DANFORTH, Maine — East Grand School gave a fond farewell to eight graduating seniors Thursday evening in a ceremony marked with plenty of appreciation by the Class of 2014.
In his speech, valedictorian Logan Crone called the ceremony a “joyous and humbling occasion” as he recalled how the Class of 2014 arrived at this stage of their educational journey.
“People have always told us that we shouldn’t rush our high school years, and now we know why,” he said. “We worked hard to get to this point, but it wouldn’t have been possible without help from the people in the school, as well as in the community.”
Crone thanked the teachers for sharing their time, talents and knowledge with the students, both in and out of the classroom.
“Yes, we know it was your job to do it, but what you did went beyond your job description,” he said. “You took the time to explain assignments, usually more than once because we weren’t paying attention. You allowed us to come after school and put in the extra time to help us understand our work. You put in the effort and connections to real world experiences, so we wouldn’t have to ask the question ‘When are we ever going to use this in real life?’ As teachers, you demanded excellence from us, even when you knew we didn’t want to give it. You set the bar high, and made sure we were ready for a secondary education.”
Crone admitted one of his fears in being in such a small school was “is my education sufficient enough to move onto college?”
His first thought was “No.”
“Without a diversified classroom experience, with the same teachers instructing more than one subject, it seemed like my small school education was of a different caliber when compared to a larger school,” he said. “After careful consideration, I came to realize, I wouldn’t change where I went to school for the world. Seeing the same people every day, you started to realize that you care about those people. In a big school or community, you hardly talk to the people that you walk beside. The small community here is something that I have come to love and will definitely remember for the rest of my life. The following statement is something that describes me quite well: ‘You can take the boy out of Danforth, but you can’t take the Danforth out of the boy.’ This statement is definitely true of myself. From the small classroom with each student receiving one on one attention, to helping with community projects, I am proud of where I was brought up.”
Crone also thanked his coaches in sports for teaching important life lessons beyond the classroom; the custodial staff for keeping the buildings clean and safe; and the administration for making things run smoothly so students could focus on their education.
His final shout out was to the parents of the graduating seniors.
“Our parents have been there for us every step of the way,” he said. “Between dragging us out of bed in the morning, and making sure we are ready for every ball game, they are always there for us. Our parents are definitely our true heroes.”
Theresa Cousins said she was stunned to be called into Principal Dawn Matthews’ office where she was told she would be the salutatorian.
“Rest assured, I was officially stunned,” Cousins said. “This class had been my life and I’ve had the greatest amount of honor getting to know my classmates throughout our high school years. Through sports I found out how tough you are, through academics classes I have learned how smart you are, on road trips for sports I realized how funny you can be and right now with all of these guests here, I see how loved you are. With all of this combined, I now know that every one of you will be successful in your future plans.”
Cousins gave a brief description of each graduating senior, revealing a small part of their personality or an interesting story from their time together, before closing out her speech by quoting Eleanor Roosevelt.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams,” she said. “Whatever your dream is, chase it. Overall during your journey, life isn’t going to go exactly how you want it to. Each step might be different than what you imagined, but all you need is trust. Trust will allow you to follow your passion and dream. You’ll find something that makes you feel joyful or amazed or triumphant.
“Thank you to the Class of 2014 for the last four years because I will never forget all the friendships formed with you and the memories created with you outside of school,” she continued. “It’s been a long and crazy ride with you, and it’s time to get off and board another train.”
