By: Richard L. Smith
As October closed and the second month of the school year wrapped at Rita L. Owens STEAM Academy, four seniors are showing exactly what it means to build excellence from the first day of ninth grade. 
I sat down and learned that Schebny Bellenton, Steve Antoine, Miriam Lala, and Karon Williams have amassed honors, undertaken demanding coursework, and exemplified the quiet persistence that’s shaping the school’s inaugural graduating class.
Yup, Principal Tyisha Bennett has watched their growth up close.
She still reminds students, sometimes right in the gym during lunch, that academics come first, effort matters, and recognition is earned.
“These four have set the tone since freshman year,” Bennett said. “They give 100 percent, stay humble, and let their actions speak.”
Schebny Bellenton
A first-generation college-bound student, leaned into the school’s rigor after a slow start and found his stride by sophomore year.
Encouraged by his counselor, he applied for and won a competitive scholarship last spring after submitting an essay, participating in a virtual interview, and completing a final in-person round.
“I want to make my family proud,” he said. “I’ve learned to push through tougher classes, sharpen my study habits, and keep my integrity. Engineering hooked me when I tried to rebuild a broken toy as a kid, I’ve wanted to create useful things ever since.”
Steve Antoine knows what it takes to climb. 
A former multi-sport athlete and three-year student council president, he stepped back from athletics to focus on academics, turning late nights of practice into late nights of studying.
“I wasn’t the fastest learner,” he said, “so I out-worked it.” He still laughs about bombing a geometry quiz as a sophomore, then studying, retaking it, and earning a perfect score.
“That taught me what discipline can do.” Steve hopes to pursue aerospace engineering, driven by a childhood fascination with flight and a dream of building something that goes beyond our current limits.
For Miriam Lala, excellence began with belief. Navigating a language barrier while mastering advanced work, she built momentum year by year through office-hour conversations, after-school help, and steady confidence. 
“Challenging material doesn’t scare me anymore,” she said. “What matters is growth.”
Principal Bennett recalls highlighting Miriam’s strong eighth-grade state scores, even with a long-term substitute, and telling her, as a quiet freshman among big personalities, that she’d be in the race for top honors.
Miriam plans an engineering path and says the most meaningful part of the journey is knowing she pushed herself.
Karon Williams is proof that talent plus honesty about your weaknesses leads to real change. 
On paper, he looked strong from the start; in practice, he had to tackle procrastination.
He did—by taking on heavier math and science and learning to manage the workload.
“AP Calculus, physics, chemistry… there’s no hiding,” he said. “Those classes forced me to plan and finish what I start.”
Karon is aiming for mechanical engineering and credits the Academy for immersing him in design thinking and the engineering process.
Their academic trail is no accident. As a STEAM school, Rita L. Owens layered in Project Lead The Way engineering courses from freshman year, then ramped up with college-level work: an NJIT-approved precalculus course taught by a district teacher, and junior-year ELC-115 Electrical Circuits through Essex County College.
The team also fought through the statewide post-COVID teacher shortage to secure the sciences that anchor engineering, biology, chemistry, and, critically, physics.
Senior year now includes AP Calculus and advanced engineering in manufacturing and automation.
Along the way, culture took root.
Bennett’s “actions over words” mantra shows up everywhere, from a friendly but fierce academic bowl between grades (where the freshmen nearly shocked the sophomores thanks to Schebny’s late buzz-in blitz) to the cyclical academic celebrations that lift scholarship as visibly as sports.
“We only honored four scholars out of seventy-five this time because recognition should be earned,” Bennett said. “That’s how you build confidence the right way.”
This feature is the October installment of RLS Media’s ongoing Road to Graduation series, following Rita L. Owens STEAM Academy’s founding senior class through their historic first commencement.
Under the leadership of Irvington Township Superintendent Dr. April Vauss, the series highlights steady gains in rigor, student voice, and post-secondary readiness. These four seniors–two headed toward aerospace, two toward mechanical–are the proof point.
“I’m ready for the next level,” Schebny said. Steve nodded: “Give your best shot every time.” Miriam added, “Growth is the goal.”
And Karon smiled: “No more procrastinating—just progress.”