Enjoy more from last night's commencement
Enjoy a video montage of the 54th commencement exercises at Watchung Hills Regional High School. Included in this video are segments from speeches by All Council President Jason Riddell, Class President Nicole Liebler, Salutatorian Annie Yang—and Valedictorian Brittany MacTaggert's farewell rap. For more on the graduation, see the story, "Graduates Urgde to Work Hard—And Call Mom."
With high school behind them, where are this year's graduates heading?
The books are put away, the cap and gown folded and the members of Watchung Hills Regional's Class of 2011 are home after a night of safe celebration at Project Graduation. Now what? For the majority of students, the summer is a break before launching their college educations but others have plans to head into the job market or military service. In a preliminary report on the students' plans presented at Monday night's board of education meeting, Guidance Supervisor Catherine Angelastro noted more students are diving into the work force this year, despite a generally poor job market. About 2.2 percent of students are planning to enter the work force, up from 1.5 percent last year. That's still fewer than in 2008, when 3.5 percent of the …
Watchung Hills Regional's 54th graduating class totals 530.
Crammed inside the school's main gym because of rain, the 530 members of Watchung Hills Regional's graduating Class of 2011 were urged to find and follow their passions, never lose their caring attitude for others, work hard—and call mom. The final bit of advice came from Michael Bloomberg, by way of Watchung Hills Regional Board of Education President Robert Horowitz, who also offered words of wisdom from Maria Shriver—and noted college dropouts Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. But the big hit of the night was a minute-long rap by Valedictorian Brittany MacTaggert, who had also told her fellow classmates that they have a reason to celebrate. "Every math problem has been solved, every essay written, every note sung," she said. She recounted the …
