When the bells ring in a new day for Bristol Warren students next Monday morning, for the first time in 12 years, Brandon Moreira will not be in attendance.

He’s excused, since he’s graduating on Saturday.

The perennial perfect-attendance student will have gone to school since Grade 1 without missing a day. Sure, there was the occasional trip to an orthodontist appointment, but Brandon, the son of Brenda and Bento Moreira of Charles Street, is the kind of person who sets out to do something, and he does it. His perseverance saw him make Eagle Scout this past January, for which he recorded and cataloged the names of veterans buried at the North Burial Ground and Juniper Hill Cemetery, many with deteriorating stones that date to the Civil War. 

His dedication has also carried the avid outdoorsman on several long-distance treks of 80-plus miles in two trips to the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.

Whether as part of the Mt. Hope baseball team that will be playing in the state championship semifinals at press time, enjoying the woodshop and tech classes at Mt. Hope, or leading his family to the summit of Mt. Washington last summer, Brandon’s not one to turn his back on a commitment.

And he’s not one to get sick, either. Not much, anyway. “Once, last year, last period,” he said. “I wasn’t feeling well, so I left.” 

Definitely not a deal-breaker.

Brandon has a younger sister, Briana, who will be entering Mt. Hope as a freshman in the fall. But, like most people, she’s been known to miss a day or two here and there, so the Moreira family streak begins and ends with Brandon.

So what does a young man, an Eagle Scout, with a remarkably strong constitution and unwavering dedication to duty, do after high school? You won’t be surprised to hear that Brandon is going to be a Marine; they can count of him reporting to boot camp on Parris Island, S.C., this Oct. 15.

Semper Fi.