March School Highlights

 

Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences

Kajol Patel and Priya Jain attended the Middlesex County School Boards and School Admin-istrators Student Recognition Program on March 1^st.  Kajol was recognized for her role in organizing and leading the freshman orientation program as well as her contribution to HOSA and Interact.  Priya was recognized for her role as a class officer, member of HOSA and her attendance at the Perry Initiative. 

 

The 8th Career Choices students provided beverages and hot foods for the faculty and staff at the Career Cafe. This is an outstanding learning activity for the students that occurs each semester. The students learned various skills ranging from food preparation and serving, menu development, hosting and set up.  The activity was coordinated by food and health technology teacher Ms. Linda Rozner.

 

Seniors Vraj Shah and Megh Shah were awarded their Eagle Scout badges through their local Boy Scout troops.  Vraj Shah completed a project at the Roosevelt Healtcare Center in Edison completing a paver path to and around their flag pole.  Megh’s project was a rehabilitation of the garden at the South River Rescue Squad.

 

Mrs. Elko hosted junior class meetings this month.  Each junior and their parents met with their counselor to review student progress and plan for the upcoming senior year.  Students shared their dreams and goals.

 

The Academy held the annual Technology Expo on February 28^th.  Six teams of students competed to create medical innovations to improve the lives of patients. The teams presented to a panel of judges including members of the local medical community and district adminis-tration following strict presentation guidelines.  The team “Alcuria Labs” took first place for their presentation on targeted artery disease using an all-natural approach. Team members included juniors Camille Bustamante, Irene Chu, Nila Uthirasamy and Olivia Zyskowski.

 

The spring sports season began with softball tryouts on March 3^rd.  Coaches Cuesta and Frank had more than 45 students come out to be a member of this year’s team. After a first week of wonderful weather, the coaches were waiting for the melting of snow to prepare for the first preseason scrimmage.

 

The New Jersey Science League season has nearly ended.  With one session remaining in the season, the biology team ranks second in the state, the chemistry team ranks third and the physics team ranks seventh. Student team members have been ably prepared and encouraged by faculty advisor Dr. Frank and science instructor Dr. Wiamer.

 

Police officers from the Woodbridge Police Department spoke to the students in the Career Choices program on March 22^nd.  Detectives from the Community Affairs Division provided positive and inspirational messages to our students. The detectives spoke about career prepar-ation, employment skills, respectful behaviors, and healthy decision making. The positive messages were well received by the students.

 

The Class of 2017 held its Winter Wonderland semi-formal dance on February 24^th.  Students from all grade levels dressed to impress as the gymnasium was transformed into a dance hall.  The senior class provided refreshments and attendees had a wonderful night enjoying each other’s company. Faculty advisor Ms. Del Castillo and the senior class officers helped make the evening a great success. 

Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies

The Edison Rotary recognized Kush Singh and Atharva Padhye as their March Students of the Month.

 

The Academy’s Safety Ambassadors visited first-graders at Lincoln Elementary School and Benjamin Franklin School on March 13^th to discuss the importance of safety.  They were accompanied by their advisers, Ms. Simmons and Ms. Simon. The following academy students participated:  Avneet Randhawa, Ajaita Saini, Swapnanil Deb, Stephanie Almeida, Neehar Peri, Kelley Chau, Bartosz Skiba, Anusha Nagar, Rita Agarwal, Abhishek Hariharan, Christine Mathews, Julie Pirro, Elizabeth Kuriakose, Maya Pandurangan, Anjali Bothra, Poojit Hegde and Khushi Gandhi.

 

Five students from the Academy recently participated in the 2017 New Jersey Regional Science Bowl.  The team consisted of Ayush Parikh, Amrut Nadgir, Poojit Hegde, Venkatesh Narayan and Kunal Adhia.  The team progressed through four rounds of the competition before being eliminated in their fifth match-up.

 

Edison Academy hosted the NJ Middle School Quiz Bowl (NAQT) Championship on March 25^th. Twelve schools from across the state competed. 

 

Thirty-nine students from the Edison Academy participated in Future Business Leaders of America State Leadership Conference in Atlantic City March 15^th – 17^th.  Five academy students won awards as follows:

 

Kunal Adhia        — Help Desk (2^nd Place)

Kevin Tang          — Computer Problem Solving (4^th Place)

Zarir Hamza        — Cyber Security (4^th Place)

Matthew Mariner — Cyber Security (5^th Place)

Abishek Kannappan      — Help Desk (5^th Place)

 

Kunal, Kevin and Zarir are eligible to compete at the National Conference to be held in Anaheim, California on June 29^th.

 

Edison Academy participated for the first-time in the St. Peter’s University High School Model United Nations Conference in Jersey City on March 13^th.  Several students won awards as follows: Best Delegate Awards went to sophomore Saneel Sreeni and freshmen Sharanya Pogaku and Honorable Mention Awards went to seniors Rohan Marwaha and Akshat Gokhale, junior Ankit Patel and sophomore Dev Patel.

 

The Academy entrepreneurship class visited eight third-grade classes at James Madison Inter-mediate School in Edison as part of Junior Achievement’s High School Heroes Initiative on March 6^th.  The 16 academy seniors taught a financial literacy curriculum to the younger students which included lessons on taxes, banking, money management, how businesses function and city planning.  Our students were also able to network with a representative from Middlesex Water Authority who discussed the organization’s business model and job opportun-ities.  The students were accompanied by entrepreneurship instructor Mrs. VanWart.

 

Another very successful “March Madness” is in the books at the Edison Academy as follows:    

 

Our annual racquetball tournament had excellent participation from both girls and boys from   all four grade levels.  There was something for everyone in the three separate brackets which included male singles, female singles and co-ed doubles events. 

 

Thirty students took part in a grueling two hour basketball round robin event. This event featured two teams participating “3 on 3.”  All teams had an opportunity to face each other.  Some teams had more wins than others, but all of the participants had fun.

East Brunswick Campus

Senior Elana Bain was recognized at the annual New Jersey Association for School Administrator student awards dinner on March 1st. Elana is majoring in dance and is ranked in the top 10% in her class. She has made the honor roll each marking period since freshman year and is involved in numerous activities within our school community.

 

The East Brunswick Campus is proud to announce the results of the 2017 FFA Horticulture Expo as follows:

 

18 Overall Ribbons

6 First Place

6 Second Place

4 Third Place

2 Fifth Place

 

The School of the Arts, theatre program, hosted their annual main stage performance of Williams Shakespeare, Twelfth Night from March 30^th thru April 1^st. This production of Twelfth Night is set in 1950s Cuba during the Batista Regime, right before the rise of the Castro Revo-lution. MCVTS theatre’s Twelfth Night will feature Cuban music performed and arranged by the students, adding a Cuban flair to classical Shakespeare. Outside of the theatre, MCVTS’ culinary arts program will be serving Cuban food and beverages such as flan, empanadas, and coffee. Lighting design and sound will be done by John Salutz and costumes will be designed by Kasey Gillette. Besides a number of professionals, the production will feature students in both the MCVTS theatre program and the new MCVTS arts technology program.

 

The East Brunswick Campus hosted the New Jersey Technical Athletic Council cheerleading competition. The Tigers competition cheerleading team competed against seven other county vocational schools from throughout the state. The Tigers placed 2^nd in a very competitive tournament. The cheerleaders are already hard at work to try to take first place next year.

 

The School of the Arts, Digital Film program hosted the Black Maria Film festival on March 29^th. The Black Maria Film Festival has been celebrating and preserving the diversity, invention, and vitality of the short film since 1981. The festival's home is New Jersey City University in Jersey City and is named after Thomas Edison's original West Orange film studio dubbed the "Black Maria" because of its resemblance to the black-box police paddy wagons of the same name.

 

Two films by students of the School of the Arts, Digital Film program, have been chosen for the second annual Project FX statewide student film festival and competition. Films by seniors Benjamin DeSimone of Woodbridge and Jasmine Gutierrez of Perth Amboy were among 10 by high school students and 10 by college students that were screened at the festival on March 18^th at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. The competition was judged by a panel that included: Tom Bernard, co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics; Oscar-nominated screenwriter James Schamus (“Brokeback Mountain”); David Iserson, producer of “Mr. Robot,” and Broad-way producer, choreographer and actress Maureen Van Zandt. While the students did not win the competition, they were honored and the school was immensely proud of their recognition.

 

East Brunswick School of Career Development

Dr. Menell's students created a YouTube series on the Bill of Rights. Students filmed mock scenarios for each of the first 10 amendments.  Students led the production, taking the roles as directors, actors, editors and set/costume designers. 

 

Mr. Levine's senior elective creative writing class is in the midst of their genre project.  Every week, students get to write in the style of one of 15 unique genres, ranging from science fiction to humor to nonfiction stories. Students will choose one of their favorite short stories and turn their work into a unique book by the end of the marking period. These books will be hardcover and allow the students to expand a two-page short story into a 24-page chapter book. Students will also design a cover, create unique reviews for their stories for the back cover, and dedicate their stories to friends and family members. Mr. Levine is looking forward to the finished products and seeing how the new students take to becoming authors of their own.

 

Mr. Roth and the culinary students participated in the Jersey Shore Chef’s Association’s Winter-fest held at the Crystal Point Yacht Club in Point Pleasant on March 12^th. The following students won second place  (silver medallion) for their entries:

 

Hot Hors d'oeuvre Competition

 

Stephanie Paredes-Garcia and Destinee Veliz

Chili Pepper Chicken “Shot” with Candied Orange Peel

 

Cold Hors d'oeuvre Competition

 

Sarah Sosnowski and Briana Carr

House-Cured Cold Smoked Salmon on Wonton Crisp with Honey Onion Relish and Crème Fraiche

 

The East Brunswick School of Career Development DECA Club in conjunction with East Bruns-wick Campus’ National Technical Honor Society is participating in the “Light the Candle” Project.  “Light the Candle” provides monthly handmade birthday cards for children living in group and foster homes in our area.  Every month we make handmade birthday cards for a list of children provided by the organization.  It has been a lot of fun for our chapter and we plan to continue it throughout the rest of the school year.

 

Senior health services student Maleena Hernandez has received acceptances and scholarships   to the following universities: Rutgers, Ryder, Kean, and St. Peters.  Ryder offered her $20,000 for four years in scholarship money while St. Peters offered her $80,000 for four years. Maleena is also a NJ Stars award winner and is eligible for free tuition at Middlesex County College.

Perth Amboy Campus

The boys basketball team won their 3^rd straight Gold Division title with an undefeated record in the division. Congratulations to Coach Meyer and his team for the great success they have earned over the past three seasons.

 

Perth Amboy Campus participated in Women’s Heart Health Month by lighting our Atrium red on February 3^rd-5^th in support of this great cause sponsored by the American Heart Association.

 

The following 10^th grade HVAC students have achieved HVAC EPA Section 608 Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Certifications:

 

Universal Certification

 

Gregory Acevedo

Dominick Buffone

Andrew Baralecki

 

Type I and Type II Certification

 

Jose Cruz

Amanda Dominguez

Nydia Rodriguez

Piscataway Campus/Piscataway School of Career Development

The culinary arts team from the Piscataway Campus earned two medals at the American Culinary Federation Winterfest held at the Crystal Point Yacht Club in Point Pleasant on March 12^th.  The event featured a wide variety of professional and student chefs providing samples of culi-nary marvels.  Students participating included: Rachel Tavarez and Chris Bowser, from Chef Rastelli’s Shop, along with Janet Martinez, Peter Kirchoff, and Trinity Thomas from Chef Povinelli’s Shop.  The team earned a first place medal for their hot appetizer, Risotto Cakes in a Vodka Sauce and third-place award for their cold appetizer, Seared-Tuna Endive Boats. All proceeds raised from the competition were donated to the State Food Bank of New Jersey.

 

Six students from Mrs. Ricciardi’s adult cosmetology class went to the Highland Park Conserva-tive Temple to provide mini makeovers and nail art for the Casbah Cafe/Middle Eastern themed Women's program. The students volunteered their own time to provide community service for the women to feel special during their celebration. The coordinator called the next day to thank and praise the wonderful service our students provided the program.

 

The Safety Ambassadors visited Randolphville Elementary School on March 13th and continued to educate six first-grade classes on fall prevention, safety in and around cars, wheeled sports safety and pedestrian safety. 

 

The Johnson and Johnson Leadership Group met on March 21^st where the young women had the opportunity to create their own business.  Students were broken down into small groups including different shops and were able to draw, create and present to the rest of the groups their own business ideas.

 

The Teen Outreach Program (TOP) continues to meet weekly and work on goal setting, social skills, building better friendships and family relationships, and most recently began formulating ideas for community service.

 

SNAP-Ed which is a nutrition educational program through Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County continues to visit the freshman health classes each Friday providing them with information on staying healthy.

 

The Middlesex County School Boards Association and School Administrators honored Kaelaan Williams from Piscataway Campus and Sandra Lopez from the Piscataway School of Career Development on March 1^st for being outstanding students at the 32^nd Annual Student Recog-nition Program.

 

Mrs. Ciesielski’s high school cosmetology/hairstyling shop went on class trip to the Interna-tional Beauty Show in NYC on March 13^th.  Students were excited to attend classes and stage shows where they learned the latest trends in hair, barbering and esthetics from famous artists from all over the world.  Students were also able to buy tools and supplies needed for their future in the cosmetology industry.  

 

Piscataway culinary arts students hosted the March New Jersey State Rotary Club Meeting at the Raiders Cafe on March 20^th. Twenty local and state business owners attended to hear what the Piscataway culinary arts program is all about.  Attendees dined on salmon, chicken, rice, corn, shrimp chowder and chef vegetables. Student chefs from the program answered ques-tions and networked for potential jobs in the future.

 

Thirty culinary and baking students from the Piscataway Campus attended a seminar at the famed Culinary Arts Institute of American (CIA) in New Hyde Park, New York, on March 23^rd. Students toured the school, spoke to current students and had the opportunity to speak with former MCVTS students that are graduating from the CIA in just a few days. Students dined on a fantastic lunch provided by the American Bounty Restaurant, ate chocolate prepared by CIA chocolatiers as well as cookies from the advanced bakeshop.