FARMINGDALE — Matthew Mills transferred out of Wiscasset High School because he didn’t feel academically challenged. That changed in his junior year.
That was when he got to Hall-Dale High School, where, Mills said, people including history teacher Rob Kennedy and science teacher Truax McFarland pushed him to learn more. He said he was helped by a welcoming student body.
“When I came here, I seemed to get right into things,” Mills said. “I had no problem making friends. Everybody was very accepting of me.”
The 18-year-old from Wiscasset, attending the school on a superintendent’s agreement, graduated 10th in his class of 56 Saturday night in Hall-Dale’s Penny Memorial Gymnasium.
The senior class ceremony was highlighted by reflections on the small group’s strong sense of camaraderie.
“We are a community,” honors essayist Erin Ballew said, “a community that welcomes the exchange of ideas and meets change head-on; and as a result, this is a class always ready for a healthy debate, willing to talk before they throw down.”
In his lighter-hearted at-large speech, graduate Steven Hubert remembered trouble he got into, juxtaposing times he got getting caught texting during class with the time last year that Augusta police caught him in an abandoned city building with friends.
They were “ghost-hunting,” he said, adding that it’s safer to get in trouble in school than it is outside of it, he said.
“I feel like it is these small, childish acts that makes us teenagers,” Hubert said. “Also, I think that it’s better to do them when you’re in high school and before you’re 18, because when you’re 18, your name goes in the paper if you get caught.”
In his speech, salutatorian Adam Fullmer said Hall-Dale helped his class mature, saying “our lives have been enriched” by the school “and we have been equipped to be successful in our future endeavors.”
“The sense of community at Hall-Dale is a blessing to us and will continue to benefit us throughout our lives,” he said.
For his part, Mills is headed to the University of Maine in Orono to study financial economics. He’s grateful for his new school, which he said prepared him far better than his old one would have.
“They seem to take a much more personal interest in their students,” Mills said.
Michael Shepherd — 370-7652
Twitter: @mikeshepherdme
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