TOMS RIVER – The DART Prevention Coalition of Ocean County marked its 15th anniversary last month with a celebration recognizing individuals and communities dedicated to substance abuse prevention. DART, a program under RWJBarnabas Health’s Institute for Prevention and Recovery, works to reduce underage drinking, prescription drug abuse, and the illegal use of marijuana and tobacco. The coalition includes law enforcement, educators, business owners, substance abuse professionals, faith leaders, and youth.
Honoring Excellence
The event featured several awards, including the prestigious Terrance P. Farley Recognition of Excellence Award. This award honors individuals who dedicate their careers to substance use prevention and ensuring safe, drug-free communities for youth. The late Terry Farley was a former first assistant Ocean County Prosecutor and dedicated DART member since its inception in 2009. The award recognizes a coalition member who exemplifies passion for substance misuse prevention and leadership.
This year’s Farley award went to Anthony Pierro, recently retired as Chief Juvenile/Domestic Violence Prosecutor for Ocean County. Michael Colwell, an agent with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and a DART executive board member, presented the award. Pierro, unable to attend in person, joined the event via video.
Dante Kanterezhi-gatto accepted the first Anthony V. Pierro Student of Excellence Award from Shelby Voorhees. (Photo by Stephanie Faughnan)
“Anthony is a man who checks every single box every single day on a professional and a personal level,” Colwell said. He recalled working with Pierro on his first DART event 12 years ago. “He is the most loyal, dedicated, hardworking, knowledgeable, professional person you’ll ever meet.”
Pierro expressed his pride in accepting the award, named after someone he respected. “He worked hard, and he was doing community outreach long before we had a community out there in the schools,” Pierro said of Farley. “He always inspired me to do better.”
Roberta Rapisardi, Assistant Director of the Prevention and Training Institute at RWJ Barnabas Health Institute for Prevention and Recovery said that Pierro’s work mirrored Farley’s impact on prevention efforts within Ocean County. Rapisardi credited Pierro for his dedication to youth from within the prosecutor’s office.
Inaugural Student Award
In a surprise announcement, Shelby Voorhees, Ocean County Youth Services Commission Administrator and DART Executive Committee member, revealed the creation of a new award in Pierro’s honor: the Anthony V. Pierro Student of Excellence Award. It offered recognition for a young person who demonstrated authenticity, leadership, community passion, and overcame challenges with creativity and positivity.
The first Anthony V. Pierro Student of Excellence Award was presented to Dante Kanterezhi-gatto, a 17-year-old senior who will graduate from Toms River East this year. Voorhees described Dante as a “change maker.”
Voorhees described Dante’s resilience in the face of personal challenges, including displacement after Hurricane Sandy, saving his grandfather with CPR, and worries about his mother’s breast cancer diagnosis. Despite these hardships, Dante continues to maintain academic excellence and is ranked number one in his class. He is actively involved in numerous school and community activities, including cross country, track, theater, and the Kindness Campaign. Dante has remarkably logged over 500 community service hours.
Dante initiated the Kindness Campaign, a student-led initiative promoting positivity and community service. The campaign includes the Teen Buddy Program at the library, where teens read and do crafts with younger children.
“Dante is the heart and soul of our Toms River CTC Kindness Campaign,” Voorhees said. “When Dante started working on this kindness campaign, it was not just another club or a project, he made it his mission because he believes that big change happens with a little kindness first.”
In an interview, Dante explained he first proposed the campaign for his school district and suggested that a cohort of students could be identified as leaders in their buildings and form various initiatives throughout the community. School leaders liked the idea but suggested he work with outside organizations because of a lack of school funds. Dante approached Voorhees and was led to the Toms River Communities that Cares group led by Amy Carreno.
“The way I look at it, we’re all working on the same team,” Dante said of the Kindness Campaign. “I really hope that this campaign is helping to promote kindness and positivity by helping everyone to just work together and work towards more positive things.” He added his thoughts that making people feel a part of something positive can help prevent substance abuse.
Dante’s future looks bright, with plans to double major in environmental engineering and neuroscience. He is awaiting acceptance letters from different universities, including MIT and Princeton.
Toms River: A Town Of Excellence
DART also recognized Toms River as its 2024 Town of Excellence. Amy Piacente-Desch, DART Senior Prevention Manager, explained that this award honors a community that effectively brings together schools, youth, leaders, government, and law enforcement to address substance use prevention.
Toms River’s achievements include active participation in the Youth Tobacco Action Group (YTAG), expanding mentorship programs in intermediate schools, establishing four active Youth Prevention Coalitions (YPCs), creating a Youth Empower Workgroup, and implementing the Kindness Campaign.
“Each year we take a look at all of our amazing communities within Ocean County to see what incredible work they’ve done over the last year,” said Piacente-Desch. “And each year, there is always one outstanding community.”
Jennifer Huey, a science teacher at Toms River High School North, received the 2024 Mental Health Awareness Training School Ambassador Award. (Photo by Stephanie Faughnan)
Mental Health Awareness
Jennifer Huey, a science teacher at Toms River High School North, received the 2024 Mental Health Awareness Training School Ambassador Award. Huey partnered with RWJBarnabas Health to train nearly 90 staff members in Mental Health First Aid across the district’s high schools. She also helped coordinate teen Mental Health First Aid training for nearly 1,200 sophomores.
Brian Preiser, Training Institute Manager, presented the award to Huey. “Because of her passion and really working overtime and doing extra things for no extra pay,” Preisler said.” We just trained 510th graders at Toms River North…and in the weeks to come will train nearly 1,100 teenagers in just the Toms River school district.”
Waretown, Lacey Leaders Recognized
Two leaders from Southern Ocean County were also honored during the DART celebration. Pastor Dawn Corlew of the Waretown United Methodist Church received the SOCIAL Network Community Champion Award. The SOCIAL acronym stands for Southern Ocean County Interfaith Advocacy Leadership and is a faith-based prevention initiative.
Stephanie DeRosa-Hillmann, LPC, Manager of the SOCIAL Network, presented the award. She described Corlew as a strong advocate and support within her local community.
“She has created a safe environment for youth and adults,” said DeRosa-Hillman. “With programs helping individuals and families and continues to make an impact each day.”
Pastor Dawn Corlew of the Waretown United Methodist Church received the SOCIAL Network Community Chapter Award. The SOCIAL acronym stands for Southern Ocean County Interfaith Advocacy Leadership and is a faith-based prevention initiative. (Photo by Stephanie Faughnan)
Dr. Leah Purpuri, Supervisor of Guidance at Lacey High School, received the Mental Health Awareness Training Champion award. She was recognized for bringing Mental Health First Aid training to her school’s staff and students, and for training two health and physical education teachers as instructors. This allowed the school to train its entire ninth through twelfth grade student body.
The Lacey School district faced numerous tragedies last year and Purpuri also organized an extensive mental health fair to educate students and families. The evening event provided various avenues for those in need of assistance to find it.
Preisler presented the award to Purpuri and recalled partnering with her when she worked with Barnegat CTC as the head of guidance in Barnegat. Purpuri also serves as the President of Ocean County Directors of Counseling.
Dr. Leah Purpuri, Supervisor of Guidance at Lacey High School, received the Mental Health Awareness Training Champion award. (Photo by Stephanie Faughnan)
The DART celebration highlighted the dedication and collaboration of individuals and communities working to prevent substance abuse and promote positive change in Ocean County.
The post Leaders Awarded For Drug Prevention, Mental Health Advocacy appeared first on Jersey Shore Online.
