Senior and Class Marshall Maren Pinkham laughs during the conferring of diplomas at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School commencement exercises at the Gouin Complex in South Paris. Brewster Burns
PARIS — After what seems like days of never-ending rain, the sun came out Saturday to warm Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School seniors as they lined up to graduate at Gouin Athletic Complex, and slipped into evening as each was awarded their diploma, turned their tassel and emerged as young adults ready to take on the world.
Cheers, smiles and sometimes tears broke out as Class Marshals Maren Pinkham and Silas Timm led the processional of their classmates onto the field and all took their seats. First-year Principal (and old friend) Ted Bickford welcomed the students and their loved ones before ceding the stage to Salutatorian Brendan Palmer and Valedictorian Mallory Kennison to make their final addresses as OHCHS students.
Salutatorian Brendan Palmer delivers his commencement address during Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School commencement exercises at the Gouin Complex in South Paris Saturday night Brewster Burns
Acknowledging that his high school years were the quickest of his life, Palmer recounted lessons he learned while thanking the educators who provided them, his family and fellow students.
“Coach Soehren told [us] the best thing we could do in high school is be a part of something greater than ourselves,” Palmer said, noting that one coach’s message at the start of his high school years was driven home by the words of another coach following his final basketball game as a Viking.
“‘What a great teammate,’ Coach Graffam told me. Those four words made my entire high school basketball career worth it, and made me remember Coach Soehren’s advice, and realize he was right.”
Palmer also singled out John Pinto, his teacher for world history for impacting his life. “He always reminded me to shoot for the stars, because if I landed on the moon, that would be okay.”
The concept of shooting for the stars was included in Kennison’s speech as well, in a different context based on advice from her English teacher while taking exams.
“Ms. Bell gave each of us a small animal figurine – a ‘lucky buddy,'” Kennison said. “This [our] lucky buddy represents some aspect of each of us as a person. I watched as my friends got adorable ducks, bunnies, bears, and sheep. Then she put mine in my hand and said I couldn’t look at it.
Valedictorian Mallory Kennison delivers her commencement address during Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School’s graduation ceremony at the Gouin Complex in South Paris. Brewster Burns
“Ms. Bell told me that I tend to live with my head always looking up at the stars, always up and away from myself, gazing up at an endless sea of possibilities. And then I looked down at my lucky buddy, a starfish. I must say I was confused. Then she told me that it’s also important to look down too, because there could be a star sitting right at my feet. A perspective I never even considered.
“Perspective is one of the most important tools we use in order to understand and build relationships with others.”
Kennison continued on that theme, encouraging her fellow graduates to be mindful of other people’s perspectives.
“You need to be wary of surrounding yourself with only like-minded people. When you don’t listen to the perspectives of those different from you, you create a limited worldview without an opportunity to grow.”
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