Chatham's 100th Class Graduates

Throughout the 23rd Commencement Exercises at Chatham High School on Friday night was an eye on the past, back to when the first class of Chatham seniors graduated in 1911.

"There were six students in 1911, three boys and three girls," Principal Darren Groh said in his speech. "Today, the class has grown to 246 seniors, 123 boys and 123 girls."

Groh also noted that the salutatorian from 1911 and the salutatorian in 2011, both chose to attend Middlebury College.

For video from Chatham's graduation ceremony, click here.

Superintendent Jim O'Neill, in his last Chatham graduation before he retires on June 30, also had one eye on the past in his speech, joking that he wished the superintendent from 1911 had started the lighting project for Cougar Field.

O'Neill came to the School District of the Chathams in 1996 and has served as the superintendent since 2003. In his speech he called Chatham "a wonderful place to grow up, and a fantastic place to attend school."

Valedictorian also commented in her speech about the Chatham community, calling it "a place of please, thank you and holding the door. ... Twenty years from now, we'll all look back on our Chatham days and smile."

Hurt, too, made references to her class being the centennial class to graduate from Chatham and noted how much had changed in the 100 years and one day since the class of 1911 received their diplomas. What had not changed, though, was that the students in Chatham "do incredible things."

O'Neill, Groh and Hurt expressed their thanks to the graduates, the faculty and teachers at Chatham High School and to each other for the roles they played in shaping every member of the class of 2011.