By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

GLOCESTER — They endured the “dust and noise” of a $57.7 million school building project, which included a new middle school and renovation and expansion of the high school, but the Class of 2009 got the job done with 59 percent of the class ready to show that same dedication and drive when they head off to college in the fall.

“I want to thank each and every one of you for the way you handled yourself during this challenging time,” School Superintendent Michael Barnes told the 212 Ponaganset High School seniors who earned diplomas at Friday’s 48th Commencement.
Barnes lauded the graduates for their patience and perseverance while attending school during the last phase of the project - the renovation of high school - which will be substantially completed by June 30. The renovation has added 70,000 square feet to the high school.
“You had to learn amidst a major construction project,” he said. “You endured the dust and noise, but you were also the first class to graduate in a renovated high school with new athletic facilities, science labs and library that are all part of a first-class facility.”
The threat of rain last night and today forced school officials to hold last night’s graduation ceremony in the new high school gymnasium, a decision that prompted laughter from the audience when Principal Dennis Kafalas noted that the clouds had broke and the sun was shining even as the green- and white-clad graduates filed into the gymnasium to the Ponaganset High School Wind Ensemble’s spotless rendition of “Pomp and Circumstance.”
“We spent two weeks deciding whether to hold graduation indoors or outdoors and, of course, it’s beautiful out now,” he said.
Kafalas also noted the Class of 2009’s ability to adapt in the face of the renovation project at the high school.
“They put up with a major renovation while school was in session,” he said. “They had to put up with the relocation of lockers and classrooms and they did it with good humor.”
In his address, Valedictorian Joseph Vallee also acknowledged the many academic challenges he and his classmates faced.
“Today is a day when we celebrate our completion of high school. After all, we made it through roughly 720 days, which is 4320 hours, or 259,200 minutes of high school and finally we are graduating,” he said. “We had to endure such things as being freshman, the remodeling of our school, the Senior Legacy Project, the Digital Portfolio and the Senior Project. Among our wild and incomparable memories are frozen pipes, delayed school due to construction, a cool waterfall in the passage between buildings, chlorinated water and rooms that are cold in the winter and hot in the spring. All I can say is life was so much easier when our clothes did not have to match and girls had cooties. Furthermore, we are probably the fittest school in the state now having to walk so much between classes. I think I have lost twenty pounds this year walking to my classes. In spite of all of these events, we made it.”
Despite the hardships, he said, there were many good times that will create lasting memories.
“It has been so time consuming and draining, but regardless of how hard we have worked these past four years we have not lost sight of what matters most…each other,” he said. “Our friendships have grown through, or by participating in, such activities as band, chorus, athletics, the arts, student and class council as well as clubs. From these activities we have learned leadership, kinship, devotion, character and perseverance. Together, they helped us grow and bond as a class. These experiences have created memories which will last forever. We have become very close and have put an incredible amount of effort into all that we have done and now it is over.”
Vallee urged his fellow gradates not to forget the friends they made over the past four years.
“Throughout our years here we have grown as people and have created friendships that, quite possibly, could be with us the rest of our lives,” he said. “We have gone through a lot together and we should never ever lose sight of what these friendships have given to us. We have helped each other mature into young men and women and conquer whatever life has thrown at us, but despite everything we have never given up; we have matured, and have accomplished so much. I am honored to be a part of the class of 2009.”
In his salutatorian speech, Nathan Leveille lauded the entire Ponaganset High School community “which has donated thousands of hours of their time and resources to the ongoing task of making PHS an example of the ideals of education.”
“The voters, School Committee, our parents and coaches, and all of those who have a vested interest in our mission, have performed admirably in making this place one that is deserving of our attendance and effort,” he said.
Leveille described the Class of 2009 as having boundless energy from the get go.
“Back then (as freshmen) we had never been recognized and appreciated,” he said. “What we did have was a lot of energy. Energy that was always pushing us to get out of our seats and make something happen. Energy that no classroom in the world could ever hope to contain. I understand why our teachers were frustrated back then. We hadn’t learned to apply that characteristic intensity to something positive.”
Leveille said it is now time for the Class of 2009 to show what it’s made of.
“It is from this night on that we finally will get the chance to prove what we are made of, whether in college, work, or in the defense of our country and community against great enemies,” he said. “It is from this night that we begin to build our own lives and chart our own courses. We’ve already proved them wrong just by making it here. I hope we’ll be able to do so for as long as we live.”