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NORTH ATTLEBORO - Greeting the dark clouds overhead with the bravery and poise that will serve them well in life, the North Attleboro High School Class of 2008 officially graduated on Friday.

Ignoring the stormy-looking clouds, the 295 graduates marched outside to the Dwight Estey Track, where an outdoor ceremony was held beneath a scoreboard bearing the numbers "2008."

Valedictorian Anupama Khan thanked North Attleboro High School teachers for "the superhuman feat of teaching teenagers" as well as the graduates' family members who have served as a support network over the years.

She charged her fellow classmates to volunteer while recounting her experiences volunteering at Dana Farber, where a short "thanks" from a patient there means the world to her.

"'Thanks' is the greatest compliment I've ever received. It's like saying, 'Hey, I like you,'" she said. "Every little effort is worthwhile." Salutatorian Lucas DeForest spoke about the impact that his classmates have made on each other.

"The countdowns are over, finals are graded and the four-year whirlwind that was high school has come to an end," DeForest said.

"From the girl in Spanish class who always knew the latest gossip on Monday morning, to the teacher who stayed after school to offer you the extra help you asked for, to the person who sat next to you in band and helped you master that high note, to the friend you never expected anything from that gave you more than you could ever ask for," DeForest said. "What remains with us is the impression others made on us."

Class President Kathryn Flannery quoted Lord Alfred Tennyson's "Ulysses," a poem that has hung on her door for the past three years: "One equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will, to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

She said that classmates, family, friends and faculty have helped form a foundation that shaped the person she is today.

"They are the most driven, intelligent and genuinely nice people I have ever met," she said."My class has a perseverance and drive that some people only dream to attain."

Superintendent Richard Smith imparted one last lesson before the seniors became North Attleboro High School alumni, offering five bits of advice to the students: Forgive everyone for everything; say something nice to someone every day; spend time with people more than 70 and less than 6; no matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up; and there's no better exercise for the heart than bending down and picking someone else up.

AMY DeMELIA can be reached at 508-236-0334 or at ademelia@thesunchronicle.com.