High Tech’s Hank Portney and Sophia Velasquez to Attend the 2016 Governor’s School of New Jersey

(Trenton, NJ—April 11, 2016) High Tech’s Hank Portney of Jersey City and Bayonne resident Sophia Velasquez will attend the Governor’s School of Engineering & Technology and the Governor’s School in the Sciences, respectively, this summer, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech High School.

Students who apply to the Governor’s School of New Jersey must maintain an impressive GPA and stellar grades in math and the sciences, must have earned exceptional PSAT and SAT scores, and must possess a strong desire to perform research in STEM fields. 

The High Tech Science Department reviewed applications from its upperclassmen and recommended Portney and Velasquez after the Science Department determined that the pair had met the aforementioned nomination requirements for the Governor’s School of new Jersey.  The Governor’s School of New Jersey reviews approximately 600 to 800 applications from nominees. 

Of the nominees, the best and brightest young scholars, fewer than 25% receive acceptance letters, making admission to the Governor’s School of New Jersey a very competitive process indeed.

Portney will attend the Governor’s School of Engineering & Technology at Rutgers University in New Brunswick and Velasquez will attend the Governor’s School in the Sciences at Drew University this July for four weeks and three weeks, respectively.

Established in 1983, the Governor’s School of New Jersey offers a tuition-free, summer residential for high-achieving high school students who possess an interest in STEM fields.  Currently, only two programs, the Governor’s School in the Sciences and the Governor’s School of Engineering & Technology, exist.  These programs attract New Jersey students from diverse economic backgrounds who have completed their junior year in any public or private high school or have been home-schooled.  The students receive hands-on research experience geared toward inspiring young scholars to major in STEM fields in college.


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