West Orange High School senior receives Unsung Hero Award

WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange High School senior Desiree Rivera received the Essex County School Boards Association Unsung Hero/Heroine Student Recognition Award at a ceremony held at Liberty Middle School on March 15.

The recognition is open to students in Essex County high schools who make outstanding contributions to their schools and communities but who may often be overlooked by traditional student recognition guidelines.

This year’s event, the ECSBA’s second, recognized 30 students from high schools across the county.

“West Orange High School’s honoree this year is Desiree Rivera. Desiree exemplifies what the program is about. She is humble, selfless, motivated and hard working,” ECSBA President Sandra Mordecai, who is also a member of the West Orange Board of Education, said. “She has made outstanding contributions to our schools and community, while maintaining good grades and working to help take care of her family.”

“I wanted you all to know how impressed I am with Desiree’s integrity, strength, determination and resiliency,” WOHS Principal Hayden Moore said.

Moore described how Rivera’s mother died when she was 10 and her brother was 2; they were subsequently raised by their grandmother. She attended the Institute for Math and Science and is one of the high school’s top AP art students, even showing her work with 13 other AP art students at the West Orange Arts Center this past March.

Rivera raised the funds for a permanent art installation to honor her friend Nikhil Badlani, securing the location and the artists. She created all the artwork for the March 14 walkout at West Orange High School honoring the victims of the Parkland, Fla., shooting. She helps to support her family, working at least 20 hours per week, and finds time to be involved in school activities. Currently she prepares the costumes and props for the boys’ step team and is the costume coordinator for the drama department.

“She has overcome difficult personal challenges, modeled good citizenship, and has exhibited a spirit and quiet strength that will inspire her peers and others for some time to come,” Mordecai said. “It was a very proud moment for us all. Desiree Rivera is the epitome of a West Orange Mountaineer.”

  Essex County School Boards Association, FEATURED, Liberty Middle School, Nikhil Badlani Foundation, West Orange Arts Council and Arts Center, West Orange Board of Education, West Orange High School