College news
Photo courtesy of Mary Ellen Allison
Painting With Wine
The Italian Club, Il Circolo Italiano, sponsored an evening with artist and poet Pietro Barbera in April. Barbera recited poetry from his anthology, “Il tempo sospeso,” and taught attendees how to paint with wine.
Musical Celebration of America
The RCNJ Theater Program presented Woody Guthrie’s “American Song” for a slate of performances in April. This exuberant musical celebration of America, directed by Mary Ellen Allison, associate professor of Theater, tells the life of the rambling folk singer through his words and music.
(L-R): Bea Napier ($25,000), Angelica Mercado ($50,00), Kevin Williams ($35,000) and Angelica Berrie
Berrie Award Winners
Patient care technician Angelica Mercado of North Bergen was awarded a $50,000 cash grant from the Russell Berrie Foundation as winner of the 2009 Russ Berrie Award for Making a Difference for assisting a driver whose gas tanker overturned and exploded. Mercado assisted at the scene of the accident and transported the driver to the hospital. Healthcare professionals at The University Hospital in Newark, where the driver was taken, believe Mercado’s quick actions likely saved the man’s life.
Taking home the $35,000 award was Kevin J. Williams of Maywood who established the Maywood Rotary Kenya Project to help Maasai schoolchildren. His efforts have resulted in the first fresh water well for the schoolchildren and people in seven surrounding villages, along with school supplies, textbooks, school uniforms, 14
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Seated (L-R): Angelica Berrie, President of the Russell Berrie Foundation, winners Eugene McVeigh, Bea Napier, Angelica Mercado and Kevin J. Williams, and Ramapo President Peter P. Mercer. Standing (L-R): Winners Mary Hirschman, Linda Walder Fiddle, Sharon Lee Parker, Veronice Horne, Imma Ugomma Anyawu, Jim Gilligan, Mackenzie Olson, Marguerite Baber, Jane M. Hanson, Barry Rochester, Terry Carroll, Baye Wilson, Loryn Riggiola ’85, Yusef Ismail, Daniela Mendelsohn, and Josh Weston, Chair of the Russ Berrie Making A Difference Award Advisory Board.
well-balanced meals and a library. The organization has also paid for two eighth-grade classes to attend high school.
Bea Napier, of the Township of Washington, (Bergen County) was awarded the $25,000 grant for her service with the township’s ambulance corp. In her more than 35 years of service she has made more than 5,000 calls, used CPR to save 19 lives and assisted with three childbirths.
In all, 19 finalists were selected by a committee comprising eminent New Jersey business leaders and professionals. Established in 1997 by the late Russell Berrie and administered by Ramapo College of New Jersey, the Russ Berrie Award for Making a Difference honors Garden State residents for their unselfish dedication to serving others. The 16 remaining finalists each received $2,500.
Silver Award Winner
Jeff Gluck, a Ramapo student in Breanne Trammell’s Visual Identity class, won an American Institute of Graphic Arts Detroit Student Exhibit Silver Award for his entry in their design competition in April. Breanne Trammell is a School of Contemporary Arts adjunct. AIGA is a collaboration between the national organization and its 55 plus chapters. It was founded in 1914 in New York City with a nation-wide membership base of more than 20,000 professional, educator and student members and is the oldest and largest membership association of design professionals.
(L-R): Felice Centrella, Dr. Alex Urbiel, assistant dean of the Teacher Education Program, and Ashley Woolsey
2009 New Jersey Distinguished Teacher Education Program Recipients Felice Centrella, an English teacher with Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School, and Ashley Woolsey, a teacher in Africa, both of whom were enrolled in Ramapo College’s Teacher Education Program, were selected as recipients of the 2009 New Jersey Distinguished Student Teacher, a recognition program of the New Jersey State Department of
Education. Dr. Alexander Urbiel, assistant dean of the Teacher Education Program, noted that the award is based on the student's academic performance and letters from professors, cooperating teachers and student teacher supervisors. Only 15 student teachers from across the state were chosen this year for the recognition.
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