MHS Graduation 2024
For 167 Messalonskee High School students, the public education they began more than a decade ago will come to a close at graduation Thursday night at the Augusta Civic Center.
“It’s about them,” Messalonskee principal Scott Hallett said of the event. “It is a celebration where every student has their moment to shine.”
Hallett, in his first year as Messalonskee principal, will open the ceremony, and assistant principal Peter McLaughlin will read aloud the names of graduates as they receive their diplomas.
Valedictorian Anne Stocco and Salutatorian Lily Mitchell, the two highest-ranked seniors, and senior Class President Peyton Perkins will speak as well.
Most of the class of 2024 is headed for higher education with the majority electing to attend schools in Maine – almost 78 percent. But some are heading out of state, one as far away as Stanford University, 35 miles south of San Francisco, California.
Nearly three-fourths – 71 percent – of the class plan to be in college this fall with almost 35 percent going to a four-year school and 36 percent opting for two-year institutes – at least initially.
Of the remaining graduates, nine students have enlisted in the U.S. military and 38 are going directly into the civilian workforce or searching for other opportunities.
Hallett has attended more than 20 graduations as an educator, but this year, for the first time, he signed a diploma for a member of his own family: his son, Scotty Hallett.
The senior Hallett, therefore, will have to balance a dual role Thursday night. He isn’t sure how he will handle the situation.
“I loved having him here,” Hallett said. “I will be sad to see him go. All I have to do is not tear up when he comes up on the stage.”