BUCKFIELD – “Go away, but then come back,” SAD 39 Superintendent Rick Colpitts advised the 44 graduating seniors at Friday night’s commencement at Buckfield High School.
Noting he has known most of them since their elementary days while he was principal of the Hartford-Sumner school, he admonished the students to go away and spread their wings and explore the world, but then return to the area as residents and contribute what they had learned.
Colpitts spoke of Andrew Carnegie’s statement that dealing with people is like digging gold: It requires moving tons of dirt to get an ounce of it, so focus on the gold and not the dirt.
“Remember that Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner harbor your gold,” he told them.
An emotional moment came when students remembered senior Mike McCollister, who was killed in September in an automobile accident. He had already enlisted in the Navy to study nuclear engineering. Students read poems and presented the family with a class picture and a yearbook signed by all seniors. Sue Bryant presented two scholarships in her grandson’s memory. The recipients were A.J. Cerrato and Danielle Hall.
Science teachers Patricia DiEduardo and Kay Herbert presented a humorous address in which they advised graduates to find humor in tough circumstances, to be honest in all situations and to themselves, and to learn to take risks but choose wisely.
Principal Donald Reiter, who took the position this year, said this class of graduates had been under the leadership of three principals in their four years of high school. He said they had embraced change and welcomed him to the school with open arms. He encouraged them to continue to embrace change and celebrate life.
In her valedictory address, Cheryl Powers said, “I am a combined effort of everybody I have ever known.”
Whitney Kangas, in her salutatory address, challenged her class to live life to its fullest, but said that the greatest thing is just to love.
Casey Tripp sang “I Will Remember You,” and “Breathe In” was performed by Nikki Barker, Tyler Newton, Krissy Barker, Jeremy Michaud and Michael Prescott.
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