OLD BRIDGE — Two high school alumni from Old Bridge who boast impressive resumes were inducted into the school’s Wall of Fame during a ceremony on Senior Awards Night.
Damian Weikum, Old Bridge High School Class of 2011, and Tamara Remedios, Cedar Ridge High School, Class of 1993, were inducted during awards ceremony on May 21 at the high school, according to information provided by the Old Bridge School District.
Weikum, who graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in molecular, cellular and developmental biology and also a master’s degree in public health, is on track to be a world leader in the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in developing nations, according to the release.
He is a research scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. In August he will attend medical school as a joint MD/PhD candidate, according to the release.
Weikum had served as the board director and member of the Yale Leadership Institute at Yale University, co-director of the Youth Leadership Initiative at Yale University, and served as president of the Rotaract Club of Yale, according to the release.
Remedios created her own firm, Xplore Communications, a marketing professional firm, at age 23. She has produced community magazines in New Brunswick, Princeton, Hoboken, Jersey City and Newark. She also has run the state’s first organized Restaurant Week in Hudson County for the past 14 years, according to the release.
She has been a community activist for more than 10 years and leader in Newark. She is the co-founder of Newark Mommies, which has more than 1,700 members and hosts 10-15 events a year for Newark parents and children, according to the release.
Remedios’ latest passion is Cool Cat, a project that provides all Newark public preschool families with access to free quality cultural programs for their children, according to the release.
During the senior scholarship assembly, $124,250 was distributed to 185 students for excellence in academics, arts, athletics or community involvement, according to the release.
In addition, OBHS posthumously honored John J. Brunetti, Sr. by creating a new award, The Brunetti Old Bridge Community Award, that will recognize those who have left their mark on Old Bridge, but who are not Old Bridge graduates. The first recipient will be named in 2019, according to the release.
John J. Brunetti Sr., a builder and the owner of Hialeah Park and three Florida-based thoroughbred racing and breeding farms, died at his Boca Raton, Florida, home on March 2, according to the release.
The plaque reads, in part, “Brunetti, along with the love of his life, his loving wife, Tracee; his two sons, John J. Brunetti, Jr. and wife Adina, Stephen Patrick Brunetti and wife Kimberly; sister JoAnn Brunetti and husband Sal DeGuido, has positively contributed to the success of our students through his philanthropic spirit and has helped stamp a relationship with the Old Bridge community that is strengthened each year by our partnership. OBHS thanks Mr. Brunetti and The Brunetti Foundation for the countless contributions to our students and it is our hope that we can make him proud by carrying out his loving spirit through our acts of kindness for many years to come,” according to the release.
To be eligible for nomination and consideration for the Wall of Fame, candidates must have graduated from one of Old Bridge’s high schools: Madison Township, Madison Central, Cedar Ridge, Old Bridge Adult High School or Old Bridge High School.
He/she earned notable employment/career achievements within their chosen fields, exhibited civic and/or community accomplishments through service, volunteer work, philanthropic endeavors, or have received notable local, state,or national honors.
The candidate must have graduated a minimum of five years prior to nomination.