Good afternoon, my name is Maddie Orchard, and as the valedictorian for the Class of 2025, I have the opportunity to talk a little bit about the people I’ve grown up with.

Our class is an extremely diverse group of individuals. We’re starting our own businesses, going into the armed forces, entering college, and learning trades. We’ve always been confident and strong-willed, racing to finish our multiplication tables or across the field at recess. Now, we’ve taken this capability and confidence to move on in life. While some of us are staying here, others are traveling farther off the peninsula, as far as Florida and even Missouri.

While we are all going in very different directions, many of us started together in kindergarten, where we fed Mrs. Miller’s frogs and fought over the little pink carpet square for our morning meetings because it was the prettiest. We were motivated from the start; determined to do things our way, and we quickly developed a “reputation.”

In elementary school, there was no way teachers could break up the friend groups to stop us from talking during class because we were all so close. In fourth grade, we walked down the hall holding a rope, forced to stay quiet and single file - although I don’t think this stopped us in the long run. Each year, as we moved up a grade, teachers were warned about how “bad” of a class we were, because we talked so much. Teachers continually retired the year after they had us. We even made a sub quit (but in our defense, she made us analyze the painting on the front of our math books instead of actually having us work on our math). We took states tests with Mrs. Johnson, grading each other and laughing when someone got 1/50; thankfully, it was Maine. Then, we started high school in masks, and I don’t think any of us remember it. We struggled through L'Heureux tests and Mrs. Hersom’s biology class. Shoutout to Mrs. Hersom for that one multiple choice I got a 47 on! We began to pursue individual interests, in and out of the classroom, but then danced together at prom, watching people get pushed into the dance circle our parents' promised us didn’t exist anymore.

Now, we’re going to each other’s Graduation Parties instead of Birthday Parties. We went on the sunset cruise together, met at 8 in the morning for marching practices, and played a game that dominated many of our lives for a month, ending with no established winner.

Up until now, our personalities have been blended together, and we’ve been known as the Class of 2025. While we may look the same sitting up here in our blue and gold, together one last time, we are about to continue on our individual paths. The confidence we’ve developed in ourselves and each other, along with our competitive spirits, will push us as we go our separate ways. We may have grown apart since the time we all played together at recess, but we’re ready to move on to our own lives, whether here in Boothbay or not. As we wrap up our time here at BRHS, I want to wish everyone good luck with our futures and thank our families and community for your support, both tonight, these last four years, and the rest of our lives