One message on a mortarboard in the crowd of maroon and white summed up how the class of 2019 intends to take its next steps. “I am ready,” it read, “to face any challenge that might be foolish enough to face me.”
Verona High School held its 119th commencement on Thursday, June 20, graduating a class of 156 students at the Newman Center at Caldwell University. There was pomp, circumstance and a whole lot of rain just as the class attempted to step outside for post-graduation photos.
Tom White, the English and journalism teacher at VHS, was the evening’s featured speaker, and he told a story of story telling and the stories this class has told–and will tell in the future. The class of 2019’s valedictorian , Kelly Esposito, and salutatorian, Elizabeth Hensal, shared the emotions of many in the robed crowd when they thanked their families, friends and teachers for their journey through the Verona school system. The class also heard from Kate Ryan, its class president, and Nicolette Marino, the student council president, who have spent much of their time at VHS together on its volleyball team.
This year, VHS recorded the whole ceremony, and you can watch it in the video below:
Congratulations to the graduates of the Class of 2019:
Abigail Abalos, Nicholas Albanese, Matthew Aldiero, Emily Anderson, Kathleen Ashley
Zachary Balogh, Elizabeth Barile, Laura Bedoya, Liliana Benanchietti, Angelo Benfante, J. Nicholas Bernardino, Aiden Bertron, Erik Bostrom, Jeremy Boub, Lauren Brown, Isabelle Buneo, Julia Burke, Cade Byrne
Cristian Campos, Augustin Caprari, Brandon Cariani, Sarah Carlucci, Emma Carney, Maria Celentano, Philip Chivily, Jonathan Cole, Christina Colon, Chlow Conway, Brooke Cooney, Hunter Coppola, Emily Coppola, Michael Costa
Lily Dastis, Brendan De Leon, Jessica Derderian, Margot Deutsch, Alexandra DeVivo, Julia DiGeronimo, Dean DiPaolo, Matthew Dollaway, Ariana Dyer
Diana Ednie, Irene Eremita, Victoria Eriksson, Brendan Erwin, Kelly Esposito, Francesca Esposito, Margaret Evans
Peter Farley, Anthony Farro, Destiny Figueroa, Megan Forrest, Maya Fortgang, Sophia Francullo, Eric Frey, Matthew Frungillo
Maria Gabriele, Gina Gagliano, Michael Garcia, Jack Gautieri, Jenna Gibson, Nicholas Giuliano, Kayla Golebieski, Emile Goulard, Demitra Grillias
Elizabeth Hensel, Brianna Horton
Kyle Jacobsen, Lucas Jacobsen, Gareth Jenkins, Peter Jordan Jr., David Karpinski, Jarrod Keating, Harrison Keating, Ashley Kenneally, Erin Kiernan, Emily Klysa, Jake Knapp, Justin Kobernick, Julia Kosko
Chloe Lamb, Dallas Lamb, Gillian Lamb, Francis Lavery, Dwayne Lawson Jr., Molly Ligon, Changhao Liu, Julia Luberto
Chelsea Macancela-Gonzalez, Julia Mackey, Ally Madigan, Michael Maglione, Russell Maloney, Julia Mancuso, Rebecca Marcillo-Gomez, Nicolette Marino, Gianna Mattia, Brian McEvoy, Maeve McGinley, Ryan McKeown, Desiree Meyer, Matthew Monroe, Holly Montick, David Motley
Allison Naeris, Amber Neumann, Joseph Niler, Abigail Nochimson
Paul Ortiz
Cecilia Pandiscia, Robert Parent, Purva Patel, Yasmin Pego, Joseph Priori, Dante Puerari
Gabriel Quagliata, Colette Quattrocchi
Caitlin Richinelli, Joseph Richinelli III, Lourdes Ricks, Nicholas Riggio, Brianna Rigney, Christopher Robinson, Amon Rosenzweig, Kathleen Ryan
Nardin Salib, Eliana Salierno, Connor Seawright, Brendan Semeraro, Rebecca Seubert, Rachel Seubert, William Sheehan, J. Grady Short IV, Elise Sidali, Jessica Spinelli, Kanija Stephens, Jack Strippoli, Jessica Sweeney, Richard Symczak
Lara Tole, Charles Torikian, Joseph Trapani IV, Daniela Trujillo
Dalilah Varella-Durbin, Hector Vega Jr., Nicole Volpe
Brooke Wagner, Jacob Weber IV, Adam Weiss, Collin Welsh, Colleen Whelan, Nicolette Wynn
Emma Yee, Elyssia Yung
Anthony Zamloot, Jack Zickerman
