At the Fifty-Sixth Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, June 10th, the 128 members of the Class of 2018 received their diplomas, turned their tassels, and joined the ranks of alumni/ae.  The ceremony culminated several hectic weeks of activities for the seniors.

On Friday, May 25th, Anna Parker received the Robert W. Boyd Award, presented on this 50th anniversary of the award by the first recipient, David MacKinnon ’68.  Anna, daughter of YHS Latin teacher Meghan Casey, was a member of the Student Senate all four years, serving as President in her senior year.  She served as the student liaison to the School Committee during her junior and senior years, as well as participating in sailing and ice hockey.   She will matriculate at the College of Holy Cross in 2019 after spending this next year working for Safe Passage in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Marching practice and the class picnic preceded the Convocation on Thursday, June 7th at the First Parish Church.   Eliza Crowley, Molly Malczynski, and Greta Elder spoke for the students.  HMS teacher and long-time boys soccer coach Mike Hagerty was the guest speaker.

The Awards ceremony took place in the YPAC on Friday morning, June 8th.  Over 80 of the seniors received either an award or a scholarship.  Recipients of the major awards were:

Greg England Award:  Luke Groothof;  Robert Hawkes Award: Hannah Corey; George O. Merrill Award: Luke Laverdiere; Maine Principal’s Award: Miranda Clarke; Western Maine Conference Citizenship Awards: Eliza Crowley & Bay Hanson;  Hector Hebert Award:  Emilia Ruth.

This year’s award ceremony also marked the presentation of the inaugural Yarmouth Alumni Association Award in honor of Ben Soule. This award was presented to Sean Moore, who exemplified dedication, selflessness, humility, and school spirit, characteristics that Ben Soule brought to the Yarmouth schools and community throughout his career.

As usual, the Commencement ceremony on Sunday took place under a tent in front of the school.  Class President Margaret Gunville welcomed the attendees.  Anna Parker and Sammy Potter delivered the student speeches.  Stephen Smith, CEO of LL Bean and father of senior Meghan Smith, was the guest speaker.  At 5:00 pm the students departed by bus for their all-night Project Graduation event.

With the regular season competition winding down, here are the results so far.

Boys Basketball:  9-5 record

Girls Basketball:  5-9 record

Boys Hockey:  5-4-1 record

Girls Hockey:  3-11 record

Boys Swimming: 3-4 record

Girls Swimming:  5-2 record

Skiing:  Results are hard to come by, but the Girls teams are doing well in both Alpine and Nordic.  The Girls Nordic team won the Sasse Memorial in Rumford on January 27th, defeating fourteen other schools.   Sophia Laukli ’18 won the race, defeating her nearest competitor by one minute.

Track:  Results hard to come.  Both Boys and Girls placed fifth of seven schools in a recent WMC meet.

At an all-school assembly on January 12, the 2018 Hector Hebert Award was presented to Emilia “Emi” Ruth.  Phil Harriman ’73 made the presentation.

In the late 1990s a group of former students and long-time history teacher Alan Hall spurred the effort to create a prize in honor of their former teacher and colleague.  They noted that Mr. Hebert, who taught history at YHS from 1961 until his retirement in 1980, was an “…engaging and thoughtful scholar …. who was passionate about history, architecture, jazz, and sports.”  The award goes to a senior who “…typifies personal integrity, intellectual curiosity, and the Renaissance ideal of of excellence in a wide range of activities.”

Emi Ruth personifies the award criteria.  She takes advanced placement and high honors courses, focusing on physics and mathematics, and intends to major in mechanical engineering in college.  Outside of the classroom, she has served a Class Clerk all four years and has captained the sailing and alpine ski teams.  A strong musician, she has been a trombonist in several YHS instrumental groups, and plays the piano and ukelele as well.  She has attended Mandarin Chinese classes at USM, and Bowdoin, and has served as a martial artist at Aikido of Maine for nine years.

Congratulations Emi, a true Renaissance person.