THORNDIKE — Graduating seniors at Mount View High School in Thorndike were celebrated Sunday afternoon for their “determination and pure grit to get the job done.”

During a graduation ceremony at the school gymnasium, 64 students received diplomas and were hailed for all they had experienced and endured during their high school years.

Regional School Unit 3 Superintendent Charles Brown commended the graduates for their perseverance during their academic careers at Mount View, which enrolls students from Brooks, Freedom, Jackson, Knox, Liberty, Monroe, Montville, Thorndike, Troy, Unity and Waldo.

“I commend you for your determination and your pure grit to get the job done,” Brown said.

Mount View High School graduates assemble Sunday afternoon before the start of the school’s graduation ceremony in Thorndike. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

He said he hopes the graduates will think back to their high school years and “remember where you came from, give back, be involved in your community and be the change that you and everyone here wishes to see in the world.”

Mia Rae described her tumultuous four years of high school, with the COVID-19 pandemic “ripping out the end of sophomore year, our whole junior year and the beginning of our senior year,” halting sports and other activities and events.

“Coming in freshman year,” Rae said, “we were all excited for high school, excited for the beginning of the last stretch of our government-mandated education.”

It was halfway through the class of 2022’s sophomore year when the coronavirus pandemic put a pause on life, forcing Maine schools to close in March 2020 and adapt quickly to remote education.

Mia Rae, left front, the senior class president, and her classmates await the start of the processional Sunday afternoon during the Mount View High School graduation ceremony in Thorndike Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“We were excited to experience what every adult has said to be the best years of their lives,” Rae said. “Then, we had our first class in world history, and that’s when we knew high school was going to be a long four years.”

Despite the disruption caused by the pandemic, high school “went by pretty fast,” Rae said.

“But in the end, it did not matter because we are here and we made it and we are graduating,” Rae said. “We are coming out of high school with essential knowledge that will help us in the real world.”

That knowledge includes knowing that y=mx+b, how to analyze 18th century poetry “or even that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell,” Rae said, “because that’s the stuff we really need to know, right?”

Mount View High School graduates carry their diplomas Sunday afternoon during the recessional at the school’s graduation ceremony in Thorndike. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Prior to the presentation of diplomas the Mount View graduation ceremony included remarks from students and faculty members, including Principal Zackary Freeman, salutatorian Benjamin Heath, RSU 3 board Chairperson Richard Frost and valedictorian Draedyn Furrow.

Furrow spoke highly of his classmates and their ability to adapt to new circumstances.

“We have grown in different environments of learning, from pre-K to high school,” Furrow said, “and we have adapted and flourished since.”

He described transitioning from prekindergarten through elementary school, the struggles of adjusting to middle school, eventually reaching high school and finally beginning to “fit in with the culture.”

“And then everything changed in March 2020,” Furrow said. “Unfortunately, we did not get the full high school experience, but I think we made the most of it.”

Celebrations for 2022 graduates were to continue into Monday morning at Mount View, and a class celebration trip to Universal Studios is set for later this month.