected]