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Class of 2008 valedictorians
(by Kathryn A. Burger - June 11, 2008)
Fifty valedictorians from
Bergen
County public schools were honored at the 25th Annual Valedictorian Recognition Breakfast, hosted by the Bergen County Coalition of School Administrators (BCCSA) and co-sponsored by The Record and Cablevision.
All honorees from the
Pascack
Valley attended the breakfast, along with family and school personnel, that was held at the Fiesta banquet hall in Wood-Ridge earlier this month. Upon their designation of valedictorian, each student had the option of submitting a photo and brief biographical sketch to the BCCSA. The student profiles that follow have been excerpted from the submissions received.
Emerson Jr./Sr. High School
Joyce Raphail participated in many activities during her high school years. She wrote, “I am amazed at the amount of activities I have been able to do and the wonderful people I have gotten to know. The amount of clubs, extracurriculars, programs and events I have done are too many to name here; however, my most important involvements include being co-captain of the tennis team, drum major of the marching band, attending the 2007 Governor’s School of International Studies, and growing up in the Pascack Bible Church. Through these programs and people, I have established no only who I am, but who I want to be.”
She plans to study international relations in college and one day work for a non-governmental humanitarian aid organization.
Park Ridge
High School
Yuting Zhang was born in Beijing, in 1990 and came to the when she was 3 years old, a year after her parents. “I first grew up in Michigan, then in Hoboken and Edison and finally moved to
Park Ridge at the beginning of high school.” She enjoys reading, playing and listening to music and traveling.
“In the future, I hope to pursue a career in corporate law and visit all the countries in the world.”
Pascack
Hills
High School
Jeremy Kaufmann, of
Woodcliff
Lake , wrote, “Throughout high school, I have been attracted to the social sciences, particularly the study of history and politics. Being part of the debate team has been a great experience for me as I have learned much about public policy in lesser known regions of the world such as the Far East and sub-Saharan
Africa .”
He enjoys the outdoors and athletics and has been part of both the cross-county and tennis teams since his freshman year. He has also been an active leader of the school’s English community, tutoring underclassmen in the writing center and working on the literary magazine, a student publication, as literary editor.
He will attend
Dartmouth
College in the fall and is considering pursuing a degree in history or political science.
Pascack
Valley
High School
Rachel Ann Peltz, of River Vale, has distinguished herself academically throughout her high school career. She was named a National Merit Scholarship Finalist, was recognized as an Advance Placement Scholar, and as an Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholar, among other honors.
She is a member of the National Honor Society and president of the Spanish National Honor Society. She wrote that her most fulfilling position during high school has been her service as co-president of the Pascack Valley Choir during her senior year. She was selected as a member of the Bergen County Chorus, the All North Jersey High School Honors Choir, and the New Jersey All-State Women’s Choir. She said her collective musical experiences have defined her as a person and she hopes to continue pursuing music during college and beyond.
She will attend
New York
University and plans to study applied psychology.
Westwood
Regional
High School
Principal Thomas Gorman advises that Sean Maxon is this year’s valedictorian. He is an active member of the chess team. He will attend the Stevens Institute of Technology to study computer programming.
Kathryn A. Burger's e-mail address is burger@northjersey.com.
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