MILLSTONE — The Millstone Township K-8 School District Board of Education held a ceremony to honor more than 100 students for a wide variety of successes and achievements on Dec. 15. Parents, teachers and staff members packed the Millstone Performing Arts Center (MPAC) to see the young people saluted.
Superintendent of Schools Scott Feder opened the event by stating that “anyone who is a kid here is here because they did something pretty good. This is a cool night … Not only will we be honoring our academic successes, but we have reached out to identify the many other ways our students achieve and succeed.”
Christopher Huss, principal of the Millstone Township Middle School, presented awards to students who achieved perfect NJASK Math Scores for 2014.
As Huss read their names, the following students came to the stage: Alexander Anthony, Aidan Byrne, Allison Casale, Vincent Datello, Aspen Kientzler, Eric Krasinets, Kelly Lew, Jack Martinek, Noah Meier, Daniel Merkel, Alyssa Pugliese, Natalie Rivera, George Schmidt, Aubrey Silverman, Gabrielle Skowronski, Kyle Sullivan, Jose Acevedo Deniz, Chrisanna Bertuccio, Julianna Conforti, Tonimarie Crowe, Cady Delacruz, Ayla Dlugosz, Christoph Forte, Megan Gray, Benjamin Hahn, Dennis Krasinets, Nuri Kwon, Tara Magee, Michael Maizel, Robert McQuade, Sean Mulligan, Matthew Paglia, Samuel Parker, Priscilla Pitiak, Armaan Pruthi, Nathaniel Somers, Ryan Whitney, Srinidhi Baile, Lucas Beck, Kaitlyn Bergen, Victoria Cagnetta, Dante Disilvestro, Timothy Foo Siam, Galina Gordon, Maansi Jain, Benjamin Kokot, Brendon Ludden, Ayaan Memon, Jacob Mendelsohn, Michael Pugliese, Gianna Scott, Kyle Sikkema, Sarah Soliman and William Zhao.
Huss presented an “American Girl Fashion Show Fundraiser” award to Sophia Schindel, a middle school student who hosted a fundraiser to benefit the Special Olympics.
“It was great to be honored by the Board of Education, because I didn’t do this for recognition,” Sophia said. “I did it from the bottom of my heart.”
Huss presented a “Fencing Acknowledgement” certificate to Galina Gordon, who a student in the middle school.
He also presented an “Avid Reader Award” to two students from his school — Luke DePinho and Sarah Rainford.
An award for “Undefeated in Travel Lacrosse” went to Ava Scudillo.
Huss presented an award for being selected for the Shore Intermediate Band to Nuri Kwon.
“Recognizing these students for their achievements was one of the highlights of the year so far,” Huss said. “There are so many fantastic students in Millstone, and it was an honor to let them know how much we think of them.”
Stephen Wisniewski, principal of the Millstone Township Elementary School, presented the “Perfect NJASK Language Arts Score” awards to Christina Morris, Sarah Soliman and Erica Uric, all of whom are pupils at the elementary school.
Wisniewski returned to the stage to announce the elementary school students who achieved “Perfect NJASK Math Scores” — Abhilash Bodala, Gavin Elwell, Tyler Kowal, Anthony Lotruglio, Kenneth Wines, Madeline Branin, Michael Doran, Charles Hackett, Zak Kheder, Cassandra Leach, Morgan Lentino, Julianna Luizza, Lana Maizel, Laila Martinez, Ellie Mashkevich, Diego Ortiz Miskimen, Andrew Paglia, Zoe Pruthi, Jake Sacco, Giuseppe Scibilia, Josie Shapiro, Olivia Stauder, Zachary Taylor, Misha Verma and Drew Warfel.
Wisniewski presented an award for “Perfect NJASK Science Scores” to Zak Kheder, David Ludden, Julianna Luizza, Lana Maizel, Jacob Normand, Diego Ortiz Miskimen, Zoe Pruthi, Tessa Sain, Josie Shapiro and Misha Verma.
Debbie Novellino, vice president of the Friends of Millstone Historic Properties, presented the Fall Harvest Art Contest award to Emma Bogusz, Maddy Branin, Anthony Latruglio, Liam Kilcomons, Radhika Manvar, Olivia Stauder, Emma Whitney, Sofiya Rizzo, Ava DePalma (overall grand prize winner), Alexandra Sullivan and Talia Hanson.
Lisa Kuchar and Dina Albarella, who co-coach the Millstone Junior Pee Wee cheerleaders, said they were proud that their team placed third at the Eastern Regionals. Albarella presented awards to Isabella Albarella, Allison Casale, Ashley Lotruglio, Misha Verma, Devyn Bernstein, Emily Pellegrino, Emma Whitney, Francesca Abarno, Stephanie Costello, Georgia Kuchar, Elizabeth Mick and Samantha Alster.
Middle school teachers Bernadette Heine and Kelsey Snyder awarded the recipients of the Asbury Park Press essay contest — Bianca Battaglia, first place; Galina Gordon, second place; and Paul Moyer, third place.
Feder said the awards ceremony can have a profound impact on youngsters.
“Every child looks to find their place, and this continues into adulthood,” he said. “Is every great athlete in childhood going to go pro, or is every honors language arts student going to write the next great American novel? Probably not, but experiencing success and achievement are powerful emotions that last forever.
“I still recall my honorable mention for my third grade science fair project. Did I become a forensic scientist? No. However, I did gain confidence and see myself as someone who could achieve and succeed when I put my mind and effort to it. That is what this night was all about,” Feder said.