Pine Barrens Tribune June 25, 2022-July 1, 2022

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Vol. 6 – No. 35 ♦

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The News Leader of the Pines

June 25 - July 1, 2022

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‘IT’S NOT A SMOKEY BEAR CARTOON

— IT’S REAL!’

Photo By NJ Department of Environmental Protection

An aerial view of the Mullica River Fire.

‘Illegal Campfire’ Suspected as Likely Cause of New Jersey’s Biggest Wildfire in 15 Years, Encompassing 13,500 Acres of Woodlands Along Mullica River Before Being Contained

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

SHAMONG—The “Mullica River Fire,” a 13,500-acre conflagration now expected to be the state’s largest wildfire in 15 years, which officials of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service believe was sparked by an illegal campfire, was said to have been 95 percent contained by mid-afternoon on June 22, with some rain in the immediate forecast expected to help in the effort to extinguish it.

Although the 22-square mile area of the Wharton State Forest that was encompassed by the very intense blaze was “nearly the size of Manhattan,” as Division Forest Fire Warden Shawn Judy described it to the Pine Barrens Tribune in a phone interview, none of the 18 or so structures that had been threatened, which belong to local campgrounds, cranberry and blueberry farms, were reported

GRADUATES WITH GRIT Adversity has Made Class of 2022 Members Far More Prepared for Whatever Lies Ahead Than the Generations That Preceded Them SEE PAGE G1

See WILDFIRE/ Page 2

INDEX Business Directory..... 6

Local News................. 2

Events........................ 4

Marketplace................... 5

Job Board................... 5

Worship Guide............ 4

Photo Credits Inside

MEET THE GRADUATES Cherokee HS......................................................G2 Lenape HS.................................................G4 Seneca HS.................................................G6 Shawnee HS..............................................G8 Pemberton HS..........................................G10 Pinelands Regional HS............................G12

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Page 2 ♦

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

WILDFIRE

(Continued from Page 1) damaged, despite very dry conditions and a shifting wind that enabled the fire to spread rapidly on June 19 after first being reported just north of the river.

Roads that were closed during the first two days of the deep-woods inferno, including Routes 206 and 542, were reported to have been reopened, as were Atsion Recreation Area and Batsto Village. However, hiking trails between Atsion and Batsto remained closed as of June 22, as did Wharton State Forest’s Mullica River Campground, and kayaking and canoeing excursions along the Mullica and Batsto rivers between Atsion and Batsto, including those organized by Pinelands Adventures continued to be suspended for the time being, resulting in losses of both revenues to local businesses and recreational opportunities for tourists and campers.

The public was also advised that “smoke may be visible for an extended period while firefighters continue to patrol and mop up this wildfire” and that “motorists traveling in the area should remain cautious of smoke, firefighters and fire vehicles that may be working on nearby roadways.” In addition, the fine particulate matter present in that smoke has been the subject of air quality alerts, warning people with respiratory issues to reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

Judy credited the success of the effort to keep the fast-moving and capricious fire from spreading to firefighters who “walked away from their families” on Father’s Day and risked their lives to bring it under control. They managed to confine it inside a 15,175-acre, semi-rectangular containment area that included remote parts

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM of Shamong and Washington townships in Burlington County and Mullica Township and Hammonton in Atlantic County just across the river, with the Atsion Ranger Station at its northwest corner and Batsto Village located at the opposite corner.

Around 50 people, mostly campers, reportedly had to be evacuated from the area, including the organizers of Beardfest, a local music festival at Paradise Lake in Hammonton, just south of the river, which had just wound up its 10th-year anniversary celebration when the fire was reported.

One of the participants in that event, Robyn Mello, described in a June 21 Facebook posting the frantic rush to evacuate the site, leaving equipment behind, after hearing the owner’s urgent warning that the fire was about to hit, and later feeling that she had “witnessed miracles” in its having been spared.

“We’re all safe,” she wrote. “Despite 15,000-plus acres of forest burning all around it, every square inch of Paradise Lakes Campground is safe. All of our stuff was unharmed, and we’re in there cleaning up the festival grounds today.”

Mello also described herself as crying tears of “gratitude for all of the brave and selfless humans in that moment and previous moments who were fighting the fire and took preventative measures to dig fire ditches and remove highly flammable underbrush” from around the campground.

Those investigating the source of the blaze, Judy said, had located the remnants of “an illegal campfire within the area of origin,” by which he meant one that had apparently been started in a part of the forest where campfires are prohibited because the surroundings have not been subject to “hazard reductions” designed to keep them from spreading to nearby brush See WILDFIRE/ Page 3

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Shots taken from both the air and the ground show the extent of the devastation caused by the Mullica River Fire.

WILDFIRE

(Continued from Page 2) and foliage.

Such mitigation measures, which include prescribed burns that consume potential fuel for wildfires, he said, are routinely used at campgrounds where patrons are ordinarily permitted to have campfires after first filling out a registration form.

“But you can’t just do it wherever you want,” he emphasized.

Fighting the blaze that likely resulted from such activity was particularly problematic, Section Fire Warden John Earlin, Jr., the incident commander, told reporters who gathered for a June 20 press conference at the Atsion Ranger Station, adjacent to where traffic was being detoured off Route 206.

The fact that the location was remote and extremely difficult to access with firefighting equipment, he said, called for an indirect attack strategy of containment rather than direct confrontation to be utilized.

Causing the situation to be even more problematic was the fact that the fire, which was first spotted shortly after 10 a.m. June 19 from the Batsto fire tower as well as being reported by kayakers, occurred on a day when weather conditions caused it to spread both rapidly and unpredictably and made fighting it all the more dangerous, noted Fire Service Chief Greg McLaughlin. In addition to the wind changing direction, resulting in the flames hopscotching across the river on two occasions, the humidity was just 27 percent with a dewpoint dropping below five percent of what it usually is in June, causing brush and trees to ignite faster and burn with extreme intensity, he pointed out.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve actually seen fire whorls,” he maintained. “Yesterday, I saw several of them.”

In addition, he noted, the affected area contained “a lot of drainages, a lot of streams, a lot of areas that are too wet for equipment, trucks and bulldozers to go in without getting stuck, but not wet enough to stop fire from spreading through them.”

A l l t h i s , McLaug h l i n c ont e nde d , amounted to “a lot of challenges given the terrain, conditions and the fire behavior, and so what our strategy became was to regroup, to back out to a safer area and then to try to consume all this vegetation that’s going to feed this fire in the future—to essentially fight fire with fire.”

Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, who also attended the press conference, pointed out that while the state is lucky to have the

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

♦ Page 3

Photos By NJ Department of Environmental Protection

resources at its disposal to fight wildfires, “it’s not cheap.”

“It’s important to reflect on the fact that a majority of our forest fires are human caused,” he said. “It’s within our power to avoid circumstances like this.”

Campfires that are illegal or not fully extinguished, he pointed out, can often result in costly wildfires that threaten life and property.

“It’s not a Smokey Bear cartoon—it’s real,” LaTourette observed.

When officials were asked by the Pine Barrens Tribune about the impact of such a conflagration on wildlife, John Cecil, assistant commissioner for state parks, forests and historic sites, responded that although the first thing we tend to think about in a fire is its potential impact on See WILDFIRE/ Page 7

Page 4 ♦

EVENTS/WORSHIP GUIDE

JULY July 1

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The rides are provided by a group of dedicated volunteers who have revitalized the park and laid out the railroad track, based on the historical Tuckerton Railroad. The volunteers maintain the railroad and walking trails, and are constantly expanding them. Riding the trains is free, but donations are very much appreciated. The train rides are outdoors.

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Cherokee Photos By Andrew King

CHEROKEE HIGH SCHOOL Class of 2022 Cherokee Valedictorian, in Rousing Speech, Relates 2022 Graduates’ Time in School During Pandemic to Plants – Sunflowers in Particular A Local Garden Center Employee Since His Freshman Year, Archer Tells Classmates That ‘Young Sunflowers Always Point Toward the Sun’ and Likewise, They ‘Should Always, Always Point Towards Your Dreams’

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

MARLTON—It was about two-anda-half years ago that Cherokee High School graduate Kevin Archer made a $50 bet with a friend that he would be the valedictorian of the Marlton-based institution’s Class of 2022.

Archer, who has worked at Laurel Oaks Garden Center in Marlton since his freshman year, won that bet on June 17, beaming with pride as he held high a $50

Cherokee Valedictorian Kevin Archer.

bill for thousands attending Cherokee’s 45th annual commencement exercises in Evesham Township to see.

The valedictorian, among some 544 Cherokee graduates on the athletic field of William H. Foltz Stadium, declared that he only found it fitting, given his job occupation, to “relate our past four years to plants.”

And that he did in a rousing speech that summarized what life has been like for area high schoolers amid a pandemic, and in the days since the gradual return to normalcy following a transition to an endemic.

I n p a r t i c u l a r, Archer related the life of the graduates to sunflowers.

At first, according t o A r c h e r, w h e n the graduates were only freshmen, they were “l ike se eds planted into a new environ ment” that was “full of soil with nutrients to grow,” repre s ent ative of the “overwhelming n u m b e r o f Photo By Andrew King opportunities at

Cherokee High School with so many clubs to join, classes to take, sports to try and people to meet.”

By the latter part of their freshmen year, he described that the graduates had “started to expand these roots a little bit and began to try new opportunities” as well as “settled into our new environment.”

Sophomore year, the valedictorian said, is “when we started to grow,” including “growing our first leaves.” The roots, he said, also began to deepen further as the graduates at that point began to “achieve new opportunities.”

And while “beginning to flower” and “starting to blossom” to “show the world who we really are,” just as the Sophomore Cotillion for the Class of 2022 was set to kickoff, the dance actually got canceled, Archer noted, the result of the Coronavirus pandemic, or what he described as when “the deer showed up.”

“They took it by storm, and nobody knew the amount of havoc that they would wreak,” said Archer of the initial days of the pandemic. “Then more deer came out and more and more sunflowers were getting bit all around the world.”

As the virus spread, “we setup deer fences” around the world, or what Archer compared to the experience of “quarantining.”

“We were left with only the basic living materials to get us through it, except for toilet paper,” he said. “New stands of deer came to tear up our world (virus mutations), however, finally, scientists came together, and they made a breakthrough – deer spray.”

That deer spray (or the all too obvious equivalent of vaccines introduced in the fight against COVID), Archer said, allowed the Class of 2022 “to breakdown

boundaries” that were put in place to protect against the virus (such as virtual learning and masking), “allowing us to interact with the world once again.”

“Normalcy returned and we were given room again to grow and prosper,” asserted Archer of the graduates’ junior year.

The valedictorian described that having to endure a pandemic, in particular “quarantining in our homes and having to wear masks wherever you went,” was “really not fun,” but that the graduates should be “proud to have endured such a historic event that we will be telling about for generations to come.”

He declared that “finally,” towards the end of their junior year, his classmates got to “enjoy ourselves” and “see people we hadn’t seen in forever,” and that they “got a bit of fertilizer in the form of a driver’s license” (something that many who were in their junior year during the pandemic were delayed in receiving due to the Motor Vehicle Commission pandemic-related shutdown, followed by a reduction in service hours upon reopening).

And then came senior year for the Class of 2022, which the valedictorian described as one where each person’s “growth from there became exponential,” a time when everyone about to receive their diplomas was able to “mature” and “flourish.” It was a year, he declared, “that really seemed normal.”

“So, as our high school year comes to a close, it’s time to look forward as we become transplanted into a new place, with new soil,” Archer maintained. “So, whether your new environment may be in college, military training, vocational schooling or straight into the workforce, just remember to continue growing and See CHEROKEE/ Page G14

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Lenape High Grads Urged to ‘Always Live Your Life In The Moment’

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

MEDFORD—If there was only one thing that Lenape High School’s Class of 2022, the 62nd one to graduate from the Medford Township-based institution that serves students in grades 9-12 who reside in Mount Laurel Township, was to take away from commencement night, June 17, Student Council President Kareena Gohel, a graduating senior, suggested that it be to “always is live your life in the moment.”

Salutatorian Sophia Rose Sorid would later point out that “the common misconception” about one having to “live your life in the moment” is that it is simply to “create as many good memories as possible,” especially to counter the bad ones.

“But that is a trap that catches a lot of seniors especially,” Rose-Sorid declared.

Instead, the salutatorian emphasized that “living in the moment is simply observing your surroundings and paying attention to your feelings.”

Gohel, among some 468 Lenape graduates who received their diplomas last Friday, asserted that “this moment will soon become a treasured memory.”

But until the moment of the traditional turning of the tassel, Rose-Sorid urged her soon-to-be former classmates to “let us not overlook the moment we are experiencing right now,” while noting “this ceremony means as much as the past four years of school have, and means just as much as our futures will.”

The salutatorian, in explaining that throughout her senior year she was

constantly reminded that “‘this is our final year of high school’” and “‘we have to make it count,’” declared that while she “appreciated the advice,” it “truthfully” stressed her out to the point that she “found myself trying to force as many activities and experiences into her life as possible” and focusing on “my future self” to the point of exhaustion, leading her to “forget to enjoy

thousands who turned out for the 6 p.m. commencement exercises on a sunny, early evening, Rose-Sorid urged her fellow graduates seated in Lenape’s Richard M. Driscoll Stadium to momentarily “tune out the crowd” and instead “focus in” on the fact that the “Class of 2022 – we are the stars – we are the graduates,” who are “just about to cross the finish line.”

“Do you see all the family and friends here to celebrate you?” the salutatorian asked. “Think about the role these

Photos By Lif

what I was doing.”

“There is no consideration to how your future self would feel, and there is no time for regretting past actions,” said RoseSorid of when one decides to live life in the moment. “This is our graduation night, so fully embrace the importance of this night.”

While acknowledging the crowd of

e Touch

people have played in getting you to this point. We can also take the time to think about the people who are not with us tonight, but who helped us get here. Do not forget that these people cared for you endlessly and are so proud of you.”

Rose-Sorid, in also urging the graduates to think about the role their teachers and other educational staff members have had

MEET THE GRADUATES

♦ Page G5

on their lives over the past 12 years, noted that it is “too easy to ignore the influence of their lessons” but that “these teachers and their presence in our lives is what allowed us to develop our minds and cross this finish line.”

“I would like to say an immense thankyou to all of my teachers for giving me an environment to grow in, especially the teachers who are graduating with us,” the salutatorian said.

The very athletic field the Lenape g radu at e s were s e at e d on for t he commencement exercises (part of the school’s stadium and used for events such as football) is about to be torn up with the Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD), of which Lenape is part of, embarking on a voter-approved bond referendum project to re-do the field, transforming it into a turf field and upgrading the stadium lighting around it to LED fixtures.

“Not only are we living in the moment as we graduate, before we step into our futures, but this very field is as well,” declared Rose-Sorid in light of the situation. “Tomorrow this field will be gone, and soon enough it will be replaced. So, look around while we are still here and so is this field.”

The salutatorian then noted that by stopping to think about the field at the very moment, it takes the graduates back to the “role it played in our high school careers,” such as with the football games that were played there, but noting that “every one of us had different experiences in this stadium.”

“Let’s take a moment to appreciate all the emotions brought about in this spot and See LENAPE/ Page G14

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Seneca High’s Class of 2022 Recalled for Its Help in Paving the Way for Underclassmen, Giving Principal Inspiration During Trying Time

Graduates Reminded They Have ‘Power’ to Affect Change, Choose Future

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

TABERNACLE—The Seneca High School Class of 2022, as it gathered together for one final time on the evening of June 17, “prepared to leap into adulthood,” was reminded that they have the “power” – to both “affect change” and to “choose your future.”

It’s a graduating class that second-year Principal Bradley Bauer declared “gave me purpose in my job” and is the “‘why’ of why I do what I do.”

Bauer explained that he took the helm of the Tabernacle Township-based institution last year, amid the uncertainties of the Coronavirus pandemic when “there were no answers” and “only question after question.”

Last year, he noted, “was just chaotic” and “difficult,” acknowledging that he “was really struggling” at times to handle the pandemic while only in his first year as school principal.

“The goal this year was to get Seneca back to normal,” Bauer said. “To accomplish that, I relied on you, Class of 2022.”

During the first day of school this past September, to help accomplish that goal, Bauer said that he had asked the graduating class for its help, explaining that it was “the only class” at the start of the school year to “know what it is like to experience a full year at Seneca (the freshmen had never been in Seneca’s halls and both the sophomore and junior classes had their academic years interrupted by the COVID lockdown).”

Bauer further explained that he had called on the school’s senior class to help

instill in the underclassmen “the treating of others with respect and the importance of taking care of your school and each other,” while also asking that they “bring that Seneca spirit back into our halls.”

“Well, as I stand here today, and think back to that early September morning, all I can say is, wow you did not disappoint,” declared Bauer as he looked out over the some 282 graduates seated on the school’s football field. “You came in with a vengeance. Your enthusiasm brought life back into the halls of Seneca, and you made up for what the classes of 2020 and 2021 missed. You found a piece of that Seneca magic and painted the green and gold (school colors) all over our campus each and every day.”

Not only did the graduating class “pave the way for the underclassmen,” Bauer said, but “little did you know that you personally impacted me along the way too.”

“Seeing Seneca through a pandemic is certainly not what I signed up for,” Bauer added. “But you invigorated and inspired me, and made me laugh and even brought me to tears of joy. You gave me purpose in my job. You are my ‘why’ of why I do what I do. Thank you for breathing life into the halls of Seneca.”

Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) Assistant Superintendent Matthew Webb, whose son, Joseph “Joey” Henry Webb is senior class president of the Seneca Class of 2022 and was among the graduates last Friday evening, recounted a moment from when he and his son were coming back home from visiting a college.

According to Matthew Webb, his son

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turned to him at one point and said, “‘I don’t know that I am going to find another place like Seneca.’”

When he asked his son about what he meant, according to the assistant superintendent, the senior class president replied, “the way we treat each other,” also referring to the institution that serves students in grades 9 through 12 from Shamong, Southampton, Tabernacle and Woodland townships as “nice and safe” where “people make a difference.”

“You see, Joey was right,” Matthew Webb said. “We do have something very special here at Seneca and that probably can’t be entirely replicated. But wherever you end up going, take that Seneca spirit with you, with a goal of leaving people, places and things better than how you found them.

“By transferring what you learned here – getting involved, helping others, volunteering and supporting each other, it is how we build better communities, ones that we are proud to be members of just like you have done here at Seneca.”

Joey Webb, in his speech to fellow graduates, pointed out that Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) once said that, “‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it,’” and in doing so, noted that “throughout my life, I have often been guilty of looking on to the next thing,” but suggested to his soon-to-be former classmates that while “it is important to look towards the future and have goals, you must not do it at the expense of missing out what everyday life has to offer.”

“Let neither concerns nor excitement prevent you from appreciating the moment, and most importantly from cherishing the people you are surrounded by,” he declared. “In your journey to this point, the people you have encountered along the way, whether positive or negative, shaped who you are. All of you are what makes ‘Seneca Family’ a reality, and not just a hashtag.”

The senior class president’s departing

challenge to his classmates is to “stay present and be prepared for the blessings and challenges that life has in store for you.”

It was Valedictorian Courtney Winters who gave meaning to that challenge, by explaining that when she was a freshman, she played softball, only one day to end up faceplanted on the ground in an “embarrassment that was seemingly intolerable,” but a moment that she was ultimately “grateful for” that led her to lose her passion for the sport and instead focus on her academics.

“It is hard to admit to ourselves that we are playing the wrong game,” she declared.

“But falling on my face, in that one game, brought me to where I am standing today.

Maybe there is a sport for me that I just haven’t found yet, but as a freshman I was able to shift my focus to my academics, taking many of the most challenging courses that I could. And I found my true passion – learning.

“While I hope none of you fall on your face while finding the true passion in life, I hope you embrace and learn from the superficially unbearable parts of it, or from any failure, disappointment and rejection.

I dream that you will be able to utilize them to transform your life into the fullest that it can be.”

The valedictorian further advised the graduates that “you have the power to choose your future, to choose your game in life and even to change the game,” and that while it “might take a couple tries, or a couple walks down different paths, don’t stop walking until you find what you love.”

“So, go get the graduate degree, aim for that promotion,” she told the Seneca Class of 2022. “No matter how long and hard the journey may be, never settle for less than what you deserve.”

The graduates are now “prepared to leap into adulthood,” as Winters put it, “taking a risk and jumping out of our comfort zones.” But it is occurring during a challenging time for the U.S. and See SENECA/ Page G15

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Having ‘Immense and Wide-ranging Curiosity Towards the World,’ Making Time for ‘Real Connections’ Impressed on Shawnee Grads

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

MEDFOR D — A s Sh aw n e e H ig h School’s Class of 2022 enters into “a world of opportunity,” the two highest-ranked students among those who graduated from the Medford Township-based institution on June 17 urged their fellow graduates from both Medford and Medford Lakes Borough to be “inquisitive” and approach the “next stage of our lives” with an “an immense and wide-ranging curiosity towards the world,” something that the valedictorian noted had gotten him to the point of having the highest academic achievements of the class.

The school’s 50th annual commencement exercises started with Principal Matthew Campbell noting that the “inundation of social media leaves us with a feeling of inadequacies” and is helping to contribute to the “pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect,” and therefore, urged the graduating class to instead pursue “progress, not perfection.”

“The idea that we should be all working to better ourselves each and every day and work at it is the goal, not some unattainable reality that is created by a filter or a sixsecond video,” said Campbell in his advice to the graduates as they depart.

“Once we realize we should be focusing on the progress and the process of getting better, the sooner we can lift the weight of perfection that has so many of us feeling like we don’t measure up, and the sooner we can spend more time realizing we are worthy.

“So, as you move on to the next phase of your lives, you will be certainly faced

with times of self-doubt and uncertainty. I encourage you to focus on the process, not the outcome, and stride to make progress and not worry about being perfect.”

The celebration of some 294 graduates concluded with Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) Superintendent Dr. Carol Birnbohm, in referencing the popular social media hub, TikTok (a platform where users can post 30-second video clips), impressing upon the graduates to make the most of 30 seconds in real life, proposing “you take that 30 seconds of connection out of the TikTok world and bring it into the real world.”

“You have already done it through the structure of your school day where you learned to make quick connections with teachers and classmates,” the superintendent said. “Those connections gave your time at Shawnee High School meaning. The connections you made at school are what you will remember most, and it is how you will be remembered by your teachers and classmates. And some of those connections will even last a lifetime.”

Birnbohm, who pointed out that she grew up in an era when if you wanted a private conversation with someone, you often had to resort to corded telephones that were attached to the wall, declared that “there was also a time when 30 seconds was not a lot of time,” but that in “today’s multimedia, 24/7 world, sometimes 30 seconds is all we got.”

“So, let’s make the most of it,” she told the graduates in a commencement address.

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Perseverance, Empathy Emphasized at Pemberton Commencement with Grads Urged to ‘Focus on What’s Literally Right in Front of You’ As World is Getting More Virtual, Class of 2022 is Encouraged to Maintain In-person Interactions, Avoid Isolation, and to Uphold Academic Integrity

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—Perseverance, integrity and empathy are just some of the core values instilled in Pemberton Township High School (PTHS)’s Class of 2022 that some of its leading graduates spoke about during a June 21 commencement ceremony held at William McDowell Athletic Field, while Principal Eder Joseph urged those receiving their diplomas that night to “follow your own path, write your own story and never give up on yourselves” with Jeffrey Havers, superintendent of the Pemberton Township School District, suggesting that they reduce their time spent on computers and cellphones so that they “enjoy the people and things actually around you.”

T h e r e w a s a l s o a n u n d e rly i ng cautionary tale told about a shift towards a virtual world with far greater reliance on technology.

As Havers recapped for the thousands of people in attendance at the ceremony, t h e C l a s s of 2 022 h a d abu n d a nt “opportunities” made available to them during freshmen year in which the “only limitations” at the time were those that the graduates “put on themselves.” The same was true during their sophomore year, that is “until March 15, 2020, when we went into lockdown” due to the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The last three months of the 2019-20 school year “were really not school,” as Havers put it, and then the graduating class, during its junior year, “learned from home” most of the time and “eventually those of you who actually came to school” on an alternating schedule “did so every other day while wearing masks, again highly reliant on virtual” technologies and learning formats.

Virtual learning, the superintendent pointed out, “was a continuation of being rather isolated” with the students having “very limited interactions” with each other.

“Sadly, we became more dependent on these,” said Havers as he held up an electronic device.

But this year, during the Class of 2022’s senior year, Havers noted, while at the beginning “we came back to everyday (learning) while wearing masks and quarantining (as necessary),” it “got slowly to the point where the end of your senior year was more typical.”

“Though the Class of 2022 was not a lone warrior in overcoming the virtual change, we were most certainly the class to bring back our education from the depths of abnormality and bring it back to actuality,” declared Salutatorian Yuran Saul. “By being back in the presence of our classmates, friends, and others that we consider our school family, we could not be more motivated to become scholars of honesty and be the school that leads by example.”

One of the high school’s four core values, “integrity,” the salutatorian noted, “has truly been tested over our duration of time being online.” She named some of the companies that are earning a “profit” by pushing virtual learning platforms, describing that they are simply “damaging the integrity of student academics across the nation” by doing so.

“A student studying without integrity is comparable to athletes training under substance abuse,” Saul declared. “It is lazy, ugly, and nothing is gained, but worst of all, integrity is a form of endurance,

and once weakened, is extremely difficult to train back. It is easier to stay in shape then get back into shape.”

Havers noted that in speaking with multiple members of the Class of 2022 following the lockdown, they “discussed how they had gained a deeper appreciation for being able to participate in school events, such as

declaring that it is “the end of an era here at Pemberton,” noted that “at PTHS we hold ‘perseverance’ as a core value.”

“And as a class, we have all persevered through so much during high school,” she said. “The last four years have been a wild ride.”

While there have been “happy, sad, funny and sometimes cringe-worthy moments we have all been through together,” according to Pepito, when the lockdown occurred during the graduating class’s sophomore year, “we needed to learn to lean on perseverance more than ever,” noting that it felt as though “everything had been taken away from us” in that moment.

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Home c om i ng and Spirit Week,” learning that “even common rite of passage activities should not be taken for granted,” following the cancelation of so many such events in both 2020 and 2021.

“Author Fred DeVito has stated that, ‘If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you,’” Havers pointed out. “You have certainly been challenged, and you will continue to be challenged, and other obstacles in life will certainly appear, but remember you will be the only ones to determine how you will be changed.”

As the graduates “move forward” with their lives, the superintendent encouraged them “to live less in the virtual world” and “enjoy the people and things actually around you.”

“You spent almost two years being forced to live in that virtual world, too often, too isolated,” Havers declared.

“Now is your time to soak in what is literally right in front of you. Now, I am not telling you to throw away your phones and computers. But just put them down more and enjoy the real world.

“I am not telling you to stop making TikToks (short video clips posted on the social media platform popular with today’s youth, TikTok), or never post on Instagram (another social media platform teenagers frequent to post photos and videos), instead what I am saying is to hang out with friends and family with your head not constantly down in your phone. And don’t worry about recording every moment so that you can have it as a memory to the point that the only memories you have are through the prism of a cellphone screen.”

The superintendent further asserted that the graduates should “focus your time” on “those around you and not documenting your life for everyone else.”

“Let what you lost in your high school years be what drives you to fully be present in life after your high school years,” Havers asserted.

Senior Class President Eliza Pepito, in

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navigate a Google meet (online classroom platform) and leave our traditional high school experiences,” the senior class president said. “As junior year began in our kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms, we started to cope with the realization that we passed the halfway point of high school and were now upperclassmen.”

That’s when, she noted, the graduates began to “take things more seriously,” realizing that “we missed some of the things that high school had to offer – things like homecoming, basketball games and Green and White Night,” all of which “became missing parts of our high school careers.”

But senior year, Pepito said, was “finally a normal year, even if we couldn’t see the smiles of our teachers and classmates for half of the year” due to a masking mandate, and in looking back on it, “we made sure we made up for that lost time.”

“As we close this chapter and continue to persevere through life, I encourage you all to look back and recognize the blessings of these final moments of high school,” advised Pepito to her soon-to-be former classmates. “I encourage you all to take a moment and show gratitude to all those who helped us persevere the last four years.

“Friends, family, teachers, security guards, mentors, staff and coaches, thankyou for picking us up when you were down, for teaching us how to have pride and confidence in ourselves, and for all you sacrificed in your own lives to get us to this point. And for teaching us what support looks like, and for being our whole worlds.

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Pinelands Regional Valedictorian Emphasizes to Fellow Graduates the Value They’ll Derive from the Adversity of the Past Four Years

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

LITTLE EGG HARBOR—Pinelands Regional High School’s 2022 graduating class was recognized for the singular challenges it has managed to successfully overcome during the past four years by its valedictorian, Ryan Omert, in a frank and forthright address during the school’s commencement ceremony on the evening of June 21.

“The word which I believe truly defines this class is ‘resilience,’” was how Omert summed up the manner in which its members have risen above what he characterized as “a seemingly endless amount of obstacles together” to earn their diplomas.

“In our freshman year,” he reminded his classmates, “we were not allowed to enter the high school due to structural concerns, so we were packed into the junior high school for another year along with all other high school and middle school students” and that “when we were finally allowed back in (the high school) for our sophomore year, our time together was short-lived due to the arrival of the COVID pandemic in March of 2020.”

He noted that since that point, “we’ve faced social isolation, online schooling, unpredictability, and the fear of infection.”

“Sports were canceled, events were called off, and gatherings were outlawed,” the valedictorian noted. “Worst of all, some family members, relatives, friends, and classmates were taken from this world too soon either by the pandemic or other unimaginably unfortunate circumstances.

In about a two-year span, we’ve learned just how cruel the world can be.”

But Omert promised his classmates that “all the adversity we’ve faced together will serve to benefit us in the long run,” invoking Helen Keller’s observation that “‘character cannot be developed in ease and quiet’” but that “only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared,

ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

“In other words,” he asserted, “the hardships we’ve experienced over the past few years have made us stronger and more resilient,” and just being able to graduate “after everything we’ve been through is an accomplishment in and of itself.”

The personal growth of Pinelands graduates during this period “into the adults we are today” was also acknowledged by the valedictorian, who noted how “students challenged themselves by taking rigorous AP (Advanced placements) classes.” In addition, he pointed out, “many of you got jobs, experienced the harsh realities of the world of labor, and, consequently, became more thankful for the great lengths that your parents go to in order to put food on the table.”

Omert also recounted how in 8th grade he was offered the choice to apply to MATES, the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science in Stafford Township, a magnet public high school in the Ocean County Vocational School system and to spend his high school years studying there.

“It was advertised as one of the best schools in the state, and, if I succeeded there, I would be allowed to apply to pretty much any college I wanted to,” he said. “However, in my gut, I knew that staying at Pinelands would be in my best interest. I now realize that I couldn’t have been any more right.

“In my four years here, I’ve been blessed to share classes and become friends with many truly remarkable people. To anyone who has made me laugh, shared a conversation with me, asked me for help on their classwork, complimented me, or formed memories with me, I wholeheartedly thank you for filling my life with happiness. I really couldn’t have asked for a better group of students to spend my high school years with.”

He added that he felt “grateful to have learned from a plethora of amazing

MEET THE GRADUATES

teachers,” whose distinctive and often qu i rk y met hod s of i n st r uct ion he recounted and whom he thanked for “instilling in me the knowledge required for success, caring about me, serving as role models, and spurring my development as both an intellectual and a human being.” He also expressed his gratitude to “the entire administration for leading us through the pandemic, ensuring student safety, building a commendable school culture, and for putting up with us for the past four years.”

Before leaving the stage, Omert had one piece of advice to share with his fellow graduates: “Do not accept something if it is less than what you want. The most selfdestructive behavior you can participate in is overlooking the sheer value of your own life. By settling for less than your potential and putting limits on yourself, you would do just that…. Don’t settle for mediocrity, but strive for greatness.”

Student Council President Kayla Stallard’s opening remarks were largely devoted to paying tribute to two deceased members of the class. “Last year,” she reminded the graduates and attendees, “we lost two of our most beloved students,” Gianna Palmieri and Malcolm Sparks.

She noted that many “remember Gianna (who died from injuries sustained in a collision) for her radiant personality and ability to put a smile on anyone’s face, while Malcolm is remembered not only for his winning humor but for his talent shown both academically and musically.”

“The heartbreak that came from their passing was felt throughout the community as we mourned over the memories, we were fortunate enough to make with them,” Stallard noted. “Our school just hasn’t felt the same without them – but just because they aren’t here with us physically doesn’t mean

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that they aren’t watching over us to become who they wanted us to be. Our community has been able to grow stronger together from these losses, and from my perspective, I believe that we are all now closer than ever.”

Stallard also emphasized to her fellow graduates, “Whatever the future has in store for you, know that this is your moment and you should feel proud.” Most importantly, she added, “the world is in your hands.”

The graduating class’s co-salutatorians, Sarah Bednarczyk and Karlie Pomponio, also both talked about the influences at Pinelands that had helped them and their classmates make it to graduation day, and how much they had benefited from the guidance of its faculty.

Bednarczyk, who characterized herself as “one of the quietest people in our class,” remarked that the “thousands of lessons and countless tests” she and her classmates had taken were in reality “not something most of us will use in our daily lives.”

“The most important lessons we’ve learned have been about people, not academics,” she declared. “I’m so proud of each and every one of you for everything you’ve done, and everything you’ve been through. We’ve all been through battles of our own, but we’ve fought through them.”

Bednarczyk also made a point of thanking “the parents, family members, teachers, coaches, and administrators who have helped us become strong and promising human beings,” and said she “can’t wait to see where life takes us.”

“Find your real friends, and keep fighting,” she advised her fellow graduates.

Pomponio, speaking for the class of 2022, maintained that it owed ”‘permanent gratitude” to the Pinelands Regional faculty, staff, and administration for See PINELANDS/ Page G16

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reaching for the sun.”

Archer, in pointing out to his fellow graduates that sunflowers, until they are fully mature, “always point to the sun,” said that “likewise you should always point towards your dreams.”

“Set you r goals,” he adv is e d the graduates. “Don’t let anybody stop you.

Defy expectations and prove people wrong, like how I proved Hayden Banks wrong and took his $50. Now it is our time to carpe diem, or to seize the day as we enter these new grounds full of opportunities.”

Archer further noted that “if famous comic book creator Rube Goldberg taught us anything, it is that there are a million different methods to achieve a goal,” before urging the graduates to “find your own path to success, and if one path doesn’t work for you, find another.”

LENAPE

(Continued from Page G5) how we grew from them,” Rose-Sorid said.

Valedictorian Arti Singh, who explained that what inspires her the most is “people doing great things or being great people,” said it was the “inspiring voices of early 2000 media that have inspired in me that anything is possible.”

She pointed to two questions that were famously asked by an author of historic romance novels, Eloise Bridgerton, “‘Why must our only options be to squawk and settle or to never leave the nest? What if I want to fly?’”

“To ‘squawk and settle’ is to simply follow the status-quo, whether that is set by society, our parents, or ourselves,” Singh asserted. “But when we follow our own intuitions, and band together for what we believe in, we have been able to protest together for societal change, provide supplies for those impacted by COVID, put up memorials for our veterans, educate people about international politics, raise thousands of dollars for a cause, start businesses and even enact huge murals that are sure to even make those most antagonistic towards the Arts stop in their tracks.

“Lenape students don’t settle. We have been working hard for the last four years to get to this moment and persevering all the way.”

Singh noted that when she graduated from preschool, her mother could not make

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Salutatorian Joshua Wright was unable to attend the commencement, his absence said to be due to an unforeseen medical circumstance, but in remarks read aloud by a school administrator, wanted the graduates to recall what Bilbo Baggins, a title character in the 1978 animated film, “The Lord of the Rings” had stated in light of the fact that the majority of the members of the Class of 2022 most likely won’t maintain contact with each other after the night is over and they move on to adulthood: “I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.”

“These two groups don’t cover everyone in attendance, half plus less than half is less than 100 percent,” Wright wrote. “But I believe Bilbo had a third group in mind, the ones you loved and are truly close with.

the celebration, which left her mortified at the time, but that is also when a guidance counselor “decided the best course of action” that day would be to “introduce herself as my mom,” an experience she contended “taught me none of us would be here without the community’s people throughout our lives, offering conditional support so that we can succeed.”

“We can be absolutely anything we want to, but it takes a community of family, friends and staff,” the valedictorian declared.

Singh noted that the “biggest lesson she learned” at Lenape was to be “innovative,” and urged her fellow graduates to be “bold.”

“Take a moment to ponder this quote from (a notable figure), ‘What is the object of playing a gambit opening – to require reputation of being a dashing player at the cost of losing a game?’” Singh told the Lenape Class of 2022. “It doesn’t matter what you may have to sacrifice, if the end is important enough for you to have started in the first place. I’ve lost games in tennis, but that doesn’t mean that I am going to lose the match. I even got struck right in the nose by a tennis ball once when I was first starting out, but continued, regardless.”

Future endeavors, the valedictorian advised her soon-to-be former classmates, may be difficult, “but that gives us more reason to try,” with the “cliché idea” that “anyone can become anything” giving her hope, adding that, “You may remember from “In The Heights |Dreams|” it is not some sparking diamond we get, but sometimes it is the rough and not so pretty

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“As you go off on your own path, especially if this path leads you far from home, it can be difficult to be separated from the people you care about, but don’t worry. You aren’t going to be doing this alone. Your friends and loved ones will be just as committed to staying connected and maintaining relationships. Reflect on the past, celebrate the present and stay connected with those we care about as we journey into the future.”

Donna Charlesworth, principal of Cherokee, in declaring that “tonight is a glimpse into the future; a deep inhale of the present; and one last prolonged glance at the past,” compared the occasion to a “Snapchat recap,” with the social media platform, Snapchat, popular among today’s youth, featuring pictures and messages usually only available for a short time.

The school principal “scrolled through” the Class of 2022’s senior year, recognizing its many accomplishments, before noting that the night of June 17 is “when you

complete that last post of that high school Snapchat streak.” The graduates, she said, might think “the days dragged on,” but in reality, “these four years flew by,” and for their parents, “they think the last 18 years went by way too fast.”

“Greet your future with anticipation, dream big, work smart, remember your roots, your manners and the way home,” Charlesworth advised the Cherokee graduates. “Behind you all the memories, before you all the dreams. Around you, all who love you. Within you, all that you need.

“Once you graduate tonight, each of you will begin a new Snap story, and may you get through your difficult times swiftly and savior your happy ones. And as you swipe (your phone) to take that final look at your memories, remember no matter what you choose after tonight, your high school streak ends at Cherokee and your heart forever bleeds orange (school color) because, ‘Once a Chief, Always a Chief.’”

Photos By Lif

– we have to be willing to do the work to seize the day.”

Singh, in pointing out that “even within these very chairs we have athletes, artists, tutors, musicians, actors, coders – and most of all great people,” declared that “we are a class of visionaries who have come out on the other side among seemingly endless hurdles – almost like a 1,000 dodge balls coming at us from all sides, but we have caught every single one, and are looking to our futures, while celebrating the memories we made.”

“The point of living in this moment is to take these feelings for what they are,” RoseSorid added. “We are all excited, scared,

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appreciative, sad, proud and overall, emotionally together. The ability to live in the moment will allow us to pause and appreciate every occasion right now, and in the future. This is our individual moment to observe everything about this night, and all our individual experiences that got us here. “… It is difficult to put ‘living in the moment’ into words, but if you take time to notice where you are right now, you will be successfully celebrating the completion of your time at Lenape high. Take a mental picture of this moment, or take a real one like this. We will never get this moment back, so embrace it.”

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(Continued from Page G7) world with inflation, rising gas prices, a war in Ukraine, global tension and the continued spread of and uncertainty around COVID. Will Feldscher, in light of the “obstacles” around the globe, noted that it feels many are occurring “entirely out of our control.”

“There is so much wrong with the world that is out of our control,” Feldscher said.

“And we are constantly bombarded with information about what is bad, and how it

SHAWNEE

(Continued from Page G9) where you have “just 30 seconds to make an impression, connect and engage” with an audience, the superintendent put a question to the graduates, “In the unstructured, real world, if you only had 30 seconds to interact, how would you use your time?”

“It takes much less time than 30 seconds to smile at a stranger when walking across campus, or helping a customer at your job,” Birnbohm said. “And in 30 seconds, you can introduce yourself to someone new as you are sitting on the campus shuttle or standing in line, or this summer at an amusement park.

“You have the power to ‘choose your 30,’ whether on TikTok or with a family member, or even with a stranger. My wish for you is that you use your 30 seconds to make a real connection to be empathetic, as well as spread love and joy.”

The superintendent, in further relating the social media platform to real life, pointed out that “your parents are making a TikTok for you right now,” and described “‘their 30’” as something featuring a dozen photos from each year their child was in school, depicting their child “in the center of family and friends,” including some photographs that depict their sons and daughters being hugged by family, and “not just any hug, but the type of hug that squeezes the air out of your lungs.”

“And there would be a simple message from your parents written across the screen during that slideshow of your life, which would read: ‘We are proud of you kid – you have a world of possibilities in your future; we love you; and we will always be here for you.”

As for what Birnbohm’s “short clip” is for the graduating class, the superintendent said that it entails a “short and sweet” message that she is “proud of you” and that the graduates should make a point of “making real connections” as well as “spreading love and joy” because “as a class, a world of opportunity awaits you.”

Lucas Strong, valedictorian of Shawnee’s Class of 2022, upon taking the stage at the high school’s outdoor stadium, noted that after “four years of lifelong memories made in the building next to us and on numerous Zooms (a virtual conferencing platform the students used during the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown for learning and now use as part of everyday life),” his soon-to-be former classmates are now “standing on the precipice of vast opportunity.”

“My fellow classmates, I won’t pretend to know about the world more than any of you,” Strong said. “We all have all only dipped our toes into the pool of life, which we will soon be tossed right into. And so, while I don’t have mind-blowing advice for all of you, I’d like to talk to you about something that I believe earned me the honor to speak up here tonight, which I hope all of us enter into the next stage of our lives with – an immense and wide-ranging curiosity towards the world.”

AD HOTLINE: (609) 801-2392 or SALES@PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM is getting worse. It can feel like things are so beyond help that it is not even worth trying to find solutions.”

But the feeling that things are beyond help, he asserted, is a “misconception” that is “important to challenge.”

“Each of us is able to affect change,” Feldscher declared. “For me, the primary method of change is education. Learning about the world is what stops ignorance, something that we desperately need to do to make any changes. Education is powerful, especially today when we have access to more information than the people who have come before us.

The valedictorian explained that “by embracing life with a perpetual state of wonder,” it “inspires us to consistently ask questions and explore the vast and boundless world before us.”

“Such a curiosity extends beyond the classroom and leads us into many Wikipedia (online Encyclopedia website) rabbit holes, and an online search often begins a never-ending quest to follow one hyperlink after another until we end up somewhere like on the website of a haberdashery, halfway across the world,” Strong declared.

The valedictorian noted that it is “this curiosity or feeling of wonder” that is “critical to refining yourself into a more well-rounded, independent student and person.”

“Possessing an insatiable thirst for knowledge keeps class exciting and allows for the exploration into new interests and hobbies, a potent superpower to have in the next chapter of life that has more significance than any formal education,” Strong asserted. “At its absolute worst, this curiosity will merely make us better at ‘Jeopardy.’ But at its best it will create an uncomfortable feeling within us.”

Strong maintained that while “it sounds odd to create a ‘discomfort,’” it is “only through this feeling that we grow.”

“It is something that we don’t do very often,” he acknowledged. “And when we try to do it, we tend to enter these debates like a conquistador, only focused on defeating our opponent.”

However, he said, “finding an opposing opinion and truly listening to it shows us that our own opinions are no more than a ramshackle house liable to collapse at any moment.”

“It most certainly does not come easy – this desire to seek out the counterarguments to all the beliefs we hold sacred,” Strong declared.

Feeling uncomfortable, he maintained, helps to recognize the fallibility “in our own arguments,” and also “eventually makes us confident in our opinions and strengthens our arguments.”

“The discomfort slowly dissipates leaving some beliefs stronger than ever to serve as our guiding principles, while others erode all in the pursuit of growth and achievement,” the valedictorian asserted. “By the end, we each stand tall as a confident, well-rounded student and person on a never-ending quest for academic enlightenment.

“I challenge all of you here tonight, faculty and family included, to embrace your inner curiosity by challenging your beliefs and craving discomfort. I hope you join me on the unceasing path towards growth.”

Erika Farr, salutatorian of the Shawnee Class of 2022, in noting that “so many of the familiarities around us are coming to a close,” declared that “this is not a time to be sad, nor is a time to be scared,” but rather “this is a time for opportunity.”

It is also a time, she said, to “strike out for ourselves and try as many new things as we can,” as well as “it is a time to be

“While we are here today to celebrate our education up until this point, which is a major accomplishment, it is also important for us to continue to learn long after high school. The world is going to continue changing and we have to stay well informed to keep up with it. But being well informed about the world is only the first step. After that, it is up to us to apply what we learned and make the changes we want in the world.”

The ability to make meaningful change “can feel impossible,” he added, especially “in a world full of people more powerful than us,” but “as graduates, the future is

MEET THE GRADUATES

♦ Page G15

something we do have control over,” and change doesn’t necessarily “have to happen in a revolution,” but rather “can be built up over time.”

Student Council President Tess Elizabeth Strittmatter noted that she has “never been very fond of endings” to the point that she will even “restart playing songs before the music completely fades,” but that while the high school career ending before the Class of 2022 on June 17 was inevitable, “when nearing a finale, it is easy to seek comfort in the past to avoid confronting the future,” but advised her classmates to do just that – confront the future.

Photos By To

to be inquisitive, to learn new things and always ask, ‘Why?’” “Never be afraid to be wrong because that is an opportunity to learn and develop new skills and perspectives,” she advised her fellow graduates. “As we say goodbye to Shawnee and start to define our futures, it is a time to be our best selves and be the change this world so desperately needs.”

Farr then recited a well-known quote of American abolitionist Harriet Tubman, “‘Every great dream begins with a dreamer.

Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world,’ before asserting that each of her soon-to-be former classmates not only “has the power within us to be great,” but to “make this world a better place.”

“Now, we get to de c ide how we can be the change in this world … be intentional, inquisitive and be yourself,” the salutatorian emphasized.

Birnbohm noted that the Shawnee graduates over the last four years “learned

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many things not measured on the standard report card, like determination, confidence, resiliency, how to advocate, and how to make connections,” with Senior Class President Skylar E. Santucci noting that some of that time at Shawnee occurred during the pandemic, and that while there were resulting “scary, frustrating and sad” times, “we are a generation of students to be remembered and admired for our grit, and now ready and prepared to take on life.”

And while the senior class president said she could continue with “how we were the senior class to rise out of COVID and make our year the best year,” she would rather extend thanks to those who supported the graduates, while also urging her fellow high school diploma holders to “never let the fear of the unknown ruin what you are working for” and to follow the advice featured in a Kenny Chesney country music hit in which a 102-year-old man chronicles his life and only realizes in his later years that life is made up of so many fleeting moments – “‘don’t blink.’”

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MEET THE GRADUATES

PINELANDS (Continued from Page G13)

“teaching and pushing us towards success even when we were not quite ready to learn,” and praised individual instructors for the extra efforts they had made to help students realize their potential.

Observing how the members of the graduating class had “stuck together through it all,” Pomponio said she felt “privileged to say that this class is one true family” that had “learned from one another and looked out for each other when we needed it the most.”

“Let the bonds we’ve forged carry us through life’s many challenges, and be the bedrock that grounds our future success,” she declared.

Also delivering brief remarks at the c eremony was Pinelands Reg ional Superintendent Dr. Melissa McCooley, who said she considered this particular graduating class to be a “very special” one, since many of its members were promoted to the 7th grade back in 2015, the first year that she served as superintendent of the Little Egg Harbor School District (one of Pinelands Regional’s four sending districts), and that she had been “so fortunate to watch them grow and prosper throughout their junior and high school years.

“I want to thank the Class of 2022 for making my time as superintendent so very rewarding,” added McCooley, herself a Pinelands Regional graduate. “It is time to move forward and show the world how amazing Pinelands students are.”

Further expounding on that premise was P i nelands Reg ional Assist ant Superintendent Gina Fresca, who noted

PEMBERTON (Continued from Page G11)

the “ability to understand or share the feelings of another,” or as he put it, “the ability to understand what other people feel, seeing things from their point of view, and imagining yourself in their place.”

“Some of you may be asking how you can possibly have the same feelings as another person, when you and that other person are not the same – you each have different looks, experiences and plans for the future,” Yang acknowledged.

“However, everyone has feelings, and we have all experienced happiness, anger, sadness, as well as excitement. We have all had these feelings in the past, in fact we are feeling most of them right now.

Whatever the other person is feeling, it has happened to us before. Therefore, knowing that we are able to understand what the other person is going through, we can create a kinder, finer environment now that we are properly informed.”

Yang, a high school wrestler, explained that following the lockdown, he had an “extremely hard time returning to my former shape.” But he was able to earn fourth place in district this year because of others who had empathy for him, or “spent time and effort to make me better than I was before.” Therefore, his advice to his fellow graduates was to “try to help those around you who are struggling.”

In pointing out that there were 254 graduates of Pemberton’s Class of 2022, Pepito offered one more thanks to the “Class of 2022 for teaching me what true perseverance looks like every day, and showing the world what it looks like to come back from a pandemic and having an amazing year, despite all the difficulties.”

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM that the Class of 2022 was the district’s 43rd graduating class and that the last time she counted, she had found that the district had over 60 staff members and three board of education members who were alumnae, or “Wildcats,” as she put it.

“The fact that so many Pinelands graduates decided to come back to our campus to work with and for our students shows how very special it is to be part of this Wildcat family,” she maintained.

Fresca then proceeded to read messages to the graduating students written by some of them as “a way of sending all of you off with the words, wisdom and advice from those who have decided to come back and contribute.”

P i n e l a nd s H ig h P r i n c ip a l Troy Henderson also acknowledged the “many challenges and obstacles” the members of the class have had to contend with during the past few years, invoking a famous quote (from French playwright Moliere) that “‘the greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it,’” adding, “I am so proud of these students for staying motivated and persevering when they could have easily given up.”

Additional praise for the “accomplished, c re at ive, t a le nt e d a nd a l l-a rou nd outstanding Class of 2022” was offered by Pinelands Regional Board of Education President Betti Anne McVey. “No matter where you started, you worked hard, you overcame a lot and you made it here today,” she told the graduates, whom she also encouraged to remember the “hard work and dedication of the teachers here at Pinelands, maintaining that “In years to come, you will find yourself thinking back and appreciating their contributions to your life more and more.”

Madilyn McGreevy, senior class vice president, in also extending gratitude to various individuals, pointing out that “it is important to take a minute to express our gratitude and thank everyone for everything you have done and given up to help us achieve this moment,” ended her show of gratitude with a quote from the musical “Find My Way, declaring, “‘I thank you one and all, the ones who thought I’d fall, who taught me how to fail, who helped me to prevail.’”

Saul, during her remarks as salutatorian, in offering departing words of wisdom to fellow graduates, noted “there is a severe difference between making a mistake and committing a violation,” adding that people “do not learn from intentionally cheating.”

“As scholars we must overlook grades and solely focus on the learning process, which is made up of making mistakes,” she said.

“The world does not gain knowledge about you, from you blankly staring at a letter ‘A’ or ‘B’ to ‘C’ or ‘D’ to ‘F,’ but gains knowledge from seeing the mistakes you made, what difficulties you overcame and lessons that you learned.”

Therefore, she encouraged “everyone here to make mistakes” so that they can “observe and learn from them,” maintaining “that is what integrity is all about – taking a fearless step into the unknown, being passionate about your subject matter, and most of all, knowing who you are, and where you stand in a room full of people.”

Joseph, meanwhile, in saying farewell to the graduates, challenged them to “learn from your mistakes and become a better version of yourselves each day.”

“One piece of advice I would leave with you, is don’t compare your Chapter 12 with someone else’s Chapter 15,” he declared.

“Follow your own path, write your own story and never give up on yourselves.”

Saturday, June 25, 2022

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PEMBERTON—An 86-year-old woman has died from injuries sustained in a headon collision that occurred on Route 70 in Pemberton Township on the afternoon of June 18, which also seriously injured the driver of the car in which she was a passenger, according to the Pemberton Township Police Department.

The victim, Hilde Shaw, of the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township, was airlifted to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton following the 3:30 p.m. accident that occurred when the operator of a Nissan Rogue in which Shaw was a passenger attempted to turn left onto Spring Lake Boulevard from the eastbound lane

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Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

Smoke from the fire could be seen on Stokes Road in Shamong Township.

WILDFIRE

(Continued from Page 3) our lives, the resource that the forest itself represents has “intrinsic value to all of us.”

Cecil added that the question is a “critically important” one that’s “really hard to quantify.”

But inherently, he pointed out, “there are lots of plants, animals and trees in these thousands of acres that are under threat right now.”

“The more that we can do to proactively take good, smart, sustainable solutions to forest management stewardship,” he asserted, “the more we can prevent these fires from getting out of control, causing risks to people, property and the animals on the ground.”

In a joint press release issued June 22, State Senator Jean Stanfield, Assemblyman Michael Torrissi and Assemblyman Brandon Umba, Republicans representing the 8th Legislative District, praised the “speed and precision”

♦ Page 7

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Photo By Bill Bonvie

Forest Fire Service Chief Greg McLaughlin speaks to reporters in front of a map showing the containment area.

that firefighters at all levels were able to muster.

“Between the local departments, the state Forest Fire Service and the governor’s office consistently checking in, it was special to see how the entire area came together to beat back a fire that could’ve been very damaging for our residents,” Torrissi was quoted as saying in the release.

Umba noted that he had spent years as a volunteer firefighter and knows the amount of courage involved in the job of battling a fire of this magnitude.

“Our first responders leaving their families in the middle of the night to tackle an extremely dangerous fire should not be taken for granted by anyone,” he declared.

“It truly is heroes’ work.”

“We need to pay them back by continuing to fund volunteer and municipal firefighter operations through state grants, with federal relief money and other creative ways” so they don’t have to worry about having the right tools for the job, he added.

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Photo By Barbara Somes

A smoke plume can be seen in the background of the historic Atsion mansion.

Photo By NJ Department of Environmental Protection

An aerial view shows the scorched earth left in the fire’s wake and the fire line along the perimeter of the containment area.

Page 8 ♦

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