Anthony Thach posed for a photo with his family outside Merrill Auditorium on Wednesday afternoon. He had already walked across the stage inside to receive his diploma from Portland High School, but he still wore his shiny blue graduation gown. He paused for a moment to reflect on four years that passed faster than he expected.

“I learned a lot,” Thach said.

About what?

“Myself,” he said. “I learned a lot about myself.”

The high school graduation ceremony was one of the first of the season.

Portland Public Schools will graduate 462 students from three high schools this year: the 202 from Portland High School on Wednesday, plus 174 from Deering High School and 86 from Casco Bay High School on Thursday.

The Class of 2022 entered high school with perhaps the same mix of aspirations and expectations as any group of freshmen, but the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted their sophomore year. They first adapted to remote learning and then returned to familiar hallways in a changed world.

But their graduation, at least, was probably pretty close to the day these students had pictured when they entered Portland High School four years ago: cheers and camera flashes in the Merrill Auditorium, a backflip on stage and cigars on the steps outside, raucous joy all around.

“These 200-plus graduates are part of more than two centuries of tradition at this distinguished institution,” Superintendent Xavier Botana said Wednesday. “However, this Class of 2022 stands out for many reasons, but also because your time in high school has been so not traditional.”

The graduates, Botana said, left their classrooms in March 2020 and did not return for more than a year. Even then, mask requirements and other protocols had to become part of their every day. He credited them for not giving up on their educational goals and wished them well in a variety of languages spoken by the student body.

“The pandemic caused the Class of 2022 to miss out on many social and emotional connections and important rituals that are part of a high school experience,” Botana said. “On top of that, you were grappling with the same fears, worries and loss that we’ve all had about the health and safety of our loved ones and ourselves. But even through COVID-19, as it upended lives, this class has persevered with amazing determination to reach this milestone today.”

The student speakers recalled moments of joy, before and during the pandemic.

Salutatorian Amy Ayer remembered the moment she felt like she belonged in her new high school as a freshman: the day she pulled up a chair to join a group of soon-to-be friends during lunch out at nearby Bubble Maineia.

Valedictorian George Theall described how his classmates pulled off an April Fool’s Day joke despite remote learning by changing all their photos so their teacher saw his own face in the 20 boxes on his screen.

Some graduates and guests wore masks, while others did not. The class stood together to sing their chosen song: “Home” by Phillip Phillips.

“Settle down, it’ll all be clear,” they sang. “Don’t pay no mind to the demons, they fill you with fear. The trouble, it might drag you down. If you get lost, you can always be found.”

The graduates stepped to center stage one by one to receive their diplomas from Principal Sheila Jepson. Below the hems of their robes peeked towering platforms or shiny dress shoes or smart sneakers. The audience cheered for each name called, and the students posed, beaming, for photos with their prizes in hand. Some pointed to their supporters in the auditorium. One pulled out a pair of sunglasses. Another kneeled on the ground and lifted his diploma in the air, and his cheering section shouted “Alleluia!” One of the students did a backflip. They all returned to their seats and flipped their tassels over their mortarboards to the sound of applause.

As the graduates streamed out of the auditorium, Sharon and Andrew McNabb waved to their daughter from the edge of the balcony. Marina didn’t miss a beat during the transition to remote learning, they said with pride, and their nostalgia was taking them back to a time long before Zoom was a fixture in her life.

“I remember her graduation from nursery school,” Sharon McNabb said. “It feels like yesterday and 100 years ago.”

SHOUTED NAMES AND CAMERA SHUTTERS

Outside, the graduates and their families thronged Myrtle Street. The block was full of the sounds of shouted names and camera shutters and laughter and the crinkling of plastic around bouquets. Stella Gartland was among those who lit up a cigar, jumping into every selfie and reveling in the crowd. 

“Through COVID, it was nice to be with everyone,” she said, snapping a picture with a friend’s cellphone.

Sefania Missamou shined – her sparkly high heels, her glittery eye shadow, her radiant smile. She wrapped the green, yellow and red flag of the Republic of the Congo around her shoulders as she posed for photos with her family. She remembered feeling scared of school when she came to Portland in sixth grade, but that fear had been replaced by confidence by the time she tried out to be one of the student marshals leading her classmates at graduation.

“I am so happy and proud,” she said.

Tameka Thomas stood with her family in front of Portland City Hall. She wore her cap and gown, but she had accessorized her look with a manicure in school colors: swirls of blue and white, gemstones in blue and black and silver, 2022 written in blue glitter.

What was her favorite memory of these four tumultuous years?

“This day,” she said, triumphant.

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