On Campus

Ellen Hsu, a senior at Holmdel High School, was recently named a semifinalist in the 2005 Presidential Scholars Program, with the announcement of the final selection of scholars to be made this month. Hsu was selected from more than 2,700 candidates based on exceptional performance on either the SAT or ACT, superior achievements, leadership, personal character and involvement in community and school activities.

Cortney Panzarino, 15, of Hazlet, a student at Raritan High School, Hazlet, recently received the Congressional Bronze Medal from Congressman Frank Pallone. Panzarino has spent several hours volunteering at the emergency department at Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank, and Bayshore Nursing Home, Holmdel. She is also the recipient of the Polaris Award from Riverview as well as winner of a Kids Who Rock Award from WRAT 95.9 FM radio.

Michael Lonie, Holmdel, a sophomore at Holmdel High School, has been chosen to attend the National Young Leadership Conference, “The Leaders of Tomorrow Meeting the Leaders of Today” July 16-26 in Washington, D.C. Students are chosen for the conference based on high standards in scholastic merit and leadership. Lonie has been president of his grade since sixth grade and was recently elected president for his junior year. He is a member of the high school’s advisory board, maintains a 4.45 GPA, and plays on the school’s football team.

Lauren Piro, a student at Raritan High School, Hazlet; Patricia Inghilleri, a student at Middletown High School North; and Jessica Adamko, a student at Matawan Aberdeen Regional High School, Aberdeen; recently won awards from the Dante Alighieri Women’s Society of Central Jersey, Matawan. Piro was awarded a $2,000 scholarship, and Inghilleri and Adamko each received $500 merit awards. Students were chosen based on outstanding academic records, and a written essay on “What My Italian Heritage Means to Me.”

Several local students were recently selected as inductees for the 2004-05 National Honor Roll. The Honor Roll recognizes outstanding high school and middle school students and bestows $25,000 in awards annually to 25 inductees. Local students named to the honor roll are:

Andres Bakos of the Lincroft section of Middletown, a student at Allied Academy of Health & Sciences, Neptune;

Katie A Carfagno of the Port Monmouth section of Middletown, a student at Middletown High School North;

Dipika Chawla of Holmdel, a student at High Technology High School, Lincroft;

Patrick Comey of Matawan, a student at St. Peter’s Preparatory School, Jersey City;

Paul Coraggio of Hazlet, a student at High Technology High School, ;

Catherine Dinapoli, Hazlet, a student at Edward R. Murrow High School;

Matthew T. Esposito of Holmdel, a student at Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft;

Brianna Glynn of Matawan, a student at High Technology High School;

Brittney Kenney, Leonardo section of Middletown, a student at Monmouth County Vocational School, Hazlet;

Kathleen Kielpinski of Matawan, a student at Mater Dei High School, New Monmouth section of Middletown;

Nasikar P. Lezeau of Matawan, a student at St. John Vianney High School, Holmdel;

Andrew Mak, Leonardo, a student at Middletown High School South;

Ryan McQuade of Matawan, a student at Christian Brothers Academy;

Rebecca S. Meyer of Hazlet, a student at Marine Academy of Science and Technology, Sandy Hook;

Christine E. Nazarian of Matawan, a student at Allied Academy of Health & Sciences;

Julia Papetti of Holmdel, a student at The Ranney School, Tinton Falls;

Leonard Sasso Jr. of Holmdel, a student at St. John Vianney High School;

Joseph C. Smith of Keyport, a student at Matawan Aberdeen Regional High School, Aberdeen;

Mark Stafford of Middletown, a student at Christian Brothers Academy;

Justin A. Treubig of Hazlet, a student at Mater Dei High School;

Michele F. Wein of Middletown, a student at Communications High School, Wall;

Rebecca Silber and Brittany Werner, both of the Belford section of Middletown, and students at Middletown High School North;

Sherrie M. Davis, Lester T. Dorsey, Natalie Hay and Heather Simon, all of the Cliffwood section of Aberdeen, and students at Matawan Aberdeen Regional High School;

Shamsa Baksh, Alyssa Brown, Stephanie Cheng, Edward J. Cooney, Joseph Doran, Brian T. Furlong, Robert Goncalves, John Hroncich, Kaitlin Large, Noelle Madden, Michelle Mancuso, Kaitlin N. McGlynn, Michael Moore, Jennifer Newcomb, Cortney Panzarino, Jessica Rice, Michelle Saldida and Nicholas Salerno, all Hazlet, and students at Raritan High School, Hazlet;

Lauren Acquaviva, Albert Aydin, Bora F. Aykin, Kimberly J. Chan, Amanda L. Hoffman, Kersing Huang, Renee Lee, Allen Lin, David McMullen, Anastasia T. Merken, Stephanie A. Miller, Courtney Sawicki, Jody Su, Deniz Ulema, Taleen Terjanian and Nadine Younes, all Holmdel, and students at Holmdel High School;

Cara De Cicco, Ariana La Ferlita and Christopher O’Connor, all of Lincroft, and students at Middletown High School South;

Robert J. Antonelli, Patrick G. Bennett, Rachel Caminsky, Katelyn Horsley and Jed Soriano, all of Matawan, and students at Old Bridge High School; Eric T. Boland, Michelle Cornacchia, Jonathan Krampel and Alice G. Oliver, all of Matawan, and students at Matawan Aberdeen Regional High School;

Shayan Bhoori, Nancy Kelly, Laura Occhipinti, Jacob N. Svensson and Nicholas G. Uzzolino, all Middletown, and students at Middletown High School South;

Vincent Adamo, Christine Balestriere, Lisa Desousa, Lauren E. Dickie, William Dlimmer, Kristen D. Donohue, Kyla I. Harrell, Pawan Harvu, Peggy Healy, Michael C. Johnson, John L. Kauffmann, Daniel J. Mazzone, Katie Morris, John Robinson, Casey Stevens, Danielle C. Trebotica and Kristin Whytè, all of Middletown, and students at Middletown High School North.

Mary Claire Glover, Middletown, recently received a bachelor’s degree in nursing at the spring commencement exercises at Fairfield (Conn.) University, where she was also named to the dean’s list her senior year. A graduate of Red Bank Catholic High School, she will pursue a graduate degree in nursing at Weill Medical College at Cornell University, New York City. She is the daughter of Claire and Peter Glover.

Kelsey Plunkett, Holmdel, recently received degrees in both English and education, and graduated cum laude during the spring commencement exercises at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa. She is the daughter of Nancy and Bob Plunkett.

The University of Scranton (Pa.) announced the following local students who received degrees at the spring commencement exercises:

Edward B. Britton of Middletown, a bachelor of arts degree in communication;

Joanna Cardaccio of Hazlet, a bachelor of science degree in psychology;

Jacqueline Carrigg of Middletown, a bachelor of science degree in secondary education and mathematics;

Brendan C. Connors of Holmdel, a bachelor of arts degree in communication;

Samantha M. Fallon of Middletown, a bachelor of arts degree in English;

William J. O’Mara of Middletown, a bachelor of science degree in marketing; and

Andrew B. Reinold of Aberdeen, a bachelor of science degree in biology.

Tara Blanset, Lincroft section of Middletown, recently received her bachelor’s degree at the spring commencement exercises at Hampshire College, Amherst, Mass. She is the daughter of Wendy and David Blanset.

Matthew John Haddad, Leonardo section of Middletown, recently received a bachelor of arts degree cum laude in government and law at the spring commencement exercises at Lafayette University, Easton, Pa. Haddad was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Sigma Alpha.

Christy McCallion, Lincroft, recently received her bachelor of science degree at the spring commencement exercises at Coastal Carolina University, Conway, S.C.

Linda Ober of Matawan, a graduating senior majoring in Spanish language literature and culture at the College of Arts and Sciences, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse (N.Y.) University, recently received the languages, literature and linguistics department’s Outstanding Undergraduate (Spanish) Award. The award is presented annually by the to a graduating senior on the basis of academic excellence. Awards are given for excellence in French, Italian, German, Russian, Spanish, and linguistic studies. Ober was also recognized as a Newhouse Scholar for academic excellence, and with the Henry J. Wolff Prize. The Wolff prize is given to a graduating senior deemed most proficient in journalism.

Kelsey Plunkett, Holmdel, recently received her bachelor of arts degrees cum laude in both English and education at the spring commencement ceremonies at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa. She is the daughter of Nancy and Bob Plunkett.

Sarah Brown of Holmdel, a freshman at the Clarkson School at Clarkson University, Potsdam, N.Y., was recently named to the school’s Head of School Scholar List. Students named to the list much achieve a GPA of 3.8 or higher, and rank in the top 10 percent of the student’s class.

Lauren Therese Grobelny, Middletown, was recently named to the dean’s list for the sixth consecutive semester, and the spring semester at Monmouth University, West Long Branch. A double major in education and math, she is a member of Kappa Delta Phi Education Honor Society, and Lambda Sigma Tau Academic Honor Society. A 2002 graduate of Middletown High School North, she is the daughter of Kathleen and Paul Grobelny.

Don Dickson, Lincroft section of Middletown, and Annette Resenhowft of Matawan, recently received Gold Star Awards for Excellence at a ceremony in late April. The awards were given 17 staff, faculty and students at Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, in recognition of outstanding contributions to campus life.

Students from Middletown Village Elementary School recently collected $1,000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society during the “Pennies for Patients.” As part of the fund-raiser, Village ran an incentive that the class with the most pennies donated would receive a pizza party which was held May 27.

The Ruth A. Coleman Scholarship committee at Second Baptist Church, Matawan, recently honored its top scholarship fund-raisers, crowning Bobby Bryant and Latiera Colbert as king and queen, respectively. Runners-up in the effort were Larry Smith and Kendra Lawrence. The children raised a total of $4,000 for the Coleman Scholarships.

Matawan Avenue Middle School students Christian MacLane, Deepa Manjunath, Laura Ostar and Anjali Tampy recently received Talented Youth Awards at a ceremony at The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth, Baltimore, Md. The awards are given to seventh- and eighth-grade students from New Jersey invited to take the SAT test alongside 12th-graders. Approximately 22 percent of the students taking the SAT achieved a score high enough to be invited to this ceremony.

Megan Casey and Reid Groder, students at Holy Family School, Hazlet, recently won ribbons in the annual poetry contest sponsored by the Monmouth County Reading Council. The contest was open to Monmouth County students in grades K-8. More than 300 poems were submitted, with eight chosen from students in grades one through eight.