Barnegat Seniors Celebrate Graduation with Speeches and Song

The proud members of Barnegat High School’s 2011 graduating class received their diplomas in an evening ceremony at the school’s football stadium last night.

Parents, teachers, school administrators, Board of Education members and elected officials were on hand to cheer on the 230 seniors and offer words of wisdom.

A stiff breeze had graduates clutching their caps from time to time, but the storm clouds held off, giving the school its first sunny graduation ceremony in four years, Barnegat Mayor Jeffrey Melchiondo noted when he took the podium to congratulate the seniors.

He and many others took time to reflect on how far the class had come and to wish them well in the future.

“This day is all about you,” said Barnegat Board of Education member Elaine Taylor. She quoted Dan Fogelberg lyrics, calling up the image of a man at a crossroads: “My choices were clear, yet I froze with the fear of not knowing which way to go.”

That fear can be a great teacher, Taylor told the rows of students. “There is an enormous power in the act of choice,” she said, but fortunately, “there’s usually a U-turn ahead, a chance to change your choice.”

A number of graduating seniors also addressed their classmates. Salutatorian Jasmine Faldu offered the flag salute, valedictorian Lauren Miterko gave a heartfelt speech, senior class president Michael DiCandia riffed on Lincoln in his own address and school president Sidney Hernandez teared up recalling four years of fun and accomplishments.

Still others took the mike in a different way. The select choir’s senior members sang the Hollies “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” and Rebecca Morris offered a soaring solo rendition of “Time In A Bottle.”

As he addressed his assembled seniors one last time, principal Dr. Joseph J. Saxton praised them for a spirit of perseverance he said had brought them far.

“You keep putting in the effort, and the wind finally comes,” he said.

Saxton got smiles and laughs from his students when he gave a tweaked version of his oft-repeated call, one they’d heard him say day after day on the school’s morning announcements.

“Make it a great life or not,” he said. “The choice is yours.”

Once each senior had crossed the stage and the entire class had celebrated their new status as graduates by tossing their caps skyward, they got the last laugh: They marched off into the sunset to – their choice – themes from Star Wars.