Casco Bay High School held its 17th graduation exercises on Thursday, June 5, at Merrill Auditorium. Casco’s commencement ceremonies are known for mixing traditional graduation pomp and circumstance with the unconventional, such as good-natured jokes interspersing heartfelt personal testimonies. This year’s evening ceremony for the Class of 2025 was no exception.

The event included remarks by Superintendent Ryan Scallon and Principal Priya Natarajan – and a surprise guest appearance by former longtime principal Derek Pierce, who stepped down last year. The event also included the reading of a poem, remarks and “Final Words” from students, in addition to musical performances and the presentation of diplomas.

Superintendent Scallon praised the 97 members of the Class of 2025 for their accomplishments. Among just a few highlights he cited were:

●      Graduates embracing the Early College Program with gusto, with more than 50 percent of the class achieving college credit either through AP testing or college coursework.

●      Thirteen class members graduating with STEM diploma endorsements that recognized their extensive work in the vital career fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

●      Eleven graduates earning the Seal of Biliteracy, showing their competence in English and at least one other language.

●      Class members being instrumental to the success of Casco’s Mock Trial team, which competed at the 2025 National High School Mock Trial Championships last month – the first Portland students to make it to nationals since the 1980s.

●      Graduates having their artwork recognized on the national level.

●      A class member being selected as the Cumberland County Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year for their outstanding leadership, service, academic excellence, and dedication to health and wellbeing.

“Please know that each one of you has left an important mark on our school community, and we are immensely proud of your accomplishments,” Scallon said. “The diploma you receive today is a testament to your hard work, your resilience, and your dedication.”

He concluded: “Class of 2025, you are stepping into a world that needs your unique talents, your fresh perspectives, and your youthful energy. Find ways to contribute positively.”

Principal Natarajan was due to speak next, but former Principal Pierce suddenly emerged from the wings of the stage to first introduce her. Graduates and the audience burst into applause. Pierce said he missed everyone and talked about being deluged with well wishes when he first stepped down last year. But he said that once school started in the fall of 2024, that all stopped because of how the Casco Bay community embraced their new principal. “I was never so not missed in my life because Ms. Natarajan crushed it,” Pierce said.

He listed off a variety of ways that students have described Natarajan, who was formerly a Casco Bay math teacher and the school’s assistant principal. For example, one said she is a “people solver,” another said that she is “a terrific principal because she was and always will be a terrific teacher of students, staff and life,” and yet another student said that “her smile spreads around the school like the aroma of toasted almond coffee.”

Natarajan got a standing ovation when it was her turn to speak. She noted that while it was Casco’s 17th graduation ceremony, the school itself is 20 years old. Casco Bay High School is the district’s newest school, founded in 2005 by Pierce and others. It is part of the EL Education (formerly known as Expeditionary Learning) network and is deliberately small, with each class limited to a maximum of 100 students.

Natarajan talked about her first year as the school’s new principal. She said she’s learned that “in every job, you will craft a new version of yourself as a leader.”  She said that a key to real leadership is “showing care and respect and making others feel like they belong.”

In true Casco Bay graduation fashion, the graduates jokingly interrupted Natarajan’s remarks several times with stunts involving “ghosts” of Casco Bay’s past, present and future. A 2020 Casco graduate, the brother of a Class of 2025 member, showed up in cap and gown with his diploma. He asked Natarajan to hand it to him on the Merrill stage this time, because he originally received it during COVID, when the school’s commencement was held outside at Ocean Gateway. She complied.

Then another brother from the same family, a 2018 Casco graduate, also showed up in cap and gown. He displayed his mechanical engineering diploma from the University of Southern Maine and asked Natarajan to congratulate him with a handshake, which she did.

Finally, a sister from that family, a current Casco freshman, jokingly also asked the principal for a diploma but Natarajan told her she’d have to earn it. “I want to see you in June 2029 on this same stage,” she told the girl.

A Casco graduation tradition entails each member of the class coming to the microphone on the stage to share their “Final Word,” a sentence on topics such as life and their school experience. Natarajan spoke her Final Word to the Class of 2025: “I’m grateful for the ways you have supported me and trusted me.”

Other highlights of the evening included class speaker Faisal Azeez. He began speaking in Arabic and his remarks included a fond salutation to his parents in the audience for the sacrifices they have made for their children. Faisal expressed his gratitude to them and to Natarajan – saying, “she’s like a mom to us all” – and to faculty, staff and his classmates. He urged the Class of 2025 to be true to themselves. “Be grateful for who you are and the path that shaped you,” he said.

Class writers Ruby Van Dyk and Jo Ellis, both of whom are published writers, recited a poem, titled “What Will You Remember?” It started with the line: “Being born is a lot like the first day of high school,” and likened the experience of getting through high school to growing up. Near the end, the poem concluded: “But really, today, we are born again. This is the beginning.”

The Class of 2025’s gift to the school was a pledge from class members to come back to Casco for a day after graduation to help out at the school, whether in the classroom or through such tasks as weeding the garden. The class decided that “our showing up is far more valuable than any gift item could be.”

WATCH THE CEREMONY.

The Portland Public Schools is Maine’s largest school district, with nearly 6,500 students, and it’s also the most diverse. About one-third of the district’s students come from homes where languages other than English are spoken—a total of 59 languages. Approximately 47 percent of the district’s students are white and 53 percent are students of color. More than half of all PPS students are economically disadvantaged.