On the green grass of the football field under a bright blue sky, the Old Rochester Regional class of 2016, led by valedictorian Paige Watterson, spontaneously began to sing “All Star” by the band Smash Mouth.

It was an ironic turn of events considering minutes before Principal Mike Devoll had joked that high school was nothing like the movie “High School Musical.”

“I won't be breaking into song,” he said.

Watterson, after a speech emphasizing the importance of individuality and finding personal happiness, started to quote “All Star.”

“I'm just going to read it because I can't sing, but feel free to sing along,” she said. “'Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming, fed to the rules and I hit the ground running. Didn't make sense not to live for fun, your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb.'”

Before long, the class of 2016 had joined in, picking up the tune and singing along as the song entered the chorus, and the crowd began to clap with the beat.

It was the perfect way to cap off a ceremony that had featured plenty of “High School Musical” references, a selfie stick and Devoll telling the story of how he got caught by a student trying out the dance move “the dab.”

“I thought I was alone,” he said. “But the blinds [in my office] were open.”

However, the "High School Musical" worthy moment almost didn't happen. Watterson wasn't sure she would even be up there giving that speech until the week before.

“When we went into this year, [salutatorian] Evan (Roznoy) was ahead of me,” Watterson said. “I think I was surprised because I knew how close it was, and I knew he always gets really good grades.”

A total of 187 students graduated from ORR on Saturday, with 59 belonging to the National Honor Society.