Pride and pleasantness: Wiscasset Class of 2026 graduation
Wiscasset Middle High School teacher Shanon Cotta turns the mortarboard’s tassel for Peter Rego in Stover Auditorium June 4 as School Committee Chair Tracey Whitney and some of Rego’s fellow members of the Class of 2026 look on. JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper 
Erik Dube, one of the Class of 2026’s “Top Scholars,” leads the Pledge of Allegience at Wiscasset Middle High School graduation June 4. At right, Principal Sarah Hubert. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper 
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Rick Lang with shih tzu Edna Louise. Lang and wife Wanda are grandparents of WMHS Class of 2026 Salutatorian Noah Ruzyckij. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper 
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English language arts and drama teacher Emily Sue Barker, left, leads the singing of the national anthem. At right, Principal Sarah Hubert. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper 
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Stephen Puff, left, pictured with fellow WMHS teacher Caleb Christensen Fletcher, sets up the livestream on Wiscasset School Department’s YouTube channel. View the recording there. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper 
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Cheryl Dilts. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper 
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Before the ceremony, Class of 2026’s Lilly Lovejoy, with fiancé Stephen Dowdy and Lovejoy’s best friend Georgia Brewer, said she was feeling pretty excited and maybe a little nervous. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper 
Wiscasset School Committee Chair Tracey Whitney and member Doug Merrill. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper 
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Wiscasset Middle High School teacher Shanon Cotta turns the mortarboard’s tassel for Peter Rego in Stover Auditorium June 4 as School Committee Chair Tracey Whitney and some of Rego’s fellow members of the Class of 2026 look on. JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Erik Dube, one of the Class of 2026’s “Top Scholars,” leads the Pledge of Allegience at Wiscasset Middle High School graduation June 4. At right, Principal Sarah Hubert. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
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Rick Lang with shih tzu Edna Louise. Lang and wife Wanda are grandparents of WMHS Class of 2026 Salutatorian Noah Ruzyckij. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
English language arts and drama teacher Emily Sue Barker, left, leads the singing of the national anthem. At right, Principal Sarah Hubert. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
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Stephen Puff, left, pictured with fellow WMHS teacher Caleb Christensen Fletcher, sets up the livestream on Wiscasset School Department’s YouTube channel. View the recording there. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
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Cheryl Dilts. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
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Before the ceremony, Class of 2026’s Lilly Lovejoy, with fiancé Stephen Dowdy and Lovejoy’s best friend Georgia Brewer, said she was feeling pretty excited and maybe a little nervous. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Wiscasset School Committee Chair Tracey Whitney and member Doug Merrill. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
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SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper Thursday night, June 4 in Wiscasset Middle High School's Stover Auditorium, Jane LeBourdais, Class of 1959 from the old Wiscasset High School, had a great-great niece graduating, Brooke Lincoln.
Having a senior to celebrate happens a lot for LeBourdais. Next year, great grandson Julien King is a senior.
As Wiscasset Newspaper tried to keep the greats straight, LeBourdais explained, when you’re 85, everything is a great.
Class of 2026 families brought toddlers, an infant and older children, some with party horns. And Salutatorian Noah Ruzyckij's grandparents Wanda and Rick Lang brought shih tzu Edna Louise, in a pink stroller for dogs.
The graduating seniors should all be proud of how far they’ve come, Noah Ruzyckij said on stage. “We made it.”
Ruzyckij thanked teacher Shanon Cotta for his support and for the always great field trips; and Bath Regional Career & Technical Center (Bath Tech) teacher Landon Hixon, for the skills, guidance and opportunity.
Ruzyckij thanked his classmates for four unforgettable years, and thanked his mother Katie Ruzyckij, who works for the schools, in food service. “ … I can't forget my favorite lunch lady! Thank you, Mom!" he said, getting a collective "Aw" from the audience. "I truly couldn't have done this without you!”
Valedictorian Olivia Marshall called the graduation "a final moment to cheer each other on as we walk across this stage and pick up that symbol of achievement, of growth, of our transition into adulthood.
"Parents, grandparents, trusted friends and teachers, people from every walk of our lives that we have confided in, laughed with, cried with. Tonight is as much about you and for you, as it is for us. Without you, this evening wouldn't be possible, and without you here, now, this event would feel more hollow. Thank you for the years of support, and for sharing tonight," Marshall said.
She said the unknown can be intimidating, but is the greatest gift they as graduates have received: "The unknown is opportunity, the unknown is adventure, the unknown is our journey."
Principal Sarah Hubert praised the class and advised it, life is not about avoiding mistakes, but learning from them. And she spoke of the town.
"Wiscasset is a special place," Hubert said. "This is a community where people show up. They show up for school concerts and musicals, athletic events and Homecoming, fundraisers and to buy hot dogs at the snack shack, community events and parades, and celebrations, like this one. They show up because they care. People in Wiscasset care deeply."
