Hodgdon graduates ready for next chapter

HODGDON, Maine — The 34 seniors who made up the first class of the newly-renamed Hodgdon Middle-High School marched proudly into the school’s gymnasium Friday evening for their commencement exercise. 

High School Principal Mary Harbison announced the “all-around” male and female awards.

“These awards go to the seniors whom staff members feel are students they would be most proud to have as their own,” Harbison said. “These students are kind, thoughtful, and courteous. They offer help with anything that needs to be done. A job given to them will be a job well done and will be done on time.

The all-around female award featured a tie, with Jessica Drew and Tabetha Ganzel each being honored. The all-around male award was presented to Kevin McAfee.

Thanks to college courses offered through the high school, 230 college credits were earned by seniors, resulting in more than $68,000 saved, Harbison stated. A total of 11 students already have earned enough credits to complete their first semester of college, while seven of that group have accumulated the equivalent of one full year.

“This is a group of young adults who will be our future nurses, welders, teachers, military people, doctors, law enforcement officials, electricians, and social workers,” Harbison said. “Graduates, as you walk out the doors of Hodgdon Middle/High School, please remember all the people in this room who have cared about you, nurtured you, picked you up when you thought all was lost, and helped you along the way. Be sure to say ‘thank you’ to them, and always remember to ‘pay it forward’ to help others along the way.”

Salutatorian Jessica Drew welcomed the audience and thanked friends and family for their help for each member of the senior class. “Parents, without you we literally would not be here. You have helped mold each of us up here into the extraordinary people we have become. And for that we owe you much gratitude.”

Drew encouraged her classmates to embrace the changes the future holds.

“In the next few months, we will all experience great changes, as we transition from high school into the real world,” she said. “Yet, I have no doubt that this will be a smooth transition thanks to the time and effort we have received from the SAD 70 school district.”

First honor essayist Rebecca Griffin gave an emotional, and personal speech as she highlighted some of the more significant moments in her life and reminded others that change was necessary. She also touched on how several of her friends helped her following the death of her grandfather.

“For many, the number one thing that could use improvement is self-discipline,” she said. “In a world with so much out of our control, the only thing we can truly control is ourselves, and for many, myself included, this can be quite difficult. Yet, so many of our problems could be solved if only we improve our self-discipline.”

Valedictorian Jill Gough gave a brief rundown of some of the many teachers who have helped the Class of 2017 along the way and also gave the audience some insight into the more comical events that have transpired with the class over the past 17 years. She also reminded her peers that their best times lie in the future.

She said the memories she and her classmates have made together are more important to her than her possessions “more important than this hat or gown or whatever this is — sash,” she said. “But here’s what I want to make sure that you know before leaving here today. These should not be the best years of your life. Make more memories … ones that are bigger and better than the ones we made in these halls. Complete all the goals you want to achieve. To live out your dreams, quickly, because we don’t know how much longer we all have left. Live them out, fast enough to make new ones and live those ones out too. So that later on down the road, you’ll have some awesome stories to tell.”

Superintendent Scott Richardson gave a few brief remarks before handing out diplomas.