New Egypt High School staff reflects on a special school year.
By: Sarah Winkelman
PLUMSTED The past four years have been full of firsts for the New Egypt High School Class of 2003 the first class to graduate from the high school. The graduation ceremony was held Tuesday night.
Since the Class of 2003 stepped into the high school building in September 1999, its slogan has been "A Tradition Begins." Everything the class has done during the past four years has set a precedent for future classes.
The Class of 2003 is remarkable," said Principal Gerald North. "They had a remarkable four years. Everything about the class made them special."
Throughout their four years at the high school, students, faculty and staff learned to deal with everything from national tragedies to working out the kinks common to any new endeavor. The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 and the commemoration of the first anniversary of the event with a candle-light walk from the township churches brought the community together. The culmination of the anniversary was an all-faith prayer service at the high school.
School officials formed an emergency committee made up of faculty, custodians and cafeteria workers to help students in the event of an emergency. The precautions were taken in response to the terrorist attack in New York City and Washington, D.C. on Sept. 11, 2001 and the 1999 Columbine High School tragedy, that left 15 dead when two boys opened fire on their classmates and teachers.
In terms of general school activities, this past October saw the high school’s first homecoming celebration and the crowning of Homecoming King Mike Magnotta and Queen Stacey Grapentine. To top off the day, the New Egypt High School Warriors football team won the homecoming game 40-12.
This year, the high school became the first in the country to employ iris recognition technology for security purposes. As of April 3, the iris reading system cameras scanned the eyes of visitors and staff in an effort to make the school a safer place to learn and work. The school also was the first in the country to get the rights to perform the musical "Copacabana."
The school’s first junior/senior prom was held on May 22. The senior class officers decided to hold the event at the Olde York Country Club in Columbus. The theme for the prom was "A Beginning’s End," apropos for the class that began a tradition at the high school and will soon be moving out into the world.
A baccalaureate ceremony, which featured senior class awards, was held on June 20. Academic awards and scholarships were the focus of the event, held in the high school auditorium.
Monday was senior class night in the school gym, an evening of food, games and reminiscence for the class. A presentation of the senior class video, a barbecue, signing yearbooks and other activities for the seniors topped off the night.
In 1992, Plumsted passed a referendum to build a new middle school. At the time, the district was K-8 only. Superintendent Jerry Woehr said when the middle school was built, the township decided to build an auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria and library in case the building ever needed to be used as a high school. The referendum was for $10.8 million.
"We were thinking 50 years into the future," Dr. Woehr said. "Never in our wildest dreams did we think we would need the school to be a high school in less than 10 years."
Plumsted had been sending its high school students to Allentown High School since 1926 when an agreement was made between Upper Freehold, Allentown, Millstone and Plumsted to share the school’s facilities, Dr. Woehr said.
"In 1996, Upper Freehold’s Board of Education said the boom in population in Millstone, Upper Freehold and Plumsted was causing a problem for the school," Dr. Woehr said. "The board said it was going to have to put an addition onto the high school and raise taxes to foot the bill."
The only other option would be if one of the sending districts withdrew its students, which would alleviate some of the problem. In 1995, the new middle school in Plumsted opened. That same year, the Plumsted Board of Education began discussions on what it would taketo complete the withdraw from Allentown High School.
An agreement between both boards and a state Department of Education study was needed to complete the process. Throughout 1996 and 1997, the study was conducted and the various meetings, agreements, forms and discussions were completed.
"We had to go through a series of feasibility studies to determine if we had enough students to warrant a high school and then we had to make sure there wouldn’t be any racial imbalance or financial burden on the township and that there would be equal educational opportunity in the course offerings," Dr. Woehr said.
As a result, the state Department of Education allowed for a referendum to be held to ask residents in Plumsted if they would support the creation of a K-12 school district and approve $16.5 million to be raised to build a high school.
"We needed the $16.5 million in the 1997 referendum to build a new middle school, convert the old middle school into a high school and add a gym to the elementary school for the additional high school sports programs," Dr. Woehr said. "In December 1997 we had a referendum on the ballot. Over 80 percent of the voters voted ‘yes.’"
In September 1999, the New Egypt High School opened its doors to the first ninth-grade class.
"We had a phased withdraw from Allentown High School," Dr. Woehr said. "Students from Plumsted who had started at Allentown High School prior to the September 1999 class finished their educational career at Allentown High. At the June 2002 graduation, the officials at Allentown High recognized the contributions of the Plumsted students over the years and awarded a plaque to the Plumsted Board of Education in recognition of their 76-year history."
The Class of 2003 began at New Egypt High School in September 1999 as freshman and was the only class in the building. The following school year the students moved on to the sophomore class and were joined by a new group of freshman. The 2002-2003 school year was the first year the school housed ninth through 12th grades.
"I am so very proud of the seniors," Dr. Woehr said.
He added that since 1907, the first time Plumsted discussed building a high school, the residents of Plumsted have been looking forward to having the chance to celebrate a graduation from their own high school.
"I know a lot of people are proud to be the pioneers of such an endeavor," he said. "I know I am happy to have been a part of something so extraordinary."
Dr. Woehr said the Class of 2003 are a "great group of students." The class participated in a number of sports and honor societies while maintaining their academics.
"A lot of them are going on two or four-year schools, a higher percentage than in the past," he said.
Mr. North also said that more than 60 percent of the class will be going on to two or four-year colleges, which he believed to be a substantial increase statistically from when the New Egypt students attended Allentown High School. Mr. North said he attributes this to the individual attention offered to the kids at the new high school and said he believes the goals and aspirations of the students increased as well.
Dr. Woehr added that members of the Class of 2003 participated in a number of community volunteer and extracurricular activities on top of their school work. The class started 17 athletic teams, including football, lacrosse, basketball and baseball, and eight clubs, which ranged from student government to skiing, in the past four years.
He said the baccalaureate ceremony on June 20 went well.
"So many seniors were recognized," he said. "At least 50 students were recognized with awards or scholarships. This graduating class represents the fulfillment of the dreams of many who wanted to see our children graduate in our hometown. They have excellent academic achievements and high state and national SAT/ACT test scores."
The sports banquet on June 17 also was a big success, Dr. Woehr said.
"The number of students who participated in sports and managed to keep up their grades was phenomenal," he said.
Dr. Woehr said the district actively recruited students for the sports teams, since the teams were brand new.
"A lot of the student athletes came through for us and gave up other things they wanted to do so we could get these teams going," he said. "I talk to other superintendents and they are amazed at how far we’ve come in the past four years."