County Prep Culinary Arts Students Awarded Medals in Statewide Competition

(Atlantic City, NJ - May 9th, 2014) County Prep Culinary Arts students competed in the 2014 County Vocational Technical School Cook-Off Challenge held at Caesars Palladium Ballroom. The team’s gastronomic expertise was recognized by the judges and they were awarded two gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal in the competiton.

County Prep seniors Jeremy Burdnicki, Alana Felton, Silvia Galarza, Lisette Molina, Tiffany Moreno and Amed Sayedahmed displayed their culinary skills in the statewide competition. The students were guided and accompanied by Chef Kevin Collins and Chef Joe Delesky. The winning dish was a Seared Thai Crab Cake.

Principal Barbara Mendolla is proud to announce that medals were received in the following categories: 

People’s Choice Award         Gold

Taste                                    Chef’s Award Gold

Food Presentation                NJAC Judges Award Silver

Taste                                    Chef's Award Bronze

Three County Prep Student Receive Awards in Poetry Contest

Congratulations to the World Language students who participated in the Poetry Recitation Contest at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ on Thursday, May 15th.

Principal Barbara Mendolla is pleased to announce that awards were given to the following students:

Cristina Blanguerra        Honorable Mention         Chinese Intermediate Level
Walter Gottlieb              2nd Place                       Chinese Advance Level
Rodaina Ahmed             2nd Place                       Spanish Intermediate Level

County Prep Senior William Toledo Places in Cisco NetRiders Competition

(May 2, 2014) Principal Barbara Mendolla is proud to annouce that County Prep senior William Toledo achieved 10th place in the US/Canada Cisco NetRiders international internetworking competition. This year's Netriders CCENT competition involved over 1,000 students from 28 states and 4 provinces.

The NetRiders competition is an interactive IT/Networking skills challenge, and involves both written questions and simulation activities.


Cisco created NetRiders in order to offer a fun, educational challenge for students to compete with their peers in a real-time environment that showcases their IT/Networking skills. In addition, NetRiders helps to identify top talent for potential employment opportunities. For Instructors, NetRiders is a great opportunity to provide students with opportunities to develop and demonstrate their leadership outside the traditional classroom curriculum.

In addition to international recognition for his skills, William won a $100 gift card and certificate.

Congratulations to William and instructor Mike Grele!

Click to go to Cisco Networking Academy

Sparrow Spring Wine & Beer Tasting Event Nets Funding for High Tech

May 14, 2014 (North Bergen, NJ) – The HCST Foundation, in conjunction with the Sparrow Wine & Liquor Company and the High Tech High School Parent-Teacher Association, hosted the inaugural Sparrow Spring Wine & Beer Tasting Event at the Elks Lodge in Hoboken on May 1st, 2014, announced Linda J. Quentzel, Executive Director of the HCST Foundation.

The event, which featured both local and international vendors of wine, beer and spirits, earned over $10,000 in donations for the students of High Tech High School. These funds will be utilized to support a variety of learning endeavors—from field experiences to scholarships—at the National Blue Ribbon Award-winning high school.

"This was a successful night for the High Tech community as a whole," says Ms. Allyson Krone, Assistant Principal of High Tech High school. "Teachers and administrators were able to join parents and local business members to network and have some fun for the benefit of our students," Krone continued.

Ms. Quentzel adds, "The Foundation is grateful for the support of the Sparrow Wine & Liquor Company whose efforts made this night possible."

The HCST Foundation hopes to continue their successful fundraising efforts with the annual HCST Golf Outing on July 1st, 2014. Interested parties can contact Ms. Linda J. Quentzel via the HCST Foundation website www.hcstonline.org/foundation.

Download Press Release (PDF)

Explore 2000: Hooked On The Hudson

The Hudson River Fishermen’s Association and the Palisades Interstate Park of New Jersey held its 29th annual “Hooked on the Hudson,” fundraising event on Saturday, May 3rd, at the Ross Dock picnic area in Fort Lee.

The event is designed to introduce people to the Hudson River and all that it has to offer. There were environmental groups on hand to provide information, as well as fishing and casting contests for the kids.

Our talented hands-on facilitator, John Ponticorvo, explains the importance of the trip for our students, “The trip enabled the Explore students to view the Hudson and the Palisade Cliffs from a different perspective. Besides being exposed to the recreational sport of fishing, the students were given an introduction to their future study and investigation of the historical richness of the region as well as its natural beauty. In the fall, the students will also study the environmental threats to these same natural resources they enjoyed today”.

Explore 2000 learned about clean boating practices from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Division 10 and they also learned and practiced fly casting with Trout Unlimited. We learned about what it means to leave your Carbon Footprint behind, and we also signed petitions to save the historical cliffs that George Washington once climbed, fleeing from the British. 1st year student Angelina Ponce reflects on the trip and says, “For one of my first few times fishing, I had fun with my friends, and also got to learn how to cast.”

Although our Explore 2000 family didn’t have any luck catching any fish, we learned a lot, we were able to practice our fishing safety, and we had a ton of fun.