It has been a long time since they walked the halls of John P. Stevens High School, but some things never change that much.
“It’s remarkable,” said Cliff Hackel, J.P. Stevens class of 1976. “Everyone dressed a certain way back then, which was the way one identified themselves. … Clothing made a statement, and that is how it is today, though the clothing has changed.”
Hackel was one of 13 former J.P. Stevens students to be inducted into the high school’s Hall of Honor on April 22.
“This is the fourth year we are doing this,” said Jonathan Miller, the school’s social studies supervisor.
Past honorees have included Edison Township Council President Charles Tomaro; astronaut Mark Polansky, who commanded STS-11, the space shuttle mission to the International Space Station in December 2006; Walter Stochel, president of the Edison and Metuchen Historical Society; state Assemblyman and former Edison Councilman Peter Barnes III; keyboardist David Rosenthal, who plays in Billy Joel’s band; and David Bryan, keyboard player and founding member of Bon Jovi.
This year’s honorees were recognized at an April 22 school assembly. Cathy DiGioia and Joanne Carloni served as chairwomen of the event. Old yearbook photographs were displayed, and the music of the times was played. Later that night, an induction dinner was held at the Pines Manor. J.P. Stevens Principal Gail Pawlikowski, acting Superintendent of Schools John DiMuzio, then-Board of Education President David Dickinson and Mayor Antonia Ricigliano attended the dinner. Miller served as emcee.
Among the 2010 honorees was Ronald Owens, class of 1965, senior pastor at the New Hope Baptist Church of Metuchen.
“I came out of the first class that was here at the new building,” he said. “Even though I only spent one year in the new building, I take pride in being part of the transition and being part of the history, legacy. … It makes me feel good.”
Owens recalled that when he was in high school, he would have never imagined coming back 45 years later to be honored by the school.
“I can say one thing: that this school opened and provided every one of us the opportunities to become leaders,” he said.
Three of this year’s honorees are members of the class of 1972 — Alan David Blowstein, Cliff Hackel and Athena Varounis.
Blowstein is a radio show host and journalist. He worked at CBS Radio in New York and later at 101.5 FM and WCTC in New Jersey. He is now running his own marketing business.
Hackel started his career with CBS News in Washington and has worked as a producer and editor for CNN since 2004.
“I’m really touched on being selected as one of the honorees,” he said. “High school is really the first threshold in crossing over into life, the first place where dreams come.”
Hackel said he remembers the teachers who made him work hard and inspired him to be who he is today.
Varounis is a retired FBI special agent and is also an author. She started her career as a crime analyst for the Edison Police Department and conducted the first comprehensive study on the effectiveness of Neighborhood Watch and Operation Identification. She became a special agent with the FBI in 1980 and moved up the ranks to chief of the FBI’s Defensive Programs Unit in 2001.
Her experience caught the eye of Thomas Harris, author of “Silence of the Lambs,” and formed the basis of Clarice Starling’s character, a young FBI trainee, played by Jodie Foster in the movie.
Other 2010 honorees include Robert Karabinchak, class of 1974; Alan Schiffman, 1977; Seth Wallerstein, 1978; Lance A. Markbreiter, 1980; Joseph Stiskal, 1980; Rick Dior, 1982; Janet Smith-Leet, 1984; Ronald Schuster, 1988; and William Vallier, 1991.
Karabinchak is the owner and president of Tri-Form Construction Co., which he started in 1985. He is also a councilman in the township.
“I’m speechless,” he said of the honor. “It’s definitely a trip down memory lane as I walk around the halls. The only teacher that I had who is still around is probably John DiMuzio [now the acting superintendent]. He was my football coach.”
Schiffman is an international lawyer and is a partner and head of his firm’s Asia Energy and Project Finance Group, where he has worked on projects and transactions from China and Indonesia to Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Wallerstein has owned a general dentistry practice in Edison since 1987 and has coached various local sports teams. He is currently a coach and manager of the North EdisonAmerican Legion baseball team.
Markbreiter has been in practice as an orthopedist since 1994. He previously served as a stadium physician for the New York Yankees and as a Madison Square Garden physician. He started a foot and ankle clinic at Monmouth Medical Center and was the first area physician to perform total ankle replacements successfully.
Stiskal is a neonatal physician in Virginia. While he was completing his sub-specialty training in newborn intensive care at the world’s largest pediatric hospital in Toronto, he coordinated the first clinical trial on a medication to be used for the prevention of chronic lung disease of premature babies. He also ran in the Boston Marathon in 2009.
Dior is a recording engineer and producer and has performed live on stage as a percussionist with the likes of James Taylor, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Bobby McFerrin and Marvin Hamlisch. He is a full-time lecturer in percussion at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte and an adjunct professor of percussion at Gardner Webb University.
Leet is the owner and operator of long distance running camps for girls. She was named the Female Cross Country High School Athlete of the Century in 2000 by the Star-Ledger newspaper.
“I was nominated by one of the students here,” she said of her latest honor. “She and I communicated after she did a paper on me and I gave her some running tips.”
Leet credits her high school years for her current success.
“I had a tremendous high school career, and that gift is what inspired me to do what I do today,” she said.
Schuster is a commander in the U.S. Coast Guard and for two years served as special assistant to the Department of Homeland Security. In June he will begin serving as the Coast Guard legislature counsel and will work with congressional leaders and staff on developing the Coast Guard Authorization Act.
“I give a real tribute to J.P. Stevens, because the teachers professed and instilled teamwork in us to become the leaders we are today,” he said.
Vallier started his career at Accenture Consulting LLC and is now the strategic director of business development for Merck & Co. He is working on his sixth patent for a soon-to-be-released Apple iPhone application.
“All the teachers here have given us the ‘you can do it’ spirit,” he said. “They gave the guidance I needed, because I was at the point where I did not know what I wanted to do. This is an absolute honor and privilege to be one of the honorees