BRUNSWICK

Brunswick High School’s graduation was marked by high-fives, hugs, cheers and a few tears Friday evening at Watson Arena at Bowdoin College.

About 220 diplomas were conferred, before the graduates began the next phase of their lives. Or, as BHS graduate Kathryn Eldridge said during her welcoming remarks, “Flight 2014 … is ready for takeoff.”

Before a crowd of grads, educators, family, friends and well-wishers, superintendent Paul Perzanoski reflected how graduation has become a community event for all of Brunswick.

It was also a time to think of beginnings, and Perzanoski recalled how he began his own career in education, teaching at-risk students.

During his first day on that job, Perzanoski recalled that his then-principal simply told him “good luck,” and led him into a classroom containing many gang members in-training.

Perzanoski said he would start class off by confiscating students’ knives each morning, but eventually, that class became “the best behaved class in the school.”

He said he often wondered what became of the students, many of whose names he could still remember.

Quoting musician Everlast, Perzanoski noted that one of the keys to success was that “where it ends … usually depends on where you start.”

Outgoing Brunswick High School Principal Peter Dawson, who took over the position November 2013 on an interim basis until Shanna Crofton takes over in the fall, spoke about his short time in office.

“We haven’t had a chance to spend much time together, you have impressed me in many, many ways,” Dawson told the class.

Perzanoski praised Dawson in his remarks. Dawson, Perzanoski said, demonstrated “what leadership is all about.”

Valedictorian Madeline Cowan spoke of the complexity of competition, and how that can shape one’s life.

Competitionisnotaasubstitute for camaraderie, said Cowan, while noting that the “ideal competitor” is oneself.

Cowan noted this year’s graduating class contained 11 different sets of twins. Referencing her own twin sister, Anna, Madeline Cowan noted how they are best friends who encourage each other through competition.

In introducing Cowan, graduate Anna Turner remarked how Cowan was fun-loving, but would go allout during her high school athletic career. Turner characterized salutatorian Joseph Waring as a person whose greatest strength was the value he placed on friendships most important to him.

Invoking J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” Waring encouraged his fellow graduates to “shatter our glass cages and embrace change.”

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com