Central Regional Class of 2011 Graduates With Smiles, Cheers and Some Tears

School is usually associated with academic lessons – reading, writing, math.

But as Central Regional High School prepared to send the 294 graduates of the Class of 2011 into the world on Wednesday evening, schools Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides reminded them that the lessons they learned from each other are just as important.

“On our eighth grade class trip to Great Adventure, on a day where the temperature was nearly 100 degrees, much like this one, the seniors from Clifton High School were cutting the line,” Parlapanides recounted. “When I told the Clifton students it was rude to cut the line, while other people were waiting to get in, out of nowhere, Zach Bedford said, ‘You heard Mr. P! Stop cutting the line!’ "

“I thought we were going to be mauled by the 400 Clifton students, but what Zach taught me was to always be supportive of your friends and family,” Parlapanides said.

It was one of several stories he used to illustrate important lessons the students learned about leadership, hard work and generosity.

And no where was it more evident than during the ceremony itself. The sense of family – of the students taking care of each other – was underscored during the presentation of the diplomas.

As the line of graduates wound its way past Parlapanides and the members of the Board of Education, Samantha Bartek gently guided Frankie Ferriolo through the line. Ferriolo, an autistic student, had become uncomfortable during the ceremony due to the noise level generated by cheering parents and friends bearing air horns. Bartek comforted him, and guided him through the line and back to his seat. Bartek has been assisting Ferriolo for two years, one teacher noted.

And there was Chelsea DeRose, whose leg injury forced her to ride out the ceremony in a wheelchair. By her side and pushing the chair through the grass of the football field in James. J. Boyd Stadium was Alex DeRosa-Ruquet. “We’ve been best friends since middle school,” Chelsea and Alex said in unison. “He’s the best,” Chelsea added.

“I have so many great stories,” said Parlapanides, who was the high school principal when the 2011 graduates entered the school. “I miss the interaction with the kids. I have a lot of memories.”

Valedictorian Heather Tice urged her classmates to be honest – with themselves and with others – and to embrace the changes that lie ahead for them.

“As John Wooden said, be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is who you are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

Salutatorian David Bedford reminded his fellow graduates that their greatest achievements – in everything from art to medicine to everything in between – still lie ahead.

“We are the leaders of a new generation,” he said. “I know there is so much more ahead for all of us.

And senior class president Shannon Griffin told her classmates to never settle.

“Never rest until your good is better, and your better is best,” she said.

“Have the courage to attempt great things,” Parlapanides said. “Be leaders in life, and with hard work your opportunities will be endless.”

The heat of the hottest day of 2011 was just beginning to fade as the graduates tossed their caps into the air and welcomed waiting parents and friends.

As cameras snapped, the excitement of the future and the sadness of saying goodbye were tugging at many, visible in tears in their eye and ear-to-ear smiles.

“Let’s take one more,” one young woman said to young man, as they approached the football field gate. And they turned back, for one last moment, to remember what they – and the Class of 2011 – shared at Central Regional.

Come back to Berkeley Patch later today for a complete list of the graduates.