People

Princeton Day School junior Erika Fritz of Skillman is one of five high school students nationwide named Grand Prize Winners in a Public Broadcasting Service “Power of Art” writing contest. Erika’s essay “Red Lipstick,” based on the Norman Rockwell painting Girl at Mirror, was written in September as her opening writing assignment for PDS Upper School English teacher Barbara Walker’s Art in Literature class. The essay was chosen from entries sent by students throughout the country to Thirteen/WNET in New York City. Ms. Walker had asked her students to “describe how a work of art has had power in your life.” The essay focused on the Rockwell image of a young girl gazing into a mirror with an open fashion magazine on her lap. As a Grand Prize Winner, Erika will receive airfare and accommodations for a three-day visit to Washington, D.C., including a special award luncheon and tour of the National Gallery, as well as Simon Schama’s Power of Art companion book, personally inscribed by the author, a DVD set of the public television series, and a one-year membership in her local PBS station.

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Army 2nd Lt. Danny Z. Zhu, son of James Zhu and Kathy Tang of Princeton Junction and a 2002 graduate of West Windsor Plainsboro High School South, has been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army after successfully completing the Army ROTC program and graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Rochester Institute of Technology, N.Y. He will be transferred to a specific corps in the Army to serve on active duty or in the National Guard or Reserve. He also earned a master’s degree from Rochester Institute of Technology and graduated with high honors in the engineering program as a member of Alpha Sigma Lambda and Golden Key Honor Society. He was a distinguished military graduate in the top 10 percent of the cadets in the nation.

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Marine Corps Capt. Justin T. Miller, a 1998 graduate of Princeton High School, has received the Lieutenant General John A. Lejeune Award for Inspirational Leadership while serving as the officer in charge assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron 373, San Diego. Mr. Miller led the support to combat operations in the Western Al Anbar province of Iraq, which contributed to the successful completion of two helicopter landing zone matting projects significantly enhancing the safety and capacity of the airfield. Under his supervision, marines successfully dispensed more than 1.2 million gallons of fuel to move more than 4,000 aircraft and conducted more than 150 counter-improvised explosive device missions, keeping critical supply routes safe for coalition convoys. He joined the Marine Corps in December 2002.

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