IN OUR SCHOOLS

Hillsborough middle-schoolers taking part in National History Day competition

Staff Report
@MyCentralJersey
Hailey Desai, sixth grade, earned a spot at the National Contest to present her exhibit on the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Two students and an advisor from Auten Road Intermediate School in Hillsborough walked away with high praise and recognition for their hard work at this year's New Jersey National History Day competition. 

Sixth-grader Hailey Desai earned a spot at the national competition to present her exhibit on the Cuban Missile Crisis, which will be conducted June 10-14 at the University of Maryland. Fellow sixth-grader Samera Gupte was honored by the New Jersey League of Historians for her exhibit on Alice Paul.

Auten Road teacher and National History Day co-advisor Nancy Patrick was honored as the New Jersey History Day Outstanding Teacher for the Middle School Division and has also been nominated to represent New Jersey in the competition for the National James F. Harris Teacher Award which recognizes outstanding teachers.

The stakes are high for young historians competing in the National History Day® Contest at the University of Maryland, College Park. Middle and high school students from around the world have been researching and revising their documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances, and websites. 

The journey to the National Contest is arduous. First, students spend months researching and preparing projects related to the 2018 theme, Conflict & Compromise in History. They then compete in local contests, with top entries moving on to affiliate competitions held in every state, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, China, Korea, and South Asia.  From there, the top two entries in each category are invited to Washington, D.C.

Each history expert is vying for a portion of more than $80,000 in prizes plus three college scholarships. First, second, and third place prizes are worth $1,000, $500, and $250, respectively. Students also are eligible for more than two dozen special awards sponsored by various organizations, with values ranging from $250 to $2,500.

Three senior division students will receive the grand prize of a college scholarship. The top prize is the Van Tassel Founder’s Award, a four-year scholarship to Case Western Reserve University. Partial scholarships are awarded to Chaminade University in Hawaii and the University of Maryland, College Park.

Throughout their research, students uncovered untold stories, formed special connections with war heroes, and discovered that history impacts us all. Their hard-work presents a challenging task for the volunteers serving as judges. Judges are looking for historical quality, relation to the theme, and clarity of presentation. Each three-person panel is comprised of educators, historians, and volunteers.

Other Central Jersey schools participating include: Plainsboro: Thomas R Grover Middle School; West Windsor: West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North; West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South; Edison: Woodrow Wilson Middle School; Lebanon Township: Woodglen School; Branchburg: Branchburg Central Middle School; Summit: Kent Place School.

The contest schedule for the week is as follows: Sunday, June 10: Welcome Ceremony at 6:30 p.m. on McKeldin Mall; Monday, June 11: Junior Division (Middle school) Competition in all categories; Tuesday, June 12: Senior Division (High School) Competition in all categories; Thursday, June 14: This day is #NationalHistoryDay. The National Contest Awards Ceremony is at 8:30 a.m. at the Xfinity Center

History Day Contest was created in 1974, at Case Western Reserve University by Dr. David Van Tassel. Since its inception, National History Day has grown from a contest of a few hundred students to an international educational organization promoting the study of history in education. More than half a million students, who are guided by more than 30,000 teachers, participate in this project-based academic competition annually.

Visit the National History Day website at http://nhd.org.

LOOK and READ: Central Jersey Class of 2018 graduation coverage

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READ: Education news from around the region

Berry College

Portia Delano, of Bedminster, earned a bachelor's degree in communication from Berry College in Rome, Georgia, early in May. Claire Taylor, of Lebanon, was named to the spring dean's list. Students must achieve a GPA of 3.5.

Bridgewater: Eisenhower Intermediate School

TEisenhower Intermediate School in the Bridgewater-Raritan district participated in this year's Continental Math League National contests. This consisted of five monthly meets from November through March. Each contest consists of six challenging word problems that require students to use their mathematical skills. Eisenhower had more than 200 fifth- and sixth-grade students participate. 

There were more than 260 fifth-grade teams competing across the nation; Eisenhower's ranked in the top six percent of all schools. There were more than 160 sixth-grade teams; Eisenhower's ranked in the top 5 percent.

The teams were led by teachers Michele Hecht, a sixth-grade math teacher, and Karen Popadiuk, a fifth-grade AI teacher at Eisenhower School.

ALSO: Twenty sixth-grade students from Eisenhower participated in the NJ Math League Competition. The competition was a one-time contest consisting of 35 multiple-choice questions that were completed in 30 minutes. As the questions progressed, so did the difficulty. It is common for students to not complete all of the questions in the allotted time and it is commendable to get 80 percent correct. The team score is made up of the team’s top five scores combined. 

Eisenhower's team earned the seventh-highest score out of 128 schools and had the third-highest score in Somerset County.

Two Eisenhower students ranked in the top 50 students. Christopher Qiu earned a perfect score and Thoshan Omprakash earned the sixth-highest score in New Jersey.

The students attended a practice session which was conducted by Michele Hecht, a sixth-grade math teacher and Karen Popadiuk, a fifth-grade AI teacher at Eisenhower School. 

Immaculata High School

Andrew Bower of Hillsborough and Leo Melancon of Flemington, seniors at Immaculata High School in Somerville, are both honorable mention winners of Seton Hall University’s 2018 Essay Contest: “Young People, Faith, and Vocational Discernment” organized by the Catholic Studies Program.

In response to the 2018 Synod of Bishops and the 20th anniversary of the Catholic Studies Program in the College of Arts and Sciences, Catholic Studies sponsored its second annual essay contest which was open to all Catholic high school students in New Jersey.

Students were asked to write an essay sharing a real-life story answer the following questions: How does or how should the Catholic Church listen to young people? What do young people really ask of the Catholic Church?

The two students were honored in-person at the annual Catholic Studies Honor Society induction and Catholic Studies senior reception on April 26 at the university. The students received a gift certificate and their essays, along with the essay of the winner, Elizabeth Kilgore, will be published in Arcadia, A Student Journal for Faith and Culture. Arcadia is a project of Catholic Studies which offers a vehicle for undergraduate and graduate students to contribute to the ongoing dialogue between the Catholic tradition and all areas of contemporary culture. Arcadia is published annually by the Center for Catholic Studies and is edited by Catholic Studies students and faculty university-wide.

Kean University

The Kean University Gospel Choir took home first place for the third straight year at McDonald’s Gospelfest, conducted Saturday, May 12 at Newark Symphony Hall.

“It is an honor to even be in the competition. We don’t go expecting to win. We go for the experience, so winning is an added gift,” said Malcolm Evans, Kean Gospel Choir director and adjunct professor of communication.

Performing a mash-up of traditional and modern interpretations of the song "The Blood Still Works," the 23-member choir won the adult choir category at the event that featured performances by singers Cissy Houston, Melba Moore, Bishop Hezekiah Walker, Vashawn Mitchell, Le'Andria Johnson and others.

“For us to win a third time during my senior year is just – wow,” said Ymani Hawkins of Maplewood, a senior communication major and member of the Kean Gospel Choir. “The process was tough, but necessary. It has been so rewarding to be able to worship with my peers, and it has created a lot of opportunity for us.”

Kent Place School

The National WWII Museum in New Orleans has named Kent Place School senior Laura Mills of Short Hills as a 2018 Billy Michal Student Leadership Award recipient. The national honor is awarded annually to one student in every state who has maintained a strong record of volunteerism, demonstrates school and community activism, and helps implement creative solutions to recognized problems. Each honoree has been flown tn New Orleans to participate in the Museum’s American Spirit Awards program taking place June 7 and 8.

The leadership award, which the museum first presented in 2017, was created in honor of Billy Michal, who was a child living in Louisiana during World War II. At only six years old, Michal helped his one-room school win a statewide scrap paper-collection contest during the war, proving that every citizen could contribute to victory. Michal’s achievement demonstrated the positive impact the American spirit could have on the Home Front war efforts, according to a news release.

“I developed my love of history in high school, and it crystallized even further through my participation in the National History Day competition," Mill said. "The competition has taught me how to research and think critically, and I would like to pursue history in college. Inside the classroom and out at Kent Place, the skills I have developed have been invaluable, and I very much appreciate having the opportunity to build interactive and enriching websites that engage people in history."

Milll also be is competing for the second year at the National History Day (NHD) national competition in Maryland, running from June 10 to 14. Her topic for the 2018 NHD competition is the Iran Hostage Crisis, and she created a website entitled "The Iran Hostage Crisis: When Compromise Fails" to display her research http://14972765.nhd.weebly.com/. Last year, her NHD competition topic was on physicist Joseph Rotblat, the only scientist to leave the Manhattan Project on moral grounds. Her website finished with a national honorable mention.

For more information on The National WWII Museum, visit nationalww2museum.org.

Lasell College

The following Central Jersey residents at Lasell College in Newton, Massachusetts, were named to the spring dean's list: Shannon Motz of Whitehouse Station and Skylar Diamond of Raritan. Students must achieve a grade-point average of 3.5.

Lehigh University

The following Central Jersey residents at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, were awarded the following: Jake Blecher of Belle Mead, Class of 1904 scholarship; Alyssa Riporti of Scotch Plains, the James J. Duane III student life leadership and the Allegiance award; Emma Strong of Scotch, the James J. Duane III student life leadership award. 

Misericordia University

The following Central Jersey received their degrees from Misericordia University on May 12:

Lauren Apgar of Milford, bachelor's degree in health science; master's degree in occupational therapy; bachelor's degree in management studies

Jordan Aquino of Hillsborough, bachelor's degree in information technology

Natasha Chandra of Hillsborough, bachelor's degree in health science

Shannon Croasdale of Milford, bachelor's degree in health science; master's degree in speech language pathology; bachelor's degree in management studies 

Jack Ryan of  Hillsborough, bachelor's degree in health science 

Alyssa Schwarz of  Belle Mead, bachelor's degree in nursing.

Mount Saint Mary Academy

In its second year of participation in the Quality of Life competition, Mount Saint Mary Academy in Watchung earned semifinal status, and received the Creative Ideas Award for their proposal.  Led by Kathleen Brennan, Department of Mathematics Chair, the team including juniors Gabriela Rivera of Clinton, Emma King of Berkeley Heights, and Madeline Newall of Westfield focused on the topic: “Meningitis B Awareness and Outbreak Protocol Solution.”

Quality of life team earns creative ideas award. Left to right: Madeline Newall, Emma King, and Gabriela Rivera.

The Quality of Life Innovations (QLI) is a competition sponsored by the Working in Support of Education Foundation (W!SE). It challenges teenagers to research a social issue impacting a group’s quality of life. Students develop a proposal based on their research and produce a final recommendation for how the problem should be addressed or solved.

The Mount’s QLI team performed an extensive review of the published literature and engaged in their own field research to develop their report, which they submitted on April 22, entitled “Meningitis B in New Jersey Universities: The Meningitis B Awareness and Outbreak Protocol Solution (MBAOP).” They also included the financial implications of their proposal.

“The Quality of Life competition provides an opportunity for our students to examine an issue that is meaningful to them.  Our students took the initiative from the beginning and did extensive research on a socially relevant topic,” Brennan said. “They were eager to contact all of the necessary experts — from politicians to doctors. They were extremely self-directed and passionate about their work.”

“This is a fabulous way for our students to put their education to use — to engage in research and go through the process of seeing whether or not there is a feasible solution to a critical issue,” she said.

Brennan added that the students conferred with Dr. Irini Daskalaki, Global and Community Health Physician at Princeton University, to talk about the last outbreak of Meningitis B and how the outbreak was able to be contained. Jean Martone, a volunteer-mentor and certified financial planner from T Rowe Price, also met with the girls for their research.

“The more they dug, they more they learned,” Brennan said of the girls’ research process. “They decided that a cost-effective solution would be a public awareness campaign about Meningitis B.”

According to Brennan, there were two other QLI teams at the Mount which — although they did not advance to semifinals — were commendable in their research of two key issues: homeless veterans and gang violence in New Jersey communities.

Middlesex: Parker Elementary School

Students at Parker Elementary School in Middlesex, participated in its first annual Autism Acceptance Day on April 13. 

Left to right: Laura Albanese, first grade teacher with Cali Vitelli, Laura Rosenberg, first grade teacher with Kylie Vitelli, They are having a blue streak put in their hair to help raise money for Autism.

Guided by the principle that growth never happens by chance but is the result of forces working together, first-grade teachers Laura Rosenberg and Laura Albanese created school-wide activities throughout the day designed celebrate the things that make all of us special and unique. Students, faculty and staff participated in a POAC (Parents of Autistic Children) fundraiser by getting light-it-up-blue hair streaks to raise awareness for autism. The response from the school community was strong: $1,000 was raised from the event.

The day concluded with a book talk by author Kristy Gray, who shared her recently-published book, "The Magically Brilliant Boy," about her son, Zach, and how he sees the world. 

This school-wide event celebrated differences and encouraged children to choose kindness and compassion toward others. As one student said, “I never thought how hard it must be for some kids. I will always try to be nice and help others when I can.” 

Peter J. McGuire Scholarship awarded to Union County College Students

On April 11, the first-ever Peter J. McGuire Organized Labor Scholarship, an award developed by unions to highlight students involved in organized labor and vocational/trade studies, was awarded to Union County College students Tonisha Castellano, Jessica Felix and Dennys Nunez.

“Union County College places great emphasis on the importance of organized labor and provides many educational opportunities for students interested in pursuing a trade that can lead to a lucrative, professional career,” said Anthony Abrantes, who is the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters’ Local 254 Team Lead and Senior Council Representative as well as a Trustee on the Board of the Union County College Foundation. “This scholarship showcases the commitment to providing the most skilled workforce possible.”

Peter J. McGuire, also known as the “father” of Labor Day and May Day, is the founder and first general secretary of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America (UBCJA). For more information on the labor movement, visit http://www.northeastcarpenters.org/history.

Raritan Valley Community College

Eighteen students from Raritan Valley Community College’s Honors College presented their independent “Capstone Course” projects during a full-day symposium, conducted May 4 at the college’s Branchburg campus.

RVCC Honors College student Robert Spies of Hampton presents his Capstone Course project, “Mathematical Modeling Used in Baseball,” at a May 4 symposium.

Project topics ran the gamut of subjects — from “Life Cycle Analysis and Recyclability of Plastics,” to “How Music Interacts with Emotional Response,” to “Environmental Health Injustices of Lower Socioeconomic Communities,” to “Everyday Experiences of Transgender Individuals,” to “Optimization of New DNA Isolation Protocol,” to “Writing, Producing and Performing an Original One-Act Play,” to a video outlining “The Challenges of Latinx Students in the United States Educational System.”

The Capstone Course is designed to guide sophomore Honors College students from all disciplines through the stages of researching and writing a major research paper or project, or developing an artistic pursuit. The students are mentored by faculty members and present their work at the end of the semester.

Launched in 2011, RVCC’s Honors College serves highly qualified high school graduates who are entering college for the first time. Honors College students benefit from being in small classes with similarly academically motivated students. Students in the program are taught by a select group of faculty. The Honors College features a cohort-based program with smaller, seminar-style courses that have an interdisciplinary focus and afford students the opportunity to develop a close working relationship with their professors.

Readington Township School District

Readington Township School District is pleased to recognize the students from Holland Brook School and Readington Middle School who were selected for the 2018 Central Jersey Music Educators Association Honors Bands.  Pictured in the above photo with music teachers Lori Dribbon and John Hylkema are the students who participated in the 2018 CJMEA Elementary Honors Band Festival on April 28 at Monroe Township Middle School:  from left, Holland Brook students Dylan Reynolds, Luke Christensen, Lucas Romano, Ryan Miler, and Aurelia Savic, and Readington Middle School students Matthew McMillan and Toni Kaese (not pictured:  Sam Freed and Nina Cirianni).
Pictured above are the Readington Middle School students who were selected for the CJMEA Middle School Honors Band and invited to participate in the Music Festival on April 21 in Monroe: Andrew Menyhert, Anthony Danubio, Katie Ryder, Fox Shreiber, Bianca Centamore, Elyse Gallagher, Gauri Patel, and Kim O’Donnell (not pictured:  Julia Clark).

The College of New Jersey

The following Central Jersey residents at The College of New Jersey were elected to Phi Beta Kappa the nation's oldest and most widely recognized academic honor society, through the Delta of New Jersey chapter at The College of New Jersey: Thomas Gunning, Eric Harding of Basking Ridge; Nicolas Bolle, Kelly Noll of Bridgewater; Samantha Palahnuk, Rishi Singhal of Clinton; Bridget Kelly of Fanwood; Amy Napoli of Flemington; Jaclyn Kaletski, Jessica Ramsey of Hillsborough; Karli Ramirez of Manville; Victoria Germano of Scotch Plains; Emma Young of Skillman; Sara Reineke of South Plainfield; Carlie Goode of Warren; Kristin Sorrentino of Whitehouse Station.

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi

The following Central Jersey resident at the College of New Jersey were inducted into the honor society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society: Initiated at The College of New Jersey: Allijah Bennett of Stockton, Lauren Brady of Flemington, Shania Bryant of Princeton, Alexandra Burns of Scotch Plains, Keri D'Angelo of Hillsborough, Sreya Doddakashi of Warren, Alexandra Jasko of Bridgewater, Jane Lestarchick of Scotch Plains, Maria Lizzo of Westfield, Jarrett Locke of Piscataway, Adam Novotny of Milford, Dylon Patel of Princeton, Daniel Ponsini of Hillsborough, Anil Salem of Basking Ridge, Natalie Segers of Flemington, Terrence Skibik of New Providence, Molly Walsh of Annandale, Linda Zhang of Berkeley Heights. Alyssa Fairweather of Hillsborough, initiated at Pennsylvania State University, Maya Kuang of Somerset, initiated at the United States Military Academy, Hanna Weber of Califon, initiated at Caldwell University. 

ALSO: Initiated at Kean University: Thomas Balsamo of Berkeley Heights, Brian Cole of Hillsborough, Gianna Crotty of Milford, Gina DeLuca of Bound Brook, Diane Loegel of Basking Ridge, Imrana Malik of Bedminster, Christina Marold of Somerset, Katherine Paterson of New Providence, Jason Pelaez of South Plainfield, Laura Serrano Marin of Middlesex, Yuri Slaughter of Plainfield, Jessica Thompson of Westfield, Kyla Vacchio of Somerset, Aleksandr Zhdanov of Piscataway; Jessica Burchett of Basking and Elena Elliott of Westfield initiated at Elon Universtity; Shannon Gomes of Scotch Plains, initiated at Ohio University; Brandon Hao of Warren and Jordan Stapinski of Belle Mead, initiated at Carnegie Mellon University; Prashant Dnyaneshwar Mane of Piscataway, initiated at University of Bridgeport.

The Pennington School

Holocaust survivor Maud Dahme spoke to eighth-graders at The Pennington School on Friday, May 11, as part of the Middle School’s Grade 8 interdisciplinary unit on the Holocaust. Born in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, Dahme and her younger sister were Dutch Jewish “hidden children” who survived because of being sheltered by Christian families.

Holocaust survivor Maud Dahme spoke at The Pennington School on May 11.

In 1942, Dahme’s parents, already severely restricted by the occupying German authorities, became uneasy when all Jewish families were ordered to appear at a railroad station with one suitcase. Christian friends associated with the Resistance offered to take Dahme and her sister, then ages six and four, respectively, to stay with a religious couple out in the country at Oldebroek.

Dahme’s parents returned the family to Amersfoort, but their extended family had all died at the Sobibor concentration camp. In 1950, the family decided to move to the United States. Silent for many years about her experiences, Dahme became a force in education, holding a variety of local and state posts. When the Hunterdon County resident realized that even someone she knew personally denied the existence of the Holocaust, she decided to speak out. For more than 30 years she has been a passionate advocate of Holocaust education; she has been featured in a PBS documentary and at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

“We survived because people cared,” Dahme told the students. “We are here to care for each other.” Pointing out that genocide is still occurring in various parts of the world, she urged them to remember that “on the inside we are all the same.”

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Kathryn E. Brightly of Clinton received a master's degree in theological studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.

Westfield: Washington School

Whether exploring surface tension with a drop of water, using magnets to steer small race cars through a Lego maze, or solving multiplication and division equations on a giant “Slides and Ladders” game board, there was plenty of learning and fun taking place at Washington School’s recent Science and Math Night.

At Washington School’s Science and Math Night on May 3, 3rd graders Vignesh Anant (left) and Declan Vedder explore the sense of touch at a station run by Grade 3 teacher Karen Geddis.

Sponsored by the PTO and organized and run by teachers with plenty of help from parents, n estimated 60 percent of Washington families attended the biannual gathering on May 3.

Other math and science stations during the evening included the long jump with students measuring the length of their effort, miniature rocket building using balloons and straws, various brain twisters along with the classic Twister game, and a mathematics scavenger hunt.

ALSO: Westfield High School senior Julian Mazzola received the Foxy Award for Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Comedy at this year’s Montclair State University’s Theatre Night Awards on May 14.  The MSU awards night recognizes excellence in the production of high school and middle school non-musical plays throughout New Jersey.

Mazzola was chosen by judges for his portrayal of Sheridan Whiteside in Westfield High School’s fall production of “The Man Who Came to Dinner.”  WHS drama teacher Daniel Devlin was awarded the Joanne Fox Award for Excellence in Commitment to Theatre Education.

Elsewhere at the Bucks County Playhouse Student Theater Festival in April, WHS senior Jack Cerria was named Best Comedic Actor at the festival for his performance in a one act play.

ALSO: Eight student vocalists from Westfield High School have been accepted into the 2018-2019 All-State Choruses.

Eight Westfield High School student vocalists have been accepted into 2018-2019 All-State Choruses. (Front row, from left):  Samantha Horvath, Alison Brown, Nicole Player, Charlotte Geary.  (Back row, from left):  Vincent Mora, Matthew Siroty, Zachary Lemberg, Joseph Maldonado.

Performing with the 2018 All-State Mixed Chorus in Nov. will be Charlotte Geary, Zachary Lemberg, Joseph Maldonado, Vincent Mora, Nicole Player, and Matthew Siroty. The Mixed Chorus will perform at the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) Convention in Nov. and at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC).  Alison Brown and Samantha Horvath will join the 2019 All-State Treble Chorus at NJPAC in Feb..

Additionally, on April 28, the Westfield High School Chorale performed at Carnegie Hall in New York alongside other high school and adult choirs from around the country in one massed choir.  he choir performed Randall Thompson’s beloved 25-minute work, Frostiana, a collection of Robert Frost’s poems set to music. The performance was accompanied by the New England Symphonic Ensemble.

“It was thrilling to see our students perform in this great hall and have the opportunity to collaborate with different groups from around the country,” says Brzozowski with fellow music/vocal instructor and director Maureen Francis.  “It was a fantastic learning opportunity for the students in so many ways and an experience the students will remember for a lifetime.”

University of the Sciences

The following Central Jersey residents were inducted into Rho Chi, the academic honor society in pharmacy at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia: Sohum Patel of Branchburg and Parth Patel of Piscataway.

University of Scranton

The following Central Jersey residents at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania were inducted into Upsilon Phi Delta, the national honor society in healthcare administration programs: Nicole Carpetto of Westfield, Sarah Finn of Peapack, Madison Hogan of Basking Ridge and Matthew Oristanio of North Plainfield. ALSO: The following students were inducted into Alpha Sigma Nu, the national Jesuit honor society: Grant Hellings, Michael O'Brien and Anna Beekman of Basking Ridge.

Student and School news appears on Fridays. Email:cnmetro@mycentraljersey.com