As we count down to a new year, the Mount Laurel Sun looks back at the top stories of 2025.
An historic council
At the first township council meeting of 2025, Nikitas Moustakas was sworn in as mayor by Assemblywoman Carol Murphy (left), and the First Lady of New Jersey, Tammy Murphy.
Township council swore in a new mayor and deputy mayor and welcomed a new councilwoman at its reorganization meeting on Jan. 3.
And for the first time in Mount Laurel history, members Kareem Pritchett, Silvia Catalan-Culnan, Fozia Janjua and Nikitas Moustakas represent Black, Hispanic, South Asian and Greek ethnicities on council.
Catalan-Culnan won her seat in November of 2024, making her the township’s first Latina council member. Moustakas and Janjua were reelected in November, and the former – who was deputy mayor last year – was unanimously voted mayor by members. Councilman Stephen Steglik was named deputy mayor.
Assemblywoman Carol Murphy administered the oath of office to Moustakas, Catalan-Culnan and Janjua, while state Sen. Troy Singleton swore in Steglik. Tammy Murphy, New Jersey’s first lady, was on hand to deliver remarks.
“I would like to thank the residents of Mount Laurel for trusting me with another term as council member, and my colleagues up here, for the opportunity to serve as mayor for 2025,” Moustakas said. “I am so proud of the progress township council has made over the past four years, and we will continue to push forward policies that improve infrastructure; help our local economy and businesses thrive; and bring leadership that is transparent, thoughtful, and community driven.
“… Working together with Deputy Mayor Stephen Steglik and township council members,” Moustakas added, “we will continue to provide leadership that works for everyone, grow our town’s economy and bring events together to celebrate everyone.”
“I’m looking forward to joining this team on council,” Catalan-Culnan noted. “To the people of Mount Laurel, thank you for your trust in electing me to the township council. We are one community, one Mount Laurel, with the same hopes, dreams and ambitions to have a safe, affordable, and clean community where we can all raise our families.”
Student achievement
Krithik Alluri’s project won top honors at the 2024 Congressional App Challenge. He is a student at Lenape High School.
Krithik Alluri, a Lenape High School junior, was named in April the winner of Sen. Andy Kim’s 2024 Congressional App Challenge.
The contest launched in May of that year and ran through October. It is an initiative of Congress, whose members host competitions in their districts for middle- and high-school students, encouraging them to learn code and pursue careers in computer science.
The challenge also emphasizes the critical importance of STEM education in today’s rapidly evolving world. Each member of Congress selects a winning app from their district and each winning team is invited to showcase its work to legislators during the annual #HouseOfCode festival, held in early April in Washington, D.C.
Alluri decided to focus his project, called Neurowheel, on a method to assist individuals with severe motor impairments or paralysis.
“My inspiration for creating this app came from a personal experience, as my grandfather suffered an intra-cranial hemorrhage, which caused a hemorrhagic stroke,” he explained. “From the stories I’ve heard about him, his stroke significantly affected his mobility, and learning about his condition piqued my interest in the subject, sparking my desire to help others facing similar challenges.
“Although I never met him,” Alluri noted of his grandfather, “his experience pushed me to find solutions for people with physical disabilities who struggle with independence and basic mobility. Neurological issues like strokes, ALS and other neuro-muscular disorders leave people dependent on others or on very expensive medical devices for mobility.”
Lenape’s principal visionary
Lenape High School Principal Tony Cattani was honored by the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association (NJPSA) as its Visionary Principal of the Year in October.
The National Association of Secondary School Principals named Lenape High’s Tony Cattani one of its 2025–’26 principals of the year in July.
For the association’s principal of the year program, each of the 50 states; Washington, D.C.; the U.S. Department of State Office of Overseas Schools; and the Department of Defense Education Activity select one middle- and one high-school principal to represent their state or department. From there, three in each category are chosen.
Cattani – one of only three finalists at the high-school level – was credited by the association with combatting chronic absenteeism, creating a culture where staff learn from one another and exemplifying the best in educational leadership.
“I’m incredibly honored to be recognized alongside such impactful school leaders from across the country,” Cattani noted in May when he was announced as a finalist. “This recognition is a reflection of the entire Lenape community: our dedicated staff, committed students and supportive families.”
Cattani has been principal at Lenape for 18 years and has been recognized for his role in developing a positive and inclusive school culture where students and staff feel valued and supported. He has championed professional collaboration, encouraging teachers to learn from each other through more than 3,000 peer observations and ongoing conversations known as Collegiality Cafes.
Cattani has also helped shape Lenape High into a welcoming and inclusive environment for both students and staff by emphasizing issues like strong relationships, school spirit and a commitment to growth, according to the association.
The principal’s motto – “Lenape Pride” – is well-known in the school district, where Cattani has developed signature events like Red Pride Fridays, the Lenape Leadership Academy and Unified Athletics. He and his staff have also worked for 12 years with the Anti-Defamation League, with the result that Lenape has been a No Place for Hate School since 2013.
The announcement of Cattani’s award came at a gala celebration in Seattle on July 9 that kicked off UNITED, the annual National Conference on School Leadership that is held jointly with the National Association of Elementary School Principals and brings together thousands of school leaders to learn from one another.
“I believe deeply in the power of collaboration,” Cattani explained, “and I’m proud of how we’ve built a school culture centered on putting students first.”
