Celebrating graduation

The Cranbury School class of 2007 graduated on Monday

By: Michelle McGuiness
   To the tune of "Pomp and Circumstance," played on piano by music teacher Jaclyn McKeever and student Ethan Barron, Cranbury School eighth-graders stepped past a barrage of flashing cameras and took their seats in the school’s gym on Monday.
   Above the soon-to-be-graduates stretched an arch of blue and silver balloons, and before them were parents, grandparents, siblings and friends, all murmuring anxiously.
   "We will live on, but we won’t forget this time in our lives, these people," said Student Council President Anne Bonazzi during her welcoming remarks.
   The class performed three songs during the ceremony, all tied to the theme of "soaring higher."
   The first of the three songs, "What a Wonderful World," was accompanied by a slideshow featuring pictures of the class and a recording of the song from when the students were younger. When the slideshow ended, the students performed the song one last time as a class.
   Following Cranbury School tradition, the class finished the night with a performance of "We Must Say Goodbye."
   "Tonight will be a night of goodbyes," Student Council historian Veronica Spann said when she introduced the song. "We should remember how lucky we are to experience something that makes it so hard to say goodbye."
   During the ceremony, the 74 members of the graduating class shared readings that fit with their theme.
   "Try not to become a man of success, but rather to become a man of value," Robert T. Dowers said, quoting Albert Einstein.
   "You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time," Gregory Matthew Carroll said, quoting Abraham Lincoln to applause and laughter.
   When Chief School Administrator Carol Malouf stood to present the graduating class, she chose to quote Dr. Seuss. "You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go," she recited.
   Ms. Malouf praised the class for its accomplishments throughout the nine years most of the students have spent at the Cranbury School. Ms. Malouf noted the more than 1,000 pounds of food the class donated to the Middlesex County Food Drive, the students’ work as peer mediators and their assistance in the Thanksgiving Day food drive. Ms. Malouf also recognized the students for their letter-writing campaign for soldiers in Iraq.
   "These students experienced a change together," Ms. Malouf said. "They developed a respect for themselves and each other."
   Ms. Malouf encouraged the students to reach for their goals, but also to remember Cranbury School and come back to visit once they’re in high school.
   "Your education will carry you to places you will not believe," she said. "Set your sights high, reach for your dreams, for nothing is impossible."
   The graduates received a standing ovation and hoots and cheers from the crowd as they rose to receive their diplomas. Some hugged Board of Education members Frank Ransegnola and Joan Rue as they held their diplomas high for loved ones to see.
   Family members and friends crowded the back of the gym to get one last picture when the graduates posed together for a final portrait. As the last camera flashed, the graduates tossed purple and yellow flowers into the air and dispersed to share hugs and goodbyes with friends.
   Twins Michael and Michelle Underwood said they were thrilled.
   "I never thought I was going to graduate," Michelle said laughing.
   Her brother Michael agreed and said he is excited to go to high school and meet new teachers and friends.