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RBR: SOURCE HONORS VOLUNTEERS

SourceScholarshipscroppedThe 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.”

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RBR SOURCE AWARDS $28K+ IN SCHOLARSHIPS

AndrewKroonScholarshipwinnersThis year’s winners of the coveted Andrew Kroon Scholarship award are pictured with members of the Andrew Kroon Memorial Scholarship Committee.  Pictured (left to right) are Chris Rumph, Board Vice President, Jocelyn Rojas Hernandez, Diana Escalona Cayetano, Mariela Reyes, Monica Urena, and Board President Carolina Sachs.

Press release from Red Bank Regional High School

At its year-end reception, Red Bank Regional High School’s school-based youth services program The Source honored individuals who have positively impacted the lives of RBR students during the year. The Source and its affiliates also awarded over $28,000 in scholarships to students.

With an emphasis on the overall optimal health of the students at Red Bank Regional, The Source is a comprehensive program that includes mental health counseling, preventative medical, dental and eye care, employment opportunities and learning support.

RBR Source Director Suzanne Keller recognized RBR math teacher Sunny Lenhard with the “Outstanding Service Award” for recognizing a need in the community, and helping to implement a program to address it.  With Mrs. Lenhard’s assistance, the Source was able to organize a community-based tutoring program to aid students who could not access that help offered at the high school building after school hours.  She, along with five of her colleagues and RBR National Honor Society students, tutored the students two evenings a week.  A second recognition, the Community Partnership Award, was given to Lori Hohenlietner, Executive Director of Horizons Student Enrichment Program, which provided assistance for Mrs. Lenhard’s envisioned tutoring program.  In addition, Horizons, a member of the Source Advisory Board, also contributed toward the Andrew Kroon Memorial Scholarship Fund; which for eight years has helped Hispanic students achieve their dream of attending college.

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RBR SENIORS HONOR TWO WHO DIED YOUNG

RBR students at the memorial event, above, and others with the redwood tree planted in memory of RBR’s Albert Martin, below. (Photos by Sarah Klepner. Click to enlarge)

By SARAH KLEPNER

Red Bank Regional’s graduating class gathered in front of the Little Silver school Wednesday to hear classmates and teachers speak in memory of Riyadh’na Farrow and Albert Martin, seniors who both died suddenly last year.

The Class of 2013 planted two trees in honor of their deceased cohorts: a magnolia for Riyadh’na, and a redwood for Albert.

“They’ll always be here. Whether they knew them or not, students, parents, and teachers will know what they stood for: peace, love, understanding, wisdom, and growth,” said senior Zakiyah Godsey, addressing the class.

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RED BANK: RIYADH’NA’S SPIRT LIVES ON

Lynese Rawlins, left, and Candace Smith celebrate their selection as winners of scholarships in memory of their late classmate, Riyadh’na Farrow as RBR Principal Risa Clay looks on. (Photo by Sarah Klepner. Click to enlarge)

By SARAH KLEPNER

Her classmates vow: Riyadh’na Farrow will live on through us.

Family, friends, neighbors and classmates of Riyadh’na, the Red Bank Regional senior who died suddenly at age 18 last September, gathered Saturday at Red Bank’s Count Basie Field to both remember her and honor her memory by helping her classmates move ahead in life.

Riyadh’na was recalled as beautiful, soul- focused and yet quick to laugh.

“Though she’s not here physically, every time someone laughs or smiles, its as if she were still here,” said her friend, Candace Smith.

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REMEMBERING RIYADHNA

A crowd of hundreds applauded a performance of “The Greatest Love of All” at a candlelight vigil in memory of Riyadhna Farrow. (Photos by Stacie Fanelli. Click to enlarge.)

By STACIE FANELLI

Dozens of loving messages honoring Riyadhna Farrow, known to some as “RiRi,” were written on the door of her Red Bank home Friday night as hundreds gathered there for a vigil in her memory.

The 18-year-old Red Bank Regional High School senior died suddenly last Monday.

The Count the Children Movement organized the event for friends, packed tight in a parking lot at the Montgomery Terrace apartment complex, to share their fondest memories of Farrow and for borough, school and church administrators to remind those closest to her of Red Bank’s support.

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STUDENT’S DEATH PROMPTS RASH OF RUMORS

By JOHN T. WARD

An 18-year-old senior at Red Bank Regional died suddenly at home early Monday morning, and authorities were racing to dispel rumors that she had been murdered, a police spokesman tells redbankgreeen.

Riyadhna Farrow (right, click to enlarge), was pronounced dead shortly after emergency personnel were summoned to her family home at the Montgomery Terrace Apartments at around 1:30 a.m., said Captain Darren McConnell.

Officers arriving on the scene found the girl unresponsive and attempted to revive her with CPR, McConnell said.

There were no signs of foul play, and authorities don’t believe Farrow took her own life, he said.

“It looks to be from natural causes, but we don’t yet know from what,” McConnell said. “The medical examiner has ruled it’s not a homicide, pending toxicology and small-tissue test results, and its not being looked at as a suicide, either.”

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