SOUTH RIVER — The first graduating class of the new millennium at South River High School will don their caps and gowns for their commencement ceremony to be held Tuesday.
The graduation will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Denney Stadium. There is no guest speaker scheduled for the ceremony.
Kathryn Elbert has been named the class valedictorian for South River High School. She will be attending Ohio University in the fall.
A student-athlete who excelled in softball, Elbert plans to double major in pre-med and athletic training/exercise physiology.
In the fall, Elbert said, she will also work in the college student-athletic training program as a trainer. She will be assigned to a different sport each semester.
"I spent my entire life in South River," she said. "I want to try new things."
In addition to playing on the softball team, she has also worked as an athletic trainer all four years.
Elbert has also been involved in the Math League and the Rutgers University Academic Challenge Team. She is a member of the National Honor Society, the Earth Club and the French Club.
The Kamm Avenue resident lives with her parents, Oscar and Janet, and her brother Jason, who is a sophomore at South River High School.
Elbert said she will work as an assistant supervisor over the summer for the borough’s recreation department.
Looking back over her years at the school, she said she will miss everyone, but feels it is time to move on to new things.
"It feels like it’s time for me to go," she added.
Her classmate and salutatorian, Douglas Scheinder, said life on the campus of the Rutgers University College of Engineering, Piscataway, will be a lot different than that of South River High School.
"Rutgers is a very big school and South River High School is very small," he said.
The 17-year-old plans to major in computer engineering, unless, he said, he decides to study computer science.
"Whatever I do, I’m definitely going to focus on computers," he added.
An avid video game player, Scheinder said he would like to one day design video games.
At South River High School, Scheinder has been a member of the school band for four years, and participated in Mock Trial and the Drama Club for two years.