BY LAYLI WHYTE
Correspondent
These RBR students will attend Brookdale Community College, thanks to a scholarship program for students who speak English as a second language. In its third year, Red Bank Regional High School’s participation with the Andrew Kroon Memorial Scholarship is sending nine English Language Learner (ELL) students to Brookdale Community College.
Risa Cullinane, vice principal at RBR, said last year five students participated in the program, and that the doubling of participating students is a real boon for the school’s award-winning ELL program.
“This is the biggest group we’ve had,” Cullinane said in an interview last week. “It was really hard to choose and we wanted to be inclusive.”
The nine recipients, all residents of Red Bank, are: Maricruz Carreon, Arturo Munoz, Lucas Puchowski, Angel Flores, Gustavo Tiro, Adrienne Nevarez, Alex Sanadiraze and Joan Garzon.
“The students are among the 6 percent of the RBR population categorized as English Language Learners, who spoke very limited English when they first entered high school,” according to a press release from RBR.
The Andrew Kroon Memorial Scholarship was created in memory of the late Andrew Kroon, by his father, Richard, who Cullinane said is very involved in the selection process.
“That’s what makes this program so unique,” Cullinane said. “He’s involved with interviewing the students. He checks in with them. He’s really involved and invested in their progress.”
In a press release from the school about this year’s recipients, Richard Kroon has this to say about his work with RBR: “My family has been very impressed with the work ethic and family values of the Latino community of Red Bank, so we felt it appropriate to honor Andrew in this way.”
Andrew Kroon, according to the press release, spent time studying abroad in Spain and Latin America during his time as a student at Yale University, and had a true affinity for the Latin culture and its people.
At first, according to Cullinane, Richard Kroon had intended the scholarship to send one Latino/Hispanic student to college, but Cullinane spoke to him about making the gift more open, and together they set up the criteria for the scholarship.
In addition to an interview by the scholarship committee, students eligible for the program must attend a four-week ELL summer program and complete and pass Brookdale Community College’s Fast Start Program during their senior year by taking six credits of college- level courses.
Brookdale offers this program to all RBR students; those who pass are guaranteed admission to Brookdale. The students must also have a good disciplinary record as well as teacher recommendations for the scholarship.”
Cullinane said that she is thrilled with the success of the program so far, and the number of students who want to participate.
“College seems out of reach for many of these kids,” she said, “and they work so hard when given the opportunity. The seniors taking credits at Brookdale, many of them are working part- or full-time jobs as well. They have to. It’s a financial necessity But now they hope for something better.”
Cullinane said that these students act as role models, not only for other ELL students, but all students who think college is out of reach.
“We have a kid now whose older sister went through the program,” she said, “and whose younger sister is coming up. … It’s pretty thrilling.”
Of course, however hard these students work, and no matter how much they prepare themselves, the transition to college is a difficult one for many students, and Cullinane said that this may have been something that was missed before by the high school.
“As a high school educator,” she said, “I’ve learned about the college experience. It’s a big transition to college, and it can be pretty shocking to them. Because students are required to follow up with us, we’re no longer just handing them a diploma and telling them ‘Good luck.’ We get to see the whole process, and it’s been really eye-opening.”
Cullinane has been invited to California later this month to present RBR’s Bridge to the Future ELL program at the College Board’s workshop on “Educating Latinos for the Future of America,” and she said that the ELL program and the scholarship program combined are having some wonderful effects.
“This year,” she said, “our dropout rate among Latino and Hispanic students is zero. It’s really wonderful.”
Cullinane said that since there are more students this year than ever before participating in the scholarship program, the school is seeking funding from other private donors, and hopes that her trip to California might find her in generous company.
“We’re hoping for the assistance of businesses and other private foundations,” she said.