What's on the inside counts for graduates.

• Position: LOCAL NEWS

Byline: Chris Sinacola

UXBRIDGE - For the members of the Uxbridge High School class of 2007, the forecast for yesterday's graduation mirrored the conventional wisdom for a school on academic probation and in need of new facilities: overcast with a chance of storms. Valedictorian Juliann L. Reardon had other ideas.

"Although having a good building is important, it is what is inside that building that really counts," Ms. Reardon said.

She acknowledged that many, believing that buildings and facilities are the keys to success, have left Uxbridge High School in recent years, choosing to attend private schools or neighboring public schools.

But, she declared, it is the core and heart of the community that remains, and the class of 2007 - whose members have been accepted to Harvard, MIT, Boston College, Brown University and many other prestigious schools - has refused to let the walls of a building define them and proven that what lies within matters most.

The skies echoed her words, as the sun burned through the haze, leaving the 123 graduates to swelter in the caps and gowns that they had worked so hard to merit, but could now hardly wait to shed.

"The end of something great only marks the start of something greater," class president Jaimee Doucette said. For as long as a dozen years, she said, the members of the class of 2007 have grown together in a small house.

"We've never had the nicest facilities or the newest buildings, but we have had our family," Ms. Doucette said, as she proceeded to single out various classmates for their roles as peacemakers, artists, musicians, geniuses and clowns, all of whom have had their place in the Uxbridge High School family. "We are all grown children now and we don't fit in this small house anymore."

Superintendent Daniel Stefanilo reminded the class members that they will always have a nest to return to in the homes and school that nurtured them in Uxbridge. He praised the graduates for their leadership, academic achievements, athletic accomplishments and dedication to the community. Their work, he said, is appreciated and will never be forgotten.

And, as the warmth of the day turned thoughts to perspiration, salutatorian Michael Verla reminded the graduates of the importance of respiration.

"All I'm saying is the process of respiration is incredibly important," Mr. Verla said, "because we are being prepared for a world that may not let us breathe." He urged his classmates to remember that it is OK to...