BUCKFIELD — Car horns, applause and cheers filled the air at Buckfield Junior-Senior High School as its 32 seniors were honored at their graduation ceremony Saturday afternoon.

The graduation was held outside with social distancing practices to ensure that no more than 50 participants were in proximity to each other at any one time. Family members remained in their vehicles at assigned spaces and were called to greet their seniors for celebratory hugs and photographs as each received their diplomas.

Larry Thornton, longtime varsity soccer and baseball coach, made greeting remarks, singling out several instances when he saw moments of greatness emerge from different students fulfilling their passions, be it athletically, scholastically or through personal perseverance.

“Strive for greatness,” Thornton encouraged the students. “Whatever you are most passionate about in life, whatever it may be, strive to be great at it … no one in this world will ever fault you for trying to be great.”

“I have found a group of people that I will never forget,” said salutatorian Josephine Replogle, who transferred to Buckfield two years ago from California where her former school numbered more than 1,000 students. “Although I haven’t been here long I have learned several important lessons from you, of loyalty, strength and dedication.

“We did it. We survived and graduated during a pandemic. We are 32 of 3.7 million people who can say that.”

Valedictorian Jessica Doucette took time to thank various Buckfield educators for their role in her high school career before touching on the difficulties people face that students in rural communities are not exposed to.

“It was daunting for me to think about my speech,” she said. “Especially with everything that’s going on, it seemed like an impossible task. With the protests sweeping the nation following the tragic death of George Floyd. I thought about the … Turner senior who lost her life the week before graduation. I thought about the 100 Mainers, 120,000 Americans and 400,000 people across the world who have lost their lives to COVID-19.

“My heart is breaking … as people across the country and the globe suffer from injustices and tribulations that I never even have to think about. As I prepared for this speech I thought it would be unjust for me to talk about anything without addressing these tragedies and how privileged I am and we are to be so distanced from these things. I realized that I have to do better.”

Doucette thanked her classmates for the gift of reflecting on years of her memories with them. She noted that as a class, all had chosen to fill the space of things they’ve lost over the past several weeks with compassion, understanding and love for one another.

“This group has had to display incredible resilience,” said Buckfield Principal George Reuter in a statement before the graduation. “They have done a terrific job working together, supporting each other through the difficult times, and focusing on their post-graduation plans.

“They have been dreaming about their futures and developing their long-range plans for much longer than they have been dealing with COVID-19, and there is nothing that is going to stop them from achieving their dreams.”

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On this date in Maine history: June 14