North Stonington — A catapult, not a crutch, was what Joe Cawley told the Class of 2021 to think of the experiences of the past year, during Wheeler High School’s 65th commencement ceremony Friday.

The 45 graduates and their families, joined by Superintendent Peter Nero, First Selectman Mike Urgo and Board of Education Chair Christine Wagner, gathered on the Wheeler Library lawn early in the evening. They sat free of masks and distancing guidelines, a contrast to last year’s drive-by celebration.

Cawley, who teaches English at Wheeler, encouraged the class members to face their future with the same tenacity they’ve displayed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The resilience you demonstrated to get to these chairs, on this hill, in front of these people who love you and care about you so much — I promise you, that is going to be the most important thing you take with you from your final year here at Wheeler,” he said.

Resilient was also how class President Molly Butremovic described her classmates, citing not only the challenges of social distancing but also the class’s adaptability during the transition to the new school building their sophomore year.

The Class of 2021 is the third class to graduate from the new building, but the first to have been there a full academic year.

Lauding her peers, Butremovic called it an “honor” to graduate alongside them. “I can wholeheartedly say that I admire every person in this class for not giving up this year and for pushing through to the end.”

She thanked Wheeler’s teachers for being “accommodating and thoughtful” while navigating a year of distance learning with a positive attitude.

Echoing Butremovic, Cawley bantered about teaching hybrid classes while students attended from their beds guzzling bowls of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Associate Principal Allison Reyes was the administrative speaker, as Principal Kristen St. Germain attended her own daughter’s high school graduation.

Sharing the words of Confucius, Reyes encouraged the graduates to “choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Whether entering college, the workforce, the military or a gap year, she said, the key to the next chapter of life is to find happiness.

“I think we have all learned that our happiness and satisfaction has to be a part of the equation moving forward,” Reyes said.

She called the class members “survivors” who “made lemonade out of lemons,” from playing sports in masks to eating lunch 6 feet apart.

“You have shown resilience and have faced and overcome adversity,” Reyes said. “Now, enjoy the journey ahead and know that when it shifts, you are more than ready to adjust and face the challenges.”