Alumni, Faculty, Students Honored at Annual Hall of Fame Dinner in Point Pleasant Borough

Oh, sure, Robert Taylor was an all-Ocean County first team and second team all-Shore basketball star when he was a Point Pleasant Borough High School senior in 1981 and 1982. And yes, he finished that season as the second-leading scorer in the Shore, averaging 26.5 points a game.

"But I was the guy feeding him the ball," said Chuck Ackerman, laughing, at a Point Pleasant Foundation for Excellence in Education dinner honoring Taylor and other alumni on Friday night.

But seriously, Ackerman said, in an interview, Taylor has been his close friend since third grade. They grew up in the same neighborhood in the borough, around Maplewood and Oakwood.

"He played three sports in high school and excelled in all three," said Ackerman, a borough police officer. "He lived here, he stayed here, he married his high school sweetheart, he's been a coach. He's a great resident and he deserves to be honored here."

About 320 people attended the annual banquet at the Crystal Point Yacht Club which helps the foundation fund $500 grants to each of 10 high school seniors, who were also honored Friday night. Guests paid $50 each.

Taylor has worked for the Monmouth County Sheriff's Department for the past 27  years, is married to Priscilla Maldonado Taylor and has three children and one grandchild.

The other alumni inducted into the Foundation's Hall of Fame were Capt. Terrence Higgins, US Army, and Technical Sgt. Shawn Leonard, US Air Force, both class of 1998, and Elizabeth DeRosa, class of 2000, who is an understudy for the lead role in Broadway's Mary Poppins musical and an ensemble cast member.

Higgins' numerous accomplishments in his military career include deploying as a company commander in Iraq. He  was inducted as an "honorary member of the 502nd Infantry Regiment" and has been decorated with the Bronze Star for Valor, two Bronze Stars and many others.

He is currently assigned to the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, CA and is married with three sons.

Higgins said, making the crowd laugh, that one of his teachers had told him, "Hey, you can't be a dumb jock forever."

Outside the banquet room, he credited not only that teacher, but many teachers he had over the years.

"This small town helped raise me into the man I am today," he said.

Leonard also was decorated with the Bronze Star and numerous other honors for his service in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"You do it for the guy to the left of you and to the right of you," Leonard said, when asked how he handles put himself in the line of fire. "It's not about government. It's about doing it for the guys alongside you."

Leonard lives in Texas with his wife.

All alumni credited their borough teachers and coaches for helping them develop decision-making skills and a foundation that helped them go on to be successful.

DeRosa thanked Rebecca Muraglia, high school drama teacher who runs the historically successful high school dramatic productions, Paul Caliendo, who was directing high school band when DeRosa was in high school, her family, friends and church, Point Pleasant Presbyterian.

Caliendo, who is currently band and music teacher at the borough's elementary schools, was honored as a community inductee.

He thanked the foundation for honoring teachers in the shadow of a political landscape that often doesn't.

"Not to get too political," he said, "but after 30 years of teaching, I've never seen teachers under attack like we are now."

Reflecting on the rewards of teaching, Caliendo said he is still learning about human nature.

He recalled how one young, elementary school student recently came to him with a note. Caliendo thought it would be the typical note from a parent letting him know their child is quitting band.

Not this one. This was from the student, letting him know how much he had loved playing in the winter concert.

"He wrote 'I had a great time. I can't wait for the spring concert," Caliendo recalled. "Thank you for making my dreams come true.'

"So thank you for helping me make my dreams come true," Caliendo said to the large crowd at the dinner.

The ten high school seniors honored with $500 Student Leadership Grants are: Spencer Blake; Kristina Corso; Kelsey Haycook; Catherine Hunt; Emily Niekrasz; John Caliendo; David Halliday; Molly Hoffmaster; Leigh Ketchersid and Scott Walsh.

Chris Quigley was honored with the District Educational Support Specialist Award.

Governor's Teacher Award Winners are Mary Orrok, high school; Stacey Camilleri, Memorial Middle School; Charles Nied, Nellie Bennett; and Diane Podesta, Ocean Road.

Teacher recognition awards are Muraglia, high school; Nancy Ruben, Memorial Middle School; Lisa Moran, Nellie Bennett; and Erica Noffsinger, Ocean Road.

A large group of borough high school students involved in chorus and dramatic productions sang for the crowd. Selections included a few from "Fiddler on the Roof" which is playing at the high school auditorium Thursday through Saturday nights.

James Dempsey, president of the Hall of Fame Committee of the Point Pleasant Foundation for Excellence in Education, said proceeds will go towards the $500 student leadership grants and other educational initiatives identified by the foundation and the Schools Superintendent's office. He said organizers do not yet know how much money was raised.