VIEW THE VIRUAL CELEBRATION
View at anytime the special virtual awards ceremony to honor all the nominated arts students and leaders, to formally recognize their accomplishment, and to celebrate the many momentous opportunities to come.
Award Winners
Christopher Shen
Christopher Shen is a junior attending Princeton High School in Princeton, New Jersey. He is an active part and leader…
Matthew Miller
Matt Miller is a senior at Seneca High School in Tabernacle, NJ. He began studying music with piano lessons in…
Sharon White
I was lucky enough to attend Los Angeles City Schools at a time when the district offered many opportunities for…
Bryce Gray
Bryce Gray is proud to be in his third year participating in the New Brunswick (NJ) Chapter of the NAACP’s…
Diane Genco
Diane Genco, is the founder and Executive Director of NJSACC, the Statewide Network for New Jersey’s Afterschool Communities. NJSACC promotes…
Nadira Benjamin
My name is Nadira Benjamin. I am a 15 year old junior currently attending South Brunswick High School. My interests…
Josh Robinson
Josh Robinson is a professional Percussionist, teaching artist, and drum facilitator. His website reads “Nourishing Inner Peace Through Hitting Things”…
Rachel Lischin
Rachel Lischin is a senior at Mainland Regional High School, and is ecstatic to have received a superior ranking at…
TAHIRA
TAHIRA, an award-winning storyteller, performing and teaching artist, is dedicated to inspiring and empowering youth through storytelling and music. She…
Samantha Cunniff
Samantha is a senior at Cedar Grove High School. She has been taking art classes all four years, is a…
Andrès Salguero and Christina Sanabria, 123 Andrés
Andrés and Christina are the Latin Grammy-winning music duo 123 Andrés. They’ve been hailed as “Rockstars for little language learners” by the…
Everett Kline
New Jersey has been my home for almost sixty years. Moving here for my first job in my chosen career,…
Celeste McKenzie
Celeste McKenzie is a sophomore at North Brunswick Township High School where she is the Vice President of her class…
Serenity Sewell
I’m Serenity Sewell, and I’m a prospective business student who’s also heavily interested in the arts. As a child, I’ve…
Amulya Natchukuri
Amulya is a senior at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. She’s been involved in her high school’s speech and debate team since…
Leon Rainbow
My art is a fusion of life and imagination. I take graffiti and morph it with fine art ,combine it…
Jiakun Huang
Jiakun Huang is a sophomore at Princeton High School who plays saxophone in the Princeton Studio Band. He also attends…
Malachi Carter
Malachi Carter’s Bio – A Young King Coming into His Own. Malachi L. Carter is a dedicated 17-year-old senior and…
Sarah Gonzalez
I’m Sarah Gonzalez, an eighth-grader at Lafayette Street School, located in the Ironbound neighborhood in the city of Newark, in…
Mark Yancey II
My name is Mark Anthony Yancey II and I am 16 years old. I currently attend Donald M. Payne Sr.…
Victoria Csatay
Victoria Csatay, Junior at Pascack Valley High School, Hillsdale. I first want to mention how grateful I am to receive…
Andrew Elmore
In middle school, I attended KIPP Lanning Square Middle in Camden, New Jersey where I was invited to a prestigious…
Dallina Garro-Montanez
Dallina Garro-Montanez is currently a Junior in Trenton Central High School in the CTE Theatre program. She has been a…
Rebecca Brown
Becky Brown is the president of her class and student representative to the Board of Education. She has a passion…
Jack Kelly
Jack Kelly has been acting in theater for 5 years at school and in local community theaters. He has always…
Kimorah Hall
My name is Kimorah Hall and I am an 18 years old High School Senior at Cicely L. Tyson Community…
Charlotte Depew
Charlotte Depew, a senior at Bernards High School, has been playing the violin since age six. She has performed as…
Grace Petersen
Grace Petersen, senior at Chatham High School, is honored to be awarded the Governor’s Award for Arts in Education! Grace…
Julianna Krawiecki
Julianna Krawiecki is celebrating her 10th year as a New Jersey public school Arts Educator this year. She is currently…
Helene Tjoumakaris
Helene Tjoumakaris is the President of her Drama Club and the Vice President of her Thespians Honors Society Chapter. Helene…
Ricky Boscarino
Ricky Boscarino aka: Ricky of Luna Parc has been a self-supporting artist for most of his 60 years. Working in…
Jaida Louie-Hollis
The intention of my art is to create an outlet for misery. There seems to be this unspoken rule in…
Sue Catrone
Susan Catrone has been an art teacher at Carteret High School for over 15 years. Prior to that Susan was…
Addison Pfeiffer
Addison Vincent Pfeiffer is the Gallery Manager at Artworks Trenton, in Trenton, NJ, where he curates gallery exhibitions, artist talks, and…
Quinn Leak
My name is Quinn Leak, and I’m a sophomore at Burlington Township High School, taking honors level coursework and consistently…
Sabrina Schubert
Sabrina Schubert is a Senior at Hillsborough High School and is extremely grateful to receive this honor. Sabrina is a…
Soomin Kim
Soomin Kim, 18, started playing cello at the age of 7. She is currently a student of Amy Sue Barston…
Meghna Das
Meghna Das, 17, from Edison, NJ, has been studying music since she was 3, including Indian and western classical voice,…
Chloe Budd
My name is Chloe Budd, I am a senior at Parsippany High School, and I have been involved in several…
Lilian Myers
Lili Myers is a 17 year old senior at Cinnaminson High School. She’s passionate about theater, writing, and literature and…
Roma Welsh
Roma Welsh is a junior at Chatham High school where she has recently been in The Laramie Project (Reggie Fluty),…
Sofia Melfi
Sofia Melfi has been acting for eight years. She dives into the challenge of each character she embodies as she…
Aryanna Adler
Aryanna is a junior at Clifton High School. She is in the Drama Program and Drama Club and has performed…
Benjamin Nuland
Benjamin Nuland (Jamin) is a sophomore at Princeton High School. He was born and raised in Shanghai China where he…
Lydia Garcia
Lydia Garcia is a Junior at Princeton High School. She is extremely grateful to have won the Governer’s Award for…
Lily Targett
Lily Targett is a Senior at Pinelands Regional High School. She would like to thank Mr. Miller and her fellow…
Jonathan Levy
Jonathan Levy is a Senior at Pinelands Regional High School. He would like to thank Mr. Miller Dr. A and…
Carmen Matarazzo
Carmen Matarazzo is a Junior at Pinelands Regional High School. He would like to thank Mr. Miller and Mr. DiFrancia…
Patrick Downey
Patrick Downey has taken the stage many times since the age of 5. Some of his proudest roles include Charlie…
Gianna Albanese
Gianna is currently in her junior year of high school and this is her first time receiving a Governor’s Award.…
Dan Klimko
Dan Klimko is a senior at Cranford High School who is pursuing a degree in musical theatre in college. Some…
Joshua Johnson
Joshua Johnson is in the Franklin High School class of 2021. Throughout his years in Franklin Township, Joshua has performed…
Barbara Benton
Barbara Benton has been an art educator and an advocate for art education for many years. She began her career as…
Arianna Reischer
Arianna is a senior at Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees, NJ, where she plays flute in the wind ensemble,…
Julianna Krawiecki
Julianna Krawiecki is celebrating her 10th year as a New Jersey public school Arts Educator this year. She is currently…
Gina Priano-Keyser
Gina Priano-Keyser, Director of Drama at Chatham Middle School since 1998, is a theater educator, professional actress and a lighting…
Tonei Silver
Tonei Silver is a New Jersey native who grew up dancing since the age of three. She studies at InSpira…
Nicolette Zika
Nicolette Zika is a senior dance major at High Tech High School and a senior company member at The Next…
Kylie Blake
Kylie Blake is currently a junior in high school attending Morris County’s Vocational High School Academy of the Performing Arts…
Kayla Hsu
Kayla is currently a senior dance major at the Academy for Performing Arts High School in Union County, New Jersey,…
Fiona Quirk
Fiona Quirk was born in Fanwood, New Jersey, but grew up mainly in Morristown, New Jersey. She was initially introduced…
Brooke Kastafados
Brooke Katsafados is a senior dancer at OCVTS Performing Arts Academy. She has danced at New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble…
Brogan Donston
Brogan Donston, age 17, was born and raised in Hoboken, NJ. He is a member of the Class of 2022…
Jason Zhou
Jason Zhou is a senior at Bridgewater-Raritan High School in Bridgewater, NJ. He has been playing clarinet for nearly 8…
Dhruva Lepakshi
Hello everyone! My name is Dhruva Lepakshi and I’m a freshman studying at Marlboro High School. During this school year,…
Kathleen Clarke-Anderson
Kathleen Clarke-Anderson has been a teacher for 38 years and a Speech and Debate coach in the state of NJ…
Akshat Parthiban
Akshat Parthiban is a senior at Thomas Edison Energysmart Charter School. He is the founder and president of his school’s…
Alexandra Jerdee
Alexandra (Alex) Jerdee is a senior at Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, NJ. She is a National Merit Scholarship winner…
Isabella Harelick
Isabella Harelick is a Junior at Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, New Jersey. At school, she is president of the…
Anjali Dadlani
My name is Anjali Dadlani and I am a ninth grader at Ridge High School. I like math, and I…
Jocelyn Tan
Jocelyn Tan is a part of the class of 2023 at Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. This…
Chloe Yang
Chloe Yang is currently a sophomore at Ridge High school in Basking Ridge and a part of the class of…
Mayin Puri
Mayin Puri is a member of the class of 2021 at Ridge High School. Besides being involved on the speech…
Gracie Beardsley
Senior Gracie Beardsley from Summit High School is so honored to receive this award. Throughout her time in high school,…
Aarav Gupta
Aarav Gupta is a junior at Summit High school and will be graduating in 2022. In addition to completing grades…
Hefziba Campos
Hefziba Campos, a sophomore, graduating with the class of 2023, is proud to be part of the Speech and Debate…
Nicholas Budny
Nicholas Budny is a junior at Princeton High School in Princeton, New Jersey. He is the principal pianist for his…
Laasya Gaddipati
Laasya Gaddipati is part of the Ridge High School class of 2021 in Basking Ridge. Laasya has been awarded the…
Victoria Wei
My name is Victoria Wei, a senior at Montville Township High School and the Vice President of Speech of Montville…
Heather Roselle
Heather Roselle is a writer from the coast of New Jersey. Her work mainly focuses on her experiences and viewpoints…
Victoria D. Rengel
My name is Victoria D Rengel, I am currently enrolled at Science Park High School in the class of 2024.…
Maria Papera
My name is Maria Papera, a senior at Montville Township High School and the President of the Montville Forensics team.…
Kamryn Koerner
Kamryn Koerner (Juror 10) senior at Morris Hills High School. Past Roles Include Fiona (Shrek the Musical), Vibrata (A Funny…
Tyler Pal
Tyler Pal is a Morris Hills thespian and proud of it. He has done every show at his school since…
Mukilan Karthikeyan
Mukilan Karthikeyan is a Junior and Morris Hills High School. He was a part of all the fall plays during…
Alec Ferguson
Alec Ferguson is a young thespian who is grateful that the production, “12 Angry Jurors” has won the Governors Award.…
Evan Graham
Evan Graham (Juror 5) is a senior at Morris Hills High School who has been acting for 6 years and…
Ella Malatesta
Ella Malatesta is a junior this year. Her high school theater experience includes Songs for a New World, All in…
Zoe Tweedie
Zoe Tweedie is a senior at Morris Hills and is so honored to be a part of this year’s Governor’s…
Daniel Dollase
Daniel Dollase is a senior at Morris Hills High School and is extremely honored to be receiving this Governor’s Award…
Alandra DiCicco
Alandra DiCicco (Juror #6) is a sophomore at Morris Hills High School.
Nick Stella
Nick Stella (Juror #2) is a sophomore at Morris Hills High School
Alanna Soares
Hello, my name is Alanna Soares. I am currently a freshman at Science Park High School. My achievements include being…
Maya Stokley
Hi, my name is Maya Stokley! I am a senior attending Donald M. Payne School of Technology. I represent the…
Sy’Maya Summiel
Sy’Maya Summiel is currently a junior attending Ewing High School in Ewing Township, New Jersey. She is a member of…
Lawrence Custis
BOOM BAM, BADA BING BOP, POW! On February 23, 2003 I was born and dubbed the name Lawrence Custis, taking…
Samuelson Zamy
Samuelson Zamy is a 17-year-old junior in the class of 2022 at STEM Innovations Academy of the Oranges in Orange…
Shannon Milan-Lambert
Shannon-Milan Lambert (Milan) is a 15-year-old sophomore at Teaneck High School & Bergen County Technical High School in a duel…
CLASS OF 2020
CELEBRATING YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Each year, it is our honor to welcome 100 arts students and 20 leaders to celebrate with their loved ones and our arts community during the annual awards ceremony. While the awards looks quite different this year, our #NJARTSEDPROUD spirit remains the same.
The virtual ceremony includes award winning storyteller Queen Nur as the Master of Ceremonies, remarks from state officials, messages from our alumni, and performances from past and present award recipients.
Congratulations, Class of 2020.
A MESSSAGE FROM
Governor Phil Murphy
The 2020 Awards
Alumni Master of Ceremonies
PERSPECTIVES
Dr. Dale Schmid
Kevin O'Brien
PAST & PRESENT RECIPIENT
PERFORMANCES
CLASS OF 2020
EVENT PROGRAM
The annual publication of students’ and leaders’ names, listed by nominating organization
LET’S CELEBRATE TOGETHER
DOWNLOAD GRAPHICS
VIRTUAL PHOTOBOOTH
Celebrate with us at home
VIRTUAL Awards 2020
BEST WISHES
Messages from our Friends & Sponsors
CONGRATULATORY MESSAGES
- Submit your Congrats to the Class of 2020
- -----
- Ally Cordero, this prestigious award could not have been given to a more humble, dedicated, hard-working and prolific artist. Your documentation of your personal, cultural and intellectual experiences provides a glimpse into your journey as a young woman, student and artist that is beyond your years and profoundly inspiring. I am so proud of you! - Mercedes Ingenito, Visual Arts Teacher Randolph High School
- -----
- I know this time has been hard, but I just want to say congratulations you made it and what is happening will be over soon. - Ashley Taitt
- -----
- Anna - We are so proud and love you so much! You have been such a trooper through this and can only wait for your future achievements. Love, Mama
- -----
- Congratulations Anna So very Proud of you. - Pattie-Jo Siegel
- -----
- Congratulations on a well earned award. We are extremely proud of you. You thrilled us with your talents throughout high school. Our only regret is that we will never see you on that Montville stage. Continued success at Rutgers. We will always keep you in our prayers. - Luv, Babci & Pop.
- -----
- Congratulations to GCACT-SO students Blair Brown and Bryce Clemenson Governor's Awards in Arts Education 2020 winners, proud of you both!! - Carol Dove
- -----
- Congratulations Priscilla, you are an amazing and talented student. Your Payne Tech family is proud of you. Keep up the great work. - Anibal Ponce
- -----
- Priscilla, You are truly a Star! Payne Tech is so proud of you! From Ms. Emily Bonilla Vice Principal & Arts Supervisor - Priscilla Pagan
- -----
- Congratulations, Priscilla Pagan - Carmen Colon-Burgos
- -----
- Priscilla Pagan, I am so, so proud of you! Congratulations! Keep dancing and keep dreaming! - Mrs. Smith
- -----
- Way to go Anna! So proud of you! - Love, Daddy.
- -----
- So proud of your accomplishments, Priscilla Pagán! Continued success in your future endeavors! ~Señorita González
- -----
- Congrats Olivia Miller!! You are an amazing young artist!-Mrs. Stahl
- -----
- Anna - So proud of you and your dedication to your singing! I’ve got a feeling this is only the beginning of even more great things to come for you! Congratulations on this prestigious award!! Love you! - Christine Stabile
- -----
- Congratulations to my beautiful and talented niece Priscilla we are so very proud of you and all your accomplishments. GOD BLESS! - LOVE TITI DENISE, TASHA & ARIANNA
