When it was all said and done, caps were flying in the air and Richmond Hill had nearly 300 new high school graduates.

On Saturday, 285 Richmond Hill High School seniors walked across the stage at the Armstrong Atlantic State University Sports Complex in Savannah and received their diplomas.

In her address to the graduates, Salutatorian Caroline Benjamin said it was family, friends and teachers that helped each student through high school. She compared the support to one leading a horse to water.

"Our friends, teachers and family had to lead us to the water," she said. "But we had to choose to drink."

Benjamin, who had the second highest grade point average in the class, said graduation was only the beginning of a future full of great opportunities.

"Today we receive a piece of paper saying we’re high school graduates," she said. "Now we have the power to shape the rest of our lives."

In his address, Valedictorian Alexander Squires began with a reference to the end of high school being as strange as the beginning.

"Four years have come and gone," he said. "We’re now just as confused as we were freshman year, just on a higher level."

He went on to compare life to that of a pond, challenging his fellow graduates not to just float along stagnant.

"Think of life as a big pond," he said. "We’re in a pond together. I challenge everyone to cannon-ball into the pond and to make a big tidal wave."

Before diplomas were handed out, senior class President Candace Giles, on behalf of the graduates, presented a $6,000 check to Principal Charles Spann for landscaping on the school grounds and a $4,000 check to the Odyssey of the Mind teams.

Spann addressed the graduates, thanking the parents and teachers of their work with each of the graduates.

"Thanks to the parents who trusted their kids to Richmond Hill High School, and to the teachers," Spann said. "Now I present to you the best looking and brightest class ever."

As the students shook the hand of Superintendent Sallie Brewer and Spann, friends and family members cheered and clapped for their graduates.