VIDEO: Hopatcong Sends Off Class of 2011

Hopatcong schools Superintendent Dr. Charles Maranzano stood behind the lectern and delievered the line of the night.

"They will be successful," he said. "You know why? They're from Hopatcong."

Hundreds filled the gym to watch 183 seniors graduate high school on Wednesday night. Students—females in white, males in green—listened to administration and students send them off into the "real world."

The ceremony, which rain and swirling wind forced indoors, was a mostly calm affair, save for the occasional beachball smuggled into the gym and bounced around by seniors.

Students Grace Marchena, valedictorian, Kelcey Brennan, salutatorian, and Kelly Coddington, senior class president, each gave speeches. So did Maranzano, Principal Emil Binotto and Board of Education President Cliff Lundin, who reminded the students before they tore off their caps and threw them into the air that they would always have a home in Hopatcong.

"Hopatcong is your family, and your family will always welcome you," Lundin said.

Binotto said the 2011 senior class earned more than $2.2 million in college scholarships and grants.