Middlesex County Vocational and Technical (Vo-Tech) Schools students captured 11 first-place awards and 41 additional ribbons at the annual New Jersey High School Horticulture Expo at Mercer County College.
East Brunswick Vo-Tech students won nine firsts. The East Brunswick winners were sophomore Hector Pena of Carteret; juniors Corey Blake of South Brunswick, Angela Linke of Jamesburg, Sharnette Killings of New Brunswick, Rachel Smith of Old Bridge and Sabrina Wardrop of South River; and seniors Christopher Borrell of Monroe, Jackie Driskill of Matawan and Chelsea Jones of Metuchen.
East Brunswick Vo-Tech students also received eight second-place ribbons, eight thirds, four fourths and three fifths. Students in the School of Career Development, Piscataway, took two firsts. The Piscataway winners were seniors Zak Botelho of Colonia and Samantha Soto of Perth Amboy.
Piscataway students also took seven seconds, five thirds, four fourths and two fifths.
“They have so much creative energy,” Lisa Ann Moschera, the East Brunswick agriscience technology teacher, said of her students. “They do it all themselves.” The Middlesex County Vocational and Technical School District, the first vocational school district in the nation, has seven schools on five campuses in East Brunswick, Edison, Piscataway, Perth Amboy and Woodbridge. The district will mark its centennial in 2014.
The competition included more than 500 students from 28 high schools across the state. It was sponsored by the New Jersey FFA Association and the state Department of Agriculture.