TOPSHAM — After a week of record-setting rainfall and dramatic thunderstorms, the sun smiled Sunday upon the 221 members of Mt. Ararat High School’s class of 2012 as they participated in commencement exercises.

The only weather-related challenge for marching graduates was to keep their caps and stoles from blowing away as they tried to concentrate on their steps during the processional.

Brad Smith, completing his first academic years as superintendent of schools for School Administrative District 75, gave his first graduation address in that role Sunday, certifying that each mem- ber of the class successfully met the graduation requirements of the school district and the state of Maine.

“As we celebrate your success, I’d like to ask a few minutes of your time to go back to when you began that journey. It was spring 1999. You were 4, maybe 5 years old. Americans were occupied with Y2K. … And amidst all that worry that spring, these people here — your parents, or your grandparents or those who love you — marched off with you to the nearby elementary school for what was called kindergarten registration. And they worried.”

Smith, who spent 30 years of his career as an elementary principal, said, “Believe me, they were worried. What if he gets on the wrong bus? What if he falls asleep on the way home? What if she loses a tooth? … Who’s going to take care of her if she’s sick? Are the teachers here nice?”

On that first day, “some of you were eager and ready to go into that classroom and join your place in a public school system,” he said. “Some of you, in fact, were so confident you probably could have stepped into the role of teacher. And others of you, and you know who you are, sort of hid timidly behind your parents, a little bit apprehensive about what all of this would mean.”

The anxiety returned when it was time to start middle school and then high school, and perhaps today as well.

Now, Smith said, those fears and anxieties “can be replaced with trust. For you’ve proven you can trust yourself; you can trust your instincts; you can trust your abilities; you can trust your persistence and your dedication. You can trust your passion; you can trust your compassion; and you can trust your character.”

At the suggestion of English teacher Sharon Bowman, salutatorian Joshua Wright considered the quote “Calm seas do not make a good sailor” in crafting his speech.

“My years at Mt. Ararat High have really been a great journey, but not all of it has been smooth sailing,” Wright said. “At times, life has been full of celebration and fun, and other times it has not. There have been a lot of frustrating and stressful moments along the way, but if you look at life as a journey, all of the moments, good and bad, give you something to learn from.”

“I have learned a great deal in the last four years about life, friendship and adversity,” Wright said. “I haven’t had to learn it alone. As I look out in the audience, I see friends, family, teachers, administrators and community leaders” who helped the students on their voyage through the public school system.

“Thank you for helping us navigate the clear waters and the rough seas,” Wright said. “We are better sailors because of it.”

Morgana Warner-Evans took the podium as the honor essayist and leaped into her message Sunday: “As I stand before you today, I am an unabashedly bleeding heart liberal. As such, I spend a great deal of time thinking about what sorts of impacts my actions have on the environment and other people.”

She continued, “As you might imagine, it is easy to be depressed when you understand that your clothes are made in a sweatshop overseas, you food is growing with pesticides on a factory farm, and your car is leaching pollution into the atmosphere every time you drive. But being depressed about the world does not change it. Choosing to live your life differently does. As somebody who is about to graduate from high school and take full responsibility for my own life, I am thrilled that I have the opportunity to make lifestyle choices based on my values.”

Following a piano performance by graduate Dan Plumer, valedictorian Seth Bryant spoke of the class members’ love for the school, despite its structural flaws.

Using his transition from despising track as a middle school student to slowly gaining an appreciation for the sport, Bryant said, “Taking risks and taking advantage of opportunities is a crucial part of having an enjoyable life. All of the experiences that have made all of our Mt. Ararat years wonderful started with some opportunity that was taken advantage of.”

He added, “It’s not the times that we didn’t act that we remember. It’s when we took the leap into the unknown, and somehow it all worked out.”

After receiving their diplomas, most of the class went whitewater rafting as a Project Graduation celebration.