LIMESTONE, Maine — Ten seniors who went to Limestone Community School, which is now a PreK-8 institution, walked through the halls one last time on May 30 before attending graduation ceremonies at their respective high schools.
The students are Limestone natives, nine of whom attend Caribou High School; the other attends Fort Fairfield Middle High School. Even though RSU 39 (the district which oversees Caribou, Limestone, and Stockholm’s education) only voted to discontinue High School education in Limestone in April of last year, LCS Principal Susan White said Limestone students have held senior walks for “four or five years.”
“Someone in the school saw somewhere in the United States where [senior walks] were done,” White said, “and we put our heads together and said ‘Let’s do it here.’ This is the first year we’ve brought the kids back to Limestone, but we’ve also done it when the High School was here.”
White said custodian and bus driver Fred Patterson, who transports Limestone students to Caribou High School every day, deserves special mention for making the senior walk happen.
“He adjusted his schedule a little for today,” White said on Wednesday, “and he’s going to run them back soon so they can attend marching practice.”
White also said Caribou High School principal Travis Barnes “really took the bull by the horns” and helped coordinate senior walks in several area schools formerly attended by current Caribou High School seniors.
CHS senior Trevor Hale, 17, of Limestone said he feels simultaneously excited and nervous about graduating on June 3.
“I’m a little bit nervous because I’ll have all the responsibilities of being an adult, and have to go to college,” he said. “I’ll be on my own without my parents. It’s a little frightening, but also exciting because I’m moving on to a new stage in life.”
Hale plans to attend Husson University in Bangor and major in forensic science, which combines his interest in criminal justice as well as science and math. His favorite class in Caribou, he added, is the criminal justice course at the Caribou Regional Technology Center.
As Hale and nine other former LCS students marched down the halls of their childhood school, about 100 elementary students stood outside their classrooms waving and cheering them on, with some holding homemade posters.
“It’s great to bring graduates back,” said White, “and it’s also good for the younger kids to see what they’re working towards. To see [seniors] go through with their cap and gown, the younger students can get excited about graduating, even though it’s a few years away.”
The principal said the walk is a proud moment for seniors, and that LCS will continue to hold the event as long as there are graduates from the school.
“It’s nostalgic for everyone,” she said. “They’re getting back to where it all started.”
