Calhoun Unleashes the Class of 2010 Onto the World

New York Senator Chuck Schumer may have picked the wrong time to show up at Sunday afternoon's Calhoun High School graduation. 

Because if there is one person you don't want to follow on the podium (even if it's your job to give frequent public speeches), it's Jun Luke Foster.

Foster, Calhoun's valedictorian, achieved the near impossible:  He gave a 14-minute speech (listen to it in its entirety by clicking the video file on the right) in 90-plus degree weather to an already antsy crowd and earned a standing ovation from his classmates. 

Foster, as did many of the other speakers, paid homage to Lyla Stern, the 16-year-old Calhoun student who committed suicide last year. 

"Our class today is one person smaller than it should be," the Yale-bound Foster said.  "We mourn the loss of Lyla, especially on this day, and we miss her." 

Foster, among the 358 members of Calhoun's Class of 2010, spoke of the inherent unfairness of life and the often times hidden struggles everyone deals with in their lives.  While some may strive for money and power and fame, Foster said that when he looks back on his life, he expects none of those things will matter. 

"I think what would matter to me was how I had lived my life," Foster said at Calhoun's 51st annual commencement.  "How I had spent my time on this Earth, to what and to whom did I dedicate my energy, myself and my time.

"I don't think I'd care much for the time I spent on myself, time spent on my achievements, my betterment, my comfort...yet the time that I, and we, spend on others, the time of service and dedication and love, that time continues to have impact on the lives of others long after we are gone."

Calhoun Principal David Seinfeld, who later called the commencement "the best of them all" among the 14 graduation ceremonies he has attended, told the graduates that as a group they had accomplished much. 

"As individuals, you are uniquely talented," Seinfeld added. "Your academic accomplishments are quite impressive...It has been really a privilege of mine and an honor to share in your world, to watch you learn and to watch you grow."

Corey Werbelow, the senior class president, said that his finest moments at Calhoun came on the same field the graduates were seated on, as a member of the school's varsity soccer team.

"The camaraderie and commitment I learned here, I will carry with me as I advance through life," he said.

Werbelow, headed to the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, ended with a quote from Abigail Van Buren (of Dear Abby fame), "If we could sell our experiences for what they are worth to us, we'd all be millionaires."

Salutatorian Alexander Harrison thanked his teachers for "helping me progress from a silly freshman to a graduating senior."

Harrison, who will attend the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, said it was the responsibility of the Class of 2010 to address the current issues facing our country, including global warming, depleting natural resources, economic crises and endless wars. 

"These are the problems our generation must address," Harrison said.  "All around the country there are signs that say "See something, say something" telling us that we should be on the watch for terrorists.  See something, say something should really be applied to all of our problems.

"Our generation has the potential to solve all of these problems if we stepped up. The role of education should be to bring us together, to examine the facts around an issue and come up with a set of solutions."

Schumer, a former valedictorian himself, did have that unenviable task of following Foster at the podium, and the senator praised the school's faculty and staff for "making Calhoun one of the finest high schools not just on Long Island, but in all of New York State."

Matthew Kuschner, a trustee on the central district school board whose son William was among the graduating class, as well as Jill Klasson, the Calhoun senior class advisor, were also among the speakers Sunday afternoon.

A video of the commencement is currently being produced and will be live on Patch in the next few days. 

The Calhoun High School Class of 2010:

• Nicholas Abbaj
• Amber Abdylji
• Martin Abrams
• Alexandra Acquavito
• Matthew Alberto
• Lauren Amatulli
• Francesca Angelini
• Kyle Arabian
• Elizabeth Aracena
• Oscar Arana
• Nicholas Assabi
• Adam August
• Francesco Azzara
• Francesco Badalamenti
• Randy Baicich
• Kurt Baldauf
• Blake Baltazar
• Alexa Barash
• Alyssa  Barresi
• Amanda Barry
• Emily Begin
• Christopher Behnke
• Jake Behrman
• Thalia Benavides
• Nicholas Bencosme
• Ricky Beneventano
• Daniel Berger
• Kathleen Berghorn
• Julia Bergin
• Tyler Berk
• Emily Bernstein
• Zachary William Best
• Vanessa Blair
• Peter Bochynski
• Kelly Bosco
• Mareena Botros
• Travis Brands
• Amanda Breivogel
• Adam Brollosy
• Kimberly Brower
• Jeffrey Buffalino
• Edward Burbes
• Seth Burrell
• Thomas Burzynski
• Michelle Calamia
• Dana Calderone
• Matthew Callman
• Brian Canals
• Jake Canino
• Michael Cappuzzo
• Kacie Caprariello
• Samantha Carucci
• Eric Catafago
• Krista Catafago
• Ryan Charles
• Joseph Chiaffitella
• Michael Christiano
• Marco Cicchetti
• Alessandra Cirenza
• Sean Clifford
• Ashley Cohen
• Douglas Cohen
• Galina Colasuonno
• Anne Concepcion
• Allison Connerty
• Timothy Connerty
• Molly Conway
• Ariel Coopersmith
• Amanda Cordiello
• Harry Corradi
• Kevin Correa
• Kelli Cosentino
• Samantha Costa
• A. Liam Courtney
• Brendan Coyne
• Brittani Crawford
• Kelly Cummings
• Amanda D'Archangelis
• Daniel D'Ottone
• Ariel Dillon Dahan
• Lauren Danese
• Caroline Davis
• Jessica DeFranco
• Christie DeJesu
• Angela Delcastillo
• Jacqueline Delcastillo
• Vincent Delcastillo
• Brittany Delfin
• Katherine DelRosario
• Alyssa DeMonte
• Kara Dempsey
• Danielle Denenberg
• Alexandra Diana
• Thomas Dickson
• Michael DiFiglia
• Camillo DiLorenzo
• Charles DiMaggio
• Maria DiMatteo
• Samuel Dobre
• Matthew Dods
• Christina Doster
• James Dragan
• Ruthann Eagen
• Ashlee Earle
• Rachel Fabian
• Nicole Fariello
• Michael Fay
• Kristina Fiesel
• Kristina Figueredo
• Daniel Finnerty
• Jonathan Fisch
• Stephanie Fitzgerald
• Meghan Flood
• Alexander Fodor
• Connor Fogarty
• Jun Luke Foster
• Zachary Fox
• Gabriella Franzese
• Stephanie Frasca
• Emily Freeman
• Stephanie Gaeta
• Anastasios Galitos
• Gina Gallo
• Kaitlin Gallo
• Nicole Garifo
• Joseph Gavin
• Daniell Genoski
• Stephen Giaco
• Vincent Giaquinto
• Max Glogau
• Cory Goldband
• Patrick Goldberg
• William Golden
• Erin Green
• Patrick Greene
• Allison Greenfield
• Brittany Greenlinger
• Hannah Griesel
• Shannon Grimsley
• Jeremy Gross
• Matthew Gross
• Paul Grubb
• Michael Guerra
• Daniel Haggerty
• Alexander Harrison
• Courtney Hartnett
• Kevin Harvey
• Navdeep Hayer
• Matthew Healy
• Matthew Hinrichs
• Brian Hoch
• Connor Hoch
• Robert Hodkinson
• Elif Humet
• Metin Humet
• Michael Iacono
• Bradley Isaacs
• Rachel Israel
• David Jacobs
• Bianca Kaltenbach
• Heather Karlin
• Ryan Kass
• Justin Katzman
• Jeremy Kemerson
• Katherine Kennovin
• Danielle Kirby
• Ryan Kitchener
• Craig Knettel
• Daniel Knipfing
• Jennifer Kotler
• Eli Kozin
• Livana Koznesoff
• Samara Kravitz
• Alyssa Kurtzberg
• William Kuschner
• Daniel Lafata
• Matthew Lagueras
• Nicholas Landi
• Santino Larios
• Brittany Ledgin
• Cindy Lee
• Kelsey Lee
• Kenneth Leon
• Allison Lerner
• Lauren Levin
• David Levine
• James Levine
• Alec Lievre
• Gerard Ligonde
• Michael Livingston
• Lisa Lobalsamo
• Robert Loffredo
• Gabriella Long
• Hayley Lubow
• Kevin MacBride
• Anthony Maggiotta
• Alexandra Magliochetti
• Gregory Magno
• Caroline Maino
• Macaulay Maldarelli
• Brittany Malloy
• Kevin Malone
• Justin Mandeltort
• Michelle Manfrede
• Jeffrey Mangual
• Thomas Mansmann
• Michael Manticoff
• Justine Martillotti
• Chantel Mason
• Travis Massetti
• Jake Mastrangelo
• Michael Matzen
• Nicole Mauro
• James McCallen
• Robert McGetrick Jr.
• Thomas McKeon
• Amanda McLoughlin
• Jonathan Mekelburg
• Kevin Metz
• Edmund Metzger
• Timothy Metzger
• Patrick Milano
• Sienna Miller
• Magdaleeni Milonakis
• Matthew Montesano
• Ashley Moran
• Lee Ann Morgan
• Alex Morra
• John Mucaria
• Ashley Mulcahy
• Richard Mundy
• Thomas Murnane
• Anne Murphy
• Erin Murphy
• Leigh Muscarella
• Kevin Nash
• Nicole Naula
• Carlos Navas
• Christopher Nazario
• Joanna Nazario
• Cosmo Nestola
• Melissa Nuzzi
• Caitlan O'Shea
• Lisa Ohlendorf
• Emily Ostermann
• Vincent Pacheco
• Wesley Paladino
• Carly Paris
• Anthony Pellegrino
• Jessica Peloso
• Philip Perrone
• Michael Petassi
• Danielle Petrovich
• Maria Pokorny
• Daniel Qiu
• James Raheb
• Jacqueline Ramo
• Alexis Ramos
• Louis Rappaport
• Timothy Reid
• Constance Reilly
• Anthony Reyes
• Luke Roberti
• John Robinson
• Moises Rodriguez
• Rebecca Rood-Goldman
• Henry Rood-Matza
• Rebecca Rosenberg
• Michael Rosenthal
• Jonathan Rosner
• Liana Ross
• Holly Rudolph
• Oscar Rumaldo
• Catherine Ruvolo
• Kevin Ryan
• Douglas Ryniker
• Anthony Sacco
• Samantha Sachs
• Brandon Sackler
• Stuart Sacks
• Joseph Saladino
• Frank Salerno
• Adam Samuels
• Richard Santagata
• Kamaris Santiago
• Meagan Sapperstein
• Victoria Scanlon
• Julia Schifini
• Matthew Schmidt
• Carly Schoenfeld
• Andrew Schreiber
• Jordan Schultz
• Stephanie Schwartz
• Nicole Scialdone
• James Sciolto
• Carla Scolieri
• Tyler Seaman
• Danielle Seifert
• Christopher Serenita
• Ariella Serur
• Neal Shah
• Sunil Shah
• Brian Sherman
• Thomas Simmons
• Dean Simms-Elias
• Michael Simon
• Joseph Singer
• Sam Sklover
• Alyssa Slater
• Ashley Smith
• Kathryn Smith
• Lindsey Phillip Solomon
• Hunter Spector
• Christina Strezenec
• Jesse Strommer
• Nicholas Taborsky
• Anne Tallerico
• Laura Tejo
• Daniel Termotto
• Jessica Teves
• John Tew
• Taylor Thomas
• Tyler Thornton
• Charlotte Tiff
• Amanda Tobia
• Lauren Tolchin
• Theodore Topper
• Cory Traustason
• Claire Tucci
• Daniel Tyson
• Christian Vadillo
• Kyle Vadnais
• Victoria Valentin
• James Valle
• Aly Vanderqwalde
• Dillon Vaneck
• Darius Vargas
• Nikki Varricchio
• Anthony Vertolomo
• Joseph Villafane
• Juliet Villani
• Christopher Vogel
• Naomi Volk
• Kenneth Volkell
• Erika Wagner
• Meghan Walsh
• Gabrielle Weil
• Adam Weingarten
• Erica Weitz
• Corey Werbeow
• Deanna Werthauer
• Krystin White
• Erin Yackavage
• Julia Yu
• Kevin Zimmermann
• Sierra Zorn