ON THE GREEN: BUC BRIGADE CHEERS SENIORS
Clad in their graduation caps and gowns and surrounded by family and neighbors, Red Bank Regional High School seniors got a loud and literally moving sendoff Wednesday evening.
LITTLE SILVER: RBR SENIORS GET THEIR DAY
Superintendent Louis Moore, seen with Sophie Wright, wore his gown for eight hours as he individually walked each senior down a red carpet “Walk in Greatness.” Below, newly graduated Tyquann Crawford.
The sun was certainly shining down on the Red Bank Regional High School Senior Class on Friday, June 12. The staff, administration, senior advisors and parent volunteers planned a “Senior Day” event that was filled with moments of celebration for this resilient class.
FAIR HAVEN: KNOLLWOOD’S ROLLING SEND-OFF
Rory Buckley, a member of the eighth-grade class at Fair Haven’s Knollwood School, received her diploma at home Wednesday as part of a multi-day, rolling graduating ceremony.
ON THE GREEN: SENIORS BLANKETED IN LOVE
Teams of teachers and volunteers fanned out across the three sending towns of the Red Bank Regional High School district and beyond to shower surprise love and best wishes on the housebound members of the senior class Friday morning.
LITTLE SILVER: DALPRA RETIRING FROM RBR
Louis ‘Del’ DalPra on the sidelines in 2010. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Regional’s man of many caps, Louis ‘Del’ Dal Pra, is retiring.
This time, unlike his last attempt to leave a decade ago, it’s for real, he said.
RBR SENIOR PHOTO SHOW GOES VIRTUAL
‘Unless,’by Gus Rojas of Red Bank. Below, the poster for the event, by Chloe Rosen of Little Silver, lists the participating students. (Click to enlarge)
(Press release from Red Bank Regional High)
The Red Bank Regional commercial photo majors are holding their annual senior show as an online exhibit through Instagram and Facebook.
RED BANK: CHEERING TRINITY HALL SENIORS
A procession of vehicles made its way through Red Bank Tuesday morning, stopping outside the homes of all seniors from Trinity Hall high school in Tinton Falls to cheer them on with horn toots and lawn signs.
On board a school bus in the parade was the school mascot, practicing social distancing like the students themselves, kept home by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
LITTLE SILVER: BUSY MONTH FOR RBR’S VPA
By JULIE MEROLA
The various programs of the Visual Performing Arts academies had a packed winter filled with activities at Red Bank Regional High School, as well as around Monmouth County.
RUMSON: LUNCH BREAKERS BAKE A WINNER
Lunch Break children’s cooking class students Emily and Jack Pearsall with, from left, Oceanic Free Library Board President Carolyn Miller; Cups & Cakes owner Denise Kelleher; and Cups & Cakes pastry chef Maggie Condon.
It wasn’t just the luck o’ the Irish that helped the Lunch Break children’s cooking class take first place in the Oceanic Free Library’s Irish soda bread-making competition.
LITTLE SILVER: RBR HONORS SCHOLARS
RBR students gathered at the recent awards program, where they were awarded varsity letters for scholarship.
At Red Bank Regional, Varsity Letters are awarded for scholarship as well as athletic achievement.
The Red Bank Regional Board of Education recently honored over 70 students for academic distinction. The largest number of honorees received an RBR Academic Letter, similar to the Varsity Letter given to student-athletes.
RED BANK: EX-CHEF FOUND NEW WAY TO SERVE
With his son, Aydin, looking on, Jorge Torres embraces his wife, Lauren, after being sworn in as a police sergeant. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A former chef became the newest sergeant on the Red Bank police force Wednesday night.
The promotion of Jorge Torres was one of several ceremonies that led the borough council’s semimonthly meeting Wednesday night.
RED BANK: NEW NAME FOR MERGED YMCAs
Laurie Goganzer, below, will lead the merge operations.
Press release from The Community YMCA
The Community YMCA and YMCA of Western Monmouth County are uniting on Sept. 1 to become the “YMCA of Greater Monmouth County” with funding from the Jay & Linda Grunin Foundation and the state of New Jersey.
RED BANK: FIREFIGHTERS KEEP FREE Y ACCESS
The Red Bank nonprofit says no families of kids now in a free membership program will be turned away. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s volunteer firefighters will get to keep their free memberships to the local YMCA, the organization announced Wednesday.
Police will still have to pay, though now at a discount, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit said. But there’s no change to the plan unveiled last week to end across-the-board free memberships for borough schoolchildren.
RED BANK: MENNA ‘IRATE’ OVER YMCA ACTION
Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna speaking at the the Memorial Day ceremony last month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna on Thursday blasted a decision by the Community YMCA to end free memberships for borough schoolchildren and emergency first-responders.
Menna went on the offensive after the Y’s “unilateral” action, which he said was made without any advance notice to or discussion with his administration.
RED BANK: KIDS, RESPONDERS LOSE FREE YMCA
The Red Bank YMCA says affected families can apply for subsidies to replace the free memberships. Below, the letter sent to parents of children in the Healthy Kids program. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s schoolchildren and emergency first-responders will lose their free access to the borough YMCA in September.
The Maple Avenue nonprofit’s executive director, Katie McAdoo, tells redbankgreen the change was driven by its need to be “accountable” to funders.
RED BANK: PROMWEAR GIVEAWAY
Olivia Diana of Marlboro High School, above, and Jack Geary of Ocean Township High were among those taking advantage of a promwear givewaway Monday at the Woman’s Club of Red Bank.
RBR: CHEERLEADER PUSHUPS AT ISSUE
Red Bank Regional cheerleaders in an undate photo on the school website. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
In the wake of a complaint, Red Bank Regional High has temporarily halted cheerleader pushups after every score by the football team, redbankgreen has learned.
RED BANK: BASIE AWARDS FOR H.S. THESPIANS
Christian Brothers Academy’s ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ presentation at the Basie Awards Wednesday night.
Winners were announced [Wednesday] evening at the 13th annual BASIE AWARDS, honoring excellence in high school theater in Monmouth County.
RED BANK: NORTH POLE CALLING
RBR students Stacy Osorio, on the phone above, making pre-Christmas calls with Stacey Tepoz from Santa’s workshop (borough hall) earlier this month. Below, Heather O’Donnell cracks up after calling a wrong number with Emily Maier. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Press release from Red Bank Regional High:
Little Silver: A big part of the Christmas season for little girls and boys is visiting Santa Claus and reciting him their Christmas wish list. That is not always possible for some boys and girls in the Red Bank community, especially those whose families do not own or drive cars and can’t take them to visit the local mall, where Santa usually sets up shop. So nine years ago, community leader David Prown, assisted by his good friend Enrico Ciabattoni, facilitated a special communication with Santa Claus and those kids in Red Bank he might have missed.
LITTLE SILVER: GRAD KEYNOTES HISPANIC FETE
Dance majors from the RBR Visual and Performing Arts Academy onstage at the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration. Monica Urena, classe of 2014, below, was the keynote speaker.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
Red Bank Regional High School (RBR) welcomed its students to its fifth Hispanic Heritage Month celebration. Principal Risa Clay stated in English (with RBR junior Esperanza Minyety translating in Spanish), “Hispanics have had a profound and positive influence on our country through their strong commitment to family, faith, hard work and service. They have enhanced and shaped our national character with centuries-old traditions that reflect the multiethnic and multicultural customs of their community. We are proud to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and recognize the achievements of a culture that is prominently represented in our school and community.”
RBR: NO MINOR FEAT FOR TEEN PLAYWRIGHT
Red Bank Regional senior Willow Martin of Little Silver will have her short play “Late Shift” performed by the professional actors of New Jersey Repertory Company October 8.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
When New Jersey Repertory, the acclaimed professional stage company in Long Branch, inaugurates its new West End Arts Center facility in October, it will be with a multi-media Theater and Arts Festival organized around the theme “All About Eve.” At the heart of the eight-day festival will be the world premieres of 28 short plays — a select group winnowed from over 450 submissions — and a collection that includes a one-act drama authored by a 16 year old high school senior who attends the Visual and Performing Arts Academy at Red Bank Regional.
AN RBR SR. GOES TO HARVARD AND RUTGERS
Brad Chavero of Red Bank, a student at RBR’s Academy of Engineering, stands in front of Harvard University, where he was able to attend a very competitive camp for advanced math students this summer. He also spent a month at the Rutgers’ campus for the Governor’s School of Engineering and Technology.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
While the American Dream may seem a futile quest for some today, first generation American Brad Chavero, a top student and member of the Academy of Engineering at Red Bank Regional High School, is determined to take advantage of every opportunity presented to him to succeed.
This summer, Brad was able to attend not just one, but two very prestigious programs to further his educational experiences. In July, Brad was selected as one of only 72 students in New Jersey to attend the Governor’s School of Engineering and Technology at Rutgers at B.E.S.T. (Busch, Engineering, Science and Technology) Hall. No sooner had Brad returned home from his Rutgers’ camp than he and his father set out the next day to attend a second two-week camp for advanced math students — this one on the Cambridge, MA campus of Harvard University.
RED BANK: ROCKIT & A RASCAL TO ROCK BASIE
The classic-rock conservatory kids of the Count Basie’s Rockit! program hit the Basie boards Saturday with a salute to the Summer of Love.
It goes without saying that none of the dynamic young vocalists and instrumentalists of Rockit! at the Basie were around for 1967’s fabled Summer of Love — and chances are excellent that few if any of their parents were, either. So perhaps their grandparents could tell them a thing or two about life a half a century ago, when the air was charged with ready-or-not change and momentum, not to mention patchouli oil.
Of course, you didn’t have to be there with flowers in your hair to recognize that the year was a pivotal one for the popular culture in general, and a fast-maturing rock music in particular. So when the kids from Rockit! take to the famous stage of the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank this Saturday evening, they’ll be channeling the spirit of the era’s most game-changing album — and welcoming an in-the-flesh veteran of a genuine hit-making institution.
RED BANK: BIG SPLASH FOR CYMCA SWIMMERS
The Community YMCA’s Aquarockets swim team celebrates their second place finish at the 2017 YMCA Long Course National Championship meet.
Press release from The Community YMCA
The Aquarockets swim team of The Community YMCA captured second place overall in combined team standings at the 2017 YMCA Long Course National Championship, which took place from July 31 to August 4 in Greensboro, NC. The men’s team took fourth place, and the women’s team finished in fifth place.
“We are so proud of the team’s outstanding efforts,” said Head Coach Jack Caucino. “This was our best finish ever at the national long course championship,” he added, noting that 20 swimmers earned All American status by placing in the top 20 of an event.
In all, 45 swimmers on the team, which practices both in Red Bank and Wall, qualified to compete at the YMCA national meet. They are: Hunter Adams, Ryan Burke, Caylie Cardona, Leo Carnevale, Matthew Chang, Nicole Dado, Gabriella DeVirgilio, Ben Dupree, Ryan Foreback, Morgan Fuerbacher, Ginger Hansen, Natalie Heim, Joseph Huber, Victoria Ireland, McKenna Johnson, Megan Judge, Shannon Judge, Arabella Lee, Mary Mahoney, Mitchell Malakhov, Dimitri Maldonado, Taylor Marjamaa, Kaitlyn McCarthy, Caroline McGann, Ryan Meng, Caroline Monaghan, Maile Mora, Brianna Mulcahy, Julia Nappi, Madelyn Piasecki, Sammy Rennard, Theo Rennard, Paul Retterer, Meghan Schienvar, Marie Schobel, Skylar Shafritz, Emma Shaughnessy, Abigail Shaw, Haley Stamberger, Richie Trentalange, Max Walther, Joseph West, Katie Wright, Connor Wright and Jessica Zebrowski.
RBR: HELPING FRESHMEN DROP ANCHOR
Led by KYDS principals Rodney Salomon and Mychal Mills, incoming RBR freshmen learned to lean on one another in a contiguous circle swaying back and forth in a yoga tree pose. (Photo courtesy of Red Bank Regional. Click to enlarge)
(Press release from Red Bank Regional High School)
Little Silver: “What is stressful to you about high school?” Rodney Salomon asked rising Red Bank Regional (RBR) ninth graders.
The students responded with a variety of answers, including: “friendships—breaking ones apart and finding new ones,” “school work,” “the upperclassmen looking down on you.”