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Schools

Valedictorian Brittany MacTaggart Set for Tonight's Commencement

Watchung Hills Regional commencement exercises set for 6 p.m.

Brittany MacTaggart and Annie Yang, the top two members of Watchung Hills Regional High School's Class of 2011, will address their classmates and guests at  Watchung Hills Regional's graduation ceremony set for 6 p.m. today.

Warren resident MacTaggart was named valedictorian on the basis of having achieved the highest academic record in the Class of 2011. In her speech, she said she will be assuring her classmates that graduation was not the culmination, but on the contrary, a beginning.

MacTaggart herself is an illustration of that principle. The many honors she's won in her chosen field, science, foretell a promising career in that field of study. She's a member of an elite group of young women chosen by their teacher, Dr. Sophia Gerschman, to speak to groups of female high school students about the opportunities in the fields of science.

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In her freshman and senior years, she was named to the NJ Science League. She has been making an intense study of planaria regeneration, using RNA interference.

As a graduating senior she has received awards for both expository writing and biology. She was named an Academic All Star by the Courier News.

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Beyond science, MacTaggart is coordinator of fund-raising for Liberty in North Korea and a member of Junior Statesmen of America. She has worked with her church youth group on humanitarian projects in New Orleans and West Virginia and for the Habitat for Humanity. She is a member of the National Honor Society, the National English Honor society and the National French Honor Society.

Unsurprisingly, she will major in biochemistry when she enters Rutgers University in the fall.

Closely following MacTaggart, in second place in the 522-member Class of 2011, is Annie Yang. The salutatorian, also a Warren Township resident, garnered many honors during her four years at Hills. She was a National Merit Scholarship Finalist and an Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction. As well, she was named to the National Honor Society, the National English Honor Society and the National Chinese Honor Society.

In the summer of 2009, Yang was named a Waksman Scholar (science) and thereafter served as president of the Waksman Biology Club. In 2010 she was named to the Governor's School in the sciences. This spring, she earned second place in the physics category at the North Jersey Regional Science Fair.

Yang's talents as a musician have also been recognized. She's played the violin since the age of five and has been named to the Central Jersey Regional Orchestra and the All State Orchestra since seventh grade. She also passed the Royal Music School's Examination in piano. Yang also enjoys dance–jazz ballet and hip-hop–and has taught younger children locally in the weekly Chinese School.

Harvard University is Yang's destination in the fall. With so many interests and talents, it's difficult to select a major. However, chances are good that her specialty will be in the field of environmental science.

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