Trish McLeod was feeling proud June 11 with daughter Jessica McLeod in cap and gown for graduation night at Wiscasset High School. The Wiscasset woman was also proud of her daughter’s best friends, Class of 2015 members Chelsey Thayer and Julia West, not only for graduating, but for making sure her daughter got to march with them.

The two were instrumental in helping arrange for Jessica McLeod to take part in the ceremony, Trish McLeod said. Her daughter, who has Down syndrome, started out with the Class of 2013; she retook a couple of years early on and graduated in 2014, but didn’t march. Throughout her years in the Wiscasset schools, she, Thayer and West have been best friends.

“She’s been my best pal since forever,” Thayer said as she stood with McLeod by the main office door after graduation.

McLeod, 20, works in Gardiner as an artist at Spinoff, part of the Brunswick-based Independence Association.

“For her to walk with the (2015) class shows how much these kids mean to her, and for them to want her to do this, shows me that she has been as important to them as they have to her,” her mother said before the start of Thursday night’s ceremony.

McLeod’s participation was also acknowledged during a graduation speech. “Jessie McLeod won all our hearts, if she hadn’t already, when she chose to march with us tonight,” senior essayist Miranda McIntire said from the stage in Stover Auditorium.

McIntire also spoke of West’s swimming prowess, classmate Erika Auger’s completion of high school in three years, and Sean Chubbuck’s generosity in giving more rides home than a soccer mom.

Other speeches also held humor, including Auger’s senior essay. It reminded parents of their new graduates’ childhoods. “I invite parents to join me in a flashback to those days when your son Matt Craig told you he cleaned up all of his Legos, until you step on one (while) walking across the floor. Those things are truly small but mighty,” she said, getting laughs for the reference to the school’s “small but mighty” slogan.

Teacher Eva Castor told the packed auditorium that Ridge Barnes had asked her out more than she’d ever been asked out in her life.

“You sure are persistent,” she said.

Castor, who Principal Cheri Towle introduced as a surprise guest speaker, told the seniors they are some of the strongest people she knows. “You’ve overcome illness, tragedy and loss but you came out the other end as better people,” she said. “We’ve shared so many memories ... memories that I wouldn’t want to share with anyone else ... You are my family, you are my soul mates.”

Senior essayist Jade Wood reflected on her mother’s experience with breast cancer. “She fought through it ... I strive to be just as strong, and every time I feel like I want to give up and sleep all day, I think about how small my problems are, and remember what she went through ... and is still living happily.”

School Committee Chairman Steve Smith helped hand out diplomas to the students who were sixth graders when he first substitute-taught for their class. He had also coached some of them and his son, junior Sam Smith, at baseball. It was the elder Smith’s first time taking part in the graduation ceremony, and the first graduation since Wiscasset left Regional School Unit 12.

But Smith said what stood out for him was all the positive energy in the room. “This is one of the most important things we do all year,” he said in an interview.

Smith said next year’s graduation will have additional meaning for him: His son Sam Smith is in the Class of 2016.