{"id":376631,"date":"2026-10-19T04:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T04:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/376631\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T04:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T04:22:11","slug":"new-jersey-teacher-skydives-to-gain-votes-for-sussex-techs-field-renovation-bid-nbc-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/376631\/","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey teacher skydives to gain votes for Sussex Tech\u2019s field renovation bid \u2013 NBC New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Jersey culinary arts teacher Neil Trimper jumped from 14,500 feet at Sussex County Airport to rally votes for Sussex County Technical School in T-Mobile\u2019s Friday Night 5G Lights competition \u2014 an effort supporters say could lead to a major renovation of the school\u2019s athletic facilities.<\/p>\n

Sussex County Technical School is one of 10 schools competing for the East Region\u2019s $250,000 prize, and a regional win would advance the Mustangs to the final four with a chance at a $1 million football field renovation, according to the school’s football board.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Trimper, known to students as \u201cChef T,\u201d made the jump Sunday at Sussex County Airport, wearing T-Mobile pink and using a matching pink parachute, the press release said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a text like two weeks ago. ‘Hey, you want to jump out of a plane?’ And it was 8:30 in the morning I believe. And I was teaching kids,\u201d Trimper said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019m like ‘what would you guys do?’ And my students are like ‘go for it, Chef,\u201d Trimper said.<\/p>\n

Supporters say the stakes are high for a school with athletic facilities that date back decades of now-outdated conditions, including a lack of field lights.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not the greatest fields. We have no lights. Other schools around here have lights. And it\u2019s that Friday night feel — we don\u2019t have that,\u201d Trimper said.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Sussex County Technical School arts teacher Neil Trimper jumped from 14,500 feet at Sussex County Airport (Image: NBC New York)<\/p>\n

Parent Kristy Pinand said the school needs votes as it battles for position in the contest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now have a one in 10 shot of winning $250,000 and then progressing to the million dollar field renovation. We are neck-and-neck with another school. Right now we\u2019re sitting in number two, so we need votes,\u201d Pinand said.<\/p>\n

Sussex Tech has already earned $30,000 in the competition and is the only Tri-State area finalist still in the running, according to the football board.<\/p>\n

Voting is available once daily through Oct. 25. Click this link to vote.<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC New York. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC New York journalist edited the article for publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Jersey culinary arts teacher Neil Trimper jumped from 14,500 feet at Sussex County Airport to rally votes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1066,9,11,10],"class_list":["post-376631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}