(above) The Danny A. Robertozzi Superintendent Scholarship Fund gave out scholarships of $1,500 each to 10 top students at Linden High School. In total, $100,000 of scholarships were distributed at the annual LHS awards program. From left are Superintendent Scholarship Chairman Theodore Simonelli, recipients Piotr Zelazny, Love Desrosiers, Darius Lewis, Austin Urban, Brooke Beyer, Jaclyn Beviano, Ariana Eastwood, Siarrah Myers, and Daniel Lopez, and Superintendent Danny A. Robertozzi. Not pictured is recipient Asia Todd.
With $15,000 in Awards, Linden Superintendent Scholarship Continues to Grow
A $1,000 scholarship awarded in 1993 to a Linden High School senior named Danny Robertozzi is still paying dividends to LHS students today.
Robertozzi, now the superintendent of Linden Public Schools, had been selected to receive the Kenneth Hetem Memorial Scholarship, given to a lineman on the LHS football team with top grades.
“I was a student sitting in the audience on scholarship night, and I remember one of the speakers saying, ‘If you ever have the opportunity to come back to your community and give back, please make sure you do,’” Robertozzi said.
Those words stuck with him until the day he became superintendent in 2013, when he decided it was time to pay his scholarship forward.
He enlisted the help of his former high school guidance counselor, Theodore Simonelli, in creating the Danny A. Robertozzi Superintendent Scholarship Fund. In the first year, the fund paid out one $500 scholarship.
At this year’s LHS Scholarship Awards Program on Monday, May 13, 2019, Robertozzi announced that the fund will hand out $1,500 scholarships to 10 students, and was met with a roar of applause.
The seniors chosen to receive the awards this year are Jaclyn Beviano, Austin Urban, Brooke Beyer, Love Desrosiers, Ariana Eastwood, Darius Lewis, Daniel Lopez, Siarrah Myers, Asia Todd and Piotr Zelazny.
“Some of the finest kids in Linden High School,” Simonelli said.
The Superintendent’s Scholarships are supported solely through private donations. A fundraising dinner has been held for the past two years at Amici’s Restaurant in Linden, bringing together people from throughout the district and community to support the fund through ticket sales and raffles.
The recipients are chosen by a committee headed by Simonelli, based on an application and essay.
Robertozzi dedicates the scholarship to his parents, Nan and Tony Robertozzi, whom he lost to illness a year apart while he was in college. In fact, the criteria for selection were inspired by his parents. Students are chosen for outstanding character or a pursuit of a career in education.
“I do it in the memory of my mom for character because my mom was the nicest person ever in the history of the world,” he said. “And she always told me to do the right thing.
“And my dad worked hard. He worked in a chemical factory for 30 years and never missed a day of work.
“So they taught me that through good character and hard work, you’ll always be successful.”
The Superintendent’s Scholarships were awarded at Linden High School’s annual awards night, where $100,000 of scholarship were distributed.
“We celebrate the achievement of our students,” Principal Yelena Horré said in opening remarks to the crowded auditorium. “We give them accolades and a little bit more, and then send them off into the world knowing that we believe in them, the community believes in them. Congratulations to all the students and thank you to all the community members who support us.”
Submitted by Gary Miller
