Contests

Edward Lee, a senior at Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, is the Five Star Student Award Winner for May. This outstanding student has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to leadership, service, and empowering others through education, literacy, music, and civic engagement. Edward founded and co-founded multiple youth-led initiatives that have expanded literacy opportunities for elementary students, provided civic education workshops for teens, and made music education more accessible to children throughout Bergen County and beyond. His work includes tutoring Ukrainian students through ENGin, creating the Letter by Letter literacy program, and co-founding Youth Speak NJ to promote civic engagement that provides workshops and newsletters to help teens learn how local government works. Edward leads music outreach programs called Back to Bach and Clexical. These programs have introduced hundreds of children to classical and contemporary music. As President of the Youth Council for the Show Me Your Heart Foundation, he has organized community service projects and helped raise more than $43,000 to support children’s hospitals, refugee families, and arts education. In addition to serving on the National Advisory Board of Yale’s Education Collaboratory, Edward has dedicated countless hours to creating inclusive educational resources that support students with diverse learning needs. Driven by compassion, leadership, and a belief that every young person deserves to feel seen, heard, and valued, he exemplifies the qualities of a Five Star Student. Edward’s unwavering commitment to service and creating meaningful opportunities for others has made a lasting impact on his community and serves as an inspiration to his peers.

CONGRATULATIONS Edward!

Congratulations to Elizabeth Maxwell, a senior at Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest, on being the proud recipient of the Five Star Student Award for December. Elizabeth’s achievements tell the story of a student who turned personal challenge into lasting community impact. She is a community leader whose work spans public health, emergency medicine, education, environmental advocacy, and civic engagement. She transformed her recovery from an eating disorder into a mission to improve youth health education. She founded the Youth Eating Disorder Committee under the New Jersey American Academy of Pediatrics, where she shared her testimony and research with pediatricians, nurses, and school professionals across the state. Through this work, she helped bridge the gap between clinical knowledge and real patient experience, while also empowering adolescents in recovery by giving them a voice and a platform. Her commitment to service extends into emergency medicine, where she serves as an Emergency Medical Responder, completing extensive hours in patient care, training, and equipment inspections. As Co-President of her school’s EMS Club, she helped grow the program into one of the largest student organizations, coordinating CPR and Narcan training to ensure peers are prepared to act in life-threatening situations. Elizabeth is also deeply invested in education and mentorship. She has taught water safety as a head swim coach, guided children and families through environmental education as a Junior Docent at the Bergen County Zoo, and developed mental-health and wellness initiatives reaching hundreds of students. Through peer mentoring, library programming, and youth advisory roles, she consistently creates spaces where young people feel informed, supported, and empowered. Together, Elizabeth’s accomplishments reflect resilience, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to service—demonstrating how one student’s initiative can meaningfully strengthen an entire community.

CONGRATULATIONS Elizabeth!

Ashley Schwartz, a junior at Pascack Hills High School, is the proud recipient of the Five Star Student Award for May 2025. In 2023, Ashley founded and became president of the Make Our School Safe Club (MOSS). MOSS is the first student-led club in New Jersey focused solely on school safety. One of the group's first projects was a color-coded hallway system designed to assist first responders during emergencies. Ashley has worked closely with local law enforcement to launch initiatives like Bronco Buddies, a mentorship program for middle school students developed alongside the DARE/LEAD drug prevention programs to support incoming high school students and foster a stronger sense of community. Additionally, Ashley served as Junior Fire Chief with the Woodcliff Lake Volunteer Fire Department. She is a member of the Youth Advisory Board of NJ4S (New Jersey Statewide Student Support Services), where she advocates for initiatives that promote student mental health. In this role, she has successfully raised awareness and implemented impactful programs at her school. Through fundraising, grants, and donations, Ashley completed her recent project aimed at enhancing physical safety in the school, resulting in the installation of branded privacy film on the windows of the school cafeteria. Ashley is characterized as the kind of student who gives back. She is often recognized as a student who contributes to her community without needing to be asked.

CONGRATULATIONS Ashley!

• The poster must be on standard 22” x 28” poster board. The poster may be illustrated vertically or horizontally.
• The name BERGEN must appear in 4-inch letters (caps) formed in black at the top of the poster.
• The student’s name, teacher’s name, school, and the student’s town must be printed neatly on the back of the poster. Please do not use labels.
• Posters cannot be folded.

The design and content of the poster is at the discretion of the student. Special knowledge or background is not needed. A general guideline would be to depict what makes Bergen County unique. The posters should focus on emphasizing Bergen County’s special qualities such as historical sites, famous places, etc.

All winners will be invited to Law Day on May 1st at 3:00 pm to be recognized and have a photograph taken with the Constitutional Officers.

All 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners, as well as honorable mentions, will receive an award for their participation. The top 20 posters will also be featured in the 2027 County Clerk’s Election Calendar.

Bergen County Clerk’s Office
One Bergen County Plaza, Room 122
Hackensack, NJ 07601

Posters must be received no later than Monday, April 13th.

If you have any questions, please contact Antoinette Colletti at 201-336-7051.

NOTE: All posters become the property of COANJ and the County of Bergen. Submission of the poster grants the Constitutional Officer Association permission to display the poster in a public place.