Friends, family and community members gathered to help mark one of the most important milestones in a Roosevelt child’s life — graduating from Roosevelt Public School.
Roosevelt Public School Principal Shari Payson presents the sixth-grade graduates during the 73rd annual commencement exercises in the amphitheater on June 12. SCOTT FRIEDMAN During the school’s 73rd annual commencement exercises in the amphitheater June 12, each of the 12 graduating sixthgraders reflected on the school and community that influenced their childhoods and helped shape their lives.
Principal Shari Payson recognized Ari Anish, Adam Block, Carlos Camacho, Bryden Carr, Sean Curry, Samantha Diamonte, John Eaton, William Ernst, Benjamin Hezrony, Traci Mitchell, Logan Vest and Max Vuolle as “part of the great tradition at Roosevelt Public School — the jewel of this community.” She thanked teachers, parents and community members for their parts in the students’ education.
Top: Graduate Samantha Diamonte gives her friend Traci Mitchell a thumbs-up for winning an award during the Roosevelt Public School sixth-grade commencement ceremony on June 12. Left: Roosevelt Public School fourth-graders Crystal Raines and Damon Duchai take a look at the cake the class of 2010 made for graduation. PHOTOS BY SCOTT FRIEDMAN The school encourages student involvement in the community and community participation in the school. To strengthen the bond between the two, each student must complete a research project on one aspect of the close-knit community. For example, Sean researched the history of the town deli and discovered that the original residents liked to go there for ice cream, too.
During their speeches, graduates focused on learning the importance of community service with the help of sixth-grade teacher Jeff Santanello and Roosevelt’s Silverstein family.
The Silversteins launched a Do One Thing campaign in honor of the late Emily Silverstein. Santanello, who once taught Emily at Roosevelt Public School, said he wanted his students to consider making a positive impact on the world. Throughout their last year at Roosevelt Public School, sixthgraders gave back to their school and community in many ways, including planning ning Earth Day activities for the school, researching the Ben Shan mural and relating its history to visitors, creating an educational commercial about pet and farm animal abuse, collecting food and other goods for shelter animals, and helping to organize and advertise the annual community litter pickup.
During the awards portion of the ceremony, Linda Silverstein commended all of the students for their participation in the Do One Thing campaign, and gave special recognition to Samantha and Traci for being the first students to execute a project that helped shelter animals.
Mayor Elsbeth Battel also recognized Traci with the mayor’s leadership award for exuding quiet strength, being a friend to all and always having a smile on her face.
The Clare Sacharoff Language Arts Literacy Award went to John for his imaginative and fluent stories and proficiency in language arts. Ari and Carlos received Environmental Commission Awards for helping to coordinate the community litter pickup and Earth Day activities.
The Fund For Roosevelt presented an award to Bryden for working to fight animal abuse, and recognized the entire class for their commitment to the environment and making the community a better place.
David Herrstrom, of Roosevelt Arts Project, gave an award to Benjamin for the artistic part of his Roosevelt project, which included creating an edible and light-up rendition of the town’s annual Independence Day celebration.
Sean received the Nathan Bard Social Studies Award for his Roosevelt project from Donald Bard. Bard also presented the Graham Nisnevitz Mathematics Award to Adam for his adeptness at solving higherorder thinking multiple-step math problems and applying math to everyday situations. Bard also gave the Oscar Nisnevitz CitizenshipAward to Max for his “kindness and sensitivity toward others … respecting the opinions of others … giving tours of the school” and “explaining the history of the mural and the school.”
The PTA recognized Logan with an award for inspiring people to advocate on behalf of pets and livestock.
Board of Education President Natalie Warner recognized students’ Roosevelt and Do One Thing projects as demonstrations of their commitment to “becoming lifelong learners.”
While they expected happiness on graduation day, students didn’t realize how sad they would be to have to say goodbye to attending school in the close-knit community.
“Graduation looked like a lot of fun until I got up here to give my speech,” Adam said before recognizing that he and his classmates face a big change in attending Melvin H. Kreps Middle School in East Windsor next year. Roosevelt does not have its own middle school or high school and sends its students to East Windsor Regional Schools starting in the seventh grade.
Ari, who follows in his mom’s and aunt’s footsteps by graduating from Roosevelt Public School, said, “All of the teach- ers in the school are so great at teaching their students. I will miss them greatly.”
Carlos noted that he only spent one year in Roosevelt, “but it was the best school year of my life.” He said the teachers and students were wonderful in welcoming him and helping him learn about the school and community. Samantha echoed his sentiment, stating that she had attended five other schools before Roosevelt Public School.
“Roosevelt is my favorite,” Samantha said. “Good luck finding another school like Roosevelt.”
Logan said many classmates spent all seven years together.
“We’ve been through tough moments as if we were brothers and sisters,” she said.
Remembering the good times, Logan talked about playing with a dollhouse and drawing trees. Max recalled planting the butterfly garden and learning “if everyone puts forth a little effort, it makes a big difference.”
Sean apologized to RPS staff for “giving them a hard time” before recognizing, “All of your efforts paid off.”
Traci said, “Thanks to the many good teachers and friends I had over the years. We will still be friends until the end. And I can’t wait to go to Kreps, but we will always have RPS.”
Santanello reminded graduates that the history and legacy of Roosevelt Public School and Roosevelt are now theirs to protect.“ Don’t lose your history,” he said. “Keep a collection and preserve the tales of your neighbors to keep the unique place this town has in the world.”