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By BEN BRAGDON - GREENVILLE - May 21 was a night to celebrate acheivement and inspiration as Greenville High School students, faculty and their families gathered for the annual Academic Awards Recognition ceremony on the stage at Oakes Auditorium. The night culminated in the unveiling of the senior class standing for the GHS Class of 2007. Hannah Breton, who earlier in the night was recognized for 15 straight quarters on the GHS Honor Roll, was named the valedictorian, while salutatorian went to Tasha Elsemore. Rounding out the top 10 were: Susan Muzzy, Dan Graves, Amelia Butman, Leah LaRoche, Skye Hinkley, Briana Coburn, Nicole Melrose, and Kellie Reed. A complete list of awards will be printed in the Moosehead Messenger next week. The ceremony began with guest speaker Dr. Richard Pattenaude, president-elect of the University of Maine System and the president of Univeristy of Southern Maine for the past 16 years. Pattenaude mentioned Greenville High's impressive track record of creating post-secondary opportunities for its students, whether it be at a four-year institution or a trade school. "That is extraordinary," he said. "As a community, you should feel proud. As a school, you should feel proud. It takes families to help students move along." The students receiving awards on that night should be proud that they achieved in academics, an area that does not always get as much attention as, say, athletics, he said. "There are no cheering crowds when you are sitting there writing a paper. Pattenaude urged the students to workk hard and continue learning, both to understand the world around you and to take advantage of opportunities that are no always obvious. "Learning creates opportunities," he said. "It opens doors you don't even know exist. When I was in high school, I didn't know anything about being a college president." GHS teachers gave out awards in each subject category, and used the time to say something about their students. Ron Pellitier, the Advanced Placement U.S. History teacher, gave an award to each of his students, saying he could not single out one student from this excellent group. "They have truly been the most extraordinary class in my career," he said. The students did what theyhod to do to prepare for the AP exam, Pelletier said. Once, when school closed during a snowstorm, the students pled with the teacher to hold class anyway. "We agreed to meet at my house to take a quiz so we wouldn't get behing," he said. Science teacher Dave Cousins, a parttime resident of Beaver Cove who was asked to fill a position part way through the year, was a bit apprehensive at first. But that quickly left when he started working with students. "Your kids here are excellent," he said. The GHS Math Team was also cited for winning the East/West league.
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