Funding future freshmen
NJ State PBA awards 42 scholarships to further
members’ children’s academic pursuits
■ BY JENNIFER TRATTLER
To kick off the monthly State PBA meeting
on June 28, NJ State PBA President Patrick
Colligan called up members’ academically
gifted children one-by-one to walk across the
stage at Caesars Hotel in Atlantic City as he
presented the select few with their hardearned $1,000 scholarships.
For months leading up to the big day, the
State PBA Scholarship Committee read
essays from a pool of more than 400 high
school seniors aspiring to be physical therapists, nurses or even follow in their parents’
footsteps by becoming future law enforcement officers.
“Every career you could think of, these
students wanted to pursue,” acknowledged
NJ State PBA 1st Vice-President Peter
Andreyev. “Their positive outlook on the
future that they can do anything and strive
and succeed is really cool to see.”
The Scholarship Committee sorted
through the mountain of applications looking at each student’s GPA, SAT score and the
personal essay they wrote detailing his or her
future career path. Committee members
including Andreyev, Chair Keith Bennett
(Atlantic City Local 24), Charles Schwartz
(Saddle River Local 348), Luke Sciallo (Ocean
36
NEW JERSEY COPS
■
JULY 2016
From left, Direct Title attorney Josh Elkes,
scholarship recipient Allison Gara, her father, retired
Berkeley Heights Local 144 member Dan Gara, and
NJ State PBA President Patrick Colligan at the scholarship awards ceremony on June 28.
Township Local 57), Terrence Benson
(Burlington County Jail Local 249), Joseph
Macones (Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office
Local 265) and Joseph Savittieri (Montclair
Local 53) narrowed down the applications to
40 winners – 20 boys and 20 girls.
“We know you can’t always see the success
of a student just by test scores and GPA, so
we read the essays and find the ones that
articulate themselves well,” explained
Andreyev. “Then we have to try to make the
difficult decision of who we select. It’s very
difficult, but the committee does an
excellent job.”
This year, the candidates truly excelled in
their academic pursuits as Andreyev could
recall one applicant who reached a near-perfect SAT score.
“One SAT score, which is now out of 1800
was about a 1770. It was just phenomenal to
see,” he recognized. “Those students worked
very hard and their parents who are law
enforcement officers were very proud to
walk on stage and see their kids in front of all
their peers receive the scholarship. It means
a lot. It’s a very proud moment for our organization.”
The State PBA also awarded two $2,500
scholarships to candidates who persevered
through difficult times, whether it was a
loved one battling an illness or if they overcame their own academic struggles. The
2016 winners were Allison Gara and
Mackenzie Todd.
“I was shocked because I know how hard
it is to get these scholarships, so I was really
happy,” emoted Gara, whose father, Berkeley
Heights Local 144 member Dan Gara, retired
in 2015 ending his 25-year career. “My dad
did a lot of good things in his career so it really meant a lot to be recognized by the PBA
because being a cop for so long was really
important to him.”
Allison will take a step toward pursuing