Micmac student spurs larger conversation
The 2016 Presque Isle High School commencement started a new chapter of life for the 130 graduates, some of whom are continuing their education in northern Maine.
Liam Daniels, the class president, used his welcome address at the Friday evening graduation cermonies to offer an overall complement for his class.
“I remember hearing throughout my career at MSAD 1 the whispers of teachers that we were the class labelled ‘the bad class.’ The label did not stop us from maturing into the fine men and women graduating tonight.”
“I see future nurses, doctors, teachers, servicemen, artists, truckers, fire fighters and everything in-between,” said Daniels, who’s attending the University of Maine at Presque Isle (major undeclared) with the support of the local Gauvin County Scholarship Fund.
There was also a musical performance of Billy Joel’s “Vienna” by singer Michaela Dube and flutist Stephanie Winslow. Dube will be studying theatre at Johnson State College in Vermont this fall, while Winslow will be majoring in music at the University of Maine in Orono.
Offering some personal tales and humble advice as commencement speaker was Maine Superior Court Justice William Stokes, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-born lawyer who once worked in Houlton and whose wife Diane Doyen is from Mapleton.
“Many of you will be moving away from home and living on your own for the first time. You will have a level of independence and freedom of action that you have not had before,” Stokes told the graduates.
“You have time to explore different paths and purposes,” he added.
Stokes worked under Justice James Archibald in Houlton in 1976-77, and said that he received valuable mentorship when he was just starting his career. Stokes urged the students to seek out their own mentors and to spend time with elder community members.
He also suggested that they think broadly about their skills and work. “Versatility is the one attribute I would encourage all of you to cultivate.”
Among the graduates celebrating their milestone was Natanya Pictou, who participated in the commencement wearing an eagle feather in her hair in honor of her late mom and heritage as a member of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs.
With the help of local community members, Pictou convinced school officials to let her wear the feather at graduation, after they initially disagreed and cited a tradition of prohibiting graduates from wearing any additional items beyond academic honors cords. Before next year’s graduation, school officials and the SAD 1 board are going to consider allowing graduating students to wear items representing their cultural heritage.
“She was a very smart young lady and was my best friend growing up, so I wanted her to be there,” Pictou said of her mother Katherine, who died of heart failure in 2009 while attending Northern Maine Community College.
Pictou, who will be attending NMCC to pursue a nursing career, said she hopes the district will adopt an inclusive policy for graduation dress codes going forward.
“We’re all different people, and I think we should be able to have one thing to express ourselves.”
