As early as first grade, Ariana Bratt noticed that it took her longer than her classmates to complete assignments, and reading aloud was nearly impossible. Throughout elementary school, teachers were always willing to give her more time, but when she got to middle school, her problem became more apparent and problematic as the amount of in-class work increased.

In eighth grade, after being tested for a learning disability, Bratt was diagnosed with a processing disorder that made her read at one-fifth the rate of other students her age. That was the same year she opted to take high school English because the middle school class wasn’t challenging enough.

The youngest member of her class and the one with the highest grade point average, Bratt addressed the Scarborough High School class of 2007 on Sunday as valedictorian with the message to “never settle for mediocrity.”

“You have the resources within your reach to achieve anything,” she told her classmates.

Bratt was one of 220 students to receive her diploma at Merrill Auditorium in Portland. Her address was preceded by speeches from co-salutatorians Leah Hachey and Jon Russell. Hachey advised classmates to live in the moment, to “toss the digital watch and go analog.” Russell talked about the importance of passion, a lesson he learned from his teachers at Scarborough.

“It is passion that makes us alive,” he said.

While all of the speakers had messages for the graduates, the most unusual came from math teacher Thomas McKeon, who told the students, in the same breath, to fight fascism and to learn how to weld.

“You don’t go through life wishing you had learned less in school, but only wishing you had learned more. I wish I had learned to weld,” he said. “One time I built a car in my dad’s garage, and it really would have come in handy. It would have come in handy when I snapped off my gearshift lever outside of Santiago, Chile, and was mobbed by Gypsies.”

McKeon went on to say, “Fascism needs a poorly informed public that can be easily led and manipulated. That’s why we try to provide the broadest possible educational foundation that we can manage. It’s more important than ever for us to be careful, thoughtful and well informed about the world, if for no other reason than for our own safety,” he said.

Principal Pat Conant assured Superintendent David Doyle that the students had, indeed, learned everything they were required to in order to receive their diplomas, even though, she joked, she had to have a couple of last-minute conferences before the ceremony.

As the names were called, horns, whistles and hollers could be heard coming from the audience. The young men and women, robed in red and white, made their way across the stage, shaking the hands of the superintendent and School Board Chairwoman Annalee Rosenblatt before making their way back to their principal, who turned the tassel of each student in the class individually.

After funneling out onto the street, they students hugged, cried and posed for photos before heading off to Project Graduation for one last party together as a class.

“It feels surreal,” said Bridget Griffin. “All of our lives have been leading up to it.”

Next year, Griffin will be attending St. Michael’s College in Vermont.

Annie Boulton, who will be going to Endicott College in the fall, said she will miss her friends from school and her sports teams.

“It’s just a great feeling to be together as a class tonight,” she said.

Bratt, who will be attending Rice University in Texas in the fall to study biochemistry, said she was honored to have the chance to speak in front of her classmates.

“It was really great to share my experiences with them,” she said. “I wanted people to know even if haven’t come across road blocks like I have so early, they will, and when they do, they can overcome them.”