SEPTEMBER 2022 FREE
COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
New president takes the reins at MCCC By RebeKah SChroeDer
EHS boys’ soccer team is hoping to build around Robbie Yates, pictured above, who was the high scorer in 2021.
EHS soccer looks to improve By RiCh Fisher
During a rough, one-win season in 2021, the Ewing High boys’ soccer team scored just 12 goals as only four players found the back of the net. But one of those guys is someone a team can build around, as then-sophomore Robbie Yates tallied seven times, with
all but one goal being unassisted. Yates returns as a junior along with numerous other classmates who saw action and endured growing pains last fall. Coach Dave Angebranndt feels the experience can do nothing but help in what he feels will be an improved 2022 campaign. Especially with Yates leading
the way. “When you have a team that’s filled with 15-year-olds who are playing against 18-year-olds, it’s gonna be hard,” said Angebranndt, who enjoyed his highest turnout of players this fall since taking over the program four years ago. “Strength is an issue, See YATES, Page 12
It was during a class teaching writing to college students who were almost the same age as she was that the 21-year-old Deborah Preston discovered not just her calling, but also plenty of use for her theater degree. Although she had changed her career path from acting to academia, the valuable stage skills she learned helped to shape her perspective in numerous leadership positions. Throughout more than 30 years of experience and service, Preston has studied the psychology of others’ motivations and frustrations as if preparing for a character. As she steps into a starring role as Mercer County Community College’s seventh president, she says wants to figure out productive solutions for both the audience and the people behind the curtain. MCCC, which has campuses in West Windsor and Trenton, announced in April that Preston would be succeeding the nearly seven-year term of previous president, Dr. Jianping Wang. After starting on July 1, Preston sat down with U.S. 1 to talk about her background and goals. Prior to accepting the MCCC position, Preston was the provost
Better Health Program
Rediscover your Mind, Body & Spirit in Retirement 609-584-5900 rwjbh.org/hamiltonjoinbetterhealth
and vice president of academic affairs at Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg. She also acted as the chief academic officer throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. According to MCCC, Preston was instrumental in the Access2Success project at RVCC, which “addressed the equity gap for students of color, first-generation students and low-income students” as part of her commitment to the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion. She says she hopes to expand those same practices at MCCC, bringing to the position what she has learned from developing, managing and overseeing a range of initiatives in community colleges. Preston grew up in Georgia, spending most of her life in the south until she attended college and worked in other states. After being employed for 11 years at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, she came to New Jersey for RVCC. “It’s really an interesting migration for me,” Preston says. “I love it here. It’s been a much easier transition than I ever thought it would be.” Preston started out with aspirations of becoming an actress and See PRESTON, Page 8
Academy Dental CHILDREN
& ADULTS
Complete Dentistry for the Whole Family
AcademyDentalNJ.com
Currently Open for Emergency Dental Care See our ad on page 4
1179 NEWARK, NJ