MAST students rewarded for work with scholarships

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tudents at the Marine Academy of Science and Technology (MAST), Sandy Hook, haven’t won the New Jersey Lottery, but they will be receiving more than $1.9 million in ROTC scholarships and numerous awards and recognition.

An announcement made by the Monmouth County Vocational School District and MAST named 11 students as the top winners. The students hail from all areas of Monmouth and Ocean counties, and three students, Neal Corbin of West Long Branch, Ryan Sullivan of Hazlet, and Frank McBride of Tinton Falls, will each receive $250,000 in scholarship money.

Corbin has been accepted at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy; Sullivan has the choice of attending either the U.S. Naval Academy or the University of Pennsylvania, and McBride has been accepted at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Other top scholarship winners are Mike Larsen of Manasquan, who received a $200,000 scholarship to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and Daniela Zima of Marlboro, who gets a $110,000 ticket to Boston University. Long Branch resident Lizbeth Blaisdell will receive a $23,000 scholarship to George Washington University, and Mike Crooker of Jackson will get a $78,000 scholarship to the State University of New York Maritime College. Dominic Moffitt of Middletown and Joe Ludlow of West Allenhurst will each receive a $130,000 scholarship to Rensselaer.

Additionally, Jon Velandia of Brick, has been accepted to the University of Notre Dame with a $102,000 scholarship, and Tory Weaver, Wanamassa, has rounded up $78,000 in scholarship funds to go to Norwich.

Student achievement at MAST is also noted by the numerous winners at the Skill USA-VICA Championships held at the Garden State Exhibit Center, DeVry Institute and the Somerset County Vocational and Technical Schools. More than 1,500 students, vocational educators and industrial volunteers took part in the event.

MAST student winners of bronze medals include Alexis Maleski of Matawan and Amanda Profita of Neptune, both in the Promotional Bulletin Board competition.

"With the promotional bulletin board you take the theme for the year, which was ‘Building Skills for America,’ and you use the theme to display a bulletin board," Maleski explained. "We did a display and we had an interview and we won the bronze medal.

"You’re up against so many good people, and there are so many beautiful bulletin boards that it’s just amazing when you get the medal. (You know that) all the hard work and dedication was put to good use. You just feel so good."

Diane Santos of Neptune won a bronze medal for extemporaneous speaking, and Seth Dooley of Millstone Township received his medal for job skills demonstration.

Silver medal winners include David Reisner of Lincroft, for Technical Computer Applications; David Bell of South Amboy, Erik Bergstrom of Howell, Mike Fonesca of Tinton Falls, Ryan Orsley of Freehold and Ryan Sullivan of Hazlet were all winners of the VICA Quiz Bowl. Gold medal winner Nathaniel Reifenheiser of Millstone Township took top place for Marine Service Technology.

"I won the gold medal for Marine Service Technology in the state competition this year and now I’m practicing for the nationals which are in Kansas City, Mo., from June 26 through July 1," Reifenheiser said. "I was real happy. All they told me was that I had won a medal. I didn’t know which one, and when I got there, it was a real surprise.

"We had to take apart an engine and put it back together," he explained, "and it was all timed. We had to do a lot of electronic work also."

MAST French teacher Susan Lepis received the Teacher of the Year Award from Gov. Christie Whitman.