Last modified: Friday, June 8, 2001 2:00 AM EDT Seekonk grad speaker thanks friends, family BY PAULA QUERZOLI-SMITH / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF SEEKONK -- He called them his partners in crime, his homies, his dogs, his clones, his opposites, his Band-Aids. Finally, he called them his friends and he welcomed them to graduation. (With photo) Seekonk High School Salutatorian Benjamin Clark had the graduation crowd in stitches as he welcomed the 149 other graduates to the 35th annual Seekonk High School graduation at Johnson & Wales University on Wednesday night. The site had been moved due to construction at the high school on Arcade Avenue. Clark welcomed his friends who had run up the third base line after getting their first hit in T ball. He welcomed his friends who let cooties be demolished by puberty. He welcomed his friends who found their social life in a different friends cellar every weekend. He welcomed his friends who learned to tie their shoes together. Who came over to play Legos. Who licked fingers after making cookie mix. Who swapped baseball cards. He welcomed his friends who sold lemonade priced from 5 cents to zillion dollars per cup. Clark also had words of thanks for family members of the graduates. ``You who have endured our barbed words and embraced our sobs,'' Clark said. Teachers were also on Clark's list of people to welcome and thank. ``You who have been slowly helping us to awaken to the world these last 13 years'' Clark said. Valedictorian Palki Maheshwari confided in the crowd that ceramics was surprisingly her favorite class in high school. ``No homework, no tests. You got to fling clay at friends and freshman. But there was a greater reason,'' Maheshwari said. ``You also got to dig your fingers in and mold a vision that lies in your mind, and it becomes a masterpiece,'' she added. Maheshwari then showed the crowd a blue pot she made in ceramics class. ``Sure, to you it is the ugliest pot you have ever seen. You probably wouldn't sell it at your yard sale,'' she joked. But to Maheshwari, the pot resembled a block of drab clay made into a masterpiece. ``Each experience, each lesson learned, each memory, will move your hand to show you what to make. And in the end from a block of nothing you will be able to make something great,'' Maheshwari said. Maheshwari also warned not to be afraid to make mistakes in life. ``Mistakes bring about opportunities to remold and start something new,'' she said. Clark will be pursuing international studies at Brown in the fall. And Maheshwari will enter Northeastern University, with an undeclared major. Principal Russell Goyette wished the graduates well and told them to make the best of yet another change in their lives. ``A lot has been said about change, some good, some bad. Change is important and necessary for growth and future development,'' Goyette said. The Seekonk High School Band provided the music for the ceremony. ``Your Future Will Be Bright'' was performed by Heather Baron and Kimberly Campbell. ``Somewhere Over The Rainbow' was performed by Heather Baron , Kimberly Campbell, Flora Delis, and Tarah Dubuc.