Livingston Teens Give Something Special To A Most Influential Teacher

LIVINGSTON, NJ — When high-achieving students win awards, they're often thankful to their teachers, but it's not often they get to publicly acknowledge their most influential teacher with an award of their own.

Several Livingston teachers have influenced their students' career choices or just made learning more engaging, said seven high-achieving Livingston students in a touching ceremony at a recent Board of Education meeting.

The Livingston High School students who were National Merit Scholar semi-finalists — based on PSAT scores and other work — honored the teacher that had the biggest impact on their life by giving them a book that the said "they felt best represented their relationship."

In the book dedication ceremony, Andrew Quian gave Melissa Pellulo Cardiology for Babies, saying, "She helped me discover my interest in biology, and what I want to do in college and with my life."

Alan Wu gave Deborah Holtzman The Four, saying, "She made my life easier in all subjects and helped me improve my writing skills."

Kush Vaccher gave Gisela Gugger a copy of Don Quixote, saying, "I felt she did an outstanding job of making Spanish language and culture come alive to me."

Other teachers who got awards were:

Teacher Dorine Starace from student Shourya Bansal, Ann Sarasohn from Josh Faber, Ernest Cuneo from Daniel Siegal, and Soukeyna Diop-Tall from Zhiyuan Zang.

Watch the Book Dedication Ceremony in a sweet minute-long video here.

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