Vernon students win acting awards in state competition

VERNON n Think of it as New Jersey’s Oscars. Or New Jersey’s Oscars for student actors. And, when you do, take note that a group of talented teens from Vernon High School took home top honors. Sophomore Luka Dragutinovic is the winner of this year’s Governor’s Award as Best Actor. He earned it for his performance in a scene from David Ives’ “Babel’s in Arms” at the Speech and Theatre Association of NJ’s competition held recently at Rutgers University. This piece also placed fourth in the Group Scene category and included other Vernon theatre students Brandon O’Dell, Madeline Venskus, David Grice and Katie Glowacki. In the Dramatic Pairs category, Chelsea Imbimbo and Alyssa Morrissey were finalists with their performance from Lillian Hellman’s “The Children’s Hour.” This annual theater competition is sponsored by the Governor’s Awards in Arts Education. Theater teacher Barri Weinstein is rightly proud of Vernon’s theater students and the excellence they exhibit in their performance work. She will be in attendance on May 21, when Luka receives his Governor’s Award at the ceremony in Trenton.