Summer Scholar
Shayla Reid of West Windsor has completed an intense summer enrichment program with New Jersey Scholars program. “Human Rights: Past-Present-Future,” was a free five-week inter-disciplinary experience held at Lawrenceville School for 39 gifted high school juniors. The program examined the subject through the lenses of history, literature, law, art, ethics, and religion and asked students to investigate how cultures evolve in the face of new challenges.
A rising senior at High School North, Reid says that human rights “is a topic I am passionate about and wanted to learn more about, especially in a challenging environment. Another aspect that appealed to me was the learning for learning’s sake mentality of the program. I love to learn and the New Jersey Scholars Program seemed like the perfect way to spend my summer.”
In addition to reading assignments, lectures, and small group seminars, the students also performed in an arts festival featuring music, drama, film, dance, and art; and traveled to various New York City sites including the International Center of Photography in order to closely analyze particular works of art and design.
“I most enjoyed the small-group seminars,” Reid says. “The seminars were an hour and a half and there were 13 students in each group. We discussed our readings from the night before with our teacher and had intense intellectual conversations related to them. The dialogue among us was further enriched by our seating style: we were sitting at an oval table rather than in rows of desks. This was a wonderful way to learn from both the teacher and my peers. Everyone was included and very engaged in the discussions.”
The students learned to think in an inter-disciplinary way, relating the key developments in these disciplines to each other. “Another thing I liked about the program was getting to know everyone, including my teachers,” Reid says. “All the students lived in one dormitory at the Lawrenceville School and the teachers lived on campus so our discussions continued outside of the classroom.”
The academic experience culminated in a major inter-disciplinary research project and presentation. The overall goal of the New Jersey Scholars Program is to help students reach higher levels of intellectual accomplishment by cultivating a love of learning and an excitement about the life of the mind.
A West Windsor resident for 15 years, Reid is a volunteer at the West Windsor library, teaches ESL at the Princeton Library, and volunteers at the Extended School Year program during the summer. She is also on HiTOPS Teen Council, a program that trains 20 high-school seniors to be peer sexual health educators in their schools and communities.
At North Reid is a club officer for both the Literary Magazine and the Gay-Straight Alliance; and a thrower for the track team. Reid is also involved with the Math Honor Society and National Honor Society.
“The program certainly has prepared me for college and has made me into a better thinker and learner,” Reid says.
Triple Winner
Arya Sasne of West Windsor received first prize in the Space Production art contest in the K-2 category. She also received third place in the New Jersey Chess Tournament, K-1. Sasne, the New Jersey winner in the Borders 2010 National Book Festival Book Mark Contest, will be judged against all other state winners for the national title. She is a second grade student at Hawk School.
Vice President
Elizabeth B. Wagner of West Windsor is the new vice president of development at the Princeton Area Community Foundation, the community foundation serving central New Jersey. In this position, she will oversee the organizations’s asset-building and philanthropic education programs, and build the Fund for Women and Girls Giving Circle. She joined on September 2.
A graduate of Smith College, she was formerly with J.C. Geever, a fundraising consulting firm in New York City, where she was vice president and a principal in the firm. Wagner, a member of the board of directors, Women in Development NY, is co-chair of the Association of Fundraising Professionals 2011 Fundraising Day in New York.
PACF, founded in 1991, promotes philanthropy and builds community across Mercer County and central New Jersey, and has granted more than $28 million back to the community. For more information call 609-219-1800 or visit www.pacf.org
Community Service
Girl Scouts from Troop 71289 collected non-perishable food and monetary donations for the Plainsboro Food Pantry. Scouts include Lara Lemkin, Lauren Ford, Aneesha Gopal, Madison Trichter, Manya Mehta, Christine Chan, Nikitha Gadangi, Meghan Mohnot, Jovanna Greer, and Sanjana Behare. Their leaders are Ajitha Gadangi and Diane Chan.
In College
University of Delaware: Dean’s list members include the following West Windsor residents:
Kimberly Ashton, a senior, College of Health Sciences; Cynthia Barclay, a senior, College of Business and Economics; Spencer Galen, a senior, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Christopher Mancini, a junior, College of Engineering; Chelsea McFarland, a senior, College of Arts and Sciences; Andrew Meltzer, a senior, College of Arts and Sciences; Jonathan Scheer, a senior, College of Arts and Sciences; Victoria Sharpless, a sophomore, College of University Studies; Casey Spencer, a sophomore, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Caitlyn Stuart, a senior, College of Arts and Sciences; and Lisa Dokovna, a senior, College of Arts and Sciences.
Plainsboro residents on the dean’s list include Andrew Morgan, a senior, College of Arts and Sciences; Gregory Quinton, a junior, College of Business and Economics; Eric Voigtsberger, a senior, College of Business and Economics; Alyssa Weiskopf, a junior, College of Education and Public Policy; Carrie Winiker, a senior, College of Arts and Sciences; and Erica Zalma, a sophomore, College of Business and Economics,
Johns Hopkins University: Lauren Silvey, a graduate of High School South, was on the spring dean’s list.
University of Virginia: Meredith Joyce, formerly of West Windsor, earned a master’s degree in communication disorders and begins a clinical fellowship as a speech language pathologist this fall. A graduate of Stuart Country Day School, Joyce received a bachelor’s degree in speech language pathology from Loyola University. The daughter of Francis and Donna Joyce of West Windsor, she lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Cadet Award
Yashesvini Lanka, a Plainsboro resident, received the Community Air Patrol Eaker Award and was promoted to cadet lieutenant colonel at a ceremony in Sayreville on August 16. She is a junior at the College of New Jersey.
Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the Air Force, is a nonprofit organization that performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions. Volunteers also perform homeland security and disaster relief missions at the request of federal, state, and local agencies.
