John Venino at the RBR board meeting on September 11. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Regional High School board of ed member John Venino wound up with a black eye following a student altercation last week at a middle school where he works in Asbury Park, according to a TV news report Monday.
Dreamers Club executive committee members Selena Martinez-Santiago, Madelyn Sanchez-Berra and Bethzy Vera Varela looked on as president Edith Lozano Zane addressed the RBR board on September 11. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
UPDATE: Because of rain in the forecast, this Saturday’s Hispanic Heritage Celebration in Riverside Gardens Park has been rescheduled for September 30.
By JOHN T. WARD
Kicking off Hispanic Heritage Month, Red Bank’s mayor and council trained a spotlight on four young Latina students at Red Bank Regional High School last week.
The self-styled “Dream 4” were fresh off an emotional revival of a school club that advocates for Hispanic and Latinx students.
Dreamers Club executive committee member Selena Martinez-Santiago delivers a petition in support of the group to RBR board president Patrick Noble. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Reversing an action that sparked a civil rights complaint and community outrage, Red Bank Regional High School’s board of ed restored funding for an immigrants’ advocacy student group Monday night.
At special session in the Little Silver school’s cafeteria that drew a large crowd – including Red Bank’s entire governing body – speakers voiced support for the Dreamers Club while denouncing a lone board member’s vote that they said imperiled years of progress.
The Red Bank Regional students selected as winners of this year’s Andrew Kroon Memorial Scholarship Award are pictured with members of the selection committee. Left to right: Manuel Sandoval Valverde and Wendy Galdamez; committee members Dan Levine, Coni Lefferts and Chris Rumph; and Javier Veliz.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
At the 16th annual Source Foundation Awards Reception, Red Bank Regional High School Source Director Suzanne Keller introduced the school-based youth service program’s mission as “removing all obstacles that impede a student’s success” — and on the evening of June 2, several community members were recognized for doing just that.
Motivational speaker Matthew Stevens was honored for his work with Source clinician Sean Macon’s Boys 2 Men program, in inspiring father and son relationships as well as a “dress for success” motivational program.
Three other community volunteers — Jessica Kostenblatt of the Monmouth County Mental Health Organization, Monmouth University student Gianna Cusanelli, and RBR alumnus Luke Roskowinski — shared the Community Partnership award for answering a sudden need that developed in the RBR community.
The 2015 SOURCE Scholarship winners from Red Bank Regional High School include (left to right) Lance Vanglahn, Leidy Fabiana Villegas, and Jorge Benevides, all of Red Bank.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
Its mission is “to remove all obstacles that impede the success of young people in the community.” At its recent 15-year anniversary awards reception, the SOURCE program at Red Bank Regional High School celebrated many of the ways in which it has done precisely that.
SOURCE Director Suzanne Keller welcomed the many community partners, RBR students and their parents to the 15th anniversary event, stating that over $40,000 of scholarship money was awarded to RBR students through these partnerships and the fundraising efforts of the dedicated SOURCE Foundation. Ms. Keller also credited RBR’s Principal Risa Clay for having the vision in establishing The SOURCE, RBR’s School Based Youth Services Program 15 years ago.
One of the programs established by Mrs. Clay and the SOURCE five years ago was the Andrew Kroon Memorial Scholarship Award, which enables Hispanic students who have achieved academic success despite great obstacles, to attend Brookdale Community College. Two of those students, Itzel Perez and Carlos Aparicio, who took advantage of the scholarship and graduated from Brookdale College, were also celebrated. Both have distinguished themselves at Brookdale and are currently pursuing their baccalaureate degree at New Jersey City University in Jersey City. They were gratified to learn that their benefactor, The Kroon family, would be extending their support toward their continuing education.
Carlos Aparicio brought tears to the collective eyes of the audience when he told Mr. Kroon, “Like Batman or Superman, you are my childhood hero; that is what you mean to me. I benefited from this wonderful, wonderful opportunity, and thank you for making my academic journey possible.”
The RBR Latina Girls Group will have a video showcased in the second annual International Day of the Girl Celebration, which takes place on October 11 at the United Nations. Pictured left to right are (standing): Cynthia Gaspar, Pamela Avila, Katherine Hurtado, Jasmine Garcia, (sitting): Karla Williams, RBR SOURCE Clinician and Latina Girls’ Group advisor Marisol Mondaca, Jennifer Gonzalez, Lizsete Santamaria, Lizbeth Menez. All the girls are from Red Bank. (click to enlarge)
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
The second annual International Day of the Girl occurs on October 11, 2013 at the United Nations in New York City, with this year’s theme of “Innovating for Girls’ Education.” Red Bank Regional (RBR) is delighted to be part of this year’s celebrations, which will feature a video (which can be viewed here on YouTube) created by the school’s Latina Girls’ Group.
RBR thus joins thousand of other girls from around the globe whose voices will be heard on empowering women to improve their lives through education. The Day of the Girl Summit is sponsored by 50 plus organizations, including UNICEF and UN Women.
The RBR Latina Group was founded six years ago through the school’s School Based Youth Services Program, the Source, to help Latina girls successfully transition from middle school to high school. It became so valuable to the girls, who found a safe place to support one another, that two groups now exist — one for freshman and one for upper classmen.