Mazel tov to Linda Picinic of Montvale, Employee of the Month at the Jewish Home at Rockleigh for June. Picinic, head driver and transportation supervisor at the Gallen Adult Day Health Care Center, has worked at Gallen since 1995 when Adult Day Health Care was in River Vale. Gallen Adult Day Health Care is part of the Jewish Home at Home. The EOM program, recognizing outstanding employees, is funded through an endowment established by Bill Lippman of Fort Lee, a member of the board at JHR, and Debbie and Stuart Himmelfarb of Tenafly, in memory of Bella and Martin Himmelfarb.

Mazel tov to Robert B. Yudin, Bergen County Republican Organization chair, who was recently sworn in as commissioner of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority by Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno. Photo provided

Mazal tov to Phil Ball, who will celebrate his bar mitzvah sheni on June 25 at Temple Sinai of Bergen County in Tenafly. He has been tutored in Torah chanting by Cantor Nitza Amit-Shamah and parashat preparation by Rabbi Jordan Millstein. Bar mitzvah sheni ceremonies are popular when seniors reach their 83rd birthday as a renewal of commitment. Phil became a bar mitzvah in Jersey City in 1941, pictured.

Mazal tov to Steven N. Schwartz, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry and was valedictorian of Stevens Institute of Technology class of 2011. His focus was medicinal chemistry with work on cancer and HIV treatments, and he minored in literature. He received four awards at Stevens as well as the Michaele Lefferman Youth Volunteer of the Year award at his synagogue, Temple Beth Rishon in Wyckoff. Steven will pursue his Ph.D at Columbia University in the fall. He is the son of Lisa and David Schwartz of Wayne, brother of Daniel, and grandson of Carole and Paul Schwartz of Wyckoff.

Mazal tov to Lauren Greene of Teaneck, an early childhood teacher at Yavneh Academy in Paramus, on her graduation from Touro College with a joint master’s degree in early childhood and special education. She is the daughter of Betty and Larry Shusterman of Oceanside, N.Y., and the daughter-in-law of Ronni and Dr. Wallace Greene of Teaneck.

Mazal tov to Amanda Jill Graizel, daughter of Lynne and Bill Graizel of Teaneck, who graduated from American Jewish University last month with a master’s degree in education, a bachelor of literature degree in Hebrew letters, and a certificate in experiential education. She is a 2006 graduate of Clark University and a 2002 graduate of Teaneck High School. She will start her first year as a rabbinic student at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem.

Photo by Lester Vrtiak

Mazal tov to Schenck Scholar Emily Dubon, left, pictured with JCC Thurnauer School of Music director Dorothy Kaplan Roffman. Emily, 13, an Englewood student, received her award at the Music Discovery Partnership’s spring concert on May 15. The partnership is a 13-year collaboration between the Englewood Public School District and the JCC Thurnauer School of Music in Tenafly. The Lillian Pitkin Schenck Fund, managed by PNC Bank, has supported the partnership for several years.

Mazal tov to Ben Porat Yosef second-grader Lital Glickman, left, and first-grader Talia Blaiberg on receiving honorable mention at the Paramus Public Library’s annual Poetry Contest on May 19.