MARY KAY MC MILLIN EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER

Chick Hatching Season is here! Kindergarten students at the Mary Kay McMillin Early Childhood Center recently hatched a total of 34 chicks in their classrooms. The new arrivals came in a variety of colors. The Kindergartners participated in a multitude of cross-curricular learning activities during the incubation and hatching processes. A prime example of these activities is shown here as Mrs. Julie Figlar of the Early Childhood Center staff displays one of the baby birds for her students during a Reading lesson.

****************************************************************************** Earlier this month, Grade 1 students at Mary Kay McMillin Early Childhood Center enjoyed the “Kids on the Block” disability awareness puppet show, presented by Hands on Education. This fun and meaningful event was presented at the Early Childhood Center thanks to the generosity of the Berkeley Heights Education Foundation.

THOMAS P. HUGHES SCHOOL Every Valentine’s Day, students at Thomas P. Hughes School are invited to “Wear a pair and donate a pair” of pajamas. This year, students enjoyed arriving at school in their sleepwear, and as a result we were able to collect over 200 new pajama sets along with several books and stuffed animals. These items were then donated to the Pajama Program. This program supports children in need as explained on their website: “A Pajama Program child may live in a group home, a shelter or a temporary housing facility. The children Pajama Program serves are often shuffled from one place to another. Many of them have been abandoned, abused or neglected. Most of these children have never enjoyed the simple comfort of having a parent tuck them in at bedtime with warm, clean pajamas and a bedtime story.

“Some of the children are living with their families below the poverty level, in desperate need of food, clothing and shelter. The two simple gifts of pajamas and books let these children know that someone cares. Sometimes these are the only new things they have ever received. Through this simple act of love, we can fulfill every child’s right to a good night.”

Thomas P. Hughes School is proud to partner with the Pajama Program each year, and we were thrilled to contribute to their goal of collecting one million pairs of pajamas!

MOUNTAIN PARK SCHOOL

In celebration of the Chinese New Year, a Mountain Park School parent, Angela Rosner (pictured, left) provided an informative presentation to the school’s Grade 3 students. Highlights of the presentation included lessons about various aspects of Chinese culture. Students took turns practicing Chinese calligraphy using a traditional brush pen and they were also shown how to write a few basic Chinese words. In addition, the Third Graders were able to practice adding on an ancient Chinese calculator and were shown examples of traditional Papercuts from China. The presentation wrapped up with a King Fu demonstration. All of the Mountain Park students enjoyed learning about another culture. Happy New Year!

****************************************************************************** During a recent Social Studies lesson, Mountain Park School Grade 3 students wrote letters to everyday heroes who set a positive example for the community. Students wrote letters to

police officers, firefighters, soldiers, parents, builders, and others. One student wrote a letter to a firefighter, Lieutenant Brendan Corcoran of the Ridgewood Fire Department. Lieutenant Corcoran is pictured at right holding his letter from Mountain Park School and he later had the letter displayed at the Ridgewood Fire Department, so all of his colleagues could see how much their efforts are appreciated and valued.

WILLIAM WOODRUFF SCHOOL Grade 5 students from William Woodruff School recently participated in the National Geographic Geography Bee. Ten (10) Woodruff students took part in this event and competed for the honor of becoming schoolwide champion. School-level champions earn the right to compete in the Geography Bee’s state-level competition. The competition was fierce throughout the event. All 10 students did a terrific job answering questions related to geography and current events throughout the world. The 2016 Woodruff School Geography Bee Champion is Aditya Ramsundar (pictured here with Woodruff School Principal Patricia Gasparini). Taking Second Place honors was Lauren O’Rourke, while David Andrews earned Third Place. The national winner of the National Geographic Geography Bee is awarded a $50,000.00 college scholarship. *************************************************************************************

The William Woodruff School Student Council continues to demonstrate the school’s mission of reaching out to others by showing care and support. This was especially evident last month as the students packed lunches and decorated lunch bags to support the Bridges program. Bridges provides lunches for the homeless in the local and surrounding areas. Each week, a different grade level participated in donating lunches. About 75 lunches were collected weekly.

Woodruff students definitely “Give a Hoot!”

WILLIAM WOODRUFF SCHOOL (continued) The observance of Chinese New Year was celebrated at William Woodruff School in various ways. Many classrooms had parents come in for a visit to teach the students about the holiday. In Mrs. Diana Bjorge’s Art classes, students designed Chinese Lanterns to celebrate the Year of the Monkey. Some students also dressed in traditional Chinese clothing to ring in the New Year. Woodruff School Fourth Graders Angel Li, Jonathan An, and Justin Liu taught us all about the history of Chinese New Year during a special school-wide announcement.

COLUMBIA MIDDLE SCHOOL At Columbia Middle School, Grade 6 students enrolled in Spanish classes taught by Ms. Alma Lopez were recently challenged to solve a crime using the course’s target language. In the style of the popular board game “Clue,” each student team was given objectives and clues as well as personal roles in their quest to solve the mystery.

Once Ms. Lopez instructed the students to start solving the mystery, teams of Sixth Graders took to reading the signs and clues posted around the room. After ample “discovery” time, students sat and deciphered their findings and ultimately presented findings to their peers.

****************************************************************************** As part of Columbia Middle School’s annual celebration of Black History Month, all Grade 8 students were recently visited by actor/reenactor Fred Morsell, who travels the country visiting schools and historical sites sharing his presentation of The Life of Frederick Douglass.

Mr. Morsell always provides an enthusiastic portrayal of the former slave-turned-statesmen in an outstanding one-man show.

Presenting a meaningful and well-remembered message, Mr. Morsell - as Douglass - shares his recollections and feelings about the hardship of slavery, the value of education, and the harm that can come from prejudice. An annual event at the middle school, Mr. Morsell’s visit is one of the most memorable assembles of the many events that are sponsored by the school’s Parent Teacher Organization.

GOVERNOR LIVINGSTON HIGH SCHOOL Project Connect staff and students at Governor Livingston High School recently presented and participated in a multi-faceted activity, targeted at viewing change over time. Students were charged with creating a “Museum” that included presentations which displayed change in various facets of life over the past century. Some topics included dance, medicine, technology, science, and sports. As part of this project, senior citizens from the local community – also known as “generationalists” - were invited to join the Project Connect team. These individuals were interviewed by students, shared their stories, and participated in a panel discussion.

While on the panel, the elder residents commented on student work found in their “Museum” and answered questions about different aspects of change and how their lives were impacted by changes in technology and society. What an excellent event that CONNECTED our generations!

GOVERNOR LIVINGSTON HIGH SCHOOL (continued) The recent Governor Livingston High School Prom Fashion Show was a great success, with almost 200 people attending and $4,000.00 raised to support both the GL Class of 2016 and Project Graduation. This truly was a community event. Parents and GL alumni did make-up and hair for the models, while another GL alum DJ'ed the event. Lord and Taylor, Macy’s, and Adams Tuxedos provided the attire for each of the models. Seniors Cassie Anzalone, Ethan Brackman, Vanessa Candeloro, Kealy Cassidy, Michelle Ciepiela, Nick Creavy, Ryan

Davis, Jessica DeFranco, Samantha DeMarco, Matthew Dlugosz, Stephanie Dowling, Michael Esnes, Kennedi Facey, Kenny Fischer, Tara Gaudet, Kirk Karapetrov, Brendan Lake, Alex LaRoche, Amy Liu, Sama Manchanda, John Manganelli, Alison Mathis, Brandon Monroe, Ryan Paliwoda, Abby Perasso, Meghan Rielly, Caitlyn Splaine, Kristen Splaine, Tyler Valenti, and

Allison Yang all took to the catwalk showing off this year’s fashions, as did Mr. Mark Cantagallo, Mrs. Lindsey Gismonde, Ms. Beryl Roman, and Mr. Chris Yager of the GL faculty. Evan Stuart and Louis Raimondi served as MCs for the event, providing useful information with a comic flair. Regular merchandise baskets worth approximately $100 and grand prize baskets starting at a value of $200 were raffled off to those in attendance. Scratch-off lottery tickets, Pearly Whites-ZOOM! Teeth Whitening, GL Prom Bids, gift certificates for Chipotle, Coppola’s, Jersey Mike’s, Starbucks, Nails, Spa, Hair, and Tanning salons, and gift cards for Vineyard Vines and Amazon were among the prizes awarded. A special thanks to Mrs. Amy Stuart from the GL Project Graduation committee and Mrs. Patrice Silagi, GL Senior Class Advisor, both of whom went above and beyond to make sure that this event was special for our students and their families.

DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL SERVICES The students in Mrs. Marie Pellegrini’s Grade 3 class at Mountain Park School are very excited about their new learning environment. As recipients of a Berkeley Heights Education Foundation grant, their classroom recently received four AlphaBetter stand-up desks with stools. This new equipment allows for flexible learning during instruction. Mrs. Pellegrini and her co-teacher, Mrs. Michele Guerriero, have also infused the use of therapy balls and seat cushions to enhance students’ focus and achievement. Mrs. Pellegrini and Mrs. Guerriero both agree, “It is truly an environment where we strive to meet the needs of each learner." ******************************************************************************In the 5th Grade at Thomas P. Hughes School, students in the class taught by Mrs. Kristine Porzio and Mrs. Jennifer Fischer have been working on a non-fiction reading unit. In order to spark the learning and creativity of students, as well as to provide an inclusive atmosphere, the students completed a multi-step, differentiated unit on influential people in history. Each student chose an individual to research and read an appropriate level biography about that person. To challenge the students, they then had to find secondary sources, including at least one website, to locate additional information. All of this was organized on data collection sheets as the students learned about proper source documentation. The culmination of this research was to integrate the sources to create a PowerPoint presentation which included significant information, graphics and inferential questions. Each student then peer-reviewed the presentations by recording facts about the notable figure. The students currently are concluding this biography unit by writing a five- paragraph essay on their notable figure. Please remember that up-to-date information on programs, services and supports can be found on the Special Services website by going to www.bhpsnj.org and selecting Special Services under the “Services” tab.