14 Mar ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO HOSTS ANNUAL ESSEX COUNTY WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION 2024 Althea Gibson Leadership Awards are Presented to Essex County Schools of Technology Students Magwrantz Lubin, Jaylene Cruz and Maya Ratzan and Essex County College Student Samirah Scantling
Published on March 14, 2024
Newark, NJ – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr., hosted the County’s Annual Women’s History Month Program in the Essex County Martin Luther King, Jr. Justice Building on Wednesday, March 13th. The theme of this year’s ceremony is “Students Achieving Today – Our Leaders of Tomorrow.” During the ceremony, 2024 Essex County Althea Gibson Leadership Awards were presented to Jaylene Cruz from the Essex County Donald Payne, Sr. School of Technology, Magwrantz Lubin from Essex County West Caldwell School of Technology, Maya Ratzan from Essex County Newark Tech School of Technology and Samirah Scantling from Essex County College.
“Through their academic achievements and contributions to their local communities, these remarkable young women are on the road to success. Each is unique in their own way, having a profound impact on their schools. Striving for their goals and never letting anything stop them is part of what has driven them to reach the level of success that they have achieved thus far in their lives,” DiVincenzo said. “These young women have made tremendous contributions and are establishing themselves as leaders of our future generations,” he added.
Maya Ratzan, a senior at Essex County Newark Tech, is enrolled in the Allied Health CTE program specializing as a Medical Assistant, is a TEAL student, and has a GPA of 4.657. Ratzan is a member of Student Government, the softball team, and the debate team, president of the Student Council and HOSA Chapter, Captain of the Girls’ Varsity Soccer Team, Captain of the East Side’s Swim Team, and serves as a senior peer mentor to students in the freshman class. Ratzan is on a path to earning her associate degree in liberal arts from Essex County College at the same time as her high school diploma and plans to take the medical assistant certification exam this April. She was raised by a single mother who worked as a nurse practitioner at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She would accompany her mother to work from time to time and, after meeting children battling cancer at the hospital, Maya has made it a goal to pursue a career in nursing. Ratzan volunteers her time in her local parish and hospital, shadowing nurses on their daily routines, supplying rooms and making beds and has accumulated 160 hours of community service by volunteering as a member of the Rapid Response Team and Transport Units at RWJBarnabas Health’s Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. Maya works a part time job as a lifeguard at the YMCA of Montclair, spends her summers working as a Camp Counselor to children with cancer, and has served on several boards with the Victoria Foundation and College Board.
Maya is excited to announce she will be attending DeSales University in September 2024, majoring in Nursing with a minor in Health Communication. Through her experiences, Maya is excited to one day work in an Intensive Care Unit aiding those in need through their recovery process and researching public health issues.
“My mother always told me to be a leader not a follower. I am grateful for the opportunities I received at Newark Tech because it has opened doors for my,” Ratzan said.
Jaylene Cruz is a senior in the Law and Public Safety Program at Essex County Donald M. Payne Sr. School of Technology. Cruz has been recognized on the honor roll on many occasions and serves as a Senior Mentor helping ninth grade students to make their transition to high school easier. She also serves as an Editor of the school’s yearbook. She finds these two activities rewarding as they give her an opportunity to serve as a leader and to give back to the school. Cruz participated in the Rutgers Future Scholars Program for many years and she feels fortunate that she will be able to continue her studies at Rutgers University-Newark tuition free. This opportunity holds a lot of significance for her because she will be the first in her family to attend college. Having the burden of tuition lifted off her shoulders makes the moment even more special, and she is determined to make the best of this opportunity not only for herself but for her family. Family is very important to Jaylene as she is the eldest child in the household and enjoys the time she spends with her two younger siblings. She has decided to pursue a career in the medical field as either a registered nurse specializing in Pediatrics or as a medical technician. One woman who inspires Jaylene every day is her mother who she feels is her backbone and someone who can put a smile on her face every day.
“I am deeply honored to receive this award. I would not be where I am today without my mother. This is another great milestone in my life,” Cruz said.
Magwrantz Lubin is a senior at Essex County West Caldwell Tech. Born to immigrant parents who instilled in her the values of hard work and commitment, she embodies these qualities daily in all aspects of her life. After a traumatizing event occurred within her family, she used that as a catalyst to change her life’s trajectory. She immediately improved her grades from Cs to become an A student and was accepted to West Caldwell Tech. She made the varsity volleyball team as a freshman without previous experience and made second team All-Conference her sophomore year. She also joined the bowling and softball teams, and she won Most Valuable Player Award for softball during her junior year. She maintains straight As in AP courses and has a 4.9 GPA. As a sophomore, she was inducted into the National Honor Society. As a member of DECA, she has won regional competitions and serves as an empowering voice within the school as Co-President of the Black Student Union. While she volunteers distributing socks to homeless individuals and food to seniors in marginalized communities, she still finds time to help her sister who has Down syndrome learn to express herself and she is hoping to get guardianship of her paralyzed older brother to help him obtain better treatment.
“My mother is the reason why I am here today. As an immigrant from Haiti, she show me how to be strong and independent,” Lubin said.
Throughout all she has accomplished, she is forever grateful for the Questbridge program and Colgate University for helping her to obtain a full scholarship to Colgate and a start to her Pre-Med journey without financial debt. Her goal is to become an OBGYN, however, she says her purpose is to give back to her community by hopefully opening a non-profit for deaf, single mothers from low-income communities and those who are physically and mentally impaired. She says her childhood trauma is a scar that has taught her to embrace her confidence and that there is nothing she cannot achieve.
Samirah Scantling is a business administration major at Essex County College while also working at Weichert Realtors in Short Hills as a Certified Residential Property Manager. She came to ECC more than 10 years after graduating high school and often spends time as a tutor in the College’s Learning Center. Serving as the President of ECC’s Alpha Theta Theta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society since Summer 2023, she has been able to lead by example and encourage others. She believes that making an impact on others’ lives is one of the greatest duties she has at ECC.
In her spare time, Scantling serves as a mentor for the Big Brothers Big Sister Program of Union and Essex Counties. She enjoys adventurous activities, and spending quality time with family and friends. She plans to continue her education at the Rutgers University School of Business in the Fall of 2024 to earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration and hopes to open her own Real Estate Brokerage firm toward the end of 2024.
“Thank you for this prestigious recognition. I have honored to be included in this program,” Scantling said.
The invocation was given by Rev. Thurselle Williams of New Hope Baptist Church in East Orange. Choral selections were performed by the Essex County Payne School Choir.
The Annual Essex County Althea Gibson Leadership Awards are dedicated to the memory of the late professional tennis and golf legend, who was the first African American to win the Wimbledon Tennis and U.S. Golf Championships. In 1957, Ms. Gibson became the first African American to win the All-England Championship. That same year she became the first black to be voted by the Associated Press as its Female Athlete of the Year. The Althea Gibson Foundation exposes children in the inner city to the game of tennis and golf, and provides recreational activities for students during the summer.
The Women’s History Month Celebration is part of a year-long cultural series created by County Executive DiVincenzo to highlight the diversity and various ethnic groups in Essex County. Other cultural celebrations are African American Heritage, Irish Heritage, Italian Heritage, Jewish Heritage, Latino Heritage and Portuguese Heritage.