Mr. Lajterman,

Hey this is Joe Hrnciar. Thanks again for annoucing me as the first winner of The Marcelo Lajterman Scholarship.  It is truly an honor to achieve this award.  Attached is a picture of me punting for Dumont High School against Westwood High School.  Next year, as you know, I will be attending the United States Military Academy at West Point.  I look foward to walking-on to the football team as a Punter.  Last two years I have had a 41.1 punt average and half of my punts downed inside the twenty.  But just as importantly I hope to continue to keep up the good grades.  I have a 4.33 final GPA in high school and look to keep up the hard work in the classroom next year.  I want to be in the top quarter of the class at West Point.  I have been working hard to prepare for the road ahead and in four years hope to become an Army Officer for the U.S. Army.  Thanks again for selecting me.

Sincerely,
Joe Hrnciar

Mr.Lajterman-Derek is very honored to be the first recipient of this award and we can't thank you enough as you know this will be a big help towards Derek's college education.Derek is looking forward to meeting you and accepting the award on the 24th of June.

                                                                Thank you again-Lori,Jeff and Derek Lawshe

Derek was a three-year varsity letter winner in football and lacrosse, a two-year letter winner in basketball, and served as the captain of all three sports during his senior year. In football, Derek served as the starting quarterback, punter, and defensive back. He was named 2nd team ALL-STATE Group 2, 1st team ALL CONFERENCE PUNTER, 2nd team ALL CONFERENCE offense, and 2nd team ALL-COUNTY offense. Derek was also voted by the NJ Football Coaches Association to the North 2, Super 100 list, which recognizes the top 100 players in the state as named by NJ coaches. At James Caldwell High School Derek was named the Male Athlete of the Year.

A member of the National Honor Society, Derek ranks 15th in his graduating class and received an academic scholarship to Susquehanna University where he will play football and major in business. Derek’s coach described Derek has having “the unique ability to make the players around him better.” Derek will play in the NJ North-South All-Star football game on June 30th, which highlights the talents of the best high school gridiron players from around the state.