Emily Kolarick and Ben Lepisto were honored as recipients of the third annual Woodbridge High School Marisa Tufaro Memorial Scholarship during an awards ceremony at the high school on Tuesday night.
Woodbridge High School, through its benevolence, fully funds in Marisa’s honor and memory the scholarship, which is awarded to two exceptional college-bound seniors who strive for excellence academically, athletically, or in the arts, who overcame adversity (not limited to medical challenges) and who epitomize the caring spirit that Marisa’s family believes makes the Woodbridge school community special.
Our nonprofit is honored to award the scholarship to two recipients who embody Marisa’s indomitable spirit.
A three-year starter on the varsity softball team and four-year member of the program, Emily captained Woodridge to a 14-8 record and a third-place finish in the Greater Middlesex Conference White Division this season while earning All-Division honors. She batted .387 with two home runs and a team-leading 23 RBI. Emily will continue her studies and softball career at William Patterson University.
During her freshman year at Woodbridge High School, Emily’s beloved father, Thomas “TK” Kolarick, who was a firefighter in the township for 41 years, died in the line of duty. A six-time chief of the fire department who was serving as deputy chief of Protection Fire Company No. 1 of Keasbey at the time of his passing, Thomas was a highly trained firefighter and member of the special operation teams trained in technical rope rescue and trench rescue. His personnel folder is filled with certificates from numerous firefighting schools, including a Green Cross Award for a rescue using the Jaws of Life.
Emily has honored her father through her actions on and off the field. Two years ago, the township officially dedicated the entrance to the Woodbridge Waterfront Park in Keasbey as “Kolarick Way” in Thomas’ honor and memory.
After winning a protracted and grueling battle with brain cancer, Ben last fall made a triumphant return to the soccer field. Ben, who has played soccer for nearly a decade and showed promise four years ago on the high school’s freshman team, worked tirelessly to position himself to return to the pitch following multiple surgeries and after enduring countless rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. Around the same time Ben made his triumphant return to the soccer program, he also was named the high school’s official mascot, known as the Barron, a role in which he was most prevalently seen at football games.
Ben will attend Middlesex County College, where Marisa’s father, Greg, went to school, and where Greg met his wife, Cyndi, during a winter session class.
Our nonprofit is eternally grateful for the support it has received from Woodbridge High School, which has hosted the Greater Middlesex Conference All-Star basketball doubleheader, the Tecmo Bowl for Tufaro and sponsored the Marisa Tufaro Classic bowling tournament as fundraisers. In addition, the school community donated money raised from a Dress Down Day and the entire gate from the football team’s home opener last fall to our foundation.
Countless student-athletes from multiple sports have participated in other events that benefitted our nonprofit. Donations from administrators, faculty, staff, and parents have enabled our foundation to fulfill its mission of helping Middlesex County children in need. In less than two years, our nonprofit has donated more than $75,000 and spearheaded multiple community initiatives, resulting in the collection of thousands of toys, winter coats, baby supplies, nonperishable food and other items.
Woodbridge High School has played an enormous and vital role in that outreach.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation would like to extend its sincere appreciation and deepest gratitude to Schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Zega, the Board of Education, the guidance department, the scholarship selection committee and the faculty and staff of Woodbridge High School, especially Principal Glenn Lottmann.
We wish all of the graduating seniors continued success in their future endeavors and will ask Marisa to watch over them.
We hope the gift Woodbridge High School has given Marisa’s family – which is the ability to keep alive her memory and to honor her legacy through this scholarship – will be returned exponentially.
More than $73,000 in scholarships were awarded to 138 students during Tuesday’s ceremony.