“Run, Grace, run!”

These were the words Grace Campbell heard echo in her ears (in the voice of classmate Rachel Barter) the morning she was called to Mr. (Allan) Crocker’s office at Boothbay Region High School to learn she was Class of 2023 salutatorian.

“He said I was sworn to secrecy until my family was told,” Campbell said. “Then he picked up the phone to call my mother (BRHS Principal Tricia Campbell). It was funny because their offices are right next to each other. He said, ‘Tricia, I’d like to talk to you about your daughter, Grace.’ Mom said, ‘Oh yeah? Is she in trouble?’ No, Mr. Crocker says, ‘She’s salutatorian.’ It was funny. He made it so formal.”

Campbell, a high honor student, has enjoyed a rich, albeit hectic, four years at BRHS. “I was very surprised about being salutatorian, and happy my hard work paid off,” Campbell said. “I do so many things it’s hard sometimes to keep it all balanced. There was a period in the year when I would get home at 7 or 8 p.m. because after school I’d go to theater, the gym with Rachel, go home, do homework, eat, shower go to sleep and get up at 7:30 a.m. again.”

Creative by nature, she has been performing with the school Drama Club led by Dr. Mary Miller, the BRHS chorus and was accepted to perform in the All-State Music Festival with Hannah Hills and Suzie Edwards. Campbell also received a Sheepscot Valley Chorus award in the spring. Students are nominated by their music teachers and receive a stipend from the Chorus and perform in its spring concert.

Earlier this year, Campbell and Barter co-wrote a play, “The Census Taker,” which they based on a Robert Frost poem. Miller chose the piece for the Club to perform at the 2023 Maine Drama Festival regional competition held in March at Camden Hills High School and did very well in the Class B schools category: BRHS was first runner up overall and was awarded the Silver Trophy among schools with fewer than 500 students; Campbell, who portrayed the census taker, was one of three BRHS actors to win an individual acting award.

She was also a member of the BRHS Interact Club, a youth version of Rotary Club and its activities. Campbell’s independent project was on the history of the Boston Post Cane and local recipients over the past hundred years.

Having co-written a play, Campbell has taken on writing her speech for graduation. The initial three pages were written during a sudden burst of creativity. “I was sick in bed when I just suddenly woke up and wrote three pages and then went back to bed. The next day I read it and thought, ‘Hey, that’s not bad ...”

Next thing she did was sit down with Mr. (Mark) Gorey, Miss (Kristen) Hanley, the gifted and talented teacher; and Barter. The speech was put up on a screen for everyone to read and then comment on paragraph by paragraph with each one sharing their ideas. Campbell edited a few things, but has kept it a bit on the sentimental side. “Rachel almost teared up at the end,” she said.

Campbell noted that despite everything she and her classmates had been through, since freshman year and COVID, all 42 had come out on top. “I think our class exemplifies persistence and perseverance. I use that word often in my speech – perseverance. With COVID we went through so much, but I always knew we were going to graduate. There was no way we weren’t.”

After the flooding at Boothbay Region Elementary School during winter vacation, Campbell and many of her classmates were among those who volunteered to help with cleanup. The students went to BRES Principal Shawna Kurr to find out what they could do.

“I took a lot of online courses this year with UMaine, and a few of us had online study halls, so we could go to the school,” said Campbell. “We had to wear masks because of the asbestos while we helped move things and remove things – like the Freud quotes hanging in one of the rooms that we didn’t feel were appropriate for the younger kids who would be at the high school. We have had some great leadership in our class.”

During the class members’ final days before graduation, to be held Friday, June 9, they had a blast at Field Day with games including ones based on the former Fishermen’s Festival. Then there are the Grand March rehearsals.

“I don’t know how I will get through (graduation),” Campbell said. “Rachel and I have solos during the ceremony, and … I’m a crier.”

Campbell and her classmates are looking forward to their outdoor graduation ceremony and their trip to Boston’s APEX Center. They will return home Sunday, June 11 – except for Campbell, who will catch a flight to London. She will be traveling with “Aunt” Jessica Gorham and “Uncle” John Hembling, old family friends. Gorham told her about the trip at Christmas, which includes visiting Scotland and Campbell Castle. Come fall, she will attend Bowdoin College in Brunswick as a history major.

Being salutatorian is something Campbell shares with her grandmother, June Rose, then June Webster, Class of 1958. “I was thrilled when Grace told me she was salutatorian,” said a beaming Rose. “I remember being very honored – and thrilled at the time. I used a bit of the history of our class in my speech. I wish I still had it. And I do remember the school kept my speech for a while as a reference for other students as an example of what to include in a salutatorian speech.”

Grace K. Campbell is among the many academic achievers in her family: Her mom earned her doctorate last month; and Grace’s great-grandmother, Mildred Delano (June’s mom), was valedictorian of the Class of 1928 at Boothbay Harbor High School.

This is the second consecutive year BRHS has had a Grace Campbell graduate as salutatorian! Last year it was Grace A. Campbell, daughter of Bill and Kelly “Balmy Days” Campbell. This year, it is Grace K., daughter of Jason and Tricia.