Clad in maroon caps and gowns, and with white carnations in hand, 315 North Haven High School seniors graduated June 21 at Vanacore field under a blue sky and summery sun.

Around 4 p.m., members of the 2010 class marched into a roped-off staging area in beat with “Pomp and Circumstance,” performed by the school band. Along the restraining lines, parents, relatives and friends maneuvered for position to snap digital photographs.

Once students settled into their seats, and the audience, in the thousands, returned to stands and chairs arranged across football field grass, the ceremony commenced.

For the first speaker, departing Superintendent Sara-Jane Querfeld, Monday’s event held a similar feeling of one of life’s chapters giving to another.

“This marks the beginning of a journey for us both,” said Querfeld, who will be stepping down from her position for a North Branford job at the end of the month.

Querfeld was impressed with the class’ composure in the face of adversity, including their reactions to September 11 in third grade, and the passing of a classmate in 8th grade. “You have always made me proud,” she said.

“You have a reputation as a hardworking class,” Querfeld added. “You are scholars, athletes and artists. You are about to enter a world in need of your talents.”

Such skills, Querfeld said, allowed the class to help upset top-seeded Hillhouse High School for North Haven’s first ever SCC postseason basketball championship, as well as to achieve superior results in music competitions.

“Remember the lessons you have learned here,” Querfeld said. “Set your sights on your goals, and work hard to achieve each and every one of them.”

In his speech, class president Evan Gambardella recalled his and his peers’ journey poetically.

“So much has happened in just four years, through good and bad we’ve endured / I cannot believe that I’m saying this, but I think we’ve actually . . . matured,” he recited. “So before we leave the high school, and begin our summer vacation / I wish you all a successful future and a happy graduation.”

Board of Education chairman Sandra Cummings predicted bright prospects for the seniors. “I think you all have the skills to succeed anywhere,” she said. “You have made your families as well as your community very proud.”

For encouragement, Cummings quoted Mark Twain. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do,” she said. “So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Valedictorian Rachel Yen compared life’s unfolding to an untouched connect-the-dots puzzle, stressing that everybody in attendance has made a difference for everybody else.

“Life is made up of random events and random people and when you put them on a page, they seem to have absolutely no correlation with one another,” she said. “Many people will try to connect the dots forwards. But the problem with that is that we get so focused on getting ahead to that next destination that we often forget the points we were at in the past. And the problem with that is that we don’t appreciate those who have helped us to reach the point we are at now.”

“Look around you, especially behind you on those bleachers,” Yen continued. “Every single one of them has made an indelible stitch in the fabric of our beings . . . every single one of them has, in some way, shape, or form, helped you become the ‘you’ who will receive this diploma.”

“Connect those dots backwards, and the North Haven High School class of 2010 will become an unforgettable mosaic of beautiful masterpieces,” Yen added.

Next, senior Christina Volpe took the pulpit. Each year, a school committee chooses a piece to be read at graduation among speeches entered for consideration by seniors. Volpe was 2010’s winner.

“In a world of Facebook, formspring, text messaging and instant messaging, challenges will face us that have faced no other generation before us,” she said. “But in an ever-changing world, we will adapt, and we will persevere.”

“Every question can’t be Googled,” Volpe added. “Now begins your quest for your own answers in your own words carrying your own memories. This day marks the beginning – a new start, a new place, a new state of mind, our independence, and our future.”

 Following Volpe’s words, smiling seniors collected diplomas one at a time, shaking hands with Cummings and Dr. Russell Dallai, NHHS principal. As cotton ball clouds yielded to a clear sky, the golden sun kept graduation 2010 a warm event.

After each student had their moment on stage, choir members performed an a cappella tribute to retiring vice-principal Thomas Herrscher. NHHS’s alma mater was also sung before the moment everyone was anticipating.

Dallai instructed the seniors to move their tassels to the other side of their caps, signifying graduation. Caps and carnations then took to the air as official NHHS alumni celebrated their hard-earned success.