BOE Honors 33 New CERT Team Members

The honored Monday night 33 new members of the Hillsborough Township Public Schools Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Team for their hours of volunteer service that enabled them to become the township’s newest emergency responders.

“With a number of victims, communication failures and road blockages will prevent people from accessing the emergency services that they have come to expect when they dial 911,” District Assistant Superintendent Scott Rocco said. “They have to rely on each other for help they need for immediate life-saving and life-sustaining issues.”

Rocco noted that all new CERT Team members—including Superintendent Jorden Schiff—have undergone at least 27 hours of training in all emergency situations, including disaster preparedness drills, fire suppression, CPR and AED, disaster simulations and more.

Rocco commended all of the volunteers for their willingness and, now, ability to communicate in order provide an ever-important service to the school community and general public of Hillsborough.

“It teaches our staff to work as a team, use common language and act as an emergency occurs in our school community,” Rocco said.

Several others were alongside Rocco to honor the new CERT Team members, including Hillsborough Rescue Squad Chief David Gwin, Sgt. Lori Voorhees and Capt. Howard Butt, of the New Jersey State Police.

Butt, who also serves as the State Police coordinator of the New Jersey Citizen Corps, praised the volunteers.

“You join the ranks today of more than 19,000 other people throughout state who have completed the CERT training program,” Butt said. "New Jersey’s CERT program is second to none in the nation; we are national award winners in many categories, and that’s not because of anything I do. It’s because of what people like you do.

“You are a tremendous resource to the community, to your families, and to all those and the state of New Jersey,” Butt continued. “I thank you for your efforts and participation.”

Here is a list of the new CERT team members:

Lisa Antunes
Jen Baker
Rebecca Balaguer
Jennifer Battista
Ernie Bernhard
Lorraine Borek
Chris Carey
Sheila Cooper
Lisa DeFouw
Laura Felkder
Kim Feltre
Joel Handler
Joel Higgins
Steven Jablonski
Lenore Johnston
Steven Kerrigan
Tracey Knerr
Donna Landon
Jay Majka
Marissa Marton
Rebecca McManus
Bernadette Mehrtens
Matt Mingle
Suzanne Moss
Virginia Perrotti
Enrique Pincay
Aldo Russo
Paula Schaefer
Jorden Schiff
Christine Smith
Janet Tracy
Maureen Uniszkiewicz
Kimberly Wright.