BELFAST — With mostly blue skies overhead, friends and family gathered on Belfast Area High School's football field Sunday afternoon to celebrate the graduation of the class of 2015.

The graduating class asked recently retired long-time Belfast speech teacher J. Michael Lawson to serve as a keynote speaker, a role he accepted, albeit with hesitation.

"It's always dangerous to ask a speech teacher, even a retired one," he joked with the crowd.

Lawson, who taught at BAHS for 41 years before his retirement, spoke to the class about the importance of kindness, amongst other things. Reminding them to be kind not simply to those in a position of authority, or higher social class, but to be kind to everyone.

"Don't be kind to the people in the limo," he said, "be kind to the person driving it."

Lawson concluded his speech by asking the class of 2015 to turn around and look at the countless people gathered to celebrate their day.

"Look how many people are behind you," he said, "and they always will be." Lawson left the stage with an open invitation, "come drop in on an aging hippie sometime."

The gusty afternoon, which swept at least one cap from a graduate's head, left many of the speakers grasping their notes in one hand, their caps in the other.

Despite the breeze, and the brief appearance of a Selfie Stick from one camera-ready grad, ceremonies went off without a hitch.

At the close of the ceremony, the class of 2015 tossed their caps in the air, a final goodbye to their now former high school.

Graduates of the 2015 Foreign exchange program include: Aleksandr Ibragimov, of Russia, Alexander Lind, of Sweden, Son (Jason) Phan, of Vietnam, and Florian Rueger, of Germany.

Graduates include: Joshua Adams, Fouad Al-Matrouk, Marissa Allen, Allen Alley, Hannah Ames, Kyle Artkop, Nathaniel Asselin, Grace Bagley, Zoe Baldwin, Sarah Berry, Daniel Bowen, Maylinda Boynton, Joshua Bradeen, Carli Briggs, Kimberly Busko, Ethan Campbell, John Capella, Kirsten Caswell, Joshua Chase, Jerahmy Clapp, Brandon Cooper, Julia Costa, Kameron Culbertson, Steven Davis, Anthony DeFeo, Austin Dickey, BingYing Dong, Sarita Drinkwater, Winston Durkee, Kimberly Eynon, Owen Falvey, Tristan Feener, Zoe Felton, Jacqueline Flagg, Ciya Freeman, Ariel Gardiner, Margaret Goscinski, Kaitlin Goslant, Dylan Green, Patrick Gross, Kylene Hall, Anika Hartman, Ian Hathaway, Cody Herard, Kristina Hill, Jordan Hodges, Waymon Hotham, David Hurd, Devon Hurd, William Hyland, Autumn Jackson, Nicolas Jewell, Miranda Johnson, Zoey Knudsen, Chase Kolment, Samuel Kulikowski, Dallas Lane, Levi Lapham, Tyler Laplante, Meghan Larrabee, Brogan Leppanen, Audrey Lightner, Adam Littlefield, Brittany Littlefield, Madison Littlefield, Hunter Loring, Austin Lozano, Tanner Luther, Hannah Lynam, Brandee Maddocks, Allison Martell, Austin McDevitt, Catherine McGinn, Chase McIntire, Alyssa McIntyre, Cody McKinney, Bianca Mitchell, Mackenzie Moore, Monica Murray, Crystal Nadeau, Ambrosia Nelligan, James Nelson, Matthew Oxton, Alyssa Page, Rachel Parziale, Simone Pelletier, Madison Pickering, Katrina Pomeroy, Roger Quehl, Brandon Richards, Colton Ridley, Aidan Ripley, Lucas Roberts, Zavier Roman, Matthew Smith, Adam Snodgrass, Shawn Snodgrass, Austin Sprague, Andrew Stanley, Nicole Staples, Tierra Stevens, Nicholas Stimpson, Anna Struba, Emma Sturdevant, Crystal Theriault, Ryan Thompson, Benjamin Trundy, Jared Vaughan, Dakota Walker, Brandon Waterman, William Wessels, Jason Whitmore, Danielle Wilson, Scott Wideman, Summer Woitko, Kirsten Wolf, Ariel Woodard, Brian Wright, and Katlyn Young.

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com