Sussex Tech celebrates $25,000 award as competition for $1 million field renovation continues
SPARTA TOWNSHIP, N.J. (Sussex County) — Sussex County Technical School celebrated a $25,000 award from T-Mobile this past weekend as the school’s football program continues competing for a chance to win a $1 million athletic field renovation.
The Mustangs are New Jersey’s only finalist in T-Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights competition, which offers high schools across the country an opportunity to receive funding for improvements to their athletic facilities.
As of Monday morning, Oct. 19, Sussex Tech ranked second in the competition’s East Division with 39,638 votes, trailing first-place Buffalo Gap High School in Swoope, Virginia, which had 41,936 votes.
On Saturday, Oct. 17, T-Mobile representatives were scheduled to present Sussex Tech with a $25,000 check during the school’s home football game against Kittatinny. The celebration included free admission, games and family activities, with supporters encouraged to wear pink and rally behind the Mustangs.
The weekend’s activities also included plans for an unusual effort to generate support for the school. On Sunday, Oct. 18, a Sussex Tech teacher known as Chef T was scheduled to go skydiving at Sussex County Airport to encourage more people to participate in the online voting competition.
The planned skydive was intended to build excitement around the school’s bid for a major renovation of its aging athletic facilities. It was not immediately clear whether the jump took place as scheduled.
According to the school, Sussex Tech’s athletic facilities date back to the 1970s and include outdated goalposts, a broken scoreboard and no field lighting.
Without lights, the Mustangs are unable to host traditional Friday night football games and instead play their home games on Saturday afternoons.
Sussex Tech has already earned $30,000 through the T-Mobile competition, including the $25,000 award associated with Saturday’s celebration.
The school is now one of 10 schools in the competition’s East Division vying for a $250,000 award and a spot among the final four schools competing for the $1 million field renovation.
Community members can support Sussex Tech by casting one free vote each day through Sunday, Oct. 25.
Voting is available at https://fn5gl.t-mobile.com/vote/sussex-county-technical-school.
School officials hope the community’s support will help the Mustangs advance in the competition and secure funding to modernize the athletic facilities for current and future students.
