Dear Class of 2023, 

Several years ago, before having moved to the Northern Valley from urban southeast New York, I hadn’t yet had the blessing of attending a school with plentiful funding, equal and substantial chances to succeed, teachers and coaches who give their all for some rowdy teenagers that they may not even see again a year later, or environments to collaborate with a phenomenal student body with habitual and vocational interests that are both similar and different. 

Yet, if anyone were to ask of the opportunities here at Northern Valley Old Tappan, the list would be ongoing, and the abundance would be staggering. 

Globally, most schools cannot boast about having a student wellness center of open access to any student who may be in need of emotional support or simply wants to make up some detentions, drink some cranberry apple tea, or just play with kinetic sand like a five-year-old. Logan Pak could tell you, the last option was pretty solid.

Most schools cannot boast about being an Apple Distinguished school, exercising innovation and impactful learning by ways of technology. We have engineering geniuses like Ms. Hodgson and computer science aficionados like Mr. Maietta as our teachers, and if you ask anybody in my STEM Capstone class this past year, especially Andrew Park, Alex Gioffre, and Nathan Park, they could tell you I could’ve used an extra coding class or two. 

Speaking of classes, most schools cannot boast about having a variety of courses specifically tailored to any student’s interest. We had the opportunities to focus the lens and take a snapshot of a possible future career through Ms. Cole’s photography courses, picture ourselves as entrepreneurs under Mr. Marino and Mr. Rotella, purchase and acquire a new love for medicine and biomedical technology with Ms. Mitlitski and Mrs. Dunn, cure a longing for partaking in journalism by way of Mr. Housley and Ms. Kulick’s expressive and unforgettable teaching, and write ourselves pathways to becoming the nation’s next best lawyers with much thanks to Dr. Pellegrino’s lectures on government and politics. 

Most schools cannot boast about having remarkable and driven coaches who spend countless hours not only drawing up game plans, but countless hours screaming at the top of their lungs, gaining and then losing grey hair, well if they have hair to start with (shout out Coach Gregory), all in the hopes of lighting a fire underneath each and every one of their players. Just look at Coach Brian Dunn who through grit and pure grind built unbreakable bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood as a result of leading the boys’ football and girls’ basketball teams, respectively. Such mentorship sure had rubbed off on Nicholas Varni and Mackenzie Ward, who yelled into the hearts of their peers with the sole purpose of igniting the flame to burn down the wall that blocked off victory.

While at first heavily reluctant to leave the school system I had called home for more years than not, I soon realized the purpose of my mother’s and my late father’s wishes for relocation. That is because NVOT is where New Jersey state champions are made through practice and effort like Tommy Caracciolo and Luca Saracino, Sam Bodnar and Tyler Degnen, Jessica Jung and Alexa Tripodi; where those in love with theater and the arts can display their hard work in an auditorium filled to the brim like Juno Langone, Zachary Ingledue, and Kyra Baily; we have students who think as humanitarians, wishing to aid those who suffer across the globe like Dima Kolisnyk and Sahaj Vaghasia.

As such, there is a sheer difference between being given an opportunity, and leveraging said opportunity and succeeding.

And the latter is exactly what the Class of 2023 had done. 

A future professional baseball player in Alex Kranzler, who takes less time winding up for a fastball than to stop talking in AP Physics; an artistic genius in Julio Solano whose talents went from me peering over his shoulder as he drew doodles in Spanish class to making beautiful portraits that captivated viewers at the Art Show; two Division III athletes and star football captains in Jack Diggins and Aidan Heaney who defeat the “dumb jock” allegations and are brilliant minds of their own; and five students who plan to attend Ivy-League institutions in the fall that I believe are allergic to getting anything less than a perfect score in classes that make my brain hurt. Poetry-reciting wizards like Seho Lee, violin virtuosos like Joshua Song, North Jersey Athletes of the Week like Kristen Johnson, National Merit Commended students, debate prodigies, and the list goes on and on. 

Years from now when I think about Northern Valley Old Tappan I won’t just think about how much this school really has to offer. Rather, I’ll think about each and every one of the 260+ of us that truly made the most of all of it. We are your future leaders, your future politicians, your future athletes, your future doctors, your future journalists, your future engineers. 

My name is Hanif Mouehla. In Arabic, Hanif stands for “true believer”. And as such, I truly believe that is what we were capable of. That’s just simply who we are, who we have been throughout the past four years and beyond, and who we are destined to be, taking all of this opportunity with nothing short but to succeed, we are, and I say this proudly, the Class of 2023.

Hanif Mouehla

President of the Class of 2023