North Brunswick honored Richard Hill and Tony Brown as the 2025 Youth Advocate Award recipients and Mia Monteiro and Jayden Lynch as the 2025 Young Adult Peer Advocate Award recipients at the December 15 Township Council Meeting.

We congratulate and thank Richard, Tony, Mia and Jayden for their service and commitment to the Township community!

Below are the recipients’ biographies.

Richard Hill

Richard is a long-time resident of North Brunswick. He is a devoted father, husband, coach, mentor and community servant who consistently exemplifies integrity, compassion and an unwavering commitment to the youth of North Brunswick. His leadership is grounded in service, and he is widely respected for the positive impact he continues to make across the community.

Over the past four years, he has volunteered his time and grilling expertise to assist the North Brunswick Township Police Department by preparing over 1,000 hamburgers and hot dogs at their annual National Night Out event. His consistent presence, reliability and warm spirit make him a bright and trusted figure in our community and a credible mentor to our Township’s youth and organizations that serve them.

Richard has served as a board member of the North Brunswick Basketball Association for more than ten years and as a Youth Sports Festival Committee Member for over a decade, and a member of the Adams Athletic Club. He has further demonstrated his dedication by serving as the director for snack shack operations at Sabella Park for the Adams AC where he supported countless youth sports events and created a welcoming, family-friendly environment.

For more than 15 years, Richard has dedicated himself to youth development through his work as both a football and basketball coach for multiple teams within the North Brunswick Basketball Association’s Travel Division and Pop Warner’s Youth Under Guidance programs. His influence extends far beyond athletics – he is deeply invested in building character, confidence and life skills in every child he mentors.

Richard is married to his loving wife, Latesha. He is a very proud father of four children, Keon, Keyara, Richard Jr. and Savannah, who have all gone through/are going through the North Brunswick Township School District.

Tony Brown

Tony and his wife, Lorraine moved to North Brunswick in 2005. They have five children, twin daughters, Jada and Justine, Myla, SophieLyn and Noah.

Tony started coaching with the Department of Parks and Recreation in 2006. He coached girls’ basketball for 4 years, including arranging a visit to the Rutgers Women’s Basketball practice to inspire his team’s focus on preparing to play. He then stepped up to also coach 7^th and 8^th grade boys’ Recreation Basketball for 2 years when need, even without a child in the program.

Tony advocates girls’ sports and community engagement, emphasizing the importance of building the pipeline of girls to play sports at the Middle and High School level in town.

Tony has also coached flag football, Mighty Mites and Junior Pee Wee teams for the North Brunswick Indians Football Organization. He served as a volunteer for several years, despite not having a child in the program. Tony has a strong background in competitive football, including two Flag Football World Championship titles. He is an avid NFL enthusiast and is currently pursuing his pilot license.

Tony has been accepted into the New Jersey District 2 Umpire Association and will begin officiating high school baseball games this spring. He also owns a local DJ company and has provided entertainment for many private, school and community events – including the popular “Ice Cream with a Cop” and “National Night Out.”

Mia Monteiro

Mia is a senior at North Brunswick Township High School. She is a group leader in the PUSH, which she has been in since her freshman year. Her group presents and talks with students in grades 3-4 about cybersafe and emotional wellbeing. Since freshman year, she has also been a member of the Key Club and is now president. Mia helps package utensils for Elijah’s Promise, makes cards for children in the hospital as well as collecting cans for the food drive.

Mia is president of the National Honor Society. She volunteers at conferences and aids with the book drive. She also assists with drives for the woman’s shelter and Salvation Army.

Mia has been the Student Representative for the Board of Education for two years. During COVID, Mia, while still in Middle School and in her Freshman year, helped fix up classrooms for a non-profit and held a toy and book drive.

Mia was not only elected to be Student Government President for the 2025-2026 school year but also chosen as the Fall Varsity Cheer Captain. She has received the Outstanding Achievement for Spanish, as well as English. She received AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Scholarship Commended Student and won third place at DECA State Career Development Conference.

Mia is a student who empowers her peers and always shows up for her classmates. She advocates for her peers and is a very active listener when being talked to or when people come up to her with concerns. She is genuine and truly hopes to make a difference in the community. Mia has volunteered over sixty hours each year to different clubs and activities.

Jayden Lynch

Jayden is a senior at North Brunswick Township High School. He cares deeply about the community and understands the importance of giving back and actively seek opportunities to serve others. Jayden is very involved with his church outreach to help the community. He has volunteered at the food pantries organized by the church to feed families in the community with food insecurities.

Jayden is always willing to be available to help his church in whatever outreach they do to help the community is a testament to his compassionate nature and empathy. He enjoys being a part of something bigger.

Jayden, through his journey, has really gained a true sense of purpose and recognizes how fortunate he is.

He has achieved Honor Roll A’s and B’s throughout high school. He was inducted into the National Honor Society and will be graduating in the top 10 percent of the class of 2026. Jayden plays the trumpet and baritone and is a valuable member of the concert band, wind ensemble and marching band.

North Brunswick honored Laura Pelszynski at the December 15 Township Council Meeting on being recognized as the 2025 Middlesex County Volunteer of the Year Award recipient.

With over eight years of dedicated service to the North Brunswick Municipal Alliance, Laura has proudly served as a communicator at key community events such as National Night Out, Heritage Day, Halloween Happenings, Bunny Trail, Memorial Day, September 11^th Ceremony and more. She has helped raise awareness with the Municipal Alliance Committee and engage residents.

Laura also assists with programming that provides vital information and activities to students within the community. She plays an active role in connecting residents from diverse backgrounds and interests, enriching the Alliiance with a broad range of perspectives and fostering an inclusive, well-rounded group collaboratively working toward the betterment of North Brunswick.

Laura has given so much commitment to community service. Her service extends beyond the Municipal Alliance, including, but not limited to, leadership roles as President of the North Brunswick Woman’s Club, active participation in the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and ongoing volunteer work with the North Brunswick Food Bank. Throughout Laura’s volunteer journey, she has been honored with several awards recognizing her contributions, most recently the 2025 Influential Women of North Brunswick Award.

We thank Laura Pelszynski for her tireless volunteer efforts which truly enriches our North Brunswick community!

Congratulations to North Brunswick Deputy Clerk Monica Orlando on being elected as the President of the Middlesex County Clerk’s Association! She will serve in this position for two years.

Monica has more than a decade of experience working in Clerk’s Offices in Middlesex County and we trust she will bring the same passion she has for her job here in the Township to her new role in the Clerk’s Association.  

North Brunswick Business Administrator Justine Progebin had the honor of swearing in Monica and the new Executive Board during their quarterly meeting in Sayreville on Thursday, December 11^th.

North Brunswick Police Captain Brian Hoiberg was sworn in as acting Deputy Chief at the December 1 Township Council Meeting.

“As a third-generation kid growing up in this town, falling in love with the Police Department at an early age and then being able to live out this dream is a whirlwind, it is literally a dream come true,” he said.

Deputy Chief Hoiberg started with the Police Department in 1995, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who were also North Brunswick police officers. He served as a patrolman in the Patrol Division before being assigned to the Detective and Narcotics Bureau in 2000. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2002, Lieutenant in 2005 and Captain in 2012.

Congratulations Deputy Chief Hoiberg!

The holiday season officially kicked off in North Brunswick on Monday, December 1 with the Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Municipal Complex!

Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus arrived from the North Pole to spread holiday cheer!

Great job by the North Brunswick Woman’s Club, NBTHS Choir and Jazz Band!

Special thanks to the North Brunswick Township Parks Division staff, CERT Team, North Brunswick Youth Municipal Alliance, Interact Club of North Brunswick and Girl Scouts!

Help make a child smile this holiday season! Now through December 15th, the North Brunswick Township Police Department will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for local families in need.

Please see the flyer below for further information.

At the November 17 Township Council, the Mayor and Council presented a proclamation to Bristol Myers Squibb, honoring their support for the P.O.W.E.R. (Proactively Orchestrating Ways to Empower and Restore) Youth Mentoring Program.

The Township Council approved a $20,000 grant from Bristol Myers Squibb for the P.O.W.E.R. initiative at the meeting.

Kenneth Freeman, Corporate Security Senior Manager at Bristol Myers Squibb, accepted the proclamation.

“I think the challenges for kids are really difficult so as long as we can we will continue to support the program,” he said.

Freeman was joined by Councilman Alvin Rich, who is a mentor at North Brunswick Township High School, North Brunswick Township Police Detective Adrian Ailey, P.O.W.E.R. facilitator Tangie Cobb and North Brunswick Township High School P.O.W.E.R. coordinator Altagracia Ruiz.

“P.O.W.E.R. is a great program for our school and beyond,” Councilman Rich said. “I look at the young people who entered in P.O.W.E.R. when we first started and looking at them now makes me smile so much just to see all the positive work that is being put in.”

Det. Ailey said that over the course of the program, P.O.W.E.R. has received a total of $75,000 from Bristol Myers Squibb.

The North Brunswick Township Police Department and North Brunswick Township Board of Education have partnered to facilitate the P.O.W.E.R. Initiative components: P.O.W.E.R ‘U’; P.O.W.E.R.: H2H – Hope2Heal and P.O.W.E.R. Afterschool at North Brunswick Township High School and North Brunswick Township Middle School.

The P.O.W.E.R ‘U’ Summer Program supports incoming high school Freshman and the P.O.W.E.R. H2H – Hope2Heal Program is dedicated to student diversion and restoration during the school year, and P.O.W.E.R. Afterschool is a bi-weekly club dedicated to continuous student engagement, leadership practice and community outreach.

Thank you Bristol Myers Squibb for your generous support to this important community program!

Department of Public Works Director Steve Bloyed joins Mayor Francis ‘Mac’ Womack on the podcast. Learn more about Director Bloyed as well as the operations at DPW.

An 8^th grade North Brunswick Township Middle School student was chosen as a top 10 winner out of thousands of entries nationwide in his grade division in a contest sponsored by CelebratingArt.com and Blick Art Materials.

Connor Chan submitted an acrylic painting titled, “Boat on a Beach” which earned him contest honors. His art was in the 6^th grade division as he was in that grade when he did the painting.

“I was not expecting it,” Connor said. “I thought the painting that I had entered in the contest looks better than the ones I sent in the past and was only expecting a high merit win but not the top 10 in the country.”

Art pieces are selected for their creativity, originality, self-expression, craftmanship and skill.

Connor’s dad, Steven, said this was Connor’s third submission to the contest and the last time he received an art of high merit recognition.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal until I saw the press release form letter that came with it,” Steven said. “Then I thought: He did good.”

Connor said his art teacher picked the topic for the contest, showing him some boats to paint.

“From those pictures, I sort of mold it around to see which angle would make it more dynamic and I slowly added more details to make it better,” he said.

Steven said Connor has been taking art classes and they have different mediums. Connor was strictly sketching about three years ago then a year later, his art teacher introduced him to acrylic painting.

Connor said acrylic painting is one of his favorite ways to paint.

“If you make a mistake, you can cover over it while if you do water colors, it tends to blend more and is harder to correct your painting,” he said. “Acrylics’ colors are also brighter colors and don’t fade as much as water colors.”