Junior police eligible for scholarship funds
BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK - The North Brunswick of Middlesex Junior Police Academy Scholarship Foundation has officially been developed, offering financial aid to members of the academy who pursue higher education once graduating high school.

The Junior Police Academy is a quasi-military educational organization operated by the North Brunswick Police Department to introduce youths to firsthand observation of the duties of sworn police officers. They participate in squad formation, roll-call and daily briefings and learn about constitutional law, the juvenile justice system, fingerprinting and identification, gang awareness and identification, drug awareness, arson and fire safety, first aid, traffic enforcement and patrol and crime scene first responses.

"We try to make it as interesting as possible and we try to have moving-around activities ... so they get rounded in physical fitness and education," said Detective Kenneth Bongiovanni, who heads the program.

"This gives me an opportunity to get better leadership roles so in the future, if I go into business I know how to run it and deal with people," said high school senior Tristan Davis, who has been involved with the academy for four years. "It helps out with keeping myself focused and disciplined. It definitely won't make me lazy."

To accommodate community service members who may not have terrific grades in school, and therefore may not be considered by top ranking colleges, foundation committee member Gena Davis, Tristan's mother, felt a scholarship was necessary to help offset the costs of college or technical schools. Her other son, Daniel, had decent grades but she said it was difficult to receive financial assistance without being a superior academic student.

"We have a lot of young people who have the heart to volunteer but academically they don't do as well as other people, but that shouldn't stop them from getting funding," she said. "I think all of the community should think about those who volunteer, not just A+ [students]."

North Brunswick is the first municipality in the country to implement such a scholarship foundation. To qualify for the $500-$1,000 awards, participants of the two-week program must maintain a C+ school average, participate in 85 percent of local events attended by the junior academy, such as parades and the Sept. 11 service, and belong to the academy for a minimum of three consecutive years.

"We're trying to motivate our youths and we're trying to make sure we help them out as much as we can when they graduate high school and go on to college," president and trustee Nancy Glover-Warren said.

This year's academy, which is now in its fifth year, will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, from Aug. 13-24 for students in grades six to 12. In the future, the idea of expanding the program to an additional session or a school-year weekend program will be considered.

"I hope the scholarship money goes to college students to further their dreams or goals they want to accomplish and I hope somebody will want to be a cop or someone in law enforcement," said Daniel Davis, a two-year member who now serves as liaison as a student at Somerset Christian College.

The scholarship foundation is a nonprofit, tax-deductible organization. Donations can be sent to The North Brunswick of Middlesex JPA Scholarship Foundation, c/o Rhonda Lyles, 710 Hermann Road, P.O. Box 305, North Brunswick, NJ 08902. A volunteer accountant is also being sought to handle the funds. For more information, contact Davis at (732) 821-2784 or visit www.NJMJPASF.org.