DECEMBER STUDENTS OF THE MONTH: We are proud to announce The Students of the Month have been selected for December 2016. They are:

Freshman – Cristen Belko

Sophomore – Zachary Pandolfi

Junior – Makenzie Powell

Senior – Casey Filiault

The above students have met the following Criteria: 1. Must meet high academic standards in class. 2. Exhibit positive character and influence on class/school, dignity, respect, trustworthiness, responsibility, caring, and citizenship. 3. No unexcused lates of any kind for the month. No discipline referrals in the last month. Congratulations to all of you!

WRESTLING Congratulations to the Boys Wrestling team for winning the Walt Woods Wrestling tournament over the Holidays.

Key Club did a tremendously successful food drive for the Middlesex Food Pantry in December!

Ms. Ballard’s class did the utensil wraps for Ms. Sherman’s Feeding Frenz Christmas soup kitchen! The kids were happy to help others in need. It was a great life experience for them!

BAND

The MTHS Marching Band traveled to Hawaii from December 5th – 9th to represent the state of New Jersey at the 75th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. In addition to performing in the parade on December 7th, the Band also performed at the USS Missouri and they

performed with the Marine Corps Pacific Band prior to the parade. The students also had the opportunity to take a tour of the Arizona Memorial and the Island of Oahu.

In December, the Falcon TAP (Transitioning Adult Program) program offered a gift wrapping

service to the staff at MTHS. The students that participated in the gift wrapping were Andrew

Canas, Richard Edwards, Steven Grasso, and Antonio Penaherrera. The gift wrapping service

was offered under the direction of the classroom teacher, Jeff Shanfield and para-professional

Leslie Bagley. The students wrapped a total of 200 gifts for $1.00 per gift. Each customer was

offered a free bow with their gift. The students received rave reviews from staff members that

participated. The service was a wonderful time saver for staff and a tremendous success for the students,

too. Parents also utilized their talents at home to gift wrap for their personal friends and family.

DECA

Congratulations to Pari Pandey, MTHS DECA Co-President.

On December 3rd 2016, Pari was invited to be a part of the National Society of High School Scholars Awards Recognition Ceremony in Atlanta, GA.

During the summer Pari received an award by Alfred Nobel's grand-nephew, Claes Nobel — the $1,000 CLAES NOBEL ENTREPRENEUR SCHOLAR AWARD. This award was given based on her business idea and business plan, Seva Dhan, that conceptualized and executed a micro finance institution to provide financing to small businesses owned by entrepreneurs from the underprivileged strata of society in India.

This award was reviewed by business professionals, along with the NSHSS Scholarship Committee and featured on the NSHSS website, Scholar's Journal, and press release.

The business plan outlined and explained how the strategic vision came together, strategies for launching idea, company description, market analysis, organization and management plan, marketing and sales plans, funding request needs, and Financial and future projections.

Applicants also had to have a well-rounded resume, strong academics, and recommendations.

Pari has actually put the business plan into place, registered the business, and is currently running it. She used the $1,000 prize money to make micro loans and invest in the business’ internal developments.

The Seva Dhan business plan was first submitted to the NJ DECA SCDC in February 2016 where it received a respectable score. NSHSS and DECA have a partnership and Pari has also been a semi-finalist for the NSHSS-DECA Entrepreneurial Scholar Awards, a Scholarship to high school students who are members of both NSHSS and DECA, and intend to pursue a college major in marketing, finance, hospitality or business.

She hopes she can feed her entrepreneurial curiosity through her higher education and pursue business further in life. For more information on her business, visit sevadhan.org.