Congratulations MOHS Class of 2021
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newsmagazine of the Mount Olive Township
School District
July 2021
Congratulations
MOHS Class of 2021
Mt. Olive Township School District Non-Profit Org.
Northwest Professional Center U.S. Postage
PAID
227 U.S. Hwy 206, Suite #10 Permit No. 200
Flanders, NJ 07836 Hackettstown, NJ
07840
406 Mount Olive High School
students received diplomas in June.
The ceremony took place on the
MOHS football field.
Top of
The Class of 2021
Valedictorians Sara Seelman & Nick Tarallo, salutatorians Alyssa Dowd & Vedh Koutha
Sara Seelman’s handwriting is so miniscule, Darrell Hendricks who lives nearby. She excelled in every subject; in addition to the
you could stack three lines of it in a single line of In the core academic subjects, Sara’s National Math Honor Society she was also a
a legal pad – and still have room for a doodle or commitment and motivation was even stronger. member of the Science National Honor Society,
two. That penmanship speaks volumes about her. Karen Sterling had Sara in AP Biology in 2019- the World Language Honor Society, and the
She’s unassuming. And she’s organized and 2020. Right before the district implemented full National English Honor Society. She even sang
precise – every letter in every word is exactly the remote learning, the class, ironically, was with the school’s Madrigals choir.
same size and height as all the others, and studying viruses. An avid baker, Sara enjoys dance and perform-
perfectly spaced. There’s a certain symmetrical “I still have the virus model that Sara made ing with her church choir, though unfortunately
elegance in it. me, sitting on a shelf,” said Sterling. “She created singing has been put on hold for a while.
Reserved and soft spoken, Sara will surprise it from modeling clay and it’s so detailed. It must
you with her laser sharp focus and drive. She’s have taken hours and hours. She had to mold Nick Tarallo is your typical teenager. He
intense, tough on herself in everything that she every tiny piece. She has the drive to make watches basketball (Nets) and baseball (Mets). He
does. She has a reputation for always giving everything just so.” plays video games with his friends. And he can do
100%. For example, as a member of the marching This year, Sara served as president of the a Rubik’s Cube in 15 seconds. (He has a
band’s color guard and the winter guard, Sara school’s chapter of the National Math Honor collection of about 30 different Rubik’s Cube-like
would often practice the routines at home. Society. Math teacher Farsheed Taschayyodi took 3-D combination puzzles in all shapes and sizes.)
“Her father would joke to me that she was over as adviser in the middle of the year. He’s your typical teenager – who just happens to
wearing out the lawn,” said MOHS music teacher “I hadn’t met Sara [before becoming adviser], be one of the brightest students in the country.
but when speaking with other teachers who knew That’s not just an opinion. As a junior, he
her, they said to me that I was so lucky because I scored in the top 0.4% of the 3.8 million students
had her,” Taschayyodi said. “They were so right, who took the Preliminary SAT, an exam that
she’s a rock star.” measures language and math skills important for
When the NMHS worked on a project for success in college and beyond. For that
Black History Month about notable Black achievement, he was named a finalist in the 2021
mathematicians, Sara grabbed the reins. She National Merit Scholarship Program by the
talked with tee shirt companies, compiled prices College Board.
from vendors. The day after the senior prom, The valedictorian is quiet and laid back. An in-
when other kids were kicking back, Sara was disputable math whiz, Nick took AP Calc BC, the
working in Google Docs with Taschayyodi, highest level, last year in 2019-2020.
preparing for the NMHS induction ceremony. “It was fun for me to assign group work and
That’s dedication. see Nick interact with his peers,” said teacher
Sara will attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Farsheed Taschayyodi. “He was a junior in a
Institute this fall and major in biomedical class with seniors. It was great. Everyone de-
engineering. Engineering runs in the family. Her ferred to Nick and would double check their
mother works as an environmental engineer, her work with him. I’ve seen him tutor some kids.
father is a civil engineer, and her older sister just What stands out is seeing him, after not having
wrapped her junior year studying chemical Calculus AB for over year, helping students with-
engineering. Sara, though, isn’t firm in her major. out batting an eye. He’s that good.”
Sara Seelman When you are so multi-talented, interests abound. Nick also performed with the marching band
school’s award-winning robotics team is heading
this fall to Georgia Institute of Technology, one of
the top research universities in the country.
There he’ll study computer science, a topic apro-
pos for someone described by faculty members as
“analytical.” That’s a talent that he’s been able to
apply to every subject at Mount Olive High
School.
“His analytical nature was perfect for my
class,” said teacher Lori Tatum who had Vedh for
AP Language and Composition. “Vedh brilliantly
made connections to whatever material we were
working on, connections that made sense and
that mattered. His ability to connect real-world
things and tie in his knowledge will take him far.
He also has wonderful sense of humor that’s play-
Alyssa Dowd fully sarcastic. We’ve had a lot of fun banter.”
But wait, there’s more.
she is sunshine. Vedh has excelled in the arts, too. He’s an ac-
“Alyssa lights up the room,” said science complished oboist who brought to the wind en-
teacher Jennifer Brown. “She’s sweet and funny, semble a sophistication far beyond his years.
too. She and her group would come up with the “He has great musical intuition,” said music
best projects. She made the class better.” teacher Darrell Hendricks. “If he’s given a
Shortly after the AP Calculus BC exam, when melody, he immediately knows how to craft it in
all the heavy lifting in the class had been done, a mature manner. That doesn’t happen very
Alyssa wrote a quote on one of teacher Farsheed often. You can tell that he’s listened to classical
Taschayyodi’s white boards: You miss 100% of music. I talk about him with my coworkers all the
the shots you don't take. Students in other classes time and how we’re going to miss him.”
Nick Tarallo followed her lead. After several days, all eight But wait, there’s more.
white boards in the classroom had been filled Vedh enjoys baking, primarily cookies and the
and jazz band, playing baritone and trombone with inspirational quotes about perseverance and occasional cake, and not that boxed stuff either.
respectively. positivity, decorated with flowers and hearts. “There’s some satisfaction making something
“Nick is loyal and dependable,” said music Alyssa had started the wave. from scratch,” Vedh said. “I think one day I just
teacher Darrell Hendricks. “If he makes a com- Alyssa credits her parents for instilling in her said ‘I’ll bake some cookies’ and then saw it was
mitment, he follows through. Overall he’s pretty a perpetual optimism. But seeing the glass half pretty fun.”
quiet, but he also can be really fun. He’s got a dry full doesn’t get you to salutatorian. Alyssa has a He became a mini internet celebrity this year
sense of humor that I think he picked up from his knack for conceptual thinking and loves science. when he baked cookies for Salman Khan, creator
dad [Joseph Tarallo, an electrical engineer and en- “She was the best student that I taught this of the Khan Academy, the popular online educa-
thusiastic supporter of the music department].” year,” said teacher Karen Sterling, who had tion platform. On TikTok, Vedh posted that he
Throughout his time at MOHS, Nick has been Alyssa for AP Biology. “Dedicated. Hard-work- would bake cookies for Khan if the entrepreneur
a member of the school’s robotics team. In years ing. She knows what she wants and yet stays true responded and said hello. He did and the die was
past, the team would design and build a robot to herself. She’s self-confident and engaging, and cast. Vedh baked the cookies in Khan’s honor and
from the ground up that would compete in a to me those are two keys to good leadership.” posted a video of their preparation on TikTok,
sports-style event. Because of the pandemic, the This fall, the chocolate afficionado will study which Khan reposted with commentary. Khan’s
annual competition was canceled, though there biological sciences at Rutgers. Beforehand, post garnered 21,000 likes.
were some online challenges. He and the other though, she’s looking forward to spending time in But wait, there’s more.
MORT seniors made it their mission to try to one of her favorite places, Lake St. Catherine in Vedh competed on the school’s soccer and ten-
smoothly pass the baton and teach the younger Vermont. Her family has been traveling there for nis teams, served on the school’s Future Business
MORT members the skills they’ll need when the years and the getaway has become a tradition. A Leaders of America club, and volunteered (pre-
competition resumes next year. relative owns a lake house on the 850-acre lake pandemic) at Hackettstown Hospital.
“Our focus was on trying to teach the under- and Alyssa’s days are spent boating and swim- Stay tuned. There’s more to come.
classman as much as we could since they didn’t ming, something she loves. (Alyssa competed on
get a lot of the experiences and the opportunities the MOHS swim team and for the past nine
that they would normally have gotten because of summers as part of the Mount Olive Pirates
COVID,” he said. Swim Team, a community swimming group.)
This fall, Nick is bound for Northeastern Uni- Down the road, Alyssa sees herself research-
versity to study computer engineering and com- ing cancer or Alzheimer’s disease, something
puter science. In the future, he would like to that fits her nature and love of helping others. In
explore careers in artificial intelligence and per- her junior and senior years, she participated in
haps self-driving cars. the school’s Leo Club, an organization dedicated
to service projects focused on literacy, education,
One drizzly morning this spring, Alyssa senior citizens, children, and people with physi-
Dowd walked into her anatomy and physiology cal challenges and learning disabilities.
class drenched from head to toe. While the rest of
the world would have bristled at the inconven- Learning about Vedh Koutha is like
ience, the clamminess of wet clothes against skin, watching a late-night infomercial; every five
Alyssa wasn’t bothered. In fact, on the way into minutes Ron Popeil seems to stick his head in to
school she had intentionally taken her time and exclaim “But wait, there’s more!” That’s a
ambled through the rain with a friend, appreciat- testament to the salutatorian’s depth of
ing the simple wonder of Mother Nature. knowledge and character.
That’s Alyssa, always seeing the bright side. Science and math are Vedh’s interests and
On those dark days, she doesn’t need sunshine, strengths. The programming co-lead of the high Vedh Koutha
ǀ Twitter: @MountOliveTSD
See more www.motsd.org
graduation photos
at motsd.org
MOHS teacher
receives fellowship
M OUNT Olive
High School
teacher David
Bodmer has been
awarded a
fellowship to Project
Invent, a program
that helps educators
bring unique
product design and
prototyping
experiences to students.
Bodmer, who teaches digital design and
fabrication, will remotely attend an
intensive weeklong conference this summer
and participate in four other professional
development workshops throughout the
year. He will also work with other Project
Invent fellows to share effective teaching
strategies and ideas.
Beginning in September, he will use Proj-
ect Invent’s development curriculum to
guide a group of high school juniors and sen-
iors through the complete design and proto-
typing process. The young product engineers
will identify a real-world problem, brain-
storm creative solutions, and manufacture a
working model of their best design.
In December, the students will receive
feedback on their initial ideas from industry
leaders in companies such as Google and
Facebook. After incorporating that input
into their final design and protype
manufacture, the students will present and
pitch to a group of investors who could bring
the product from the high school fabrication
lab to store shelves everywhere.
“This is a year-long journey for me and
my students,” said Bodmer. “It brings
Mount Olive High School’s product
engineering program to the next level.
Project Invent will help students use
technology, creativity, and collaboration
skills to become thoughtful problem solvers
and entrepreneurs. They’ll have a unique
opportunity to learn from top professionals
and possibly see their invention help the
world. That’s exciting.”
Bodmer, who has taught in Mount Olive
since 2009, is also the adviser to the school’s
marine advanced technology education club
which designs and constructs remotely oper-
David Bodmer
ated underwater robots.
District showcased
by state organization
T HE district was recently recognized by
JerseyCAN, a nonprofit organization
that advocates for high-quality schools for all
New Jersey students.
On its website and in complementary
documentation, JerseyCan showcased the
district’s data-driven academic support B O A R D O F E D U C AT I O N
program which provides remediation Dr. Anthony Giordano Rhonda Cohen
tailored to meet each student’s unique President Vice President
learning needs. The district’s behavioral Dr. Antoine Gayles Elizabeth Ouimet Anthony Strillacci
John Kehmna John Petrie Christopher Zeier
supports and social emotional learning William Robinson
practices were also featured.
Dr. Robert Zywicki, Superintendent
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