Newton HS Hall of Fame inducts one team, five individuals

By Debra-Ann Kretschmer
ANDOVER — Newton High School's 1985 championship baseball team was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame on Sunday evening at a gala ceremony at Perona Farms in Andover, as were the team's head coach Bob Melillo, teachers Helen M. Heckman, Michael J. Filipowski and Richard Graham and scholar-athlete Suzanne Lynn Seplow,
Melillo, head coach of the baseball team from 1979 to 2002, including the 1985 champions, called the induction "a great honor."
“I think it’s fantastic," Melillo said. "This high school is a special place no doubt about it. This is a close knit community. I taught at the high school for 31 years. I ran the Pride Foundation for 10 years. So, to me it’s a great honor."
Melillo had 353 wins as Newton baseball coach and his teams won 5 league championships 1979. 1985, 1992, 1996, 2001, four Group 2 sectional championships, played in three state finals and took the Group 2 state championship in 1985. Melillo was inducted into Sussex County Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. Several members of the 1985 team were also in attendance.
Heckman taught at the high school from 2000 to 2016. Four times she was a nominee for the Governor’s Teacher of the Year Award. She is the parent and step-parent of nine Newwton High School graduates, and an active supporter of the school's sports programs, as well as the chorus and the theater programs. She is also a co-founder of the Newton Pride Foundation, the non-profit group that created the Hall of Fame.
"Humbled! Totally humbled is what I am," Heckman said. "I helped start the foundation many years ago when we started the Hall of Fame. I am so overwhelmed to be an inductee and even to be remotely considered. I taught at Newton High School for 16 years, so I wasn’t really expecting it until they called me. Many of the children who graduated from Newton are here tonight to see me get the award!”
The Newton Pride Foundation, a 501(3C) organization, was formed in 1994 to support education programs, projects and strengthen the community in the district. Since the foundation operates independently it raises money through fundraisers and charitable contributions. The foundation has furnished a state of the art fitness center and provided the music department with a new sound system. It also awards two $1,000 scholarships each year to students who embody the ideal of Newton pride.
Filipowski was a Language Arts teacher at the high school from 1977 to 2006. He is a founder member and the of the Hall of Fame and the Gus Rampone Memorial Scholarship.
“This is probably the greatest honor of my life," he said. "I was born in Newton Hospital, went to Andover schools, then Newton High School and came back to teach. So to be recognized by the very place you started at is pretty amazing. Then when I heard about it, I said really? I taught for 33 years in the Newton District. This evening is more of a celebration of Newton High School than it is about individuals.“
Graham was an educator at Newton High School from 1980 to 2011 in Special Education and Social Studies. He started the Special Education In-Class Support Program. From 2000 to 2011 he held the position of Social Studies Department Chairperson/Building Coordinator and in 2001 won the Teacher of the Year in the Governor’s Teacher Recognition Program. He was the high school's Athletic Director, 1985-86, and held various coaching positions in football, track and baseball. Graham was president and a trustee of the Newton Pride Foundation from 1997 to 2007.
Seplow, from the class of 1983, was fourth jin her class acsademically, while playing all 12 seasons in the three sports of field hockey, basketball, and softball. She was class president in her freshman and junior years. She won the Newton Coaches and MVP awards in basketball and went on to other accolades in college and coaching.
“Newton has a special place in my heart," Seplow said. "So, this is very meaningful to me."