Hoboken High Schoolers Graduate

A new generation of Hoboken High and Demarest graduates moved on to the next stage in their lives Monday night, as 144 students received their diplomas during graduation at JFK Stadium. 

Ready (or not) to leave high school behind, the students moved their tassels from right to left and threw their caps into the air—red for boys, white for girls—after listening to speeches during the hour-long ceremony.

"These are the days that will stay with me forever," said Hoboken High's salutatorian Ashley Barron to a crowd of proud parents and family members. 

Director of Health and Human Services Leo Pelligrini, who graduated from Hoboken High in 1987, was there to read proclamations on behalf of Mayor Dawn Zimmer, who could not attend the graduation ceremony. Pelligrini said he felt the same heat on Monday night, as he did during his own graduation decades earlier. 

"It all just happened so fast," said Barron, 18. "Graduation felt like two seconds." Barron will be attending Penn State University in the Fall. 

The majority of the Hoboken High and Demarest graduates are attending college after the summer. Among the colleges that Hoboken students will be attending are Berkeley, Hudson County College, Drew University and Rutgers University among other schools. At least three students have chosen to join the U.S. armed forces and at least three others have indicated that they will go straight to work. 

After the ceremony, Barron hugged her friend, Ashley Raccuia. Both girls seemed sad to leave Hoboken High, their friends and what they called "the Hoboken bubble."

"The world seems so big," said Raccuia, 18. "And our school is so small."

Check out the photo gallery for a closer look at Monday night's ceremony.