Pallone Recognizes Outstanding High School Students at Spring Awards Ceremony

Long Branch – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) announced the recipients of the Congressional Award, this year’s U.S. Service Academy nominees, and the winners of the 2025 Sixth Congressional District High School Arts Competition at an awards ceremony.

Pallone also announced the winners of the Congressional App Challenge and the winners of the tenth-annual Poetry Showcase. Students representing multiple local schools were honored at a reception at Middlesex College.

Pallone honored the 2025 recipients of the Congressional Award. Created by his predecessor, the late U.S. Rep. Jim Howard, the Congressional Award recognizes the initiative, achievement, and volunteer services of young people. The recipients include:

Bronze Congressional Award Recipients:

• Brody Gray, Rumson
• Nyla Martin, Rumson
• Timothy McCooey, Rumson

Silver Congressional Award Recipients:

• Hunter Barrett, Rumson
• Aditya Herekar, Edison
• Mahi Mahitcha, Edison
• Ethan Poon, Edison

Gold Congressional Award Recipients:

• Suhani Sengupta, Edison

“The Congressional Award is given to individuals whose accomplishments and dedication to their communities exemplifies the best qualities of the future,” Pallone said. “I’m proud to award this honor to this year’s recipients, and I wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.”

The New Jersey Congressman also honored the candidates he nominated to the U.S. Service Academies. The nominees include:

U.S. Air Force Academy

• Brody Cannan, Sayreville War Memorial High School
• Jackson Gervais, Christian Brothers Academy
• Cole Pangborn, Rumson Fair Haven Regional High School
• Satyam Shah, Northwestern Preparatory School
• Sanjna Thoguru, Rutgers Preparatory School
• Brandon Trivino, Saint Joseph High School

U.S. Naval Academy   

• Carter Braun, Marine Academy of Science and Technology
• Thomas Clark, Marine Academy of Science and Technology
• Ryan Miller, Middletown High School North
• Sanjna Thoguru, Rutgers Preparatory School
• Brandon Trivino, Saint Joseph High School
• Caitlin Williams, Trinity Hall

U.S. Military Academy at West Point

• Tyler Boelhower, Woodbridge High School
• Carter Braun, Marine Academy of Science and Technology
• Max Fredericks, Keyport High School
• Reed Kerstetter, St. Thomas Aquinas High School
• Ryan Miller, Middletown High School North
• Hannah Nitka, High Technology High School
• Kyle Pear, South Plainfield High School
• Cassidy Robertson, Saint Rose High School
• Brandon Trivino, Saint Joseph High School

    U.S. Merchant Marine Academy                  

• Owen Bradford, Spotswood High School
• Carter Braun, Marine Academy of Science and Technology
• Robert Gallagher, Arthur L. Johnson High School
• Reed Kerstetter, St. Thomas Aquinas High School
• Ryan Miller, Middletown High School North
• Brandon Trivino, Saint Joseph High School
• Jacob Weir, Seneca High School

 “The value of military service to our nation cannot be overstated, and I am proud of the commitment that these nominees have shown to serving their country,” said Pallone. “These nominees showed outstanding academic and extra-curricular achievements, leadership, and motivation in serving our country. Our nation’s service academies are some of the highest caliber institutions that are committed to graduating leaders of character, honor, and integrity. New Jersey’s 6th Congressional District is home to so many bright and qualified students. I wish all of the nominees the very best of luck in the future and thank them for their willingness to serve.”

Young artists from various schools in Middlesex and Monmouth counties participated in this year’s art competition. Local judges chose first, second and third place winners. They also awarded 15 honorable mentions. The first-place winner, Sylphania Njoku, will have her artwork displayed for the next year in the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

Congressional Art Competition Winners:

First Place: Sylphania Njoku, Piscataway High School

Second Place: Emily Hsu, John P. Stevens High School

Third Place: Elizabeth Poole, Piscataway High School

Honorable Mentions:

• Shruthika Adaki, John P. Stevens High School
• Mishti Bajaj, John P. Stevens High School
• Gabriel DeJesus, Sayreville War Memorial High School
• Yoskar Deleon, Perth Amboy High School
• Julia Liu, John P. Stevens High School
• Aaliyah Matias, Perth Amboy High School
• Chasity McNamara, Edison High School
• Haley Norris, Red Bank Regional High School
• Ash Peña Martinez, Red Bank Regional High School
• Gabrielle Petit-Homme, Piscataway High School
• Patrick Powers, Raritan High School
• Sofia Rojas, Piscataway High School
• Mia Vargas, East Brunswick Magnet School
• Ava Wallenstein, Sayreville War Memorial High School
• Alexander Zayas, Perth Amboy High School

“I have long believed that Congress should play a major role in encouraging interest in the arts,” Pallone said. “This competition provides a forum to help the aspiring young artists of our area gain recognition and exposure. Young artists can gain confidence in themselves and their abilities by displaying their work and having it evaluated by knowledgeable judges.”

Pallone also announced the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge. The competition encourages students to explore STEM education and highlights the value of computer science.

First Place: Ekya Dogra, Sahil Ghosh and Adithiya Venkatakrishnan, all from Edison Academy Magnet School, with the app RADR: Rapid Amber Detection Response, which is an initiative to enhance amber alerts & assist in child abduction cases.  The core mission is to provide a faster, more efficient way of not just tracking abducted children, but any suspected vehicles supplementing law enforcement officers with autonomous technology.

Second Place: Ishaan Kunwar from Edison High School with the app CataSight, which aims to detect cataracts in fundus images, which are images of the back of the eye taken with an ophthalmoscope (fundus camera), using a machine learning approach that involves a Multilayer Perceptron Layer (MLP) model. The web app, developed using Streamlit, allows users to upload a fundus image and receive a diagnosis of “Cataract” or “Normal,” along with the probability of the prediction, which is out of 1 and rounded to the nearest 2 decimal places.

Third Place: Neerav Gupta from John P. Stevens High School, with the app Symptix, an innovative app designed to assist users in navigating healthcare information and making informed decisions about their health. At its core, Symptix leverages cutting-edge AI technology to provide fast and reliable medical guidance based on user input. One of the key features of the app is an AI-powered chatbot, powered by the Gemini 1.0 pro model, which allows users to input their symptoms and receive an instant diagnosis.

“The Congressional App Challenge is an important platform for students to showcase their skills in programming and computer science while supporting the next generation’s interest in STEM subjects. I will continue to support investments in STEM education so that our country remains at the forefront of innovation and research. I congratulate this year’s winners and encourage everyone who has an idea to submit it for the competition next year,” said Pallone.

Finally, Pallone announced the winners of the tenth-annual Poetry Showcase. The Poetry Showcase coincides with National Poetry Month, which is celebrated during the month of April. The showcase allows students of all ages to express themselves in writing under one of three thematic categories: civic engagement, the environment, and social justice.

“The Poetry Showcase is a wonderful opportunity for students of all ages to express themselves in writing while exploring themes that I believe resonate with their community,” Pallone concluded. “This year, we received over 600 submissions, which is a testament to our students’ dedication to literature and language. I want to thank everyone who participated and commend them for their commitment to this literary art.”

Category: Civic Engagement

• Harshikha Anumala, Oak Tree Road School (Woodbridge) (Grades K-5)
• Ameirah Gordon, Assumption Catholic School (Perth Amboy) (Grades 6-8)
• Libby Peckman, Highland Park High School (Grades 9-12)

Category: Environment

• Samantha Rybakov, Alan B. Shepard Elementary School (Old Bridge) (Grades K-5)
• Sujena Maheshwaran Subashini, Thomas Jefferson Middle School (Edison) (Grades 6-8)
• Alexander Poon, Edison Academy Magnet School (Grades 9-12)

 Category: Social Justice

• Sophia Santos, South Amboy Elementary School (Grades K-5)
• Scarlett Garcia, Carteret Junior High School (Grades 6-8)
• Haniya Arif, Piscataway High School (Grades 9-12)