Robert Seavy, who teaches Advanced Placement statistics and calculus at John F. Kennedy High School, claimed the Tecmo Bowl for Tufaro Foundation championship earlier this month.
The real winners of the fundraiser, which benefited our tax-exempt nonprofit, were pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area, who our foundation assists.
Two-time defending tournament champion Rich Maddock, a mathematics teacher at Woodbridge High School, which hosted the event, was dethroned.
Woodbridge Township Public Schools Assistant Superintendent John Bader and Woodbridge High School teacher Brett Hoyer organized the fundraiser, which featured an all-star lineup of participants including Kevin Kane, Michael Jago, Matthew Bader, Michael Essig, Tony Perez, Chris Bergondo and Patrick Blanchard, who came from New York to compete for the title.
A graduate of Arthur L. Johnson High School in Clark and of the College of William & Mary in Virginia, Seavy, who is a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, earned his Master’s in education and teaching certificate from Kean University.
This marked the third straight year that the Tecmo Bowl tournament benefited our nonprofit.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation was established in loving memory of Marisa, who passed away at the age of 13 just over three years ago.
Since its inception on July 30, 2017, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has already made a profound impact, donating more than $130,000 to assist pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
The foundation, which makes community service an integral part of its mission, has also spearheaded multiple initiatives, resulting in the collection of thousands of toys, nonperishable food items, winter coats, baby supplies and other items for donation upon which the nonprofit has placed no monetary value.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has awarded 17 scholarships to graduating seniors from Middlesex County high schools, and has awarded 13 scholarships for elementary and middle school students to attend a weeklong summer art camp at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum.
Marisa, who would have been a junior this year at Edison High School, was born with hypoplastic left-heart syndrome, a complex cardiac defect which required six open-heart surgeries. She developed two life-threatening conditions that necessitated a heart transplant. The transplant was supposed to extend her life, but tragically cut it short when a postoperative complication developed into a rare form of blood cancer to which Marisa succumbed. Despite being hospitalized for more than two years and maintaining hundreds of doctor’s appointments, Marisa, who was an honor roll student in elementary and middle school, lived a vibrant life that inspired.
Playing video games – whether it be on her handheld Nintendo DS or Wii console – provided Marisa with a wonderful diversion through the many illnesses she battled. Marisa would have enjoyed the old-school flavor of the Tecmo Bowl tournament.
Realizing that modern video game systems were not her father’s forte, Marisa graciously indulged her dad, playing Pac-Man and other old-school games with him on an Atari Flashback she received one Christmas.
Marisa enjoyed occasional trips to YESTERcades, visiting locations in Somerville and Red Bank to engage in some old-school gaming, for which she clearly had a penchant. Tecmo Bowl would have been right in her wheelhouse.
Originally introduced in 1987 as an arcade game, Tecmo Bowl soon afterward became the first console game to feature NFL players through a licensing agreement with the league’s players’ association.
Tecmo Bowl teams are named after NFL franchises with each team mimicking the roster of those squads. All teams have an arsenal of four plays. Each team has a different level of effectiveness based on its personnel and play selection.
Woodbridge High School has been among The Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s biggest and most loyal supporters.
The high school fully funds in Marisa’s memory the Woodbridge High School Marisa Tufaro Memorial Scholarship and has donated its facilities and volunteered its staff to host the Greater Middlesex Conference All-Star girls and boys basketball games in 2017 and 2018 with all proceeds from the doubleheader benefiting the foundation. For each of the past two years, Woodbridge has sponsored and orchestrated the Marisa Tufaro Classic, a bowling tournament that collects toys for donation to children’s hospitals during the holiday season and which raises money for our nonprofit. The high school has also donated the entire gate from its football team’s home opener to our foundation each of the past two seasons.
Charity-Temitope Daramola and Jordan Cinelli, both 2018 Woodbridge graduates, were recipients of The Marisa Tufaro Foundation Greater Middlesex Conference Student-Athlete Scholarship and the Marisa Tufaro Memorial Community Service Scholarship, respectively. George Wenson, a 2019 Woodbridge graduate, received our nonprofit’s community service scholarship.