Falcon Life

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MRHS Multicultural Fair!

MRHS Falcon Family!

MRHS Alumni Spotlight!

Dr. Tasnim Zakaria

Dr. Tasnim Zakaria

Dr. Tasnim Zakaria graduated from Manchester Regional in 2013, she completed her undergraduate degree at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ and earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She then went on to Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University for her Doctorate in Optometry degree.

What teachers at the time influenced you in a positive way?

Mrs. Russo was a great influence during my high school years. Knowing I wanted to pursue healthcare, I recognized the importance of my science-based classes and Mrs. Russo would always push me to challenge myself until I mastered each concept. I carried her teaching methods with me throughout my undergraduate and graduate degrees. Mr. Yob was another influencing factor in my four years. He taught me the importance of diversifying my experiences. He was a huge aid in developing my confidence, especially through participating in the morning announcements and open house videos. I have also carried those public speaking and communication skills with me throughout my personal career. He instilled in me the concept of having fun with everything that you do and I am forever grateful to have been surrounded by his positivity during my time at MRHS.

Why Optometry?

During my time in high school, I worked at a local eye doctors' clinic as a medical scribe for the doctor where I gained invaluable experience. I was so intrigued by the variety of systemic conditions related to the eyes including diabetes, high blood pressure, autoimmune and neurological conditions; the medical aspect was very compelling when I realized the job was so much more than just formulating a glasses prescription. One regular Tuesday at work, we diagnosed a patient with cancer just from their eye exam, and that was it for me- I began my application process the next day.

What did you enjoy the most about college life? Any advice to students who are going on to college or maybe exploring a career in the medical field?

Your college years are the most transformative years of your life. You truly gain your independence there and it's the first real step into adulthood. I loved the process of coming into my own and rebranding myself in a way. You can be anybody you want to be when you're starting a new journey and so I took it as an opportunity to construct the best version of myself. My advice to any students exploring a career in the medical field is shadow, shadow, shadow! It is so important to get hands-on experience in the field you are trying to pursue. Also, never say no to an opportunity that comes your way, you never know what will come of it. One small decision can change your entire life, and if it doesn't... at least you have a story to tell.

Sara Ghazaii

Sara Ghazaii graduated from Manchester Regional in 2006 and went on to attend William Paterson University, majoring in Public Relations and Broadcast Journalism. During college, she worked heavily in the Public Relations club and completed four internships by the time she graduated top in her class in 2010. Following graduation, she started at a communications agency in travel and hospitality, running my first media press trip to Thailand at 22 years old. It was the start of a whirlwind career. Since then she has become a well known presence in the field, earning a Vice Presidency position at the PR Council by the age of 28. Currently Sara is living in Staten Island and an associate at Global Communications at Novartis, focused on engagement and channel strategy.

Ozlem Serif

Ozlem Serif graduated from Manchester Regional High School in 2009 and attended Montclair State University where she studied Business Management and graduated with honors in 2013. Ozlem then went on to work on the application development of internal business intelligence systems for the global shipping and logistics company UPS. Ozlem later transitioned to a start-up company, Jet.com, where she worked to build and expand an e-commerce operations and analytics team that managed a catalog of nine million products. Following that, Ozlem served as a Product Manager for one of the core catalog systems, managing a robust team based in New Jersey and Dublin, for the same company. Most recently, Ozlem took on a role as a Lead for Digital Client Experiences with the luxury fashion brand Chanel. Today she manages concurrent projects across the Chanel app, as well as several internal applications used by boutique associates across the country.

RikkiLynn Shields

RikkiLynn Shields graduated from MRHS in 2015. While at MRHS, Shields ran distance on the track and field team under Coach Banta and worked filming and editing for MRHStv with Mr. Yob. After leaving MRHS, she attended Manhattan College in Bronx, NY where she earned a bachelor's degree in English Literature and Religious Studies (‘19). At Manhattan College, Shields ran Division I Cross Country and Track and Field, was the Sports Editor for the school newspaper, worked as a tour guide and yoga instructor through the fitness center, and was the president of Sigma Tau Delta and Theta Alpha Kappa, the National English Honors Society and National Religious Studies Honors Society. After graduating from Manhattan College, Shields continued on to graduate school to pursue her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at Dominican College (‘22). Shields is a member of the Student Physical Therapy Association (SPTA) and is the president of Dominican College’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Class of 2022. She is currently working as a student physical therapist in her first clinical rotation at Franklin Lakes Sport and Spine. Following the completion of her degree in 2022, Shields hopes to work as a Doctor of Physical Therapy in an outpatient setting, and continue her studies in order to receive her Neurologic Specialist Certification.

Svjetlana Tesic

Svjetlana Tesic graduated from Manchester Regional in 2009 and went on to attend Montclair State University, majoring in Jurisprudence with a Business minor. After graduating from Seton Hall University School of Law three years later, she served as a law clerk for the Presiding Judge of the Passaic County Superior Court Family Division. She then joined the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office as an Assistant Prosecutor and has served in three different units while dealing with a variety of indictable offenses in a county with some of the highest crime rates in the state. Now in her fourth year as a prosecutor, she moved up to the Special Victim’s Unit and handles sex crimes, child abuse and molestation, and domestic violence offenses. Early on in her career, she decided she wanted to be the kind of attorney who regularly went to court, trying cases. After becoming exactly that, she feels proud to be fighting for victims each and every day.

Steven Myers

Steven Myers graduated from Manchester Regional in 2005. Since then Steven attended The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), graduating in 2009 with a BA in International Studies and minors in Political Science and Religion in South and Southeast Asia. While at TCNJ Steven was selected in 2008 as a US-Indonesia Scholar and studied at Universitas Gajah Mada.
After graduation from TCNJ Steven spent a year working in East Brunswick before moving to Denver and earning a Master's Degree in International Security at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver in 2012.
From there Steven spent three years working as an analyst at the North American Aerospace Defense Command/US Northern Command (NORAD/USNORTHCOM). In 2015 Steven moved to Washington D.C. to work for the Department of Defense. In that capacity Steven has served rotations on the Joint Staff and in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Missile Defense Policy. Currently, Steven is serving as an Acting-Senior Analyst for Strategic Threats, routinely supporting US government decision makers including the President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as well as senior military commanders and Congress. Steven currently lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Caitlin and our two boys Owen (4) and Andrew (2). He is still an avid baseball fan, and has fond memories of his years pitching for the Falcons.

Emily Butera

Emily Butera graduated from Manchester Regional in 2016 and went on to attend Caldwell University. She double majored in Criminal Justice and Psychology. Emily pursued Criminal Justice because she was inspired by her father, who was a Haledon Firefighter. She too, wanted to be able to give back to the community and help out in any way she could. Emily is the Pompton Lakes’s newest Class II Special Officer. She was sworn in on Wednesday, February 3rd by Mayor Serra and Chief Derek Clark. Emily looks forward to being able to serve and protect the people in her community.

Rbrey Duane "R.D." Singleton

Rbrey Duane "R.D." Singleton is an MRHS alumni (15') who graduated as the Senior of Distinction in his class. While at MRHS, Singleton, a Haledon resident, was a member of the MRHS Mock Trial team lead by Mr. Winkler, an anchor on MRHStv with Mr. Yob and was extremely involved with the student council with Ms. Sager. He was also a co-president of the Youth Leadership for Tomorrow Today with Mrs. Orsita. In this capacity, he and four fellow classmates helped to plan, create and implement the First Place award winning Camp MRHS. After leaving Manchester, he attended Rowan University in Glassboro, where he earned a degree in political science (19'). At Rowan, R.D. served as student body president and co-founded "The S.H.O.P." , an on-campus food pantry to serve students in need of assistance at the university. Singleton is currently a law student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School of Law (22') and works as an assistant law clerk to Judge Michael Antoniewicz, Bergen County Superior Court. R.D. hopes to work as a criminal defense and immigration attorney and traces his interest in the law back to his experiences in mock trial, and A.P. Government during his time as a Falcon. To read more about Rbrey, check out the Rowan Today article below.

https://today.rowan.edu/news/2019/05/a-seat-at-the-table.html

ToniAnn Convertino

ToniAnn Convertino graduated from MRHS in 2014. In early October she was featured on CBS News as the Head Coach for Caldwell University’s eSports Team. ToniAnn is currently working towards an MBA at Caldwell University. During her senior year as an undergraduate at Caldwell, she was the president of the Gamers Club. They hosted two tournaments, one event was Fortnite and 2k and the other one was Call of Duty and FIFA. As interests in eSports increased on campus, the president of the school decided it was a great idea to start an eSports team. Currently, under the leadership of ToniAnn, Caldwell University offers teams for League of Legends, Overwatch, Valorant, and Rocket League. During her first semester she had 23 students on the team between League of Legends and Overwatch. The Overwatch team ended the season 4-2 getting knocked out of the first round of playoffs. Good luck to ToniAnn and the Caldwell team!

Isaiah Sparkes

Image taken from www.nj.com (link below). Isaiah is featured in the center of the back row.

Alumnus Isaiah Sparkes was featured prominently in the news for making a great impression during his first year at West Point and for being an upstanding member of the community of Paterson as well as model for his peers.

See link to article below:

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/paterson-press/2020/09/22/west-point-cadet-isaiah-sparkes-his-journey-paterson-nj-4th-ward/5864522002/