Hingham High School Graduates 254 Students

Saturday marked the beginning of a new chapter for the 254 students who graduated.

In front of family and friends, a line of red and white robed seniors walked confidently to their allocated seats in the center of the High School athletic field to the sound of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance. There were cheers from the stands and the students who waved as they recognized faces in the crowd, a communal celebration of achievement and, for many parents, the realization that this was the end of a significant chapter in their child’s life.

“The class of 2011 has accomplished wonderful things in the classroom, on the stage and on the playing field during their four years,” Hingham High School Principal Paula McCann said as she addresses the seniors.  “They truly have lived up to the  mission to become productive, responsible members of society.”

McCann pointed out that 191 members of this class had received $292,000 in scholarships, that 71 percent of the class had participated in athletics with six teams winning league championships, with special mention going to the Girls Ice Hockey team who captured the Division One Hockey Championship in March.

She also stated that the class of 2011 has also been active in the community with goodwill efforts of  collecting  over 700 pairs of sneakers as part of the Nike Re-Use-A-Shoe campaign.

“Today marks the successful completion of your High School career, she said. "For some of you, this was a fabulous four years full of fun and successes, for others it was a journey fraught with challenges and struggles.”

McCann looked into the future by quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson:  “Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could, some wonders and absurdities have crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. This day is all that is good and fair, it is too dear with its hopes and invitations to waste a moment on yesterdays.”

Finally, Dr. McCann urged the students to take the next step forward on their path, advising them to  neither rest on their successes nor use  failures as a reason not to try again.

"Don’t waste time looking back, move ahead to new goals,” she said.

McCann's words were echoed by Linda Hill, Chair of School Committee.

“For every ending, there will be a new beginning, for every memory that you have had, there are more ahead,” Hill said.

Four student speakers also offered encouraging words to their classmates.

 Salutatorian Elizabeth Hanlon confessed that her attachment to her trombone’s cubby was what had finally driven home the realization that her time at Hingham High was coming to an end. Standing in front of her peers, she said she had been mostly stoic in the days leading up to graduation, but in leaving her favorite nooks and the cubby behind, she understood that there are seats in halls, labs, dorm rooms and work places waiting elsewhere and gaps and new circles of friends to fill.

HHS Valedictorian Maggie Neterval compared life to “Spin Art”; applying paint onto a revolving piece of paper.

“No matter how strategically you drop the paint onto the spinning disc to try to get the perfect spirals they advertise on the box, you are always going to end up with variations of a random, splattery mess,”  she said.  

High School is a different experience for everyone, and for David Hogan,  his had been mainly social with occasional boisterous levels.  Hogan spoke at great length about the moments he shared with friends. 

“All of our friends have directly impacted on the types of people we are today,” Hogan said. “Our friends have been with all of us, the highs and the lows, the A’s and the F’s, the victories and defeats.”

Hogan also acknowledged that while this was a day of celebration, it was also one of sadness.

“For most of us, today is the last day that we will be surrounded by all of our friends," he said. 

Recalling advice from his father, who had told him that these four years would be the best of his life, Hogan challenged his classmates to not forget those friends and the memories  and to keep them there forever.

The final voice on the podium belonged to Class President Thomas Vangel.

Vangel used the analogy of golf to describe the last four years of high school.

“We were all freshmen, teeing off at the first hole,” he said. “There were parts along the course when we struggled and needed advice from our caddy. There have been times for all of us when we have piped a drive smack dead in the fairway and times when we have sliced it into the woods and never thought we would make it out." 

Vangel paid tribute to the school and the faculty, speaking with pride about what makes Hingham High such a great place.

"It’s fair to say that everyone plays a part in making this place so special,” he said before wrapping up his inspirational speech with more golfing wisdom. “Some of us will be making the turn to the back nine and heading to college.  Many others will enter the working world next year, but whatever you end up pursuing, never be afraid to take a chance because there will always be someone willing to help.”

After the speaches, the time for talking was over and the graduates lined up to get the diplomas they had worked so hard for. With constant applause from the bleachers, and the occasional air horn, the 254 graduates made their way to the podium to be presented with recognition of their High School career.

As the hats were thrown in the air, friends and relatives crowded around the graduates, eager to add their congratulations to those bestowed on them by faculty members. Cigars were lit up and the Class of 2011 celebrated as one entity, happy in the knowledge that High School is now behind them.

As the crowds began to thin out and students headed off to party with their friends and family, Principal McCann stood at the side of the field watching the celebrations with a smile on her face.

“I feel extremely proud, am delighted that I was a part of the four years that they spent here and to have played a role in the successes they have been and will continue to be,” she said