BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer
Two Manalapan High School students have been selected by the Siemens Foundation to receive the Siemens award for 2004-05.
This marks the third straight year that two Manalapan students have been chosen as Siemens award winners.
More than 150,000 students from across the United States begin the journey down a long road to reach this goal and only 24 winners are selected from across the nation. The country is divided into six regions, with four winners in each region.
“I’m happy to announce for the third year in a row that two of our wonderful Manalapan students, seniors Ryan Perumpail and Jennifer Yu, have won the national Siemens award,” said James Wasser, superintendent of the Freehold Regional High School District.
“These students are two of 24 students in the entire country and two of four in the Middle States Region who qualify for this award based on their outstanding math and science advanced placement courses,” Wasser said.
Perumpail has a 5.1 grade-point average and Yu has a 4.8 grade-point average
and they have scored in the top range on Advanced Placement tests in math and science.
“On behalf of the Board of Education and the administration, I want to say how proud we are of Jennifer and Ryan. Their hard work and commitment has brought honor to the district,” Wasser said.
Both students are enrolled in the FRHSD’s science and engineering learning center at Manalapan. The learning center is a four-year program of interdisciplinary studies for students who are planning to pursue a career in mathematics, engineering and/or physical science.
“This is quite an honor for Manalapan High School to have two students selected from across the United States three years in a row,” Principal Terri Grey said. “The Siemens Foundation was just in awe last year and gave us major recognition when we had two students recognized two years in a row.”
Grey said she has been receiving letters of congratulations from representatives of various organizations who have heard about the student winners.
The principal said this has been an outstanding feat in the Freehold Regional High School District’s science and engineering program. She said she is proud of the students, the staff and the program. She noted that Ryan and Jennifer were featured in a Feb. 1 story in USA Today.
Each student will receive a $3,000 scholarship and a plaque from the Siemens Foundation during an upcoming reception.
Perumpail and Yu each received a Freehold Regional High School District medal.
Since 1999-2000, Manalapan has had one or two Siemens award winners during five of the past six years. They are: Yuk Yan Lam (1999-2000), William Regan (2001-02), Matthew Meola and Julie Wu (2002-03), Adam Gashlin and Christina Wright (2003-04) and Ryan Perumpail and Jennifer Yu (2004-05).