NHS Senior Induction Ceremony Program

West Essex Chapter
National Honor Society

Induction Ceremony

West Essex Regional High School
December 22, 2020

Character, Scholarship, Leadership, Service

Board of Education
Ms. Maryadele Wojtowicz, President
Mr. Anthony Rubinich, Vice President

Ms. Cynthia Egan
Ms. Anne Fahey
Ms. Jill Marcus
Mr. Frank Perrotti
Ms. Deborah Sacco-Calderone
Ms. Jann Skelton
Mr. Ray Stampone

Administrative Team
Mr. Damion Macioci, Superintendent of Schools

Mr. Caesar Diliberto, Principal
Ms. Juliann Hoebee, Assistant Principal
Ms. Kimberley Westervelt, Assistant Principal
Mr. Ryan Gupta, Director of Curriculum & Instruction
Ms. Lisa Hulse, Supervisor of Guidance & Student Services
Ms. Tania Symmons, Director of Special Services
Mr. Jason Lerner, Supervisor of Science
Ms. Stacy Casais, Supervisor of English, Reading & Library
Mr. Gregory Aschoff, Supervisor of Mathematics & Business
Ms. Laura Drago, Supervisor of Social Studies & World Languages
Ms. Lisa Swanick, Supervisor of Fine, Performing & Practical Arts
Mr. Anthony Minnella, Director of Athletics, Health & Physical Education

Program

Pledge of Alex Lowenthal, Chapter Officer
Allegiance:

Welcome: Ms. Colabelli, Chapter Adviser
Address to the Mr. Diliberto, WEHS Principal

Inductees:
Significance of

Alessia Contuzzi, President
Membership:

Character: James Alamia, Vice President
Statements of Scholarship: Hannah Ng, Secretary
Chapter Principles: Leadership: Veronica Mierzwa, Treasurer

Service: Madison Trewhella & Jeremy Caplan, Fundraising
Induction: Chapter Officers
Chapter Pledge: Ms. Colabelli, Chapter Adviser
Presentation of James Alamia, Vice President
Educator Honoree:
Closing Remarks: Ms. Colabelli, Chapter Adviser

The West Essex Chapter
of the

National Honor Society

Philosophy Statement

Those who have been given much, both in natural ability and opportunity, have a
responsibility to contribute their talents in order to benefit and improve their school and
their community. Since the members of the National Honor Society are the most gifted and
talented students academically, they have an obligation to assist their peers and act as role
models for the school community.

The objectives of the West Essex Chapter of the National Honor Society are:
To make members and their peers aware of their social responsibilities
To provide assistance to students who are experiencing academic challenges
To courageously stand for strong character and to make good social decisions
To provide assistance to anyone who demonstrates need, both in the school
community and in society

Pledge

I am aware of the honor which has been given to me
by my selection for membership in the National Honor Society,
I pledge myself to be true to the principles it stands for.
It shall be my earnest purpose to give generously of my time
and energy to the service of my school and my community.
I pledge to maintain my high scholastic standing,
to hold as fundamental and worthy an untarnished character,
and to endeavor intelligently and courageously to be a leader.
I will strive by word and deed to make the ideals of the National
Honor Society the ideals of my school and of my life.

Alexis Abate West Essex Chapter Maya Perez
Michael Aktas Mariella Polizzi
James Alamia National Honor Society Brianna Puorro
Eric Antonian Michael Ragusa
Christine Arata Senior Inductees Emma Ribeiro
George Ashji Ethan Rodgers
Lea Bachenheimer 2020-2021 Gillian Rodgers
Samantha Balzano
Emily Blake Amanda Jones Lena Rondi
Abigail Boggier Sophie Kearney Jack Ruane
Justin Bonapace Abigail Keller Rachael Russo
Daniel Brener Corinne Kessler Gabe Ruszala
Megan Brisco Hannah Kimble Christopher Rysz
Jacob Brosse Veronica Rzaca
Marissa Candido Grant King Logan Sabol
Jeremy Caplan Kevin Klukowicz Emma Saccone
Maya Carpenter Lauren Krichman Christina Salvanto
Daniel Cesare Evan Kupferberg Olivia Saud
Nicole Cestone Nicole Schachtel
Alessia Contuzzi Ved Lakhlani Philip Seaver
Tiffany Demirdjian Jennie Lathrop Avery Shaw
Rebecca Desiderio Morgan Sindle
Ava DiGiacomo Arianna Lee Taylor Sindle
Kelle Dingwell Morgan Lee Nicole Slekis
Alyssa Dotro Sophia Lee Lauren Snerson
Katelyn Doud Felicia Lichenstein Matthew Sun
Ava Evangelista Avery Lieberman Emma Tartini
Ciara Farrell Adrianna LoBasso Savannah Tomlin
Emma Feldman Joseph Lombardo III Madison Trewhella
Jonah Finkelstein Abby Lonergan Dean Troiano
Ava Franchi Alexandra Lowenthal Katheryn Trupia
Alyssa Gagliano Ava Lozito Justin Turpan
Gregory Gallagher Gabrielle Mager Bella Vitella
Shane Gann Kate Mastrangelo Serena Vu
Matthew Ganton Brianna Matarazzo Parisa Wendell
Samantha Goldstein Nina Matus Devon Westbrook
Samuel Goldstein Carlo Meglio Tara Westbrook
Abigail Haza Veronica Mierzwa Robert White
Juliana Himawan Anna Rose Mihalik Ethan Wiederhorn
Paula Humphrey Jack Montalto Julianna Wolliver
Isabella Jezco Alexa Mooney Ivy Zhang
Alyssa Morales Julia Zhang
Ciara Morrissey
Wyatt Moskal Julia Zon
Sabah Naveed
Hannah Ng
Andrea Norman
Melanie O’Beirne
Kylie O’Connor
Vita Ortizzo
Candace Ortman
Julian Pastor

Words to Live By
Alexis Abate
"Service with pride, lead with confidence, inspire to impact lives." -Anonymous
Michael Aktas
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life." -Steve Jobs

James Alamia
"Be yourself. Everyone else is taken." -Oscar Wilde
Eric Antonian
"Nothing in this world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty."
-Theodore Roosevelt
Christine Arata
"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation hard work, and learning from failure"
-Colin Powell

George Ashji
"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." -Albert Einstein
Lea Bachenheimer
"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." -William James

Samantha Balzano
“If people are doubting how far you can go, go so far that you can’t hear them anymore.” -Michele
Ruiz

Emily Blake
"Where you go in life, go with love in your heart, hope in your soul, and joy in your mind ... for love,
hope, and joy will take you far." -Carole Miller
Abigail Boggier
"A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus" -Martin Luther King
Jr.
Justin Bonapace
"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one
more time." -Thomas A. Edison

Daniel Brener
“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.” -Eleanor Roosevelt
Megan Brisco
“knowledge will give you power, but character respect” -Bruce Lee

Jacob Brosse
"If you want to be successful you have to jump, there’s no way around it. If you’re safe, you’ll never
soar.” -Steve Harvey

Marissa Candido
"While forgetting the past might condemn people to repeat it, remembering it too vividly
condemned them to never leave." -Louise Penny

Jeremy Caplan
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world" -Nelson Mandela
Maya Carpenter
"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world." -Robin Williams

Maya Carpenter
"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world." - Robin Williams

Daniel Cesare
"Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you
think, and loved more than you know" -Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

Nicole Cestone
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others" -Mohandas Gandhi

Alessia Contuzzi
"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." -Nelson
Mandela

Tiffany Demirdjian
“There is no elevator to success you have to take the stairs” -Anonymous

Rebecca Desiderio
“Great moments are born from great opportunities.” -Herb Brooks

Ava DiGiacomo
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave
up.”-Thomas A. Edison

Kelle Dingwell
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." -Eleanor Roosevelt

Alyssa Dotro
“Step out of the history that is holding you back. Step into the new story you are willing to create.”
-Oprah Winfrey

Katelyn Doud
“Life doesn’t require that we be the best, only that we try our best.” -H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Ava Evengelista
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” -Lao Tzu

Ciara Farrell
"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide is what kind of difference you want to
make." -Jane Goodall

Emma Feldman
"Never does a man portray his character more vividly than when proclaiming the character of
another." - Winston Churchill
Jonah Finkelstein
"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." -Kurt Vonnegut
Ava Franchi
“The weight of the world is love. Under the burden of solitude, under the burden of dissatisfaction.”
-Allen Ginsberg
Alyssa Gagliano
"Believe you can and you're halfway there" -T.Roosevelt
Gregory Gallagher
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" -Lao Tzu
Shane Gann
Character is how you treat those who can do nothing for you. -Unknown
Matthew Ganton
"If you’re afraid to fail, then you’re probably going to fail." -Kobe Bryant
Samantha Goldstein
"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." -Walt Disney
Samuel Goldstein
"Most often, the man who becomes leader is not the one that knows the way but the one who behaves
as if he does. " -Shim’oni
Abigail Haza
"If we did all of the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves." -Thomas Edison
Juliana Himawan
"Everything happens for a reason" -Anonymous
Paula Humphrey
"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to
encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come
out of it." -Maya Angelou
Isabella Jezco
"Life doesn't require that we be the best, only that we try our best" -H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Amanda Jones
"The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands." -Anne Frank
Sophie Kearney
"If your always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be" -Maya Angelou

Abigail Keller
"If you always do what you've always done, then you'll always get what you always got" -Anthony
DiNozzo

Corinne Kessler
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there" -John Wooden

Hannah Kimble
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." -Winston Churchill

Grant King
"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get" -Dale Carnegie

Kevin Klukowicz
“Great things never come from comfort zones.” -Unknown

Lauren Krichman
"Be somebody who makes everyone else feel like a somebody" -Courtney Shields

Evan Kupferberg
"Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses." -Kobe Bryant

Ved Lakhlani
"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind." -Mahatma Gandhi

Jennie Lathrop
“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” -Dennis P. Kimbro

Adriana Lee
“You wanna fly, you got to give up the thing that weighs you down.” -Toni Morrison
Morgan Lee
"I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be
able to throw something back." -Maya Angelou

Sophia Lee
"Some are blessed with physical and mental facility, but none are more prized than the one who has
developed true character." -Greg Henry Quinn

Felicia Lichenstein
"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a
literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special." -Nelson Mandela

Avery Lieberman
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think" -Winnie the
Pooh

Adrianna LoBasso
"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.” -Unknown

Joseph Lombardo III
"Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, some make it happen" -Michael Jordan

Abby Lonergan
"It is our attitude toward life that determines life's attitude toward us. We get back what we put
out"-Earl Nightingale
Alexandra Lowenthal
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible." -Walt Disney
Ava Lozito
“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.” – John F. Kennedy

Gabrielle Mager
"There's always room to be a better person. Always." -Sonya Teclai
Kate Mastrangelo
"If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you" -Fred Devito

Brianna Matarazzo
"If you can dream it, you can do it." -Walt Disney
Nina Matus
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts" -Winston Churchill

Carlo Meglio
"It starts with a small flap, now, inside my heart, a hurricane" -Park Chae-Won
Veronica Mierzwa
"A diamond is a chunk of coal that did well under pressure." -Henry Kissinger
Anna Rose Mihalik
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to
encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come
out of it.” -Maya Angelou

Jack Montalto
"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently." -Henry Ford
Alexa Mooney
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you
really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” -John Wooden
Alyssa Morales
"Don't allow our doubts of today limit our tomorrow" -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Ciara Morrissey
"Don't ever let somebody tell you you can't do something. You got a dream, you gotta protect it.
People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want something,
go get it." - Chris Gardner, Pursuit of Happiness.

Wyatt Moskal
“Just be yourself, there is no one better.” –Taylor Swift

Sabah Naveed
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial
and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." -Helen Keller

Hannah Ng
"Slow down, you're doing fine! You can't be everything you wanna be before your time." -”`Vienna"
by Billy Joel

Andrea Norman
"Great leaders don't tell you what to do. They show you how it's done." -Alessandro Berselli

Melanie O’Beirne
"Life is not always a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well" -Jack
London

Kylie O’Connor
"Believe you can and you are halfway there" -Theodore Roosevelt

Vita Ortizzo
"All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on your destination" -Earl
Nightingale

Candance Ortman
"I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do!
That is character!" -Theodore Roosevelt

Julian Pastor
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." -Mahatma Gandhi

Maya Perez
"Don't worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try." -Jack
Canfield

Mariella Polizzi
"A wise girl knows her limits. A smart girl knows she has none." -Marilyn Monroe

Brianna Puorro
"For our own success to be real, it must contribute to the success of others." -Eleanor Roosevelt

Michael Ragusa
"I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion then it will start a
chain reaction of the same." -Rachel Joy Scott

Emma Ribeiro
"A true test of character isn't how you are on your best days but how you act on your worst days"
-Anonymous

Ethan Rodgers
"You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the
ocean." -Alan Watts

Gillian Rodgers
"Wisdom starts with owning up to ignorance." - Plato

Lena Rondi
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -Martin Luther King Jr.

Jack Ruane
“The real opportunity for success lies within the person and not in the job.” -Zig Ziglar

Rachael Russo
"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one
more time." -Thomas A Edison

Gabriel Ruszala
"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving" -Albert Einstein

Christopher Rysz
"There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit" -Ronald
Reagan

Veronica Rzaca
"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." -Benjamin Franklin

Logan Sabol
"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." -Bill Gates

Emma Saccone
"Your time is limited, so don't wast it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by
dogma-which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise
of others' opinions drown your own inner voice. And most important, have the
courage to follow your heart and intuition." -Steve Jobs

Christina Salvanto
"The greatest good you can do for another, is not to share your own riches, but to reveal to him, his
own" -Benjamin Disraeli

Olivia Saud
"Quality is not an act, it is a habit." -Aristotle

Nichole Schachtel
“If not us, who? If not now, when?” -John F. Kennedy

Philip Seaver
"The only way to do the work is to do the work" -Denise D'Meo

Avery Shaw
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the
ending.” -C.S. Lewis

Morgan Sindle
"Character is the real foundation of all worthwhile success." -John Hays Hammond

Taylor Sindle
"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it." -Jean de LaFontaine

Nicole Slekis
"Character is the real foundation of all worthwhile success" -John Hays Hammond

Lauren Snerson
"The bigger mistake would be to not make the mistake, because then you'd go your
whole life not knowing if something is a mistake or not." -Lily Aldrin, How I met your Mother

Matthew Sun
“If you only do what you can do, you will never be more than you are now.” -Master Oogway

Emma Tartini
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." -Mahatma Gandhi

Savannah Tomlin
"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." -William James

Madison Trewhella
"Don’t Let Yesterday Take Up Too Much Of Today.” -Will Rogers

Dean Troiano
“You may find the worst enemy or best friend in yourself.” -An English Proverb

Kathryn Trupia
"Well done is better than well said" -Benjamin Franklin

Justin Turpan
"It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on
to better things." -Theodore Roosevelt

Isabella Vitella
"If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be." -Maya
Angelou

Serena Vu
"There is no substitute for hard work." - Thomas Edison

Parisa Wendell
“A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew
humanity.” -Buddha

Devon Westbrook
"Treat People With Kindness" -Harry Styles

Tara Westbrook
"The most important thing is to enjoy your life- to be happy. It's all that matters." -Audrey Hepburn

Robert White
“You were not born a winner, and you were not born a loser. You are what you make yourself to
be.” -Lou Holtz

Ethan Wiederhorn
"A person always doing his or her best becomes a natural leader, just by example" -Joe Dimaggio

Julianna Wolliver
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

Ivy Zhang
“Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of
becoming.” -John Wooden

Julian Zhang
“Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul
generated by love.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

Julia Zon
“That difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra” -Jimmy Johnson

Thank you

Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Damion Macioci,
Members of the West Essex Board of Education,
Mr. Caesar Diliberto, West Essex High School Principal,

and the entire administration team.

National Honor Society Faculty Council
for their dedicated time in the selection process.
This would not have been possible without you.

All of the “behind the scenes” members of the
West Essex Community.

Family and Friends for your support and
attendance this evening.