Return to Headlines

June School Highlights


Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences

The Health Institute of New Jersey (HINJ) has honored the Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences as the recipient of their Excellence in STEM Education Award.  The Academy was recognized for the leadership the school has shown in bringing industry to the table as a partner to work collaboratively to meet the needs of New Jersey’s life science industry.  The Academy will be honored at the annual Life Sciences Celebration held in October. 

 

Ten Woodbridge sophomores competed in the Rutgers Oncology Olympiad.  The Olympiad seeks to raise awareness about cancer and support the Rutgers Cancer Institute.  Nikil Azhagiri, Anisha Patel, Meer Patel, Yash Patel & Lakshay Sood placed third in the overall Olympiad as a team.  Meer and Anisha placed second in the pair’s competition for Cell Biology & the Cancer Mini Event. 

 

The Biomedical Innovations class held Capstone presentations during the week of June 12th.  Each night eight teams of seniors presented their findings from their semester-long research project.  Allison Alemeda-Ahmad & Sonali Koduri placed first for their presentation on the “Lifestyle Effects of Chemotherapy during Treatment.” 

 

Coach Rocco Funari was recognized at the Somerset Patriots baseball game on June 14th.  Coach Funari was commended for his dedication to the athletic program for the district and for his recent successes as the Woodbridge varsity basketball coach. 

 

Ms. Melanie Veilleux was recognized at the June 14th Board of Education meeting as the New Jersey Governor’s Teacher of the Year for the Woodbridge Academy.  Ms. Veilleux has been a member of the Woodbridge Campus for the past three years teaching social studies and advising the student government. 

 

Ms. Lisa Ferrier was recognized as the Woodbridge Academy Educational Services Profes-sional of the Year at the June 14th Board of Education meeting.  Ms. Ferrier has been the counselor for the Academy since its inception.  She regularly travels the county informing families about the possibilities of our school. 

 

The members of the senior class traveled to the College Avenue Campus of Rutgers University on June 8th where they were recognized for completing the RU Allied Health curriculum.  Seniors Priya Nigam and Rajbir Toor were acknowledged for their high academic achieve-ments in the Allied Health program. 

 

Seniors Akshaya Ramaswamy and Vraj Shah were recognized by the Middlesex County Conference as scholar athletes at their annual luncheon on June 5th.  Akshaya was also named as a recipient of the Ray Cipperly Memorial Scholarship.

 

The Safety Ambassadors traveled to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick for their end of year luncheon on June 1st. Senior Hitesh Kalluru was the Woodbridge Campus speaker and shared lessons learned by our students while working with the elementary students from Ross Street School in Woodbridge. 

 

The senior class presented the 2017 class banner to the school.  The Class of 2017 chose a motif that incorporated all four of their years at the academy around a central regal theme.  It proudly hangs in the entrance foyer with the previous class’ banners.

 

The Class of 2017 commencement was held on June 27th.  Freeholder Leslie Koppel and Board of Education member Francis James presented diplomas to the graduates.  Free-holder Koppel in her remarks reminded the students of compassion in their careers. Class valedictorian Vraj Shah and salutatorian Saifol Islam-Ahmed presented remarks.

 

Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies

Social studies teacher Christopher Price was recognized by the Board of Education on June 14th as Teacher of the Year for the Edison Academy. Student Assistance Coordinator Elissa Goldstein was also recognized as the Educational Services Professional of the Year.

 

The Academy Education Foundation held its annual “Get Together” picnic on June 4th at Merrill Park in Colonia.  This event provided an opportunity for incoming freshmen parents and students to meet with other parents and current students.

 

Graduation exercises were held for the Class of 2017 on June 27th.  Freeholder Director Ronald Rios and Freeholder Deputy Director Charles Tomaro assisted with the ceremony.  Neha Shah, Class of 2016, was the guest speaker.

 

The Academy Educational Foundation hosted a post-graduation reception in the commons area of the school.  Graduates and their families joined together to celebrate their last organized function as the Class of 2017.

 

Interact Advisor Rosemary Simmons along with Dorothy Simon, Dr. Russo and several stu-dents attended the annual Safety Ambassador’s Luncheon at Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center on June 1st. 

 

The Academy’s Red Cross Club sponsored a blood drive on June 5th in conjunction with Com-munity Blood Services of New Jersey.  Twenty donors participated.

 

Forty seniors presented their senior projects at the Academy’s Annual Senior Showcase on June 7th.  Business partners, college professors and former guidance counselors heard spectacular presentations on various products that ranged from counting parking lot spaces to a device that would alert a parent if their child was accidentally left in a parked car. Board President John F. Bicsko, Jr., Superintendent Brian J. Loughlin, parents, faculty and current students were also in attendance.

 

Sophomore electrical/computer engineering major Amey Venkanarayan won second place at “RoboCup Jr. USA Rescue.”  This robotics competition was held at Horace Mann School in New York.  Amey is the captain of the team (Robo Warriors) and was responsible for writing the algorithm for the robot.


East Brunswick Campus

The School of the Arts hosted final auditions for the 2016 – 2017 school year on June 8th. The candidates were very impressive and we look forward to watching them grow as artists at our school.

 

East Brunswick Vocational and Technical School Chapter of the FFA hosted their annual convention and induction ceremony on June 6th.  Several members from the NJ State FFA chapter attended the event.  The event culminated a highly successful year for the FFA program.

 

East Brunswick Campus hosted the annual sports awards ceremony on June 12th. Coaches presented the student athletes with awards and trophies for participation and for athletic excellence. 

 

The school-wide annual awards ceremony was held on June 26th.  Awards from various community organizations were given to outstanding students for community service and academic excellence. The following community organizations generously gave awards: India Cultural Association, East Brunswick Women’s Club and the South River Historical Society. Awards were also handed out for Best-in-Shop, Academic Excellence and Leader-ship.

 

East Brunswick Campus Class of 2017 Commencement Ceremony was held on June 27th. Principal Jeffrey Bicsko and School of Career Development Principal Robert Feldman presented 160 students for graduation. Board of Education President John F. Bicsko, Jr. and Freeholders Charles Kenny and Blanquita Valenti addressed the graduates. Superin-tendent Brian J. Loughlin and the Freeholders assisted in handing out diplomas.

 

East Brunswick School of Career Development (EBCD)

East Brunswick Tech and Career Development hosted the annual Senior Award Ceremony on June 26th.  Senior Jake Sullivan won the Office Personnel Association award and senior Destinee Veliz won the Aramark award.

 

Twenty-Seven students from the East Brunswick School of Career Development went to Mane Stream on June 6th for a day of community service. Students ranging in age from 14 to 19 worked on various projects around the barn, helping spruce up the facility for the start of summer camp. From removing cobwebs in stalls, sweeping, and organizing the hay-loft, the students made sure to get down and dirty for a good cause. This was the second time EBCD students went to Mane Stream and the trip out to the farm was one of the high-lights of their year!  Speech-Language Pathologist Melanie Dominko-Richards organized the trip and was quoted saying: "I enjoy bringing my students out to Mane Stream because it is not something that they get to experience in their daily lives. In living in western NJ, we tend to take for granted the excitement of being around and working with horses, so for my students, it's definitely something new and cool." One of the students, Khoji, had this to say about the experience: "The trip was nice. My favorite job was cleaning up the hay and sweeping because I like to keep things clean. I would love to come back next year and help out some more." 

 

Perth Amboy Campus

One hundred percent of 11th grade students in electrical trades, culinary arts, graphic design and CADD passed their NOCTI Job Ready Performance Assessments. The combined 44 students did exceptionally well on the performance section of the NOCTI with 98% of all students beating the national average!

 

Perth Amboy Campus held its annual Battle of the Classes Field Day in June with more than 80% of all students participating in the event. This year’s winner was the freshman class who won most of the day’s events.

 

Five students from computer systems technology passed their A+ Certification in June. Eleventh grade students Justin Delgado, Antonio Patterson, Gabriel Garcia, Manvir Singh, and Piero Coronado passed both sections of the certification exam and are now A+ certified!


The Perth Amboy Campus graduated 66 seniors on June 27th. Special thank you to Board Vice President Eugene J. Mullen III, Board Secretary Karl Knehr and Freeholder Shanti Narra for helping with the ceremony.


Piscataway Campus/Piscataway School of Career Development

Senior Claudia Edralin received the Greater Middlesex Conference Scholar Athlete Award at the Pines Manor on June 5th. Through her hard work and dedication Claudia has proven her success in the classroom and on the playing field.

 

Piscataway Campus and Piscataway School of Career Development went on their senior trip to Colonial Bowling in Lawrence Township, New Jersey on June 16th. A group of about 30 students attended the trip where they bowled, played laser tag, and enjoyed the arcade. All of the students had a wonderful time with their classmates.

 

Safety Ambassadors attended an end of the year luncheon at Robert Wood Johnson Hospi-tal on June 1st. The students received certificates for participation in the program as well as a celebratory luncheon. 

 

The Johnson and Johnson leadership group had their end of the year celebration on June 13th. All students who participated in the program received certificates. 

 

Piscataway Campus celebrated the annual graduation ceremony on June 27th.  The event was well attended by family members who came to support the 108 graduates. Lovedeep Kaur was the valedictorian of Piscataway Campus while Damien Siri was the valedictorian for the Piscataway School of Career Development. Lovedeep plans to pursue her academic studies in the fall at Rutgers, New Brunswick, and Damien plans to attend Middlesex County College.