Landmark Education graduate Marie Ortega-Nanos created Rock Cafe, a concert designed as a drug and alcohol free event for high school students. The concert was held in West Windsor, New Jersey in Octorber. Ortega-Nanos undertook the project last fall as her project in Landmark Education’s Self-Expression and Leadership program. Her inspiration for the project came from a similar event held at her local YMCA years ago.

There were many hurdles along to way holding the event. The West Windsor Recreation Committee was initially enthusiastic about the project, and said that they would fund it, but after Ortega-Nanos got many of the bands in place, the committee told her that the proposed date was too soon for them. Undaunted, Nanos set about holding the event anyway and raising funds for it from friends and local businesses. When the committee saw that she was going through with the event at the initial date, they jumped back on board and gave her the rest of the required funding.

The event was held at the West Windsor Fire House, and featured many local bands who supported the project enthusiastically. The event will be held again this fall, and is turning into an annual event for high school students in West Windsor. The first concert was written about by the largest newspaper in West Windsor. Here is the story.

West Windsor & Plainsboro News

Rock Cafe 2007

Marie Ortega-Nanos organized Rock Cafe, a rock concert to promote alcohol free and drug free activity for West Windsor-Plainsboro high school students, On Saturday, October 20, at the West Windsor Firehouse on South Mill Road in West Windsor. “I noticed that there really were not many community activites geared towards the high school age grup, as most of the activities in town target the younger and the older age grups,” she says. “I wanted to do something that would get the community and the older youth together to do something fun while simultaneously supporting healthy principles and values.”

Born in the Philippines, Ortega-Nanos moved to the United States in 1976. She has a master’s degree in biology and works in cancer research for a pharmaceutical company. She and her husband, Steven Nanos, an engineer in Bloomifield, moved from New York City to the area in 1989, and have lived in West Windsor since 1991. They have two sons, Sccott, High School North, Class of 2005, and Sean, a sophomore at High School North.

Scott was the one who suggested the idea of an alcohol free and drug free concert. To get the poject going, Ortega-Nanos enlisted the leadership of Danielle Docheff and Ross Berman, High School North, Class of 2007, to promote and market the event. Docheff designed the flyer and they both distributed copies around the community.

“I personally had never before developed any kind of comminty porject, or be involved in one, but have long wanted to do something involving the young adults in the community that is fun and at the same time supports these values,” she says.

During the event volunteer firemen provided support and assisted with security. Tom Seeland, a sound engineer, set up the stage and lighting. “The community pitched in to get the necessary funds to make the event happen,” she says.

“Many parent volunteers also helped out throughout the evening,” she says. “What really amazed me was how much interest and support we received from everyone involved to put this event on again and make it an ongoing activity.”