Twelve Vineland Public Schools elementary and middle school students were honored on May 17 as "Giraffe Heroes" for "having big hearts, sticking their necks out to help others, and for being persistent in pursuing their goals."

The 19th annual ceremony was held at the Landis Administrative Offices. Parents and other family members of the "Giraffe Heroes," along with staff members from each of the schools, attended. Host and presenter was Deana Ridolfo, Supervisor of Guidance, Testing, Homeless and School Transitions.

This year’s recipients included: Carlina Castellini from Mennies Elementary School, Nathalie Ramos from Sabater Elementary School, Magnolia Jacobs from Barse Elementary School, Ethan Wardell from Rossi Elementary School, Haley Anderson from Petway Elementary School, Tristan Santcyr from Winslow Elementary School, Melvin Torres from D’Ippolito Elementary School, Juan Cruz Matias from Durand Elementary School, Aniyah Gonzalez from Johnstone/AMSA Middle School, Cara Farside from Veterans Memorial Middle School, Dominick Merritt from Sgt. Pilla Middle School, and Adam Giocondo from Wallace Middle School.

The "Giraffe Hero Project" is a district character education initiative. Vineland's elementary and middle school counselors visit classrooms and conduct "Giraffe" lessons, with the goal of inspiring students to use the giraffe metaphor to be courageous and stick their necks out for the common good; to be caring and big of heart; to be helpful when they see a problem; and to persist until the problem is solved.

Ridolfo said the elementary and middle schools all have a character education program, and these awards are the result of students who go above and beyond the expected good behavior. The program encourages the students to "stick their neck out", to work towards a common goal, and look out for their classmates.

At the ceremony, guidance counselors, teachers and administrators from each of the schools read a short narrative about the student selected for the award while proud parents and family members listened attentively. All the winners were described as well-behaved and helpful in class, attentive to the needs of others, showed a willingness to accept responsibility, and contributed to their community with volunteerism in a broad range of school and community activities.

Elementary school students received a certificate of recognition and a stuffed giraffe from Ridolfo and Roselyn Feliciano, Wallace Middle School Principal. Middle school students received a certificate and a plaque.

The ceremony was recorded by VPS Broadcasting and will be available on our YouTube channel, VLDSchoolsTV, soon.

Please click the following link to read the narratives for each student: https://bit.ly/43aWYgg