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Standing on stage before her fellow Roosevelt High School classmates, valedictorian Nathalie Zavala knew she had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Turning her back to the crowd, she outstretched her arm with phone in hand, raised it up and snapped a photo of herself with the graduates in the background. 
 Erupting in laughter and cheers, the graduates cried for Zavala, 18, to upload the “selfie” she had boldly taken mid-speech to Instagram, an online photo-sharing service. 
 “I wanted to be remembered for taking the risk,” said Zavala, who plans to attend Stony Brook University in the fall. 
 Zavala said that she revealed her plan to only a few teachers and classmates before taking the stage at the graduation ceremony Saturday afternoon at Nassau Community College in Garden City. 
 “That was not a part of the rehearsal,” said Principal Stephen Strachan, laughing. 
 Zavala was not the only one who tried to have a little fun at the graduation. The lively, 152-member graduating class tossed around beach balls throughout the ceremony, and some danced as they made their way up to the stage to receive their diplomas. 
 Salutatorian Glenda Sanchez, 18, explained that the late graduation date, compared&nbsp;with the majority of local school districts', was the reason the class was in such high spirits throughout the ceremony. 
 “We were ready to graduate already,” Sanchez said. “As serious as this year and graduation were, we like to have fun.” 
 Strachan said Roosevelt High School’s enrollment gives each graduating class a special bond. 
 “One of the unique things about being in a small district is that they stick together,” Strachan said. 
 Zavala took the time in her valedictorian speech to thank her classmates for their support and friendship. 
 “We say goodbye to the uniforms, administrators, having only one bathroom open in the entire building and -- let’s not forget --&nbsp;the endless chicken patties and French fries,” Zavala said.&nbsp;The graduates jumped out of their seats and cheered, perhaps the most on the subject of the bathrooms, as she explained later that the others are inaccessible during the day. “But it is also the day we say goodbye to the teachers who have influenced us and the friends who have stood by us.”

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Roosevelt valedictorian uses Instagram to share speech

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Freeport class of 2013 president Chelsea Campbell, bound for Albright College, delivered a speech to her classmates on the virtues of her favorite sport, golf. Campbell said that golf has taught her patience and sticktoitiveness, and the value of self-improvement. 
 “My friends have heard it many times before.” she said. “But golf is life.” 
 Life lessons come in all different forms, as speakers explained to 375 graduates at Freeport High School’s commencement, held Wednesday at Hofstra University. 
 Joseph Mille, Freeport’s assistant principal for the senior class spoke, can relate to self-improvement. In his speech he explained how he initially was totally content working at Bright Cleaners in Lindenhurst. In August of that year, a graduate school admissions officer from Dowling College named Donna Rode came into the cleaners and befriended Mille. She tried to get him to enroll at Dowling’s education graduate program, but Mille declined several times -- until she offered him $100 to come in for a meeting to discuss registration. 
 Mille ended up enrolling at Dowling after the meeting, but didn’t forget about the money he was promised. 
 “Look at the bill,” Mille recalled of Rode answering his question about the money. “I knocked $100 off the tuition.” 
 Freeport’s valedictorian, Elizabeth Mulé, dared her classmates to pursue excellence and not to second-guess themselves when opportunities present themselves. 
 “Remember your beginnings, but don’t be afraid to go to new places,” said Mulé, who will attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology next fall and had a solo in the Freeport Select Chorale’s rendition of "Seasons of Love" from the musical “Rent” just minutes before her speech. 
 Bianca Molina, the class salutatorian set to attend the University of Pennsylvania, asked her fellow graduates to trust in themselves as they move on to the next stages of their lives. 
 “We must believe that our dreams are worth pursuing in order to achieve them,” she said. 
 But Mille also reminded graduates that futures will always be tied to their past. 
 “A friend once told me that once Freeport is in your blood; you can never get it out of you,” Mille told the graduates. “That is absolutely true. This is now my second home, and you are my second family.”

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Assistant principal calls Freeport grads his ‘second family'

Arielle Chapin put things in perspective. 
 When the Lawrence High School valedictorian addressed the class during a graduation ceremony at LIU Post’s Tilles Center Monday evening, she discussed things that most graduates are feeling: excitement for the summer, anxiousness over their first year in college, the frightening concept of having their first apartment away from home. 
 Chapin asked them to remain calm, and to simply appreciate being alive. 
 “Be happy for this moment, this moment is your life,” she said, quoting Persian philosopher Omar Khayyám. 
 Earlier in the ceremony, district superintendent Gary Schall spoke highly of the 244-member Class of 2013 when he addressed the crowd. Citing the hardships that the class has grown up through, including 9/11, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and the financial crisis of 2008, Schall told the class that they were stronger for what they had been through and were destined to be a special group. 
 “You are on the verge of being the next great generation,” he said. 
 As far as Kim Shakespeare is concerned, the Class of 2013 has already achieved greatness. 
 Her son Christian, 18, has Williams syndrome, a condition that causes developmental delays. She was advised to put Christian on an educational track which would have had him graduate from high school at age 21. 
 She and her husband, Charles, 47, refused and kept Christian on a normal graduation track. But they worried about how the students of Lawrence would treat her son. Her apprehension was dispelled, though, when she saw how accepting the students were toward Christian. 
 “They were just amazing,” said Kim Shakespeare, 46. “Extraordinary. They gave him an extraordinary year. They treated him like an ordinary student, which was all we wanted.”

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Mom applauds Lawrence grads for treatment of special-needs son

Gazing out at his fellow graduates Sunday afternoon, Wellington C. Mepham High School’s 2013 valedictorian, Connor Jay Garet, was looking far into the future. 
 Instead of speaking about college or the careers that await the 340 members of the Class of 2013, Garet chose to focus his commencement address on what he and his peers would leave behind long after they have left this world: their legacy. 
 “It doesn’t take much to change someone else’s life, to be a hero, to leave a legacy,” Garet said, as he told a story about one of his friends who recently came to the aid of a stranded motorist and helped push the car safely to the side of the road. 
 “With one simple gesture, he helped a woman he did not know,” Garet said. “He may have even prevented an accident that could have taken someone else’s life.” 
 During their time at Mepham High School, Garet said his class has started to build their legacy by making positive, lasting impacts on their school and community. They started new traditions, including Senior Spirit Week, coordinated service projects and raised more than $66,000 for charities, including Ronald McDonald House and the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. 
 “Let’s continue to leave our legacy for the rest of our lives,” said Garet, who is bound for Duke University. “I know we can make a difference.” 
 Principal Michael Harrington said the graduates have earned a total of roughly $16 million in four-year scholarships, but remarked that it’s their “leadership, character and willingness to help others” that make them an “outstanding” class. 
 “They have impressed us with their minds, but they’ll be remembered for their hearts,” he said. 
 JoAnn Lee DeLauter, president of Mepham’s senior class of 2013, calculated that the graduates spent 23 percent of their young lives in high school. 
 “I’m sure most of us would agree that 100 percent of our time spent at Mepham has been a memorable, gratifying and life-changing experience,” she said. 
 Matthew McKenna has spent more time in school than the average Mepham graduate, though. As McKenna, 18, of Bellmore, accepted his diploma Sunday, a faculty member pointed out that he had not missed a single day of school from kindergarten through senior year. 
 “I just always liked coming to school, so it really wasn’t a big deal for me,” said McKenna, of his perfect attendance record. “The great teachers and great faculty made it easy to come every day.” 
 McKenna, who plans to study mechanical engineering at the University of Connecticut, said he first became aware of his lack of absences when he received an award in second grade. From then on, he made it a goal to never miss class. 
 “As long as I wasn’t sick, I was coming to school,” said the athlete and honor student. 
 Plus, he added, “I hate missing work and having to make it up.” &nbsp;

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Lifelong perfect attendance 'easy' for Mepham grad

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For the first time in 10 years, Sanford H. Calhoun High School Principal David Seinfeld didn’t deliver a speech at Sunday’s commencement. Instead, Seinfeld forfeited his slot in the program to a young man who, he said, is far more inspirational. 
 In order to graduate with his 350 classmates, Dean Brownworth, 18, of Merrick, had to overcome cancer. Brownworth was out of school for most of his junior year and the first four months of his senior year, undergoing surgery, radiation and chemotherapy to treat a cancerous tumor in his brain. He said he lost 25 pounds off his already slim frame and his hair fell out four times over, but he was able to return to school in early January and was back on the court, playing for Calhoun’s basketball team, shortly after. 
 “Life throws curve balls at all of us, and sometimes we are knocked down,” said Brownworth, who also played baseball for Calhoun. “But you have to get up, you have to find the strength to carry on, to continue the journey. You need to believe.” 
 Speaking from his experience, Brownworth told his classmates that when they do encounter unexpected obstacles, they should “stay positive, stay focused on their goals and stay close with family and friends.” 
 Sen. Chuck Schumer stepped up to the podium at the NYCB Theatre in Westbury after Brownworth. He spoke of tax incentives available to help families pay for college and shared some stories from his past -- from a failed romance to his first electoral victory. Then, hoisting his hand above his head, he told the 2013 graduates, “Figure out what your dream is… and go for it.” 
 Calhoun’s 2013 valedictorian, William Mansmann, 18, had a different challenge for his classmates, though. Rather than solely focusing on their individual goals, the Cornell University-bound Merrick resident told his fellow graduates they have a responsibility to work together to make the world a better place. 
 Calling his generation “underdogs,” Mansmann said, “There are a lot of negative expectations about our generation. People don’t seem to believe that we can accomplish what generations of the past have accomplished.” 
 He challenged his classmates to refuse to let those thoughts define them. 
 “Society can tell us what it expects us to do, but it is our decision to determine the fate of the generation,” he added. “If we continue to learn, and choose to do what is right, we can defy those expectations, alter those perceptions and uphold our responsibility to make this world a better place for the next generation.”

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Cancer survivor provides inspiration to Calhoun classmates

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Joy Reyes could not contain her excitement as her cousin pushed her wheelchair across the stage Sunday morning and she accepted her diploma. 
 “I’m overjoyed .?.?. speechless,” said Reyes, 19, of Merrick, following her graduation from John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore. 
 Reyes, who plans to pursue a career as a civil rights and immigration lawyer, is headed to Hofstra University in the fall to earn her undergraduate degree. From there, she hopes to attend Harvard Law School. 
 Watching her daughter graduate from her seat at the NYCB Theatre in Westbury, Ellen Reyes said Sunday marked one of the best days of her life. She added, “I want Joy to have love, peace and joy, and be very successful, which she will be.” 
 The 332 members of Kennedy’s Class of 2013 are bound for 111 different colleges, but a large contingent of them, 25 in total, are off to Binghamton University. 
 Even for those students attending the same school, salutatorian Jordan Liebman, who is headed to Yale University, told his classmates that college presents them with an opportunity to hit the “reset button” and “redefine” themselves. 
 “Take new, fascinating classes, try new things, date a little bit more or maybe even a little bit less,” he said. “Establish yourself as the person you want to be.” 
 Liebman also told his fellow graduates that they still have plenty of time to discover who they are, change their minds, fail and try again. He pointed out that it took him three tries to finally pass his road test. 
 Meanwhile, valedictorian Eric Fegan, 18, of Merrick, admitted to the audience during his speech that he still doesn’t have his driver’s license. 
 Fegan, who is bound for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he came across countless inspirational references comparing life to a road, but he suggested it is more like a maze. 
 “In the maze of life, there is never really only one correct path,” he said, adding that many times obstacles force people to deviate from their planned route and find new ways to succeed. 
 Using the way the Bellmore-Merrick communities came together to endure the effects of superstorm Sandy, Fegan said that each obstacle a person comes across in life presents a lesson to be learned. 
 “The lesson from Sandy is the power of everyone united toward a common goal,” he added. 
 And as for Fegan’s driver’s license, he is taking private lessons now. 
 “It’s getting more comfortable,” he said, “but I still have stuff to work on.

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John F. Kennedy High School graduates ready for 'maze of life'

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Wearing a suit, Erik Jakob picked up his electric guitar and began strumming. 
 “If I leave here tomorrow... would you still remember me?” sang Jakob, 17, who plans to attend New York Institute of Technology in the fall. “For I must be traveling on now 'cause there's too many places I've got to see.” 
 Jakob said performing with his band Rake — made up of himself, drummer Kyle O’Connor, 18, guitarist Andrew Burkhardt, 17, and Robert Wagner, 18 — was the perfect way to end their high school career together. 
 “It’s a good feeling to finish this way,” Jakob said. “But we’re not going to stop playing.” 
 To close out their senior year at Floral Park Memorial High School, the band played Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 1975 hit “Freebird” while the nearly 240 graduates walked out of the arena, officially concluding the graduation ceremony at Hofstra University in Hempstead. 
 During the ceremony, class president Stephen Esposito in his speech asked students to take a moment to reflect on their four years in high school. 
 “It’s the little things I’ll miss,” said Esposito, 18, who plans to study political science at Fordham University. “Although we are all moving on to the next chapter of our lives, we still remain family. Thanks for the adventure class of ‘13, now go have another.” 
 Because he signed up for a second trip to Nicaragua through the high school’s annual program to build schools there, Esposito won’t be able to rest after graduation. 
 Instead, he said he was catching a plane to Nicaragua at 5 a.m. Sunday to spend eight days there. 
 “The experience makes you put things in perspective,” he said. “We’re so lucky to have the education system we have and if we can help provide the gift of education by building a comfortable environment for these kids, well, then it’s well worth the effort.” 
 Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) also made a brief appearance to speak to graduates, advising them to find a career they love and not to settle for anything else. He ended his speech by saying, “Congratulations Class of 2013, Good luck and godspeed.” 
 Valedictorian and aspiring doctor Vishnu Tiwari advised his class to keep their chins up, prepare for the future, follow their passion and grab life by the horns. 
 “I wish you all the success in the world,” said Tiwari, 17, who plans to take the pre-med track at Brooklyn College in the fall. “Look out world, here comes the class of ‘13.” 
 As his graduating class was filing out of the arena, tears began rolling down Jakob’s cheeks as he and his bandmates performed “Freebird.” 
 By the time Jakob got to, “‘Cause I'm as free as a bird now,” his classmates had left the building, on their way out toward their future. &nbsp;

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'Freebird' the soundtrack at Floral Park graduation

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Their bodies swaying back and forth, members of Uniondale High School’s show choir clenched their fists and raised their hands in the air while performing Beyonce’s “I Was Here,” marking the final moments of their high school career. 
 “I did. I’ve done, everything that I wanted,” they sang. “And it was more than I thought it would be. I wanna leave my mark so everyone will know. I was here.” 
 Most of its members were among the 505 students, many wearing decorated caps, who graduated from the school during a ceremony at Hofstra University in Hempstead Saturday. 
 Their principal, Florence Simmons, told students in her speech that they “will forever bleed black and gold” no matter where life takes them and Uniondale will always be home. 
 “As you follow your hearts, stay on the right path and you will reach greatness,” Simmons said. “Make every minute a momentous occasion and you will all make a difference in the world. I love you all and I’m so very proud of each and every one of you.” 
 Valedictorian Gilbert Tagufa, who plans on studying biomedical engineering at Hofstra in the fall, told his classmates to be proud of their accomplishments, and repeated his principal in saying “Uniondale is Long Island’s best-kept secret.” 
 “Each one of us has the power within us to create change,” said Tagufa, 18. “Sometimes Uniondale gets a bad rap, but don’t let that be what defines us. Make your own path.” 
 A longtime fan of hit show “CSI,” Iliana Reyes, who plans to study forensic science at John Jay College, has always been interested in solving puzzles and challenging herself. 
 “Graduation is one of the first of many milestones we’ll reach in our lives,” said Reyes, 17, after the ceremony. “I have to say I’m excited for college.” 
 Salutatorian Daniel Clayton, who plans to study electrical engineering at the University of Florida in the fall, advised students in his speech to never forget where they come from. 
 “No matter what people say about us, we’re breaking barriers just by being here,” said Clayton, 18. “As the maid in the movie ‘The Help’ told the small child she looked after, ‘You is kind, you is smart, you is important.” We are the most talented, ambitious and extraordinary class to graduate from Uniondale. Keep moving forward Class of 2013.” 
 And as the last student crossed the stage to receive her diploma, the entire class simultaneous created “a wave,” cheering loudly and prematurely throwing their caps in the air.

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Uniondale graduation starts in song, ends in 'wave'

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When valedictorian Delaney Cassidy took the stage at the Babylon Junior-Senior High School graduation Saturday morning, she made it known that she was not there to inspire her fellow graduates to pursue their dreams or encourage them to cherish memories from high school. 
 “To be perfectly honest, I don’t care much about that,” said Cassidy, 18, laughing. “The only thing on my mind right now is getting through this as quickly as possible.” 
 Cassidy knew she was going to be nervous speaking before her teachers and classmates, so her mother gave her some advice for writing her speech. 
 “I told her to keep it short and funny,” said Rosanne Cassidy. “Don’t talk about saving the world.” 
 Despite professing her stage fright at the celebration, Delaney Cassidy’s nerves were masked by the huge smile on her face, which was the inspiration for her speech. Smiling — her favorite activity — was more than appropriate for the occasion, she said. 
 “Some of us may smile because they have made lifelong friends here,” Cassidy said. “Some may smile because they have had exceptional teachers and some of us may smile because they never have to walk the halls of Babylon Junior-Senior High School again.” 
 As the 125 graduates walked across the stage on the school’s football field, they also smiled, with family members cheering or air horns tooting as their names were read. After all the members of the Class of 2013 received their diplomas, doves were released, bringing cheers from the beaming graduates. 
 Michelle Scharff, director of the world language department at the school, gave the farewell address. When the Class of 2013 was in kindergarten, the district began a pilot program that included Scharff teaching Spanish to kindergartners. Many of the students she taught this year she also had in kindergarten. 
 “Each of your faces are a reminder of the past and a promise for the future,”&nbsp; Scharff said. “It is those faces that looked up at me with limitless potential so many years ago.” 
 Scharff said that when they were kindergartners, the day they would graduate seemed forever away. 
 “Just as quickly as the last 13 years have happened, so will the next,” she said. “Time will pass regardless, so set your goals and achieve them.”

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Linguist taught Babylon grads as kindergartners, seniors

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As Garden City High School’s 299 graduates took their seats&nbsp;at the school stadium Saturday morning, a surprise guest had not yet arrived. 
 Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) entered the stadium about 20 minutes into the ceremony and quietly took a seat next to the Garden City district’s administrators and school board members. 
 Soon Schumer was introduced by Principal Nanine McLaughlin and took to the microphone to deliver a speech that not everyone knew was coming. 
 As Schumer called Garden City “one of the finest high schools, not just in New York state, but in our entire country,” he explained how valuable it is that the Class of 2013 was born into a world where technology is constantly growing and adapting. 
 “Technology is to your generation as water is to a fish; you’ve been swimming in it your whole lives,” he said. 
 According to McLaughlin, Schumer tries to attend as many high school commencements in the state as he can during graduation season. The principal found out a week ago -- the day the program went to the printers -- that Schumer would be attending the ceremony. 
 The school didn’t publicly announce that he was coming,&nbsp;but as graduation approached valedictorian Shannon Carman heard rumors that Schumer might attend. 
 “It was fine, actually, because it gave me more time to get ready for my speech,” said Carman, who will be attending Dartmouth College in the fall. She said she had a fear of public speaking and was glad to have some extra moments to calm her nerves. 
 “I’m usually very nervous when it comes to public speaking, but today was weird; I was nervous, but it wasn’t that bad,” Carman said. 
 In a sense, by getting through her speech Carman had heeded the lesson Schumer offered earlier. 
 “My advice to the Class of 2013 is very simple,” Schumer said. “Go for it.”

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Schumer appearance helps valedictorian get through speech

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Syosset High School class of 2013 salutatorian Seung Wan Yoon, 17, can’t swim. 
 Class speaker Sidhant Wadhera, 18, couldn’t help but poke fun at Yoon in his speech at the school’s graduation ceremony Wednesday night. “Only in Syosset High school can you have an All-American track team, a wrestling state champion, and a salutatorian who can’t swim,” he said. 
 Yoon admitted the problem in his own nautical-themed speech to his class, addressing the future as an uncertain but navigable sea, and promising that the Syosset High School experience was “a pond to prepare us for the future, for the streams, rivers, and eventually the ocean.” 
 The only problem, Yoon said, is that he can’t swim. 
 “If your lifeboat springs a leak, you’d better have a way to survive — which is why I’ll learn to swim this summer,” he said. 
 Syosset High School graduated 575 students in the Class of 2013 at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex at Hofstra University. Speeches were given by both students and staff, and time was taken to appreciate the life of Jong Hun “John” Lee. Lee, a member of Syosset’s class of 2013, was struck and killed by a Long Island Rail Road train on March 26. 
 Wadhera’s speech made special note of the passing of Lee. Wadhera said although his large graduating class may not all know each other very well, the loss of their classmate unified them. 
 “I didn’t know John personally,” he said. “But I saw the outpouring of support to his family from everyone in the class, from his best friends to people who just quietly passed him in the hallway. This was our greatest triumph — because we came together. We were Syosset Strong.” 
 School principal Giovanni Durante led the crowd in a moment of silence for Lee. 
 Valedictorian Roger Witkin’s speech went a little outside the box. 
 “In Japan, a popular child’s activity consists of capturing and raising large beetles, which are eventually pitted against each other in a kind of beetle sumo to see who’s the strongest,” Witkin, 18, said. 
 He compared the children who raise the beetles to he and his classmates, saying that they are all driven by the compulsion to be the best at something. 
 Witkin said that while he’s occasionally bothered by the competitive nature of high school, he is also “relieved that we, as students, universally have something we want to excel at, something that makes us want to be consequential in the eyes of our friends.”

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Class of 2013 'Syosset Strong' after classmate's death 

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For the past year, Benjamin Zander has used poetry to share his thoughts on a range of issues, including cancer, suicide awareness and anti-bullying, through his YouTube channel, “BENeficialPoetry.” So when it was time to reflect on his feelings about graduating from Great Neck South High School, he turned to rhyming yet again. 
 On Wednesday night, the eve before his graduation, Zander, 17, who plans to dual major in broadcast journalism and creative writing at the College of New Jersey — and who had his business card taped to the top of his graduation cap — posted his 60th YouTube video. In the clip, he’s seen reciting a poem he wrote, “Enjoy High School.” 
 Then at graduation on Thursday, he told fellow members of the Class of 2013 inside the Tilles Center on Long Island University’s Brookville campus: “You don’t know how lucky we are to be given the chance to reach for a star. This is the beginning, not the end, and I hope you will remain my friend.” 
 The idea of graduation being a new beginning was the theme of Great Neck South’s 2013 commencement. 
 Salutatorian Marc Fishman led the audience on a brief journey through time, recalling his class’ evolution from elementary school students to graduates. 
 “Life is a series of beginnings and endings,” Fishman said. “As we depart in various directions, we must leave the comfort of Great Neck South and enter a new world. We will once again become those puny freshmen, little fish in a big pond.” 
 Summing up quotes from a handful of famous people, including former Great Neck resident Groucho Marx, Great Neck Schools Superintendent Thomas Dolan advised graduates not to dwell on the past, but to live in the moment. 
 “We need to focus on the present, and enjoy that which life gives us,” he said. 
 Dolan also told graduates that when they do encounter challenges or difficult times, they should “transcend the moment” and not let it define them. 
 Reflecting on the natural disasters and tragedies across this country this past year, Great Neck South Principal Susan Elliot warned the graduates not to try too hard to make sense of it all. 
 “We want to believe that bad things can be avoided if we just do what’s right, that we can protect ourselves by following certain rules,” she said. “You get what you deserve, you earn your success. That’s the way of the world, until it’s not.” 
 Elliot said that in many cases, luck makes all the difference in life, and pointed out that the 2013 graduates are very lucky to be healthy, intelligent and surrounded by loved ones. 
 “We each owe the universe big time,” she said, suggesting to the graduates that they reciprocate by being kind to others. “Plant a tree, so that 50 years from now, someone else can enjoy the shade.”

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Great Neck South grads embrace new starts

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Justin Robeny said his life was changed three months ago when his rabbi told him the story of Roger Bannister, the first man to break the 4-minute mile record. 
 It’s a story Robeny, president of Great Neck North High School’s Class of 2013, shared with his fellow graduates Thursday morning at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Brookville. 
 “It was believed that it was impossible for a human being to run a mile in under 4 minutes,” Robeny said. But only weeks after Bannister shattered the record in 1954, other runners followed suit, clocking in even faster times. “Bannister proved to the world that breaking the 4-minute mile was not a physical barrier, but just a mental barrier.” 
 An athlete himself and an aspiring doctor, Robeny, who is bound for Emory University in Atlanta, urged his 229 classmates to believe in themselves no matter what career path they pursue. 
 “Don’t wait for someone else to accomplish something to make you realize you had exactly what it took to accomplish the same things,” he said. 
 At the ceremony, Great Neck North High School Principal Bernard Kaplan paid a special tribute to his close friend and former English high school teacher, John Xavier Lynch. 
 “He inspired me to read, write and discover,” Kaplan said. 
 When Lynch died in 1978, Kaplan started writing a song about his mentor that he only got around to completing this year with the help of Roger Ames, Great Neck North’s composer in residence. Kaplan performed “John’s Song” at the graduation, accompanied by a small orchestra of faculty and students. 
 Thursday’s ceremony also featured a Beatles medley performance by the Great Neck North Symphony Orchestra, as well as songs by senior members of the STAGES and Select Singers groups, including salutatorian Ariel Klein. 
 In her commencement address, Klein told fellow graduates to leave their “permanent records” behind them. 
 “You have complete control over your future and the choices you make,” she said. “You only live once … after all, nothing is truly permanent.” 
 The final speech was delivered by Michael Schad, the senior class advisor and a new father. Schad said the birth of his son changed the way he looked at his own parents and the sacrifices they made for him. 
 “When was the last time you thought about your parents as people with feelings and dreams of their own?” he asked the graduates, adding: “No one is self-made … remember the people who helped you along the way, and above all else, honor their sacrifices.” 
 While most parents sat in the audience, snapping photos with their cameras, Sharmila Sani, 41, had the privilege of presenting her son, Harvard-bound Jayant Sani, 18, with his diploma and a valedictorian medal. 
 When Sani returned to her seat, Great Neck Board of Education President Barbara Berkowitz whispered to her, “You were up there for all the mothers.”

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Great Neck North grads urged to break barriers

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When Rohan Motwani asked friends for help in writing his salutatory address, they told him to wing it. The Valley Stream Central High School graduate took their advice and delivered a commencement speech Wednesday night that compared the 339 members of the Class of 2013 to chicken wings. 
 “The main reason each wing is unique is because of the marinade — the upbringing and influence of parents, guardians, idols and even teachers,” he said to the audience of friends, family and fellow graduates gathered inside the Tilles Center on Long Island University’s C.W. Post Campus in Brookville. 
 “The way Central has helped marinade us has been nothing short of phenomenal. I suggest the chef’s over there keep their recipe a secret.” 
 Motwani, who is bound for Cornell University in upstate Ithaca to study finance, then warned his classmates that they were about to head into the “fryer,” the “real world.” 
 “Now is the time to take a chance and throw on that spicy sauce,” he said. “Live your life to the fullest .?.?. and leave no meat on the bones.” 
 Keeping with Motwani’s theme, class president Dipika Walia encouraged her peers to “build better wings” and “fly into the unknown,” embracing the unexpected. 
 She added: “Who knows where our wings will take us, and that’s the beauty of it all.” 
 Valedictorian Chung Wei Shen congratulated his classmates on taking one step forward to becoming tomorrow’s doctors, lawyers, officers, technicians, engineers and teachers. 
 “It’s honestly reassuring to know that the future of our society lays in the hands of some of the most brilliant of minds, talented artists and motivated leaders that are behind me at this moment,” he said. 
 Breanna Ross, 17, hopes to be one of those future doctors. Bound for Delaware State University to study biology, Ross said she’s wanted to be a doctor since she was 4 years old. 
 “I have a lot of nurses in my family, but I think I would be the first doctor,” she said. 
 Ross and her fellow graduates were the 87th class to graduate from Valley Stream Central High School, but the first to celebrate their commencement ceremony at the Tilles Center. In years past, the graduation had been held either outdoors, where Mother Nature often threatened to dampen the festivities, or inside a small gym at one of the district’s middle schools. 
 Ross said it was a treat for her class to experience graduation on a college campus, especially after superstorm Sandy caused some senior activities, including an overnight trip, to be canceled. 
 Said Ross: “Even though a lot was taken, we got a lot back.”

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Valley Stream Central graduates 339 'chicken wings'

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Standing on stage Tuesday night, looking out at the sea of green and white before her, Sara Golshahr was compelled to pull out her cellphone. Before delivering her salutatorian address at Farmingdale High School’s commencement ceremony, Golshahr, 18, snapped a photo of her graduating classmates, all 542 of them. 
 “This view is incredible,” Golshahr told the crowd gathered inside Hofstra University’s David S. Mack Sports Complex in Hempsted. 
 During her speech, Golshahr, who is bound for Drexel University in Philadelphia to study business and pre-med, gushed about her classmates’ accomplishments, the challenges they have overcome and the memories they made together. 
 “Today marks the last day of us being FHS students, but it marks the first day that we become Dalers forever,” she said. 
 “Daler pride” and the spirit of Farmingdale’s Class of 2013 was echoed throughout the speeches delivered Tuesday night. 
 In addition to listing many of the graduate’s achievements, Farmingdale High School principal Glen Zakian also spoke of how many of the students, proudly sporting their Daler jerseys, traveled to neighboring towns after superstorm Sandy to assist families in need. 
 “You were true Dalers,” he told the graduates. “As a class, you leave a legacy of success that will be difficult for any future class to surpass.” 
 Valedictorian Nakul Gupta, 17, reiterated this sentiment in his address, stating, “We blew previous senior classes out of the water.” 
 Having ripped up his written speech shortly after stepping up to the podium, Gupta delivered his commencement address from memory. 
 “I wanted my classmates to understand it’s important to take risks,” Gupta later explained. 
 Gupta is heading to Harvard University to study science, but he hasn’t decided what his major will be. 
 “This is the time to experience and explore,” he told his classmates. “Don’t settle for a job you don’t love.” 
 Class president Raymond Webb knows he wants to become a public servant and will double major in political science and public policy at SUNY’s University at Albany. He encouraged his fellow graduates to remain civically engaged. 
 “Remember to vote,” Webb, 18, said. “But if your only involvement in democracy is in a voting booth 10 minutes a year, then, that’s all the democracy you’re going to get.” 
 Wherever Webb’s career path takes him, he said, “My goal is to give back to Farmingdale, because it’s given so much to me.”

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Farmingdale’s Class of 2013 becomes 'Dalers forever'

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When Paul Pandolfi took to the stage at the Our Savior New American School graduation ceremony Saturday he made one thing clear: he would not fear the future. 
 “The future is never clear, but I know that, with God, I have no fear because he will guide my path,” said Pandolfi, 18, of Medford. 
 The private Christian school, located in Centereach, hosted its graduation ceremony Saturday afternoon. During the ceremony, each member of the 22-person graduating class took to the microphone to deliver a heartfelt speech, echoing Pandolfi’s message and enthusiasm. 
 While the words in each speech differed from student to student, each student spoke about how the school has changed their lives. In many of their messages, the diverse class -- described as a “big fruit basket,” by graduate Jubilee Colon, 18, of Central Islip – expressed an eagerness to enter the real world. 
 “When I came to OSNAS I was stuck in a mode where I wasn't sure if I wanted to change the person I was,” said Cheick Sy-Savane, 18, of Centereach. “I soon realized that I would need focus and commitment in order to succeed. Now, I’m walking out of this school practically fearless.” 
 Since the school teaches students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, many students, like Rainer Dombek, 18, of Lake Grove, have been there for their entire academic careers. Dombek, who attended the school for 15 years, expressed his gratitude for the school and was thankful that the school “allowed me to have a voice.” 
 “The memories I’ve made here will stay locked into my heart forever,” he said. 
 Duncan Kasibante, 18, of Coram, who came to the United States from Uganda, expressed gratitude for his school, but did joke that it was tough to adjust to the school upon arriving from Uganda. 
 “When I first walked into the classrooms, all of the teachers immediately knew my name,” he said. “This was scary to me at first because, in my country, when the teachers know your name, it’s a bad thing.” 
 Ronald Stelzer, headmaster of the school, attributed the student’s willingness to look toward the future to the school’s ability to prepare them for “eternity.” Stelzer acknowledged that the many accomplishments the Class of 2013 has achieved are nice, but that ultimately it is their commitment to their faith that will get them “safely into heaven.” 
 Stelzer believes that because of the school’s commitment to teaching with an evangelical Christian perspective, Our Savior New American School students are better prepared for the future than others. 
 “So many schools don’t prepare you for eternity, how short-sighted is that?” Stelzer said.

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Our Savior New American School sends 22 'fearless' grads into the real world 

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When Justin Perez walked across the stage at his graduation from Gen. Douglas MacArthur High School, Levittown school board president Mike Pappas, his father’s former NYPD partner, embraced him and presented him with his diploma. 
 Perez’s father, Herbie Perez, died in September&nbsp;of a heart attack. Since then, his family has been looked after by Pappas and the rest of the MacArthur community. Both families have been close and settled in the same community of Levittown, and all their children attended MacArthur. Pappas’ family even set up a fundraiser for the Perez children’s college funds. 
 Pappas said he felt honored to present not only his own son Christopher Pappas, and his niece, Nicole Pappas, with their diplomas, but also that of Perez, whom he sees and treats as his own. 
 “They say there’s no rewards [in parenting], but there’s nothing more rewarding than handing your son, your niece and your co-worker at the New York City Police Department’s son their diplomas,” Pappas said after the ceremony. 
 Perez was one of 359&nbsp;students graduating&nbsp;from the Levittown school during Saturday's commencement at Hofstra University. Pappas would best describe the Class of 2013 as unselfish, using as an example the story of Brendan Gallagher, a student with autism who was taken in by the school’s football team and made to feel part of the team. 
 “Their embracing of a young student here at MacArthur High School is one of the most heartwarming stories I witnessed in my entire life,” Pappas said as students and guests alike offered a loud rumble of applause for Gallagher.

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MacArthur community watches over graduates with challenges  

Be more than just a number or name on a roster. 
 That was principal Francesco Ianni’s message to his last graduating class from Division Avenue High School in Levittown. In all, 258 students graduated from Division Avenue at Hofstra University on Saturday, and their principal essentially graduated with them. 
 Ianni, who next school year will be an assistant superintendent in the Harborfields School District, told his class to be positive about their future. 
 “You have to believe that this is the beginning, not the end,” he said. “Stand and be heard, don't be content to just sit back and watch.” 
 Among the graduating class of 2013 was Ashley Stinnett, who is off to the University of Pennsylvania in the fall. She says she will remember the times she spent with her friends, on student council where she was president, working a food drive to help superstorm Sandy victims and spirit night, when all the grades compete against each other. 
 “It brings all the grades together. We thought it was rigged for the seniors but we proved them wrong,” Stinnett said of the Class of 2013 winning as juniors and seniors. “I’m going to miss seeing everyone. I think that we’re all going to be so separated that we’re not going to catch up, ever.” 
 But Stinnett added that her initial thought is far from true, and that she hopes to stay in touch with her Division Avenue friends. 
 While also looking to the future, class salutatorian Sukhneet Sahota asked everyone to retain the fearlessness of youth while dealing with the challenge of figuring out what to do with their lives. 
 “I will fearlessly answer this question,” Sahota said. “You make the world what you want it to be.”

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Division Avenue High students, principal graduate

When Nicholas McNiel addressed his Friends Academy classmates during the school’s graduation ceremony, he quipped that Saturday was the day they had all been waiting for, and worked so hard to see — the day he would give his first commencement speech. 
 McNiel, 17, who was selected by his classmates to speak, is just one example of the playful nature that both students and faculty agree define the Class of 2013. 
 Gathered together for the last time at the ceremony at the school in Locust Valley on Saturday, students and faculty recounted the antics of the graduating class. 
 “In all that you do, you like to have fun and you like to laugh,” said William G. Morris Jr., the head of school. “While at your senior retreat, more of you went swimming than any other class.” 
 At their beach day on the quad, Morris says that despite the weather being in the low 40s, students were undeterred from blowing up inflatable pools and bringing out beach chairs. 
 “I enjoyed having seniors showing up in my religion class wearing snorkels, diving masks, rubber duckies and swimmies,” said Morris. 
 The 2013 yearbook cover, which is covered in multicolored cartoon characters, is also reflective of the graduating class, said teacher Martha Mayer. Mayer, who teaches educational technology and media studies, was the faculty representative chosen by the students to give a commencement address. 
 “They are absolutely capricious,” said Mayer, the yearbook adviser. “They are lighthearted and the cover exemplifies that.” 
 Their spirited nature is not the only factor that distinguishes the close-knit class, Morris said. Of the 96 graduating seniors, 75 percent gained early acceptance to college. 
 As they head off to college in the fall, class speaker Margot Mangiarotti, 18, advised her classmates to take this legacy with them by never losing their sense of childhood. 
 Mangiarotti, who will be attending Cornell University, spoke of how important it is to try and live carefree and fearlessly, as they did when they were young. 
 “Take these upcoming years of your life seriously, as they are defining,” said Mangiarotti. “However, treat them with love, wonder, trust and creativity as we all already know so well how to do.” &nbsp;

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Friends Academy grads 'like to laugh'

When Ilan Scher was voted by his classmates to deliver a speech on their behalf at graduation, he turned to an unlikely source, the animated TV show “SpongeBob SquarePants,” for inspiration. 
 As he addressed the crowd gathered at Hofstra University on Wednesday night for the 2013 commencement of Hebrew Academy of Nassau County High School, Scher borrowed a story from the cartoon to make a point about his class’ diversity. He spoke of a man who left his multifarious hometown to live in a homogenous environment where everyone looked, talked and acted the same. 
 “He had the time of his life fitting into this utopian society he always dreamed of escaping to,” said Scher, 18, of West Hempstead. “However, after a few weeks, this monotonous town became too colorless and repetitive for his taste.” 
 In the 16 years that Scher has been a student of the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County, he’s seen classmates leave for other schools, but many ultimately decided to return. He surmised that it’s the school’s “incredible diversity” that draws them back. Although all the students are Jewish and study the Torah, their lineages -- Persian, Israelis, Afghani, Ashkenazi and Bukhari -- and customs are not the same. 
 “We speak different languages and eat different foods … but we share our cultures, we share everything and we learn to appreciate people from different backgrounds,” Scher added. 
 The commencement ceremony included traditional Hebrew prayers and speeches focused on the students’ shared faith, but the unique personalities of the 64 graduates were showcased in a video that was projected on a screen inside Adams Playhouse. It featured photos and interviews of the students, and even a brief music video starring the Class of 2013, who attended the academy’s Brookdale Campus in Uniondale. 
 “It’s all been just one amazing run,” said Avner Baruch, 18, of Forest Hills, who spent more than two weeks working on the video. 
 Both Scher and Baruch will be spending the next year studying abroad in Israel along with two other classmates. Their fellow graduates are off to a mix of more than 50 yeshivot, seminaries and colleges including Cornell University, New York University and Yeshiva University. 
 As they head out into the world, their principal, Rabbi Shlomo Adelman, urged them to be “literal angels of God,” to inspire and elevate others, regardless of the profession they choose and challenges they encounter. 
 “Anyone can be holy in a vacuum or a world devoid of challenge and temptation,” he said. “But to find holiness in a world full of schmutz and garbage … now that’s inspiring.” 
 Annelle Amsellem, 17, of Great Neck, plans to study to be a physician's assistant at Queens College, while also continuing to pursue theater on the side. During the graduation ceremony, Amsellem performed a “poetry slam,” delivering a dramatic reading of a poem she wrote about leaving HANC and the friends she has made there. 
 “It’s like saying goodbye to a brother or sister, like being caught in the middle of the storm,” she proclaimed while on-stage. “Gefilte fish or rice, pale or dark skin, I love them all the same. It doesn’t matter where they’ve been.”

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Hebrew Academy graduates with 'SpongeBob,' poetry

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For North Shore Hebrew Academy High School’s valedictorian Brandon Gold, graduating high school is just the beginning of a new journey – one that will take him halfway across the world. After graduation, the 18-year-old has decided to study ancient Jewish scripture at Yeshivat Torat Shraga in Israel before attending Cornell University the following year. 
 “It’s a year where I can connect with my roots and get a strong background on my culture before going to college,” he said. 
 On Tuesday evening, North Shore Hebrew Academy High School graduated 84 seniors at a ceremony held in the John C. Adams Playhouse at Hofstra University. This year marked the 10th graduating class from the high school, which opened 13 years ago in Great Neck. The school began as an expansion of North Shore Hebrew Academy, an elementary school that has been in existence for nearly 50 years. 
 The ceremony featured a variety of speeches from faculty and students. Toward the end, the senior graduating class presented headmaster Daniel Vitow with a special commemorative glass plate, inscribed with the core fundamentals of the institution and names of the students, forming the shape of a tree. 
 “The graduating class gave a gift last year and we wanted to do something too,” said senior Edwin Lavi, 18, of Great Neck. 
 After the diplomas were presented, the Class of 2013 ended the ceremony in song, singing in both English and Hebrew. 
 For speaker of the class Talia Bassali, 17, of Great Neck, the last four years of high school signified a shift in gears as she grew up. 
 “I think it’s amazing having, for the past four years, students and faculty being role models,” she said. “And now, graduating, I can be one.”

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North Shore Hebrew Academy High School graduates 84

When Jaecheol Min left his home in Daegu, South Korea, to attend high school at <a href="http://www.lawrencewoodmere.org/">Lawrence Woodmere Academy</a>, he was worried that he wouldn’t fit in with his American peers. 
 But as the class valedictorian spoke at his school's commencement ceremony Monday, Min, 19, said it didn’t take long for him to feel at home. 
 “While my Korean culture is different … I was like every other student, an awkward teenager trying to find his identity,” he said. 
 During his speech, Min, who is bound for Emory University in Atlanta, poked fun at his differences, stating, “Yes, I have an accent, but ask any New Yorker and they will say people that people from Boston and New Jersey have an accent.” 
 Summing up his message, he said, “The things that bring us together are much greater than the things that divide us.” 
 Diversity is a defining trait of Lawrence Woodmere Academy. Among the 37 members of its Class of 2013, 12 hail from countries including Lithuania, Brazil, South Korea, Barbados and, for the first time, China. 
 “You can be anything here,” said Marjorye Santos, 18, of Sao Paulo, Brazil, who participated in everything from sports to the student newspaper during her time at the school. She plans to study international relations and political science at Hobbart and William Smith Colleges in upstate Geneva. 
 Her classmate, Ricardine Laventura, 17, of Springfield Gardens, is headed to St. John’s University in Queens to major in foreign languages and minor in international politics with hopes of working as an interpreter for the United Nations. 
 “It [Lawrence Woodmere Academy] prepares you for the real world, for the diversity and challenges that await us,” she said. 
 Peter Boneparth, president of Lawrence Woodmere Academy’s Board of Trustees and a 1974 graduate, said the schools is intentionally “color blind, race blind and nationality blind” in order to prepare students to compete in the global economy and foster acceptance. 
 “The earlier you can instill that understanding and sensitivity, the better the world is going to be,” he added. 
 As he delivered the commencement address Monday night, former NFL executive and alumnus Robert Wallace Jr., 57, remarked that his graduating class in 1974 was much less diverse. When Wallace Jr., who is African American, enrolled in the school, then called Woodmere Academy, in fourth grade, it was “100-percent white, and mostly Jewish,” he said. 
 “Your generation does not understand bigotry and hatred,” he told the graduates. “You celebrate and revel in our differences … you understand we need each other.” 
 He urged the students to continue helping others along their path to success. 
 “As you climb this ladder of achievement, don’t pull up the ladder behind you,” he said. “Let someone climb up as well. In fact, reach out your arm and give them a hand.” 
 Saying goodbye to Lawrence Woodmere Academy wasn’t easy for Daniel Fay, 17. After superstorm Sandy flooded his family’s Belle Harbor home, he was displaced for seven months, but the school became his second home as he continued to volunteer with the various clubs he belonged to. 
 “It was nice to come to school and see everyone you know was OK,” he said. “I’m happy to be moving on but … it’s tough to leave such a great place.”

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Lawrence Woodmere Academy graduates diverse class of 37 

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As they watched their daughter make her way to the podium at the Cold Spring Harbor High School commencement ceremony Sunday, Robert and Janet LaGarenne were exceptionally proud. 
 Growing up, Renee LaGarenne, 17, had been a quiet kid, they said, so her parents had not envisioned they would be sitting in a packed auditorium watching her address a crowd of a few hundred people at her graduation. 
 “It's very emotional for me, because I gave the commencement speech at my graduation,” said Janet LaGarenne. “She's always been a little reserved, so this is really an accomplishment for her.” 
 Renee LaGarenne was among four graduates who were selected by their principal, Jay H. Matuk, to speak at the ceremony. Since Cold Spring Harbor High School does not name a valedictorian, all students have the opportunity to submit a speech for a chance to deliver a commencement address. 
 Renee LaGarenne’s message to her fellow graduates, 163 in total, was to “live in the moment.” 
 She said that too often people spend their lives looking toward the future rather than cherishing the present including moments that might not seem monumental like family dinners. 
 “Our lives are made up of moments like this. We should appreciate them while we are living them,” she said, adding, “If we spend so much time looking forward to the future we forget to live.” 
 Living life to the fullest was a common theme among the speakers at the 2013 Cold Spring Harbor High School graduation. Sporting rainbow colored hair, graduate Vanessa Monti also told her classmates, “let your true colors shine through.” 
 “Life is short,” she said. “Don't waste your time hiding your ideas or your personality … Live with no regrets.” 
 Cold Spring Harbor Superintendent of Schools Judith A. Wilansky urged the graduates to challenge themselves and step outside their comfort zones. 
 “You learn more from your failures,” she said, citing the blunders of accomplished people such as Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein. “Don’t let the fear of failure hold you back from achieving.” 
 After all the speeches were given, each graduate walked across the stage to accept their diplomas including Peter Rossetti, 17, who is headed to Nassau Community College to study audio engineering. 
 “You don't notice it until you're up on the stage and walking past the podiums … that you're really done,” he said. “We're moving on, the future's coming and it's just beautiful.” 
 Although he was sad to leave the friends he made in his small, close-knit high school, Rossetti said, “I know I'll see them again and everyone one of my friends is going to go far.”

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Cold Spring Harbor grad: 'Live with no regrets'

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After being out of commission due to a spinal fracture from playing hockey last year, Bishop McGann-Mercy Diocesan High School salutatorian Anthony Pupplo got back on the ice within months to keep his passion alive. 
 “The experience changed me. I never gave up,” said Pupplo, 17, of Shirley, during his salutatorian speech Wednesday at the Riverhead school. “So, I want all of you to believe in yourselves like I did, battle any obstacles that get in your way and remain steadfast in accomplishing your dreams.” 
 Pupplo, who plans to defer a full ride to Elmira College for one year to see if he can continue playing hockey in Canada or on local junior league PAL Junior Islanders, was among 84 students receiving diplomas and flipping their tassels. 
 Of the graduating class, Kevin Lane is the only one to enlist in the military. He decided to follow in his family’s footsteps, enlisting in the Marines and heading to boot camp at Parris Island, S.C. in August, part of a four-year service commitment. 
 “We’ve always been a military family and I wanted to make them proud,” said Lane. “I got a lot of criticism from friends at first, but I feel that serving will open so many doors.” 
 Principal Carl Semmler said this year’s class has demonstrated intelligence, spirituality, civic capacity and maturity, while also earning nearly $11 million in college scholarships. 
 He said students held a blood drive in February that collected over 100 pints, and through car washes, dinners and bake sales raised $13,000 for Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. 
 “They’re prepared to go out into the world, become active citizens and make the world a better place,” said Semmler, of Merrick. “Words cannot express how proud I am.” 
 Valedictorian Elizabeth Morgan recalled last April, when the school’s choir participated in a music festival at Lincoln Center in Manhattan. During that concert, she nearly teared up when singing “Let music never die in me” from the song “The Awakening” by Joseph M. Martin. 
 “I became emotional because in that moment it had hit me that high school was ending,” said Morgan, 18, of Wading River. “Let music never die in me. Let Mercy never die in me. The Mercy spirit and values we learned here will never leave us.” 
 During her speech, Morgan, who plans to attend Stony Brook University in the fall, advised fellow students moving forward in life to always listen to their internal voice. 
 “As author Jane Austen said, ‘We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.’” Morgan said. “I’ll end by saying, today we celebrate that this is not the end, but instead a bright and new beginning.”

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Bishop McGann-Mercy High School in Riverhead graduates 84

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When Maggie Corrigan’s <a href="/topics//Long_Beach,_NY">Long Beach</a> home burned down in 2011, her classmates and teachers at Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale quickly stepped in and organized a fundraiser that brought in about $30,000 to help her family. 
 “Even people that didn't know me helped out,” said Corrigan, 18, who was among 515 blue-capped Firebirds to graduate at a <a href="/topics//Hofstra_University">Hofstra University</a> ceremony on Sunday. “I don't know what we would have done if it weren’t for the school.” 
 While the efforts of those at the school were extraordinary, Corrigan said it is common for people at the school to go out of their way for others. 
 “Everyone is very understanding and there are always people to talk to.” Corrigan said, who is headed to Penn State next fall to pursue a degree in communications. “All the teachers really take an interest in your problems and try to help you. They keep an eye on you.” 
 In her address to the graduates, salutatorian Gina Marie Cach offered another example. 
 After superstorm Sandy, groups of students volunteered in Breezy Point, an area hard hit by the storm. 
 “I have seen our hardships result in growth and charity,” Cach said. 
 Beyond charity, the Kellenberg class of 2013 knew how to work hard, said the Rev. Philip K. Eichner, president of Kellenberg Memorial. 
 Indeed. The class won 2,033 scholarships and grants, with 316 students receiving one or more scholarships. Of the 515 graduates, 512 are going to college. 
 “But they’re not nerds,” he said, “and like true Catholics, they like to party.” 
 Corrigan said she is going to miss the environment at Kellenberg, “because I have been there for so long it’s kind of like a second home to me. There wasn’t like one part of the school I didn't know how to get around and now college is so big and it's going to be weird to find my way around.”

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99% of Kellenberg grads will head to college

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Decked in black and gold regalia, St. Anthony’s High School salutatorian Michael Cox Jr. stood before his classmates and reminded them not to worry about the future — and, jokingly, to kindly stop texting during his speech. 
 St. Anthony’s High School celebrated its 79th annual graduation ceremony on Saturday morning in South Huntington, where the 596 members of the class of 2013 became alumni in front of thousands of cheering parents, family members and friends. 
 “It’s a bigger class than most schools but you knew everyone,” said Nick Koshonsky, 18, of <a href="/topics//Kings_Park,_NY">Kings Park</a>. “It was a great time.” 
 The other speakers stressed the importance of family and religion in helping to keep the St. Anthony’s community united after they part ways for college. In his speech, school principal Brother Gary Cregan urged the graduates to make religion the cornerstone of their lives. 
 “The kids are just phenomenal,” said Brother Robert Gabriel, dean of faculty and director of studies at St. Anthony’s. “They have so much going for them in their futures.” 
 St. Anthony’s High School was founded in 1933 by Franciscan Brothers and teaches students based off Roman Catholic beliefs. 
 Nearly 93 percent of this year’s graduates are headed to a two- or four-year college or preparatory school in September, including <a href="/topics//New_York_University">NYU</a>, Yale University, Brown University, and <a href="/topics//Princeton_University">Princeton University</a>, according to school. 
 After throwing their caps in the air on the football field, students posed with their families and said goodbye to classmates and friends as they prepared for college. But many of them were confident that even though they might be separating for now, this was not the end of their time together. 
 “I’m gonna miss my friends and the whole family atmosphere,” said Marielle Pavek, 18, of <a href="/topics//Ronkonkoma,_NY">Ronkonkoma</a>. “This is a tight community. We’ll remember each other forever.”

hlGRAD01

596 St. Anthony's grads will 'remember each other forever'

Twins Thomas and Matthew Austin have been inseparable their whole lives. 
 But after walking the stage, flipping their tassels and tossing their caps in the air at graduation, the fact they will both be in boot camp training across the country from each other had set in. 
 “The truth is, we want to serve our country and do something great with our lives,” said Thomas Austin, 18, of <a href="/topics//Hicksville,_NY">Hicksville</a>. “We’re two of the four graduates who enlisted in the military from our school and people asked us, ‘Why join?’ And I told them, ‘Why not?’” 
 The Austin brothers were among the 318 students that walked the stage, graduating from <a href="/topics//Hicksville,_NY">Hicksville</a>’s Holy Trinity Diocesan High School on Saturday at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex at <a href="/topics//Hofstra_University">Hofstra University</a> in <a href="/topics//Hempstead,_NY">Hempstead</a>. 
 Thomas Austin will be heading to Fort <a href="/topics//Leonard_Wood">Leonard Wood</a>, Mo., on Aug. 5 for Army basic training; his brother Matthew is leaving a day later for Parris Island, S.C. and Marines boot camp. 
 The 2013 graduating class received nearly $33 million in academic scholarships and many were accepted to colleges including <a href="/topics//Cornell_University">Cornell University</a>, Dartmouth College, <a href="/topics//University_of_Notre_Dame">University of Notre Dame</a>, <a href="/topics//Vassar_College">Vassar College</a>, Berklee College of Music, and <a href="/topics//New_York_University">New York University</a>. 
 Principal Gene Fennell was beaming with joy while handing diplomas to students on stage. 
 “It’s a very dynamic and generous class. They have great faith and they’re ready to go out into the world and do great things,” said Fennell. “We’re proud of their achievements and their drive to integrate themselves into their community and make an impression.” 
 Valedictorian Caroline Brown, who plans to double major in speech and hearing science and linguistics at the <a href="/topics//SUNY,_Buffalo">University at Buffalo</a> in the fall, recalls the school’s Spring Fling in May, which had adults with <a href="/topics//Developmental_Disorders">developmental disabilities</a> mingle and dance with students. 
 “It was fun and so nice to see their faces light up,” said Brown, 18, of <a href="/topics//Baldwin,_NY">Baldwin</a>, who is graduating with her cousin and belongs to an extended family who has or will send 16 children to the school. “Trinity is the best place in the world. I advise future students to take advantage of what this school has to offer because there’s so much you can get involved in.” 
 Salutatorian Kimberly Nicolas, who plans to study film at <a href="/topics//Ithaca_College">Ithaca College</a> in upstate New York in the fall, walks away with fond memories of film and yearbook club and orchestra. 
 “Since I’m a reserved person, film will give me the platform to express myself and make a statement,” said Nicolas, 18, of <a href="/topics//Westbury,_NY">Westbury</a>. “My advice to the upcoming class is to get involved behind the scenes because a lot is presented to you in life, but after high school things change and you have to work harder. Get involved, network and advance yourself.”

hlTWIN01

Twins graduate from Holy Trinity, splitting up for Army, Marines

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Trendy Bites: Dom's Famous Chicken Fingers

NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa heads to Mastic Seafood to slice some fish and shuck some oysters on this week's LI Works.

LI Works: Shucking oysters and hauling fish at a local seafood market

The plant-eating pests are raising concerns among farmers and winemakers. Newsday reporter Mark Harrington spoke about some potential upcoming solutions.

Spotted lanternflies on the rise

The Smithtown East boys and girls volleyball teams hosted Smithtown West in what was billed as the first outdoor volleyball matches in Long Island history. NewsdayTV's Christopher Matias reports.

Smithtown East hosts Long Island's first outdoor volleyball match

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TPS holders ... Cinema Arts presenters pull back ... Court reporter errors ... Labor Day weekend weather outlook

TPS holders ... Labor Day weekend weather outlook ... FeedMe: BBQ takeout for Labor Day

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