To offset the uniformity of the Spartan green cap and gown, some Pembroke Academy graduates decorated their caps with designs or inspirational quotes. Class president Abdalla Faiad donned a red and white keffiyah, the traditional Middle Eastern shawl.

And then there was Treic Thomas-Guerzon:  the University of Arizona-bound aspiring nurse practitioner celebrated her Hawaiian roots by donning by far the most intricate graduation decor, which included about a dozen flower and money Leis, Japanese and Hawaiian candy, and a bouquet of flowers and money. Thomas-Guerzon plans to study nursing in college and ultimately provide care to children while living on the West Coast.

Surrounded by family, teachers, and friends, Thomas-Guerzon and 169 classmates received their Pembroke Academy diplomas on Tuesday evening at Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester, in a celebration of the triumphs of a class that started freshman year remotely during the height of the pandemic in 2020.

In uncoordinated speeches, both salutatorian David Popa and valedictorian Gavin Currier described how they gained valuable lessons through their experiences as runners. The University of New Hampshire-bound Popa explained how he took a risk in going out for the track team his senior year, the first time he had tried a high school sport.

Currier, meanwhile, a seasoned endurance athlete who summitted all 48 4,000-footers in New Hampshire in one month last summer, implored his fellow graduates to keep moving forward.

“Take this momentum of this first mile into your life and keep going,” said Currier, who plans to take a gap year next year to work, apply to college, and hike. He hopes to ultimately set the fastest known time on the Appalachian Trail.

Mackenzie Harrington, who also produced a senior slide show for the graduation and presented the class of 2024’s senior gift, was named PA’s Student of the Year.

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Harrington is “a great leader with strong ideas and creativity,” said Headmaster Dan Morris.

Benaiah Hanson won the Headmaster’s Award, given to the student who most embodies hard work, service, and respect.

“In my years of education, I have never seen a student move into a school as a new student and not only acclimate themselves but become a leader and an exceptional representative of their class and their school as quickly as” Hanson did, Morris said.

In his graduation speech, Morris recognized students he interacts with on a typical day, including: Megan Connolly, a member of the unified basketball and volleyball teams, whom Morris described as his “favorite student”; Sam Nereson, who can recite the digits of pi and solve a Rubiks cube in under a minute simultaneously; Eliana Gross, who “handled a significant loss in her life with poise and with grace”; and Robert Loomis, the drummer for the short-lived band “Robby and the Goons”.

Five members of the class who are joining the military – Cameron Clarke, Madison Emerson, Abigail Shaughnessy, Brianna LePage and Alexisse Strassner-Thronton – were also celebrated.

Students, for their part, recognized some of the people who have supported them over the last four years, including class advisers Matt Bernard and Alison Gelinas.

Pembroke Academy also bid farewell to Barbara Michaud, the director of school counseling and the graduation coordinator, who is retiring after 22 years at PA.

Jeremy Margolis can be contacted at jmargolis@cmonitor.com