BUCKFIELD — Forty-one graduates said goodbye to Buckfield High School on Saturday evening as they turned their tassels and continued their journeys.

In true Buckfield fashion, guests were asked to drive down a field and park in the grass next to the gym. Quirky, but also the first graduation to solve the parking problem.

The grads roamed the gym and hallways, attempting to hide their nerves and act cool, but you could still see hands shaking from restless bodies impatient to start the next chapter of their lives.

A sea (or more accurately, a small pond) of maroon and white gowns made the procession to their seats, and finally the ceremony began. 

“Thank you, teachers, for pushing us to be great and to do great things,” Salutatorian Hunter Wiley said in his speech. “Thank you to my parents for being there when I needed them, and also when I didn’t want them there,” he joked. 

“To my classmates: Don’t listen to those who tell you you’re not good enough” Wiley said. “Prove people wrong and show them you have what it takes.”  

He then gave a powerful and impromptu musical performance for his late grandmother, who passed away in the fall. Wiley was not the only one to sing a song, and he was also not the only one to pay tribute to a late grandparent.

During the traditional Presentation of Roses, each student was given a bundle of roses to hand out to specific people who helped them achieve this milestone and have made an impact on their life. Multiple students reserved roses for grandparents who were not able to attend, and one student went a little further. 

Jennifer Dobson handed out five roses: one each for her mother, father, sister, grandmother, and a framed photo of her grandfather, who recently passed but still had his own seat. 

Buckfield also graduated a German exchange student, Tabea Vatthauer, who lived with a host family this past school year. Her parents were able to make to long trip to see her graduate Saturday so she could give them her roses in person. 

Caleb McNaughton, science teacher and soccer coach, said he was wary of giving too much advice in his speech but left his students with one last lesson:

“Follow your passions and stay true to yourself. Never follow someone elses’s path. Unless, of course, you’re lost in the woods and you see a path. Then by all means follow it.” 

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