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2007-2008 District Headliners... •
News from SPFHS...SPFHS Senior Girls Defeat Juniors in 2nd Annual Powder-Puff Football Game
SP-F Raiders Marching Band Takes Home Regional, State Titles
The Times, Thursday, February 7, 2008
Excerpted from news article
Terrill Middle School's Actors' Workshop, a dramatic club conceived and supervised by Gwyn English Nielsen recently presented "Hooray for Hollywood," an evening of dramatic and comic improvisations in Terrill's cafeteria. The 27 students involved represent all four grades at Terrill.Since September, the student actors have been developing their own improvised skits, ranging from the dramatic, "Bus Stop at Hollywood and Vine," to the comic, "The Interview." In total, nine improvised scenes will be performed, as well as two ensemble pieces. Varshini Narayanan, an eighth-grade student at Terrill, will serve as mistress of ceremonies.
Director Nielsen, who also teaches seventh-grade language arts at Terrill, came up with the idea for the presentation back in June. "The students involved in Actors' Workshop are so motivated, enthusiastic, and creative that I barely gave them any direction at all. They just took off and ran with my vision. This production is a one-of-a-kind collection of pure fun. There aren't too many middle-school theatrical companies that produce cafe-style events. Offhand, I can't think of too many companies anywhere that perform anything in cafeterias."
Student actors involved in the presentation are as follows: Olivia Dalessandro, Sarah Iannaccone, Sara Sikora, fifth grade; Rachel Brody, Catherine Coughlan, Andrew Davis, Demi DeBonis, Katherine DeMarco, Austin Englehardt, Lucy Hollander, Gina Jadelis, Kailyn Reilly, Olivia Whitehouse, Ben Yin, sixth grade; Mehak Chawla, Kirsten Collantes, Edward Ehringer, Jillian Gonzales, Andrea Moore, Menaka Sanghvi, Ben Wagner, seventh grade; Stephanie Holmes, Priya Kamdar, Cassidy Reilly and Taylor Sprague, eighth grade.
Proceeds from a bake sale before the event and any donations received, went to the Gail Williams' Scholarship Fund for needy, college-bound students hoping to major in English.
Local community members joined Park Middle School World Language teacher, Mrs. Linda Lombardi, recently at Park Middle School to share their expertise of the Italian language and culture.
Ms. Anna Mastroianni, a Scotch Plains resident and owner of "Il Sole," a local upscale shoe store specializing in Italian imports, spoke to eight graders about her business and how useful her knowledge of the Italian language was to her.Mr. Antonio D'Archi visited his grandson's fifth grade Italian class to share his experiences as a 13 year-old boy immigrating to America from southern Italy. He also gave the students some tips on playing "bocce," an Italian game similar to bowling.
"We are so lucky to have the resources of our families and friends in our Scotch Plains community," explained Mrs. Lombardi. "They have much to offer in the way of furthering our children's education."
The Times, Thursday, November 29, 2007
Excerpted from news article
Brunner Elementary School in Scotch Plains hosted an assembly featuring Young Audiences New Jersey on November 5. The Brunner PTA presented the musical play Maggie McGee and the Good Character Bandwagon, created by Surflight Theatre. The production highlighted many of the ideas and themes focused on during the Week of Respect and throughout the year -- trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.As described by Young Audiences New Jersey, "Maggie McGee is sick and tired of rudeness, disrespect, and bad manners. Armed with her friendly smile and awesome attitude, Maggie begins her quest to help everybody climb aboard the bandwagon of good character and ride the road to responsibility."
The cast of seven captivated the audience of kindergartner through fourth-grade students. "All of our students enjoyed this performance immensely. They continue to refer to the good messages this troupe imparted," said Jodi Frank, principal of Brunner School.
Suburban News, Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Excerpted from news article
In honor of American Education Week November 12-16, the Scotch Plains Library and the Fanwood Memorial Library will host showcases of class work created by students from all eight of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Schools.The pieces displayed cover a range of subjects. Each SP-F school selected works to best represent the exciting and fascinating work their students perform on a daily basis. The students' work will be on display until Thanksgiving.
In what has become a very special annual event, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Board of Education recently held a "Celebration of Achievement" to honor the district's newly tenured teachers and professional staff members. At a reception for the honored guests and their families, friends, and colleagues, Board members passed a resolution reaffirming the district's commitment to hiring only the most qualified candidates, expecting exceptional performance by staff, and promoting the maximum performance and achievement at all times by every staff member and student.District teaching staff members who achieved tenure in the district with the start of the 2007-08 school year included Sarah Marion and Samantha Steinberg (Brunner School); Michelle Brink and Michele Mallozzi (Coles School); Marueen Holler (Evergreen School); Ann Marie Koscica and Annette Mellusi (McGinn School); Kelli Miller (School One); Angela Agosta, Lori Skoller, Adrienne Stack, and Anne Guard (Park Middle School); Joseph Franzone, Monique Gilbert-Hoffman, Christopher Hanas, William McMeekan, Cynthia Pfirrmann, Luke Piede, Amy Rutkowski, Elizabeth Vroom, and Alisa Zonis (SPFHS); Jennifer Cino, Jason Cross, Doretta Helfgott, Cezsarai Medley, and Mildred Waale (Office of Special Services). District administrators also achieving tenure were Athletic Director/Health & Physical Ed. Supervisor, Robert Harmer, and Evergreen School Principal, Colleen Haubert.
As a memento of the occasion, the honored teachers were presented with a copy of the book, A Cup of Comfort for Teachers by Colleen Sell and a pen.
The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times, Thursday, October 25, 2007
Excerpted from news article
On the first day of school in September, children in Bernadette Hoyer's Jump Start Pre-K classes at Brunner School in Scotch Plains began observing and caring for dozens of Monarch butterfly caterpillars.The learning experience provided the children with an opportunity to watch each stage of metamorphosis take place. They also learned about the Monarch butterfly's migration to Mexico.
On October 4, the students, wearing butterfly wings and antennae, held a butterfly parade to celebrate the emergence of the butterflies and to send them off to Mexico for the winter.
During the parade, the children sang the "Metamorphosis" song and encouraged spectators to plant milkweed to help conserve the Monarch population. The Brunner School student body and family members of the Jump Start students attended the parade.
The parade concluded with the release of 15 Monarch butterflies into the children's garden, bringing the total number of Monarchs released by the children since September to 38. All the butterflies were reared from eggs found on the milkweed plants growing in the Brunner Children's Garden and in Mrs. Hoyer's backyard.
The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times, Thursday, September 27, 2007
Excerpted from article by Wayne Baker
Drinking straws, Lifesavers, paper, cellophane tape and paper clips were the materials provided to third- and fourth-grade students at Evergreen School for construction of Puffmobiles last Friday. The project was part of Science in Our Schools, a project jointly sponsored by Dupont and the U.S. Conference of Mayors with a goal of building interest in math and science through a fun engineering lesson. The event concluded with students racing within their classes, and then class champions racing each other to determine grade and overall champs.Dawn Parker, a chemical engineer working for Dupont in Wilmington, Delaware, who laid out the basic format, spoke to the children. In her introductory talk, Ms. Parker described Dupont's business as manufacturing "intermediates," then explained that Dupont-branded products rarely arrive in the hands of consumers.
Ms. Parker mentioned one of the products Dupont makes, titanium dioxide, noting that it is used to make things white. She said Nabisco uses it to whiten the filling for Oreo cookies, and paper makers use it to whiten paper.
Evergreen teachers, along with Colleen Haubert, Evergreen principal, Margaret Hayes, superintendent of schools, Scott Bortnick, the district's science coordinator, and Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr, vice president of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors, assisted the students.
Ms. Parker described the idea of the program as "getting students excited about science." She said the exercise -- getting children away from book learning -- could help highlight different learning styles for teachers.
Puffmobile designs ranged from axles with Lifesaver wheels to flat cars to well-developed sail cars with four wheels and rigid frames.
Each class raced under its teacher's direction determining a classroom champion. The third-grade winners then raced to determine a third-grade champion, a position claimed by Michael Raphael. The fourth-graders also raced, and Brianna Becker bested her competition.
Cheering for their favorite competitor, the students watched as Michael prepared to race Brianna. After the countdown, both students blew their cars towards the finish line. Michael's car crossed the line ahead of Brianna's, earning him the overall title and a toy car as a reward.
Each student will receive a certificate of participation.
Suburban News, Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Excerpted from news article
Elizabeth 'EJ' Schwartz, a seventh grader at Terrill Middle School in Scotch Plains, decided to collect backpacks and school supplies for less fortunate kids in Plainfield/Newark schools.The project has taken on a life of its own through a combination of her hard work and the generosity of neighbors, friends and a Brownie troop in the community.
On August 24, a donation was made of over 600 backpacks, clothes and school supplies for over 150 kids to the Washington School in Plainfield. A true example of how good begets good.
News from SPFHS
Courtney Slaten, a Scotch Plains-Fanwood Senior, has been named a finalist in the 2008 Competition for National Achievement Scholarships. Courtney was one of the 800 students chosen from 1,600 named Semifinalists in September 2007. All Finalists will be considered for National Achievement Scholarships to be offered to outstanding Black American students in 2008.
Ms. Maureen Basta, High School Counselor, presented Courtney a Certificate of Achievement earlier this month. In the latter part of this month, the Achievement Program will begin mailing scholarship offers to winners. The Achievement Scholar designees will be announced in early April.
We congratulate Courtney on this fine accomplishment and wish him well in the future years ahead!
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SPFHS SENIOR GIRLS DEFEAT JUNIORS IN
2ND ANNUAL POWDER-PUFF FOOTBALL GAME
On Saturday, November 24th, Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School DECA hosted a powder-puff football game played by junior and senior girls. The seniors defeated the juniors, 28-21.Over 100 participants thrilled and entertained the crowd that came out on the cold Saturday morning. With coaching from both junior and senior football players, the girls were able to play a competitive game and take part in what has become a classic rivalry between the two classes.
The proceeds from the ticket sales and concessions were donated to the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital-Bristol/Myers Squibb Pediatric Oncology Unit. SPFHS DECA raised over $750 in order to continue the fight against cancer.
The event was organized by DECA supervisor Mrs. Fitzgibbon, as well as by seniors Jordan Yellen, Colleen Driscoll, and Tyler Del Mauro. DECA is a student-centered co-curricular organization whose program of leadership, competition, community service and personal development is designed specifically for students enrolled in marketing and business education classes.
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Ten students from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School have been named Commended Students in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program. The students that have demonstrated a strong academic performance include,starting from the top row, left to right Samuel S. Ungar, Courtney L. Slaten, Neil E. Pratt, Marc G. L'Heureux, Patrick A. Doliber, and Ming Lu. In the bottom row, left to right are Brian J. Pesin, Kathryn Albanese-Demair, Janine H. DeFeo, and Victoria A. McNally. These commended students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.4 million students who entered the 2008 competition by taking the SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
In addition, Courtney L. Slaten has been recognized as a semifinalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program, an academic competition that provides recognition for outstanding Black American high school students.
The College Board's National Hispanic Recognition Program has also recognized Dennis A. Ruiz, a member of the senior class at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School. The National Hispanic Recognition Program, established in 1983, is a College Board program that provides recognition of the exceptional academic achievements of Hispanic high school seniors and identifies them for postsecondary institutions.
All students are congratulated on this exceptional academic achievement.
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Record-Press
Excerpted from article/picture
These six students from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School have a good reason to smile -- they were recently selected to participate in the All-State Mixed Chorus, which performed last month at the New Jersey State Teacher's Convention in Atlantic City. Pictured from left are Michelle DeSantis, Devra Taiman, Vangelis DiMopoulos, Roger Lu, Mangesh Tamhankar, and Lindsay Traiman.
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Record-Press, Friday, November 30, 2007
Excerpted from article/picture David Lazarus
SPFHS 1940 graduate Preston Onque (bottom, middle) poses for a picture with some of his progeny at the Raiders' Thanksgiving home game at Perry Tyson Field, which was commemorated at half-time.As has always been the case for the traditional Thanksgiving football game, Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School alumni filled the stands at Perry Tyson Field in Scotch Plains as they renewed acquaintances and shared memories of games from the past seven decades. But this year's game had an extra significance. It was the last high school game to be held on the grass field, which will undergo construction of new artificial turf soccer and football fields starting in December. The 20-year old track will also be replaced.
A special ceremony at half-time introduced many of the great names from as long ago as 1940. Preston "Pop" Onque, a 1940 graduate and star running back of the unbeaten and unscored upon 1939 team attended, surrounded by many of his relatives.
"He tries to get to as many games as he can," said his great niece Natalie Taylor, who has been a major volunteer of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Field Development Foundation (SP-FFDA), a private group formed by parents who pushed for approval of the field improvement projects. "They played all their games at Park Middle School. He never played on this field, but has attended many games over the years watching some of his nephews and great-great nephews."
While he did not remember much about the 1939 Thanksgiving Day game, Onque recalled that the Raiders shut out Metuchen. SP-F has changed opponents many times over the years, but unfortunately their two most natural rivals, Plainfield and Westfield play each other, a rivalry that was contested for the 97th time.
"Westfield and Plainfield got there before us. Either one would be a great Thanksgiving rival," said SP-F athletic director Rob Harmer.
Despite being confined to a wheelchair, Onque was animated as he looked at old team pictures that Harmer and Booster Club volunteers Pam Bonadies and John Maxwell had helped to hang up near the refreshment booth. Underneath the pictures was a table containing Styrofoam containers that looked like box lunches, but contained a piece of turf, offered to each alumni member of football, soccer, or track and field teams.
Giving away the chunks of field was the brainchild of Harmer, who said, "We wanted to give a lasting memory to our great athletes of the past who gave so much to this school."
"It wasn't so important that they took the field home with them, but we wanted to recognize our past athletes," added Harmer who is admittedly thrilled to be saying goodbye to the grass fields. "It will greatly simplify our scheduling of games in the future. There will be no more cancellations."
The most famous and accomplished recent Raider football player, Nathan Jones, a 2000 graduate was not able to attend because he was playing in a professional football game for the Dallas Cowboys later in the day against the New York Jets.
"Nathan would have been here today if he could. He is still very interested in our program and we are all very proud of his continued accomplishments both on and off the field," Harmer said.
Jones' single game rushing record was broken earlier in the year by junior running back Anthony Taylor, a great-great nephew of Onque's. "Hopefully, Anthony will help create some great memories on the new field next year," said Anthony's mother, Natalie Taylor.
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SP-F RAIDERS MARCHING BAND TAKES HOME REGIONAL, STATE TITLES
Record Press, Friday, November 2, 2007
Excerpted from news article
The last two weeks have been an exciting time to be a part of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Raider Marching Band.On October 21, the band placed first in Group 6A at the Central Jersey Regional Championships held at the College of New Jersey.
Not content with that accomplishment, the band took home the state title in its group at the US Scholastic Band Association state championship held on October 27 at Sayreville High School. At the states, the Raiders also took home category awards for Best Music, Best Overall Effect and, for the third year in a row, Best Percussion.
The band looks to cap off its competitive season this Saturday, November 3 at the prestigious USSBA All-States Championship at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown, PA.
The band's program,titled "Quest," features music from "The Man of LaMancha" and the movie "Zorro." The music blends passion and fire with familiar ballads and outstanding brass solos from band members Joe Schiavo, Chris DeCarlo, Nick Murray and Vangelis Dimopoulos. The drum line and the pit are showcased in the arrangement, and the color guard brings it all together.
The Raider Marching Band is directed by Durand Thomas, John Gillick and Charles Jackson. The Color Guard director is Beth Tumolo.
Senior musicians and color guard members will be honored along with seniors from the athletic teams on Thanksgiving Day, when the football team plays its final game of the regular season.
More information can be found at the SP-F Music Boosters web site.
SP-F BOARD OF EDUCATION LAUDS WALLENBERG HONOREE LAUREN BERK
The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times, Thursday, September 13, 2007
Excerpted from article by Jessica E. Jaskula
Lauren Berk, a 2007 graduate of Park Middle School and current freshman at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, attended the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Board of Education meeting on Tuesday after being awarded the Wallenberg Foundation's "Courage and Compassion" Honors Program Award this past May.Lauren has spoken out in order to bring attention to children suffering from the 21-year genocide in northern Uganda. The foundation selected 54 students as nominees for the award, with 12 chosen as winners.
Brad Siegel, supervisor of social studies at SPFHS, noted in his introduction that a motivating factor in Lauren's efforts was an "Oprah" episode in which two young men traveling to Uganda, filmed a documentary called Invisible Children, capturing the struggles of children surrounded by violence.
The episode struck an interest in Lauren, who has since become an activist for the cause, traveling to different township schools to raise awareness. She has also written letters to different government officials and traveled to Washington, D.C. with her mother and an activist group to work as a lobbyist for the cause.
"I was very, very lucky to have met Lauren two years ago when I came to the district," Mr. Siegel said. Senator Leonard Lance presented Lauren a certificate of resolution, announcing her as a winner of the Wallenberg Award.
"The effect [of this war] on these children is absolutely mind-blowing," said Lauren. "Many were abducted, brain-washed and forced to kill people [who were], a lot of times, their own family. Families are torn apart, and lives are ruined forever."
She said that she does not ask for money but urges students to become active and write their local representatives. "They really do listen," she said.
Board President Trip Whitehouse commended Lauren. "You've done this district a great service," he said. "On September 11, you've set the bar very high."
Vice President Linda Nelson suggested that Lauren help the board construct a resolution stating its support for the cause.
Board member Sasha Slocum wiped away tears and said, "We can celebrate an American hero right here."
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SPFHS "STUDENTS OF THE MONTH" FOR 2007-08!
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