CARIBOU, Maine — Seventy students graduated from the RSU 39 Adult and Community Education program on Thursday, May 17, receiving either a high school or high school equivalency diploma for their efforts.
Since many students are balancing classes with numerous additional obligations, only 11 attended the Thursday ceremony.
Adult Education Director Dan MacDonald, RSU 39 Business Manager Mark Bouchard, and Academic Coordinator Lyn Smith led the 6:00 p.m. graduation. Smith spoke of her experience with each of the students present.
She said while she wears many hats, she believes the most important question she asks students is “What are your plans for the future?”
“I often receive answers based on what seems possible, past experiences, or what they think I want to hear,” she said. She will then ask if they have ever had a “dream or improbable idea,” and that it’s important for everyone to overcome the “invisible barriers” often used to “justify staying inside our comfort zone.”
“I had a discussion with a few students last week about heroes,” Smith continued. “They asked me what I would like to have for a superpower. I like to think that by showing people how to overcome those abstract “things” is a bit like magic. They said I already do that, that I turn the world upside down.”
After a carnation ceremony, in which graduates presented flowers to special people in the audience, Loring Job Corps Academic Manager David Barbosa presented the HiSet 3000 awards to students who have obtained a minimum scaled score of 15 on each of the exam’s five areas: math, writing, reading, social studies and science.
Four 2018 graduates received this award: Chelsea Doughty, Zachary Newman, Terrance Rattie and Matthew Saunders.
MacDonald then presented Alton Pelletier with the Director’s Award, and spoke at length of his accomplishments as a student.
“His appreciation for computers has evolved as he’s worked with computer aided design, 3D printing, robotics, and is currently exploring coding for Computer Numerical Code machines,” the director said.
“In addition to completing every academic assignment, typically within a few hours of when it was assigned, he has actively worked through his life goals, including getting his driver’s license and repairing his car to put it on the road,” he noted.
MacDonald and Bouchard handed out diplomas to the 11 graduates present before the ceremony concluded.
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- Adult Education graduate Austin Pelletier presents a carnation to family and friends during a May 17 graduation ceremony in Caribou. (Christopher Bouchard)
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- RSU 39 Adult Education Director Danny MacDonald, left, and RSU 39 Business Manager Mark Bouchard, present graduate Austin Gaboury with his diploma during the May 17 graduation. (Christopher Bouchard)
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- Adult Education graduate Danielle Castonguay is pictured here with her parents during the May 17 graduation ceremony in Caribou. (Christopher Bouchard)
