ALJ Senior Receives Humanitarian Award

Submitted by Christine Casale Broski

Rachel Papa, a Arthur L. Johnson High School senior, was one of nine students recognized as a recipient of the inaugural Joy Prescott Humanitarian Award for student leadership and dedication at the Student Leadership Conference at Kean University on Friday, November 16, 2018. According to the application, the award is presented to a student leader “committed to human rights and the pursuit of social justice.” There were over forty nominees from partner schools throughout New Jersey. Rachel was recognized for her contributions to “Community Safety and Inclusion.”

According to ALJ Holocaust/Genocide studies teacher Frank Stebbins, “Knowing Rachel, community safety and inclusion is something I feel she will focus on long after her senior year at ALJ. She is a pleasure to have in class and was a terrific representative of ALJ at the Middle and High School Conference on Friday.”

Joy Prescott, an educator at Kean University for four decades, dedicated most of the latter part of her career to the Holocaust Resource Center and sharing its resources with educators around New Jersey. The application states, “Ms. Prescott dedicated more than 30 years of service to students and educators through her passion for diversity training, community building, and Holocaust education.”

(above) Joy Prescott Humanitarian Award Winner Rachel Papa, ALJ senior.