Three hundred and five students — a class 10 percent bigger than last year — walked the length of Middletown High School's athletic track in caps and gowns of royal and baby blue Friday evening.
The class of 2013, led by the Manchester Regional Police & Fire Pipe Band in full regalia, stepped in as high school seniors and out as young adults moving toward college, the military and full-time jobs while hundreds of family members, friends, fellow students and teachers stood proudly by.
Principal Colleen Weiner, looking back on her 25 years as an educator, told those gathered the ceremony is one of endings — and new beginnings.
"Many of you are thinking that graduation and commencement are interchangeable, but there is a critical distinction."
"This graduation ceremony does not signify the end of your educational life, but the beginning. It's the beginning of you learning for you."
Board of Education Chair Eugene Nocera, who knew many of the grads from his time as vice principal at Woodrow Wilson Middle School, said graduation is a wry paradox.
"We tell you, all wearing the exact same caps and gowns, to 'be yourself,'" he said. It's the moment for grads, moving toward young adulthood, to break out, explore and challenge themselves to learn their true identity and passions.
The high school chorus sang a positively moving, "You Life Me Up," in memory of beloved English teacher Linda Beloin, who passed away in April after battling cancer.
Graduates will move on to a wide array of colleges and universities, including Wesleyan, Yale, Harvard, MIT, Boston University, UConn, Bentley, Clarke, Middlebury, Tufts and RISD.
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