BETHEL – Fifty seniors graduated from Telstar Regional High School on Friday, surrounded by hundreds of family members, friends and faculty eagerly waiting to see them receive their diplomas.

Retired sixth-grade teachers Wayne Howe and Lenny Hoy were selected by the Class of 2015 as guest speakers. Howe and Hoy retired when the Class of 2015 was in sixth grade and both said they were honored to send off their final group of students.

Howe joked that he and Hoy “heard a rumor that we weren’t your first choice as guest speakers.

“We heard your first choice was the President of the United States, but he politely declined, and then we heard you asked the governor of our state, and he declined as well,” Howe said. “We heard you also asked (senior) Liam Gallagher’s baby sitter to say a few words, but she had a hair appointment.”

As the seniors and the audience laughed, Howe said, “You were the last class that me and Mr. Hoy had before we retired, and we’re pleased to be here to see you out.”

Howe urged his former students to “respect other people, respect other people’s opinions, earn people’s respect, and always keep a sense of humor.”

Hoy approached the podium in a plaid shirt with writing scribbled over every inch of the fabric.

“This was the shirt I was wearing on the day I retired, and I had each of you come up and sign it and leave messages on it,” Hoy said. He found it fitting to wear the shirt on the same day that his former students graduated, he said.

“Tonight is the one night that is entirely about you,” Hoy said. “Before you leave here today, stand and look around for a moment or two. What you’re going to see laid out in front of you, for just a moment in time, are the roots of what you will become. The view should be breathtaking.”

Valedictorian Travis Wheeler, accompanied by his brother Zachary Wheeler and salutatorian Liam Gallagher, said he hoped the futures of his fellow students turn out well. He waved his hand and said, “Bon voyage!”

Gallagher said his fellow students were “here tonight to receive the piece of paper that lets us know that our time at high school is at an end.

“But high school is not the end,” Gallagher continued. “We have much more to do. High school is much more than our grades, classes and credits. It’s a place where we grew, where we matured, and where we explored.

“Saint Augustine said, ‘There is no saint without a past, and no sinner without a future.’ My fellow classmates, yearn not to the mistakes of the past. Aspire to correct those of the future. We cannot control the present, but we can control the future,” Gallagher told classmates.

Go and do great things,” he told them.

“My advice to the audience: I counsel you to sit back and watch your future physicians, performers, police officers, priests, politicians, psychiatrists, plumbers, pilots, and yes, pallbearers, receive the piece of paper that will end their high school career,” Gallagher said.

Third Honors student Rebecca-Lynn Tuttle said her biggest piece of advice to the Class of 2015 was to value responsibility.

“Make sure that you stay on top of things, because it can be difficult to come back when you fall behind,” she said.

Savannah Clough, Sadie Ellsworth, Taran Vitale and Zachary Wheeler provided a list of memories and reflections they experienced through elementary, middle and high school.

Aislinn Forbes and Nicolas Johnson sang the national anthem at the start of the ceremony.

Graduate Michael Cintron wrapped up the evening by presenting a message to the graduates, followed by closing statements from Dean of Students Cheryl Lang.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net