Class scholars praise school, opportunities

BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

Ryan Dunn SPOTSWOOD — Though the district is small and its budgets routinely fail, two of its graduating seniors say they treasure their Spotswood experience.

Ryan Dunn, class valedictorian, and Claire Almog, salutatorian, took part in Monday’s graduation ceremony, saying goodbye to the district that fought the odds to provide them a quality education. Both are headed to prestigious colleges and credit their time in Spotswood with helping them to get on the best college paths.

Dunn, who will attend the University of Pennsylvania this fall, said the fact that Spotswood High School is relatively small actually plays to its advantage. He said the close quarters make for good bonding and the chance to know everyone in your class. His senior class had about 190 students.

Claire Almog “You could really have a close communication with everyone,” he said. “I pretty much know everyone in my class.”

Dunn, who finished with a grade-point average of 4.44, the highest in his class, said he plans to major in chemical engineering at college. He’ll be especially busy because he also plans to major in business. He’s not yet sure which side — research or business — of chemical engineering he wants to work in.

Almog was just as impressed with Spotswood High School, saying she had some really great teachers her senior year.

“They really cared about what they’re doing,” she said.

Like Dunn, she praised the atmosphere of the school.

“It’s a really friendly feel and an open atmosphere,” she said. “You could be friends with basically whoever you wanted. It was very friendly.”

She praised the school for its lack of cliques, also.

Almog, who finished with the second highest GPA in the class, 4.43, said she will attend Livingston College at Rutgers University in the fall, with a major in biology. She said she wants to go into the medical field, likely as a physician’s assistant.

During his graduation speech, Dunn spoke about his early years in the district and how it doesn’t seem like that long ago that he was in kindergarten. He also talked about how the former high school principal told students on the first day of orientation that time in high school would fly and they should get involved in activities.

Dunn did just that, getting involved as treasurer of the National Honor Society trumpet player in the pep and jazz bands, as well as a member of the Octagon community service club, history club, science and math leagues, and the Future Business Leaders of America.

He said he was hard pressed to find anything negative to say about the district, though he did say there are not enough AP science classes.

Almog was also busy at Spotswood High School, taking part in the National Honor Society and playing soccer her entire high school career. She also is an avid flute player who has played in regional and state bands.

She also felt the district needs to offer more AP classes, though she also said there wasn’t much else she disliked about the district.

“I hope to see more AP classes in the future,” she said. “But the ones we have now are really cool, and I really enjoyed all of them.”