Star-Ledger
Scholars hear a call to excellence
On a night for honors, teacher
tells students of his own journey
Monday, May 23, 2005 • BY KASI ADDISON •
Star-Ledger Staff
Find your passion and you'll find
success.
That was the advice Bill Yager gave the
12 students honored last night at the annual Star-Ledger
Scholars dinner held at the New Jersey Performing Arts
Center in Newark.
This year marked the fourth time Yager,
an advanced math teacher at Governor Livingston High School
in Berkeley Heights, has been named by one of his students
as their most influential teacher.
"At your age basketball was my passion,"
he said. "Since then it has been helping young minds, and it
has been incredibly fulfilling."
For 18 years, The Star-Ledger Scholars
program has honored a dozen high school students based on
their academic achievements. This year's winners were
announced in yesterday's newspaper.
Last night's dinner was about honoring
the scholars while also recognizing the teachers who helped
them succeed.
"This evening is not only about hearing
the achievements of our young people, but they get to pick a
teacher and talk about the impact they have had on their
lives," said state Education Commissioner William
Liberia.
Yager isn't the only teacher who has
attended the celebration multiple times. Barbara Servidio, a
calculus teacher at Montgomery High School, and George
Chilmonik, a math teacher at Phillipsburg High School, have
both been honored three times.
Prior to the dinner, parents, teachers
and Star-Ledger scholars, present and past, mingled over
hors d'oeuvres. After dinner two scholars, Kevin Chen of
Montgomery High School and 2001 scholar Ian Le, who is
graduating from Harvard University on June 6, entertained
with piano performances.
For many of the scholars who will be
attending the same schools -- five are headed to Harvard --
it was an opportunity to meet their upcoming
classmates.
Norman Yao, 18, a senior at Ridge High
School in Bernards Township and one of the Harvard-bound
scholars, was named this year's Mort Pye Scholar, the
program's highest honor.
The full four-year scholarship is named
for the late Mort Pye, who was the editor of The Star-Ledger
for 32 years before he retired in 1995.
Pearl Pye, Mort Pye's widow, said she
never fails to be amazed by the scholars.
"They are wonderful," she said. "With all
the stories about kids who failed, Mort wanted to honor the
good ones. We still are."
Yao said being chosen was a great honor
that came with the expectation of achievement.
"An opportunity like this, you want to
make something of that," he said. "You want to do well under
the pressure and bring back news of success."
During the dinner, Yao sat at the table
with his most influential teacher, Michael Gilmore, an
advanced physics teacher.
Donald Newhouse, president of Advance
Publications, parent company of The Star-Ledger, established
the scholarships in 1988.
Utpal Sandesara, a freshman at Harvard
who was named the 2004 Mort Pye Scholar, said making parents
and teachers proud was only part of the college
experience.
He advised the 12 students to take
advantage of every opportunity while in school, academically
and socially.
"Eat enriching, two-hour meals when you
should be doing homework," he said. "Find the balance that
works for you."
The Star-Ledger Scholars are drawn from
public and private high schools throughout the newspaper's
primary circulation area in North and Central Jersey. The
scholars are nominated by their schools, then selected from
a pool of roughly 180 by a committee appointed by the state
Department of Education. To date, 216 women and men have
been honored.
The other 2005 scholars and their high
schools are: Olympia Karas, Livingston High School; Robert
Carroll, Roselle Catholic High School; Lavada Berger,
Science High School in Newark; Eric Van Nostrand, Voorhees
High School in Hunterdon County; Yifei Chen, West
Windsor-Plainsboro North High School; Eric Astor, The Ranney
School in Tinton Falls; Grace Gu, Montville High School;
Andrew Huelsenbeck, Sparta High School; Veena Venkatachalam,
Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights; and
William J. Reid, Phillipsburg High School.
Kasi Addison may be reached at (973) 392-4154 or
kaddison@starledger.com.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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