DIXFIELD — The Class of 2011 may be small at 60 students, but according to their principal, they are a unique group.

“They are very individual and brutally honest and sincere,” Dirigo High School Principal Michael Poulin said Friday at their graduation ceremony. “They are very genuine with no pretenses and are very comfortable with who they are. They don’t live up to anyone’s expectations but their own.”

At least one mother would agree.

“Each one has their own personality. They are headstrong and they all know what they want and they are going to get it,” Melinda Johnson, mother of graduate Amber Johnson, said. She has had many of her daughter’s friends in her living room over the years.

Graduate Cody Turner, of Peru, said his class is surprising.

“No one ever knows what we will do,” he said.

Luann Fournier, who plans to study early childhood education in the fall, said that although they are diverse, they stick together, too.

“We pulled together when it really counted, like when we were fundraising or getting ready for homecoming,” she said.

“We’re different because we are so close,” Erin Turner of Carthage said.

“We’re like one big family,” she said.

Class president Deanna Dolloff underscored the belief that her class was a family.

“We may be dysfunctional at times, but we’re a family. We are members of one unusual, unpredictable family,” she said. “Beginning tomorrow, our lives will be 100 different.”

Despite, or perhaps because of their uniqueness, the class also showed that they realized that they had learned much from their parents.

Kirby Averill, of Dixfield, said in her speech that she had surveyed many in her class about the things they had been taught by their parents.

“No matter how hard we’ve made life for you (parents), your words stick in our heads eventually,” she said.

She said one dad told his child to always stand up for himself. Another parent said to be strong and focus on what matters.

Two in the class, Jill Schnorr and Justin Richards, showed their fellow classmates as well as the packed gym at the school, their unique talents.

Jill sang a strong rendition of “Beautiful,” and Justin played the jazz classic, “There Will Never Be Another you,” on his saxophone.

The class history incorporated local, national and international milestones that occurred during their four years. At home, the miracles of duct tape and cardboard for making a homecoming float were realized, and a teacher, Joe Knowlton, returned from his military service for one semester, then went back to the fight.

Classmates Spencer Ross and Arik Fenstermacher won a record number of state athletic titles, while the debate team made it to the nationals four straight years.

During their junior year, the first African-American was elected president, Barack Obama, and during their senior year, terrorist Osama bin Laden was found and killed.

Emily Ray, valedictorian, said it was their differences that made the Class of 2011 such a strong class.

Poulin said several other students are expected to complete graduation requirements during the summer.