Mount View graduation: Military service, a little bit zen, takes center stage
Family members stretch to get a look as the Mount View High School Class of 2014 enters the school gymnasium for Saturday’s commencement ceremony. (Photo by Ethan Andrews)
Mount View High School Principal Cheri Towle addresses students and family members.
Valedictorian Hailey Davis, right, and Salutatorian Skye Siladi.
Valedictorian Hailey Davis shares the results of her survey older citizens on what they wish they had known at this time in their lives.
The view of assembled graduates, relatives and friends from stage right. Pianist Kayla Anderson, foreground, provided the processional and recessional music.
Students were given white roses along with their diplomas and asked to give them to someone special. Many ended up in the hands of relatives.
Graduates flash smiles to family and friends as they leave with their diplomas.
Parents crowd into the center aisle to snap pictures of graduates receiving their diplomas.
Graduation portraits line the back wall of the Mount View High School gymnasium.
Many families posed by the Mount View mustang sculpture in front of the school.
A mylar “2” from one of several “2014” balloon arrangements decorating the gym during the graduation ceremony.
Family members stretch to get a look as the Mount View High School Class of 2014 enters the school gymnasium for Saturday’s commencement ceremony. (Photo by Ethan Andrews)
Mount View High School Principal Cheri Towle addresses students and family members.
Valedictorian Hailey Davis, right, and Salutatorian Skye Siladi.
Valedictorian Hailey Davis shares the results of her survey older citizens on what they wish they had known at this time in their lives.
The view of assembled graduates, relatives and friends from stage right. Pianist Kayla Anderson, foreground, provided the processional and recessional music.
Students were given white roses along with their diplomas and asked to give them to someone special. Many ended up in the hands of relatives.
Graduates flash smiles to family and friends as they leave with their diplomas.
Parents crowd into the center aisle to snap pictures of graduates receiving their diplomas.
Graduation portraits line the back wall of the Mount View High School gymnasium.
Many families posed by the Mount View mustang sculpture in front of the school.
A mylar “2” from one of several “2014” balloon arrangements decorating the gym during the graduation ceremony.
THORNDIKE - A list of “future plans” for Mount View High School’s Class of 2014 included in Saturday’s graduation ceremony program showed a wide range of interests, from unspecified employment and college to specialized training like horse farrier school and EMT training. The six graduates, who listed military service were recognized individually by Principal Cheri Towle, who introduced them a quotation describing America as “Land of the free, because of the brave.”
Class valedictorian Hailey Davis, who is planning to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, was among this group. In a separate acknowledgment, she was awarded an appointment to school.
The commencement did not have a keynote adult speaker offering sage words of advice, but Davis used her own speech to share what she learned by asking older citizens what they wish they had known when they graduated from high school.
She found some recurring themes: the importance of recognizing what you are passionate about and working hard at it; investing in relationships that matter and enjoying life in the moment.
“We always hear the advice, ‘Do what makes you happy,’” she said, letting her voice go a little slack against the old saw. “But what they never tell us is sometimes you won’t know what makes you happy. Sometimes other priorities arise and you cannot only focus on your own happiness.”
Davis said many people she talked to regretted letting simple pleasures fall out of their daily routines. “We find ourselves dwelling on the past, or relying heavily on what the future holds, but in reality we only know what is happening at the moment,” she said.
Davis ended with a quote from Robert Frost who summed up what he knew about life in three words: “It goes on.”
Dozens of students received scholarships funded by local donations totaling close to $75,000.
Fifty-six of the 108 Mount View graduates indicated plans to attend a four-year or community college. Of these all but nine listed schools in Maine. 41 students listed “employment” or “undecided.” Six listed branches of the U.S. military. Five listed specialized training or technical programs.
Photos by Ethan Andrews. Contact: news@penbaypilot.com
Event Date
Address
United States
