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Business Partners of the Year: Middlesex County
2010—Raymond McAnally
At the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools School of Performing Arts, Raymond McAnally has performed in Tarcraft, directed a Senior Showcase, shot and performed in educational videos and conducted yearly workshops on the business of acting, dialects and auditions. For the past six years, he has been a member of the Business Advisory Committee. Mr. McAnally is an award-winning professional actor working in television, film, theater and commercials. His television and film credits include 30 Rock, Nurse Jackie, Boardwalk Empire, The Guiding Light and Ghost Town. He has toured the country performing the Broadway one-man show Defending the Caveman and has appeared off-Broadway and at TONY award-winning regional theatres. He holds an MFA in Acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and a BA from Sewanee, The University of the South, in Tennessee.
2009—JFK Medical Center
The 2009 recipient of the Middlesex County Business Partnership award is JFK Medical Center. Sara Lazarus BSN, RN-BC, clinical educator for the facility, supports and coordinates all clinical site activities for the students in the Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences program. JFK Medical Center partners with the Academy to provide students with the opportunity to extend their educational instruction into an actual clinical observational experience. Thus far, twenty-five students have benefited from this experience. The relationship between JFK Medical Center and the Middlesex County Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences is extremely beneficial as it further assists in satisfying the clinical hours and career shadowing requirements of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey for college credit. The relationship with JFK Medical Center has grown over the past two years. Ms. Lazarus has been instrumental in creating a program that is valuable to students seeking a career in medicine. She has practiced as a registered nurse in several clinical areas throughout the United States. As an educator within the Solaris Health Care System she was eager to share her knowledge with the students and identified the importance of the clinical partnership between facilities. She is a dedicated member of the Business Advisory Committee.
2008—Galaxy II
Earl Creighton is a 1967 machine shop graduate of Middlesex County Vocational and Technical School who has employed students from his alma mater every year for the past 20 years. Mr. Creighton, an active supporter and life-long advocate of vocational education, owns a successful machine shop business, Galaxy II. The New Brunswick shop provides services to both small and large companies including those from the pharmaceutical, electronics and fiber-optic industry sectors. Mr. Creighton is also an active member of the school's Business Advisory Committee.
2007—Stelton Cabinets
Robert Aiello is the owner of Stelton Cabinets, a family business started by his grandfather, father and uncle in 1945. After graduating from high school in 1970, Mr. Aiello entered Fairleigh Dickinson University to study dentistry. To earn extra money for tuition, he used his inherited skills as a craftsman to do side jobs for his professors, many of whom wondered why he didn't own his own carpentry business. Following the death of his uncle, the last living owner of the family business, Mr. Aiello took over the operation of Stelton Cabinets in 1974, turning to the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools for trainees in carpentry and cabinet making. Knowing that the vocational school would give him students who would be well-trained, apprentice-level employees, Mr. Aiello has continually employed at least one graduate or one student from the Middlesex County Vocational Schools cooperative education program for the past 33 years.
2006—STS Tire & Auto Center
Since 1990, STS Tire & Auto Center has been a key source of employment for our automotive students. Originally, STS requested experienced auto mechanics. After explaining the co-op program, they decided to take on a student. Since then, STS has hired more than 20 students. They recognized Middlesex Vocational and Technical students to be well-trained in the area of general auto maintenance and felt they could professionally develop our students into the auto mechanics needed for their company. The company's representatives have taken time from their busy schedules to speak to students on career day, participate in job fairs and attend advisory meetings and Cooperative Education dinners. STS has been presented with the district's Cooperative Education Award for active and continuous support of vocational education. Annually, STS honors exceptional students in automotive programs from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania with the Jack Apgar Award, a plaque and a monetary award.