Lower Cape May Regional High School graduates its 50th class

LOWER TOWNSHIP - Lower Cape May Regional High School celebrated its 50th year Thursday by sending another 250 graduates into the world.

The students marched onto Steven Steger Field with hundreds of people in the aluminum football stands blowing air horns and yelling out the names of their favorite graduating senior.

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With members of the Class of 1961 - the first class - invited as special guests, Superintendent Jack Pfizenmayer told the seniors they would have to come back in 2061 to watch the 100th anniversary class accept their diplomas.

Principal Joseph Castellucci, a Lower graduate himself, said the school that serves Cape May, West Cape May and Lower Township has given high school diplomas to almost 10,000 students. Later, he personally handed a diploma to his son Daniel Joseph Castellucci.

"There are nearly 10,000 people living in this nation and in the world who call themselves Lower Cape May Regional alumni. Today, you join their ranks," Castellucci said.

The mission has not changed since 1961 but the methods have, Castellucci said. He noted students in 1961 didn't have laptops, smart phones and the Internet. He said the school didn't offer classes it does today, such as engineering and computer programming.

Valedictorian Taylor Vendetta said students here have learned "the same lessons we learned" in these hallways for 50 years. He said life is a succession of lessons that must be lived to be understood.

He highlighted three lessons he learned and traced them to specific teachers. Vendetta said English teacher Thomas Belasco told him how he entered college as a math major.

"This is the most significant lesson he could teach our class. Life does not always go as planned. We encounter and have to make life-altering decisions," Vendetta said.

He said Spanish teacher Michael Badger taught him to make personal happiness a top priority and be willing to take risks. Vendetta said math teacher Raymond Obst taught him about integrity and how achieving a desired outcome requires focus and hard work.

Salutatorian Randi Isenhart told her classmates they still have much more to learn.

"Learning is a lifelong process. Nobody knows everything," Isenhart said.

Being human means making mistakes but, Isenhart said, that is how learning takes place. She told them to question their mistakes and learn how they happen so they don't happen again.

"These errors have a purpose: to teach. Some people fight learning anything new. They close their mind to learning and mistakes stop having a purpose. We need to accept the change learning brings," Isenhart said.

Senior Class President Susan Booth also addressed the crowd.

"This is your future, not your teachers', parents' or best friends'. So find what makes you happy," Booth said.

She also told her classmates they don't have a right to happiness, but only have a right to pursue happiness. She said they now have a chance to make decisions and are in charge of their own destiny.

Contact Richard Degener:

609-463-6711

RDegener@pressofac.com