Family affair at SBHS; parent-grads look back as children graduate

By: Madeleine Johnson
   As the Class of 2007 made its way through the commencement ceremony June 20 at Trenton’s Sovereign Bank Arena, several of the graduating South Brunswick High School seniors were about to become second-generation alumni.
   "It’s awesome," said Roberta Weiss, whose last name was Buser when she graduated in 1978. "It’s just a sense of pride of watching your kids, to see them go through the schools. I think the school system has served them well."
   Ms. Weiss, whose daughter, Nikki, was among the 684 recent SBHS graduates, said she has noticed that things are a little different in the schools these days.
   "When we graduated, we graduated at Princeton University in the Princeton Chapel," she said. "There’s a lot of changes that have happened to South Brunswick over the years. It’s really an enjoyable thing to be able to look at these changes and watch your children adapt to the things we didn’t have."
   Joan and Keith Rasmussen, SBHS classes of 1972 and 1971 respectively, have watched their recently graduated daughter Kate make her way through the same school district in which they were educated— even if they also have seen many changes since their days as high school students.
   "It’s a very different school now just because of the sheer size," said Ms. Rasmussen, whose last name was Ragany when she graduated. "When we were in school, we knew most of the people in the school either by name or who they were. Nowadays, they don’t even know all the people in their own class."
   Mr. Rasmussen feels that the size of the school is one of the biggest differences between his high school experience and his daughter’s.
   "It’s a little odd because my graduating class was about 200. There’s about 2 million students in her graduating class," he joked.
   In addition to the growth of the district, Mr. Rasmussen has seen a change in the schools’ focus on academics — especially in how the high school prepares its students for college.
   "I can sum it up in one word: focus. (Kate) has been moving along a path that takes her to college. I didn’t think about college until my friends started talking about it. I went to Rutgers on the first day of class and I didn’t even know how to get there — that’s how prepared I was. Kate’s been a lot more focused on college than I was."
   His wife agrees.
   "I noticed that the school is very competitive. They do have a lot more opportunities, as far as the guidance department and college prep. It’s much more different with the SATs and the prep courses they have," she said. "In a way, I’m glad I’m not back in high school now with the intensity of the courses. I wasn’t stressed out like kids are today."
   But with the more demanding curriculum and variety of opportunities, Ms. Rasmussen thinks that this generation of students might be missing out on one of her favorite aspects of high school.
   "I think the opportunities they have now are much better than what we had, but I feel that the closeness and the friendships and the sense of being one big family was greater when I was there. They have lost that closeness, but it’s not anything you can’t live with. It’s just a sign of the times."
   The Rasmussens and Ms. Weiss have all spent around 50 years in the township, so they’ve seen how both the schools and the community have grown over the decades.
   "When I was in high school, there was probably only 5,000 to 10,000 people in town, and now there’s over 40,000," Ms. Rasmussen said. "I’ve been here for 53 years, so I’ve gone through all those changes both in the school and the general community."
   Some of these changes aren’t a matter of growth, but of how to handle the increasing size of South Brunswick’s population and the township’s need to serve all of its school-age residents.
   "It’s a good feeling to know that there’s a lot of changes that have happened to South Brunswick over the years. The strange thing was the Crossroads split into North and South. That was a whole new and different experience," Ms. Weiss said. "When we had overcrowding, rather than splitting the school, we had split sessions and different ways of accommodating the students in the ’70s."
   Mr. Rasmussen remembers his high school days fondly, saying that they had an "Archie and Jughead" feel to them.
   "I used to work as a caddy in Princeton before I got my license, so I used to hitchhike both ways and think nothing of it. If you needed to get some place and missed the transit buses, you’d just stick your thumb out and, usually, you’d get a ride from a senior or someone else you knew at the high school," he said. "You used to be able to do crazy things with your friends that now you wouldn’t get away with. Now there’s serious consequences to what would have been innocent behavior."
   But for all the things that have changed, some things never will — like the quality of teaching found at SBHS.
   "You always have a couple of defining educators that really inspire you and really leave their imprint on you," Mr. Rasmussen said. "For me, it was some of my English teachers and my Latin teacher."
   Ms. Weiss also has a few favorite teachers with whom she still keeps in touch.
   "I go to the open houses to get a status on my kids, of course, but I always make a point to go see my teachers," she said. "I wanted my kids to have Harry Schultz because he’s an awesome English teacher. In my day, if you got into Harry’s classes, you got the best of the best."
   While Ms. Weiss’ children didn’t have classes with any of her old teachers, Mr. Rasmussen said that his gym teacher taught Kate how to drive.
   "My daughter was taught driver’s ed by my physical education teacher, Dennis Duttry. He was the football coach and, when I was in high school, he taught me and one of the stars of the football team how to drive back in 1970. He taught Kate how to drive and I’ve made an appointment for him to teach my son how to drive later this summer."
   In the end, the Rasmussens and Ms. Weiss hope that their graduating daughters and the rest of their children will look back at high school with the same sense of happy nostalgia that they share.
   "I absolutely loved high school," Ms. Rasmussen said. "Everybody kind of looked out for everyone else and knew what was going on."
   "I look back on high school with very fond memories," Mr. Rasmussen added. "I still keep in touch with people from town and I hope that in 20 years, (Kate) will have stayed in touch with her classmates who have been a significant part of her life."
   Ms. Weiss is certain that her three children will know that South Brunswick and its schools will always be their home.
   "There’s still a nucleus of people who are still here and who still do things in the community. There’s a sense of unity and family," she said. "I honestly bleed black and gold. I know it sounds corny, but it’s pride in the township. I think there’s a sense of community and pride that South Brunswick and its schools instill in the people who have decided to either stay here or come back."