SCM Honors Outstanding Student Achievements

On Thursday, May 26, Montclair State University graduated more than 2,000 students (putting the total of 2017 graduates at over 4,000).  More than 200 of those young adults will come from the School of Communication and Media. Many of the SCM graduates will ultimately find rewarding careers in Communication, Journalism, Public Relations, Television and Digital Media, and Filmmaking.  Their career paths, however, do not begin once they put their caps and gowns in storage; they have already begun, by taking advantage of the incredible opportunities presented to them during their undergraduate studies and by excelling academically and building their professional portfolios through internships and projects.

The outstanding SCM students were recently honored on Thursday, May 11, during the school’s annual awards ceremony, which is held to officially recognize the achievements of students and their accomplishments across all academic programs in the school.   Here is a list of the winners:

George and Linda Hiltzik Scholarships for Communication and Media Students: Colin Borow, Keenan Carter, Nicholas DaSilva, Sean Latham, Danielle Weidner, Elana Steinberg, Sean Garvin, Jessica Ortega, Alexa Werrlein

TVDM Production Senior Awards: Michael Gorczyca, Christopher Sabo, Joseph Lombardo, Peter Fumosa, Christodoulos Apolstolou, Allison Council, Meredith Pircher, Dayonara Link, John Reilly, Kristie Keleshian.

Faculty Award: Tyler Rosenberg

Margaret J. and Angelo A. DiFlauro Award for outstanding academic standing: Amanda Kaminsky, Lozada Award, Nicholas Carras

Bill Puskas Most Promising New Student Award: Heather Berzak

John D. Sharkey Award presented to outstanding student showing professional promise: Melissa Cheeseman

Cento Amici Award, need based scholarship: Avery Federico, Jantzen Rogalski, Francesca Ricotta

Radio Club of America Scholarship Awards: Christian Curatola, Jacquie Moore, Austin Resnick, Lauren Sciscone

Radio Achievement Awards scholarship: Juan Contla, Heather Rivera, Julia Siegel

Christopher Stasheff, Al Preto Scholarship Award: Stanley Wiercinski

Phil Pepe Sports Media & Journalism Scholarships: Sean McChensney, Claudia Olsen, Mario Papa, Sam Flesher, Josue Dajues

Mark & Lila Rosenweig Endowed Scholarships: Amanda Eustice, Mandonnah Mahallati

Richard Drukker Award for outstanding Journalism major: Jennifer Leon

PICA Club of North Jersey, Jack Anderson Journalism Scholarship: Christina Urban

National Association of Hispanic Journalists Jose Rohaidy Award: Josue Dajes

Journalism Achievement Awards: Daniel Falkenheim, Deanno Rosa, Emma Cimo, Stephanie Pitera, Daniel Collins

Lambda Pi Eta Scholarship for academic achievement: Sarah Bielen

Georgina Solarino Scholarship: Amina Abdelrahman

Excellence in Communication & Media Arts: Tess Reynolds, Morgan Taylor

Excellence in Communication Studies: Samantha Poulis

Excellence in Public Relations: Cynthia Huasipoma

Wayne Bond Undergraduate Achievement Award: Nadia Abbas, Serena Socha

Wayne Bond Graduate Achievement Award: Jamie Wisniewski, Denise O’Shea

Debate Award: Brian Smith

Service to the SCM Community Award: Richard Githens, Nathaly Soriano

Excellence in Cinematography: Javed Ali, Melanie St. Clair

Excellence in Production Design: Alex Zuccarro

Excellence in Screenwriting: Nicholas Calisti, Shannen Siramarco

Excellence in Producing & Movie Magic Producing Award: Asher Sosinsky, Brittany Zweir

Excellence in Directing: Amatullah’muhyi Ali, Michelle Martinez

Skip Lievsay Post Production Grant: Amatullah’muhyi Ali

Independent Spirit Award: Amelia Spitler

Film Production MVP: Kevin Leandro

Excellence in Filmmaking: Nicholas Capra