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Well-traveled first Star-Ledger scholar shares advice from his journey

Monday, May 21, 2007 • BY CLAIRE HEININGER • Star-Ledger Staff

Nearly 20 years after he won a full scholarship to Harvard, Edison native Daniel Tabak has seen the Great Barrier Reef, touched the Berlin Wall and set foot on every continent but Antarctica.

But the foundation of his accomplishments always was New Jersey.

"Dream big and reach for the stars," Tabak said last night at the annual Star-Ledger Scholars din ner held in Newark. "But remember to find happiness in the people right around you."

Now an associate at a New York City law firm and the married father of a 6-month-old son, Tabak -- the first winner of the top Star- Ledger Scholar award -- was joined by other past and present honorees at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center as they celebrated the scholarship program's 20th year.

The tradition's reach was reflected in the Ivy League-packed audience, filled with doctors, lawyers, educators and more who came from as far away as Colorado and California.

"Back 20 years ago, I never dreamed that it would be this big," said Pearl Pye, the widow of longtime Star-Ledger editor Mort Pye, who helped start the program along with the newspaper's president Donald Newhouse in 1987. "I think it's wonderful."

Since that year, The Star-Ledger Scholars program has annually honored a dozen New Jersey high school students for their academic achievements. This year's winners were announced in yesterday's newspaper.

Jerry Kung, 17, a senior at East Brunswick High School, is headed for Harvard in the fall after he was named this year's Mort Pye Scholar, the top honor in the Scholars program. The Mort Pye Scholar is awarded a full scholarship and the program also awards 11 partial scholarships an nually.

Kung, who aced nine Advanced Placement Tests and scored a combined 2380 on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), will follow 11 other Mort Pye winners who enrolled at Harvard.

"It was surreal," Kung said of winning the four-year scholarship. "It was just amazing."

His peers and their teachers -- whom the program also recognizes -- spent much of yesterday evening imparting advice and swapping superlatives.

"He deserves to win. He de serves everything that comes his way," said Madison High School English teacher Carole Breheny, of Morris County winner Chetan Na rain. "He has an unassuming way. He doesn't have to boast. It's just there."

Kent Twardock, a Summit High School senior and Union County's winner, was as proud of his twin sister Sarah -- both received top scores on their SATs, and are Yale- and Princeton-bound -- as he was of himself.

"We're very supportive of each other. Not too competitive," Twar dock said. "It's really exciting to be a part of the landmark year."

The Star-Ledger Scholars are selected from public and private high schools throughout the newspaper's primary circulation area in northern and central New Jersey. The students are nominated by their schools, then selected from a pool of about 180 by a committee appointed by the state Department of Education.

To date, 240 scholars have been honored. Teachers selected by the scholarship winners also have received 240 awards, with some teachers winning more than once.

The 2007 scholars and their high schools are Kung, East Brunswick High School; Meryl Federman, Livingston High School; Rebecca Fogel, Bruriah High School for Girls; Michael Gormally, St. Benedict's Prep; Catherine Hartmann, Voorhees High School; Ayse Gur soy, Highland Park High School; Allen Lin, Holmdel High School; Narain, Madison High School; Sundeep Iyer, Ridge High School; Twardock, Summit High School; Rachel Endick, Newton High School; and Geoffrey Huang, Phillipsburg High School.

High achievers and big dreamers

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