The Manalapan Police Department, in collaboration with the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District, has implemented its new Law Enforcement Against Drugs (LEAD) program in the Pine Brook School, which educates all of the district’s sixth grade pupils.
The police department’s specialized LEAD instructors, Patrolman Kyle Earley and Patrolman Kyle Williams, with assistance from Officer Kimberly Whitehill and Patrolman Reginald Grant, will be teaching students on a weekly basis about topics including, but not limited to, drug education/prevention, bullying, conflict resolution, effective communication, goal setting, decision making and more, according to a press release from the police department.
The police department is committed to reinforcing mutual respect, goodwill and relations between the department and educators and students in an effort to create a safer and healthier environment in the community’s schools, according to the press release.
Police Chief Edward Niesz said the Manalapan Police Department “is excited
about our partnership with the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District and the Pine Brook School to offer the LEAD program for our community’s youth.
“We look forward to getting to know, working with and challenging our students. We would like to thank Superintendent of Schools Nicole Santora, the Manalapan-Englishtown Board of Education, Pine Brook School Principal Julie Szustowicz and Assistant Principal Allison Rogers for the opportunity to offer this great program to the students in our community,” Niesz said.
The Department of Military and Veteran Affairs will recognize Manalapan as a municipality that values its veterans.
The honor is bestowed upon select towns that qualify and is based on how many programs and services the municipality makes available for its military heroes, according to a press release from the township.
The Manalapan Veterans Committee meets monthly and has coordinated many events over the years, from PTSD workshops, to distributing quilts of valor, to holding ceremonies for POW/MIA and Gold Star families. Each year the committee organizes Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies, according to the press release.
In June, the committee members helped to coordinate the Military Honors for Forgotten Veterans ceremony that provided an interment service for veterans whose remains were never claimed. The ceremony began at Manalapan Town Hall and ended at the Brigadier Gen. William C Doyle Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown, Burlington County.
Manalapan officials will receive the Department of Military and Veteran Affairs award during a Veterans Day ceremony at the Vietnam War memorial in Holmdel on Nov. 11.
“We are honored and proud to accept this award and we will continue to support those brave men and women who answered the call to defend our great nation,” Mayor Jack McNaboe was quoted as saying in the press release.
On Oct. 3, Manalapan Township partnered with the Gordon’s Corner Fire Company to host a 5K walk/run that was designed to pay tribute to and show appreciation for all first responders, according to a press release from the township.
Municipal officials said the event was a success as more than 200 participants registered for the event and walked or ran the 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) to show their support for the community’s first responders.
Police officers and firefighters ran in their full uniforms and families and friends walked together. Municipal said all of the money that was raised by the event was donated to first responder charities. They said the event exceeded their expectations.
Manalapan officials thanked the sponsors of the event: Suez Water; the Law Office of McLaughlin, Stauffer and Shaklee; the Manalapan High School Law Enforcement and Public Safety Group; the National Honor Society; the Manalapan High School track and field team; and Boy Scout Troop 157.
Municipal officials offered special thanks to all who participated, including members of the Gordon’s Corner Fire Company, the Englishtown-Manalapan First Aid Squad, Manalapan Fire Company No. 1, the Manalapan Police Department and the New Jersey State Police, according to the press release.