SANFORD, Maine — Now that Sanford High School’s Class of 2025 has graduated, during a commencement ceremony at Alumni Field on June 4, remember this name: Lillie Trumble.
You may be at the movies someday and see that name listed in the ending credits of an animated blockbuster from DreamWorks Studio, the company that made Trumble’s favorite feature, “How to Train Your Dragon.”
“I love art,” said Trumble, who will study animation at York County Community College starting the fall. “I want to get involved in DreamWorks. They’re close to my heart.”
And after Trumble, remember these names, too: Lucas Abel. Sam Allain. Anya Allain. Ryan Cray.
Lucas Abel could be the nurse who helps you one day if you find yourself staying in a hospital in need of attentive and thoughtful care.
Sam Allain, left, Lucas Abel, and Anya Allain shared their hopes and dreams for life after Sanford High School moments before the commencement ceremony started for the Class of 2025 at Alumni Stadium in Sanford, Maine, on June 4, 2025.
“I want to go into the medical field to help people,” said Abel, who will begin studying nursing at the University of Maine at Orono this fall. “I had asthma when I was younger, so I was in the hospital a lot. I want to help people the same way that I was helped. I just want to make a difference.”
Sam Allain might be your child’s or your grandchild’s elementary school teacher during an academic year in the future. He credited his statistics teacher, Nick Erickson, for inspiring him to pursue that goal.
“I haven’t been the best, academically, throughout my career, and he has always been there for me to show me what I have to do and what I’ve done right and what I’ve done wrong,” he said.
Anya Allain could very well start a new enterprise – your next favorite shop, or a company that takes off like a rocket – on Main Street one day.
Sanford High School graduate Lillie Trumble will pursue a career in animation, she said, moments before she and the rest of the Class of 2025 marched into Alumni Stadium for their commencement ceremony on June 4, 2025.
“I’m going to USM to study business,” she said, noting the range of options such a course will provide. “It’s kind of broad, which is why I picked it.”
Ryan Cray may turn out to be the police officer who one day serves and protects your hometown.
“I want to be able to be there for somebody on their worst day,” said Cray, who will be off to York County Community College to study criminal justice this fall. “I want to be the barrier between good and evil for that person.”
Sanford’s 2025 grads embrace their moment
These graduates and more than 200 others filled Sanford High School’s gymnasium with their hopes and dreams moments before they left the building and marched into Alumni Stadium for their commencement ceremony.
Their families and friends erupted in cheers, snapping photos, recording videos, and calling out words of love and pride. Bouquets of flowers waited in eager hands, ready to be given once diplomas were proudly in hand.
Graduates of the Class of 2025 emerge from Sanford High School on their way to Alumni Stadium, where families and friends awaited their arrival during their commencement ceremony on June 4, 2025.
Following performances by the chorus and band, teacher Geoffrey Korper offered some words of wisdom during his charge to the graduates, and Salutatorian Samone Gallagher and Valedictorian Rishi Patel addressed their peers from the podium.
Korper said he and the graduates had been through a lot together, noting how well they rolled with his Dad Jokes and, in one quite serious moment, found strength in each other during the shooter scare that terrorized the whole high school – and community – during their sophomore year in November of 2022.
Korper urged the graduates to accept themselves, expect much of themselves, embrace their flaws and imperfections, learn the art of pausing before responding, and respect their future selves by making smart choices in the present.
Graduates of the Class of 2025 line up inside Alumni Stadium and wait for the pomp and circumstance to officially begin during Sanford High School’s commencement ceremony in Sanford, Maine, on June 4, 2025.
“You’ll be with yourself for the rest of your life,” Korper said. “Those small acts of care will add up to a better version of you.”
In her address, Gallagher spoke of lives as planted seeds and reflected on the complexities of growing up. She encouraged her peers to admire how they have grown and be inspired by what they see.
“I encourage all of you to look back to the seed that was planted so long ago,” she said. “Remember how individualized and special your own journey has been.”
In his address, Patel declared to his peers that “the whole world stretches out before us, vast and full of possibilities.”
“There’s pure excitement waiting to unfold,” he added. “Every single one of us here today has earned this moment … We are a class of dreamers, achievers, and future world-changers.”
Salutatorian Samone Gallagher addresses her peers in the Class of 2025 during Sanford High School’s graduation ceremony in Sanford, Maine, on June 4, 2025.
Speaking of dreams, Patel told his fellow graduates that “good things come to those who live authentically.”
“Life’s blessings flow naturally when we’re genuine in our intentions,” he said.
Patel added that he and his classmates each have their own dreams and challenges.
“That’s why we need something greater to guide us, whether you call it karma, divine guidance, or a moral compass,” he said. “Having faith in a force that helps distinguish right from wrong becomes your GPS when life gets confusing. This guidance becomes crucial when we learn to align our thoughts with our actions.”
Patel urged his classmates to “keep a little faith in your back pocket.”
“You’re going to need it,” he said.
And then, with all their futures spread before them, Patel ended on a note that championed their collective hopes, dreams, and potential.
Said the valedictorian, “The world ain’t ready for us!”
Sanford High School Class of 2025
Cole Joseph Thomas Adawadkar
Samuel-Aiden Arthur Allain
James Jordan Allen-Chaplick
Summer Angelina Blossom Eaton Bowtell
Ricky Leslie Brackett, Jr.
Madison Raelee-Rose Clegg
Melca Arrelle Trayfalgar Debatian
Danilo Wandi Fernando Ferreira
Adeline Elizabeth Fiandaca
Dominick Michael-William Gagnon
Hailey Elizabeth Gauthier
Jack Callum McNelly-Kleinrock
MacKenzie Elizabeth Merrill
Lillian Doris Mae Mitchell
Autumn Bryleigh Ogorzalek
Adrienne Christine Pearson
Raven Therese Poisson-Ott
Layla Angelina Sari Rines
Leela Angelina Sari Rines
Nathan Alexander Saulnier
Richard Crozier Simpson IV
Davartrious Arielious-Shade Smith
Dezarae Sue Anne Tremblay
Dezarae Sue Anne Trepanier
Kamryn Alexandra Wambui-Kamau
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Sanford High School Class of 2025 graduation