$340,000 Awarded Four Freehold Students By Tomazic Family Fund

FREEHOLD, NJ — Four students who are graduates of the Freehold Borough School District have been awarded a total of $340,000 in financial support for their high school and post-secondary education through the Tomazic Family Scholarship.

The generous scholarship program was established last year by the former schools Superintendent Dr. Rocco Tomazic, and the latest award was announced recently.

This "positive Freehold story," as Tomazic called it, has been aided by the Foreside Foundation.

“I am honored to work with Richard and Linda Berthy of the Foreside Foundation,” said Tomazic. “They have joined the positive Freehold story in a meaningful way, providing significant amounts of financial assistance to support the success of our students. They have made a difference.”

The Tomazic Family Scholarship was established in 2022 to build on the work of Tomazic as superintendent. He retired in 2021.

The Foreside Foundation, registered in Maine, became involved through a personal connection with Tomazic.

Tomazic said in an interview last year that he met Richard Berthy of the foundation in 1980 while serving in the Navy in Japan. The two remained friends and over the years the foundation has provided funding for other student needs. Read more about the inaugural year of the award here.

This year’s selection process was especially competitive with 25 eighth-graders and 31 12th-graders vying for the scholarships, said Jean Holtz, chairperson of the Freehold Educational Foundation.

Holtz added that Tomazic stays in touch with the winners, especially the college-age winners, to offer advice once they enter the college world.

For 2023-2024, the Tomazic Family Scholarship was awarded to one boy and one girl in eighth grade and 12th grade who attend or attended school in the Freehold Borough School District.

In the scholarship application, students were asked to outline financial need, articulate their academic goals, and express why they should be selected from among other similarly qualified candidates. They also submitted their academic transcripts, Holtz said.

Here are the Freehold students who are winners of the scholarships:

Destiny Claudio and Joseph C. Berryman, both graduating seniors at Freehold High School, will receive up to $80,000 over four years to support their enrollment at a college or post-secondary vocational program.

Emely Hernandez and Geraldo Albarran, both graduating eighth-graders at Freehold Intermediate School, will receive up to $2,500 per year to support their academic growth in high school in the Freehold Regional High School District, in addition to receiving up to $80,000 for their post-secondary education.

The Tomazic Family Scholarship will run for a 10-year period, planning to award up to nearly $1.2 million to students from the Freehold Borough School District, Holtz said.

Partners in the Tomazic Family Scholarship program include the Foreside Foundation, members of the immediate Tomazic family, the Freehold Borough Educational Foundation, the Freehold Borough School District, and the Freehold Regional High School District.