High School Senior, Cheerleading Squad Honored at BOE Meeting

The ’s regular business meeting Monday was highlighted by two special honors presented to students. Assemblywoman and Freeholder-elect Joan Voss (D-38) of Fort Lee presented a proclamation from the General Assembly to one very active FLHS senior, and the board entered a resolution of recognition into the meeting minutes honoring the Fort Lee High School cheerleading team for winning another state title.

School board member John Bang said he was curious to find out more about Alex Chong, after he started noticing the high school senior showing up at school board meetings and even “contributing to a couple of the meetings” by asking questions and raising issues.

“Normally high school students don’t come to the board meetings unless they want to complain about something or they are some sort of student representative,” Bang said. “So I went to talk to this young man and found out that he’s actually just interested in what the school board does.”

Bang added, “Either that, or he has nothing else to do.”

“But it turns out that he’s actually quite busy,” Bang said.

Chong is a member of the debate team, for example, and he’s a class representative. He also participates in “tons” of volunteer activities, according to Bang.

“And he turned out to be such an impressive young man, that I brought it to the attention of our Assemblywoman, Joan Voss,” Bang said.

Voss—impressed enough herself—decided to present Chong with a proclamation from the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey.

“Initially I understand this was supposed to be in [Voss’s] office, but I asked that it be done here,” Bang said. “Not to take away from Alex’s personal achievements, but I don’t think that any person is an island. Everything’s he’s done, I think, is a reflection of his parents; I think it’s a reflection of the school that has nurtured him and taught him and the community that raised him. I thought it would be fitting if the Assemblywoman honored him here to show the world the kind of student that we have in Fort Lee High School.”

Voss said she had hoped to present the proclamation to Chong in Trenton, “because our legislators are being very critical of what’s happening in our schools.”

“They’re doing legislation about bullying and things that are very negative, and I wanted them to see a young man like Alex, who is the best of the best, and I know that there are other students in other schools that are as giving as he is,” Voss said.

Adding that she doesn’t usually read proclamations, she decided to make an exception in Chong’s case because “he is such an outstanding young man.”

“Many of our people in government started getting interested in … community service when they were in high school,” Voss told Chong before reading the proclamation. “So we have high hopes for you in the future.”

The proclamation read in part as follows:

The General Assembly of the State of New Jersey is pleased to honor and salute Alex Chong, an admired member of the Garden State community. A senior at Fort Lee High School, where he is vice president of his class, Alex has made significant contributions as captain of the debate team, as treasurer of the investment club, as a member of the varsity track team, and he is a candidate for Fort Lee High School’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. A devoted and faithful congregant of his church, where he is an altar server, Alex also shares his knowledge as a volunteer tutor after school. In addition, Alex has given generously of his time and energy as a member and leader in a myriad of organizations, such as political campaigns, Korean-American community groups and the Korean festivals that are held every year at Overpeck Park. Alex has demonstrated impressive leadership skills, poise and maturity in his efforts to be a role model for his peers and to make a difference in the community. New Jersey’s young people who set their goals high, who persevere in the pursuit of those goals and who reach the desired milestones and accomplish those objectives, stand as an example and an inspiration to their fellow citizens of all ages. It is both properly fitting for the House to note the outstanding scholarship, community and achievements of Alex Chong.

After the meeting, Chong told Patch he was surprised by the honor, but noted that he has been exposed to politics and government thanks to the IB program.

“I found myself loving political work,” Chong said. “A lot of people are telling me this is well-deserved, but there are a lot of people who helped me through the process. There have been other volunteers, and I’m kind of disappointed that they themselves didn’t get it. I can’t take all the credit for this.”

Asked if politics is something he’d like to pursue in the future, the humbled senior replied, “Maybe one day.”

“I do aspire to be like Assemblywoman Voss and other political figures that I’ve met recently,” he said. “They really are great people.”

Also at Monday’s BOE meeting, the school board honored the Fort Lee High School cheerleaders, who won yet another state title at the United Cheerleading Contest Fall Invitational at Fairleigh Dickinson University in November.

“I want to introduce our state champion Fort Lee High School cheerleading squad,” said Acting Superintendent of Schools Steven Engravalle before turning the proceedings over to Fort Lee Athletic Director Patrick Ambrosio.

“It’s an absolute joy spending even a minute talking to anybody about the student athletes at Fort Lee High School,” Ambrosio said. “This is something that we should all be very proud of. These young ladies, as you’ll see from the proclamation, are very impressive.”

Ambrosio said head coach Nina Anderson, who couldn’t be in attendance Monday evening for personal reasons, and assistant coach Nikki Luppino deserved “all the credit in the world,” along with the girls on the team.

“They truly are a testament to Fort Lee athletics,” Ambrosio said. “They are student athletes, and I couldn’t be more impressed with the things that they’ve done—both Coach Anderson and the staff for the past 20 years, but more impressively, this group this past fall.”

School board president Arthur Levine then read the special resolution, which is recorded in the minutes for the meeting, enumerating and recognizing the team’s accomplishments.

Those accomplishments, according to the resolution, include the following:

• Two second degree of excellence awards, 10 first degree of excellence awards and four overall champion titles in singles, doubles and triples events
• Four first degree of excellence awards and an overall champion title in the team division
• The highest point total in all events, ranking the team as New Jersey state championships

“I would like to congratulate you guys also; you guys did a great job,” said school board member Charlie Luppino before handing out certificates of recognition to all the girls present at the meeting. “I’m always there cheering with you guys.”

The high school cheerleaders competed against about 25 other teams, according to a recent article in The Fort Lee Suburbanite, which also reported that the state title is the team’s fifth since 1987.