April School Highlights

Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences

The Academy’s Red Cross Club held the spring blood drive on April 25^th.  Over 50 students volunteered to donate blood and though some were deferred for various reasons, the Academy was still able to come close to our spring goal. 

 

Senior Kiara Rodriguez “signed” her letter of intent to attend West Virginia Wesleyan College and play women’s basketball on April 19^th.  Kiara was joined at the signing ceremony by her mother, brother, aunt and grandparents.  All were excited at the opportunity that Kiara has to play and learn at West Viriginia Wesleyan for the next four years. 

 

The Academy held their annual talent show On April 6^th.  Students from all grade levels showed their “stuff” as they sang, danced and shared their amazing abilities.  Thank you to the student government for organizing and the teachers who donated their time as judges. 

 

The Robert Wood Johnson Safety Ambassadors made their third trip to Ross Street School in Woodbridge on April 26^th.  The four teams of two students each presented lessons to the first graders on how to be safe when at home, play and school.  School nurse Ms. Meene coordinated all of the ambassador’s activities. 

 

Dr. Vinod K. Rustgi, clinical director of Gastroenterology and the director of Hepatology at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital, New Brunswick spoke to the junior class on April 23^rd.       Dr. Rustgi was invited by junior Osis Aftab to share his experiences and knowledge with our students.  Dr. Rustgi reviewed the major aspects of gastroenterology and took questions from our students about his career and training.  We are greatly appreciative of the time   Dr. Rustgi gave to our students and look forward to the possibility of future visits. 

 

Senior Vraj Shah was recognized as the Outstanding Senior at the Academy for Allied Health & Biomedical Sciences at the Middlesex County Principals and Supervisors Dinner in Monroe Township on April 26^th.  Vraj was chosen for his contributions as a member of student government, the National Honor Society, UNICEF, several other clubs and for his leadership as captain of the varsity boys soccer team. 

 

Students in Advanced Placement courses are preparing for their end of course examinations.  Mr. Rivera, Ms. Veilleux, Mr. Nava and Ms. Yeye have their students reviewing the different types of questions and content they can expect on their examinations during the first week of May. 

 

The Substance Abuse Prevention Club made a donation to City of Angels (COA) NJ, Inc.  The City of Angels was founded in 2009 to guide people with addiction to treatment and support them in their recovery. Each year, COA performs hundreds of interventions and referrals to treatment. COA will work with anyone, regardless of their insurance status, treatment history, or other details.  This effort was led by Ms. Franklin & the Substance Abuse Club. 

 

Senior Aishwarya Sridhar has been selected as a winner of the Colgate-Palmolive Company Scholarship.  Aishwarya was selected through the National Merit Scholarship Corporation after taking the PSATs her junior year. 

 

Five sophomore and freshman students attended the Women in STEM seminar held at Johnson & Johnson World Headquarters in New Brunswick on April 21^st.  Students spent the day working with students from the other campuses of the Middlesex County Vocational & Technical School District while working with mentors from Johnson & Johnson as they learned about careers and the skills needed to acquire those careers.  A special thanks to Junior Achievement of New Jersey and Ms. Diane Veilleux for offering this opportunity to our students. 

 

Senior Wamia Siddiqui was recognized as the Woodbridge Campus Caring Award winner for the 2016-17 school year on April 27^th.  Wamia was selected for the award based on her compassion towards others and her constant positive attitude.  Ms. Ferrier joined Wamia at the awards ceremony held by the Middlesex County Counselors Association. 

 

Seventh-grade grade students from the Woodbridge Middle School visited the Career Choices Program on April 28^th.  The 25 participating students and their teacher toured the digital media, culinary and construction technology classrooms seeing all of the projects they could be a part of next year.

 

The eighth-grade Career Choices Program recently held a "Respect" poster contest. The students worked collaboratively creating outstanding respect messages and displays. Detective Slossberg and Detective Zeno, from the Woodbridge Police Department visited the Woodbridge Campus to judge the poster contest and deliver positive respectful messages to our students. 

An outstanding effort by all the Career Choices’ students!

Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies

Twenty-four students have been declared winners of the National Spanish Exam. 

 

Gold Medals were awarded to:  Andrea Dominguez, Lesley Garcia, Aditya Jain, Adhya Khare and Jason Li (Grade 9), Mrinali Nakhre and Ariana Novo (Grade 10), Ian Li (Grade 11).

 

Silver Medals were awarded to: Kumud Joshi and Ryan Shah (Grade 9), Saneel Sreeni Grade 10), Anjali Gupta and Abhishek Hariharan (Grade 11). 

 

Bronze Medals were awarded to: Avinash Kumar, Avaneen Pinninti, Renuka Ravinder and Serena Zeng (Grade 9), Spencer Ng, Sibhithirumeni Ramadoss, Sanjna Shah, Eesha Sharma and Kaileann Villanueva (Grade 10), Zachary Acosta and Anjali Bothra (Grade 11).

 

The National Spanish Exam is a comprehensive test that challenges the competitiveness of all students by ranking them into the categories of “bilingual,” “outside” or “regular” based on their prior experiences and knowledge of the Spanish language.  Considering the enormity of the competition (over 100,000 individuals competing nationally), our students have brought significant recognition to the Academy.

 

The Edison Rotary recognized seniors, Ishaan Vachhani, Rohan Agarwal, Ajaita Saini, Priyanka Dangi and Rishika Padnani as their most recent Students of the Month.

 

The Academy’s Safety Ambassadors gave presentations at Lincoln Elementary School and Benjamin Franklin Elementary School on April 3^rd.

 

The Academy’s Red Cross Club held a fundraiser luncheon on April 26^th.  All proceeds ($250) were donated to School for a Village in India.

 

The Academy inducted 13 students into the National Honor Society at the annual Induction Ceremony on April 27^th.  Dr. Russo was present to congratulate both the students and their parents.  Fourteen students were also inducted into the Academy’s Chapter of the Spanish Honor Society.

 

The Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies collected over 1,500 pounds of food during the recent M.C.F.O.O.D.S. drive.

 

Academy juniors, Malavika Vivek and Anjali Gupta were recently awarded the National Center for Women in Technology Aspirations New Jersey Affiliate Award.  Award recipients were selected based on their aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing, leadership ability, academic history and plans for post-secondary education. 

 

The following juniors will receive recognition in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program in the fall:  Kunal D. Adhia, Anjali Botha, Samuel T. Carlos, Kelley Chau, Matthew J. Chou, Lucent C. Fong, Khushi Gandhi, Anjali Gupta, Zarir B. Hamza, Poojit Hegde, Jessica Hernan-dez, Abishek Kannappan, Dawid Kluszczynski, Shankar Kohli, Christine Mathews, Rohan Mehra, Anusha Nagar, Maya Pandurangan, Abhishek S. Patel, Ankit Patel, Juliana A. Pirro, Jay Rao, Kamakashi Sharma, Surya Venkatram, Malavika Vivek, Allison Wong, Jonathan R. Wong.

 

Electrical/Computer Engineering senior Akshat Gokhale has been selected as a winner of a National Merit $2500 Scholarship.

 

Senior Nirmal A. Prakash has been selected as a winner of the National Merit MetLife Founda-tion Scholarship.

 

Electrical/Computer Engineering junior Lucent Fong has been accepted into Kean University’s GSSRP (Group Summer Scholars Research Program) world of data program.

 

The Academy sent two teams to their third-ever History Bowl Nationals this month.  After several rounds of competition, the junior varsity team advanced to the pre-playoff round and placed fourth in their group.  The varsity team advanced through several rounds and finished with a final ranking of 27 out of 144 teams.

 

Edison Academy Junior States of America team competed in the Spring State Conference in Woodbridge on April 24^th.  Freshman Jason Li was recognized as a top debater and was awarded a prized gavel.

 

Civil/Mechanical Engineering junior Khushi Gandhi has been selected as a Teen Advisor for the 2017 – 2018 school year.  Teen Advisors work to make sure that Girl Up succeeds in its mission—supporting the empowerment of girls, by girls.  She will play a role in carrying out advocacy goals, awareness campaigns and fundraising activities on behalf of Girl Up.

 

Khushi has also been selected to attend the 2017 WiSci (Women in Science) Girls STEAM Camp in Malawi, Africa.  One hundred high school girls from Africa and the United States will work together to enhance their STEAM skills.  This year’s focus is on using technology to create a safe, more secure world and preventing gender-based violence.  Sponsors include the US State Department, Google and Intel.

 

The Class of 2019 hosted the Starry Night Spring Dance on April 21^st.  The commons area was decorated with tiny sparkling lights, shiny stars and a beautiful hand painted replica of Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting.  A good time was had by all!

 

Eleven Academy students, including seniors, Mohammed Mannan, Akshat Gokhale, Kush Singh, Amrut Nagir and Rohan Agarwal; juniors, Poojit Hegde, Kunal Adia, Jonathan Wang and Lucent Fong; sophomore, Glenn Sun; and freshman Pramod Mitikiri qualified for ARML (American Regional Mathematical Competition) – to be held June 3-4 in Philadelphia.

 

Fourteen Academy students qualified and took part in the MATHCon Finals at the University of Illinois in Chicago on April 22^nd. Participants included juniors Poojit Hegde, Kunal Adhia, Samuel Carlos, Rohan Mehra and Jonathan Wong, sophomores Glenn Sun, Mrinali Nakhre, Saneel Sreeni, Kevin Tang, Sahar Sami and Parth Salva and freshmen, Pramod Mitikiri, Sean Wang and Ethan Lee.

 

There were several winners as follows:

 

NATIONAL CHAMPION – Junior Kunal Adhia

2^nd Place and Silver Medal – Junior Poojit Hegde

3^rd Place and Bronze Medal – Sophomore Glenn Sun

Honorable Mention:  Sean Wang, Pramod Mitikiri, Ethan Lee, Kevin Tang, Parth Savla, Sahar Sami, Rohan Mehta, Jonathan Wang, and Samuel Carlos

 

The Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies placed 3^rd best overall high school nationally.  With its goal of promoting math education, MathCON had 49,685 students from 330 schools in 42 different states participate in the online test this year. Our 14 students were among the top 576 students out of 49,685 contestants nationwide.

 

One hundred thirty-three Academy students took a challenging Trig Star Exam offered by the Society of Surveyors of America.

 

Twenty-four Academy students participated in the "Purple Comet" international online team competition.  More than 4000 teams participated.

 

Two Academy teams (one sophomore team and one junior) qualified for the Best in the Nation "TSA TEAMS" Competition and will fly to Orlando, Florida on June 21^st.

 

Malavika Vivek and Anjali Gupta, juniors in Electrical/Computer Engineering, presented their project at the Stevens Institute of Technology as winners of the New Jersey Tech Council’s Internet of Things Competition. They presented on their research—the application of machine learning to food allergies.

East Brunswick Campus

Senior Theatre major Jessica DellBeni received the outstanding student award given by the Middlesex County Principals and Supervisors Association held at the NJPSA in Monroe. Jessica’s academics and career major accomplishments are impressive. She has made High Honor Roll in every semester and is an outstanding citizen of our school.  Jessica has been accepted into numerous college including Ohio University Honor College and Carnegie Mellon University.

 

The East Brunswick Campus is proud to announce the results of the Skills USA competition that took place on April 8^th. Medal winners are as follows:

 

Bronze:      Calvin Coates (Carpentry) – Basic Construction

Nia Drinkard (Architectural Technology) – Architectural Drafting

Sean Mejorada (Architectural Technology) – Technical Drafting

Foster Overmere (Machine Tool Technology) – Prepared Speech

 

Silver:         Paradise Bridges (Graphic Design) – T-Shirt Design

Tariq Gorrell (Culinary Arts) – Restaurant Service

Tom Syx (Architectural Drafting) – Technical Drafting

 

Gold:          Cailey Colon (Cosmetology) – Nail Care

 

The School of the Arts, Digital Film, hosted the VIEW-MASTER 3^rd Annual Photography Competition.  Award winners are as follows: 

 

1^st Place
Ben DeSimone (Senior) - Digital Film

2^nd Place
Rosalia Richter (Senior) - Digital Film

3^rd Place
Jessica Kimberlin (Senior) - Digital Film

Jury's Choice Award – 4^th Place
Claudia Martinez (Senior) - Digital Film

The East Brunswick Campus selected junior Thomas Syx as the recipient of the Middlesex

County Guidance Directors Association’s 2017 Caring Award. Thomas is a junior in Architec-

tural Technology and has done amazing work both in and outside of his school. Thomas is an aspiring Eagle Scout with his project of interviewing veterans for the Library of Congress.

 

Senior Michael Villanueva won the 34^th annual New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival. Over  450 plays were submitted for this year’s New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival; the third-oldest young playwright’s festival in the country.  Finalists had their plays critiqued by professional playwrights from all over the United States, allowing them the valuable chance to learn from these professionals and to revise their work, making it stronger before resubmitting it for final consideration. The New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival winners will receive Governor’s Awards, a one-year membership to the Dramatists Guild, the professional playwrights union; and will have their plays staged in a reading with professional actors and directors in June.

 

The East Brunswick Campuses Technology Student Association (TSA) attended their first event at the College of New Jersey. The students and faculty advisor, Mr. Mercadante participated in their first VEX robotic competition. The students learned a great deal and are excited to compete again.

East Brunswick School of Career Development

Junior Rebecca Alfrey received Honorable Mention for her submission to the 6^th Congressional District 2017 High School Art Competition.

 

Mr. Canning and Mr. Wiseman’s classes have been visiting the Carpenter’s Union in Kennilworth.  The purpose of the visits is to expose students to the field of carpentry and to assist them with employment after high school.

 

Students in Mr. Levine's 9^th grade English class recently took part in a unique exercise where they became members of an "island tribe." This activity was done in conjunction with a class reading of Lord of the Flies. Students spent three class periods "trapped" on an island (the classroom.) Students had to choose a leader, create a name for the island, assign jobs and build shelter. On the final day, one student led a coup and tried to take over the island, but was unsuccessful! The students received grades based on participation and ability to work together. A few of the students noted how much they enjoyed the activity and that it made William Golding’s story come alive.

 

The Skills USA Team competed in Somerset, New Jersey the weekend of April 8^th.  Seniors Tariq Gorrell and Paradise Bridges took second place for their culinary creations.  Tariq created and served omelets while talking through the process.  He also received $2000 toward tuition to attend the Culinary Institute Academy.  Paradise won for her T-Shirt Creation; “All about NJ.”

Perth Amboy Campus

The Perth Amboy Campus was honored to host a visit from the current New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin in honor of Earth Week. The commissioner spoke to our students about the important role that the Department of Environmental Protection plays in keeping our environment safe and also about career paths in protecting the environment.

 

Twenty Students from the Perth Amboy Campus competed in the SkillsUSA State Competition in April. We had top 10 finishers in 10 different competitions.

 

Piscataway Campus/Piscataway School of Career Development

Stylist Mr. Sourano from Paul Mitchell System's came to visit Mrs. Ricciardi’s Adult Cosmetology class on April 18^th.  Mr. Sourano demonstrated to the class several hair cutting techniques and blow outs. In less than two hours he did six haircuts and blow outs. The students were so amazed to see how great and fast he was able to complete each task. He was very inspirational to all the students, it really motivated them.

 

Adult automotive instructor Sara Heller took her students to the New York auto show at the Jacob Javits Center on April 19^th. Students were able to learn about advancing technologies and see where the automotive industry is heading. Not only did students learn about emerging technologies in the automotive industry but they were able to see new models, concept cars, classic cars, and much more!  The students were also able to take a test drive in a 2017 Toyota as well as an off-road 2017 Jeep. A lot of information was learned and a lot of fun was had by all!

 

Director of Career and Technical Education Sean McDonald spoke to interested parents and applicants on April 5^th explaining Health Technology and Health Careers Programs offered at MCVTS.

 

The Middlesex County Secondary Principal’s Association awarded David Rivera with the Outstand-ing Student Award on April 26^th.

 

Joan Disla received the Caring Award from the Middlesex County Guidance Council on April 27^th at Middlesex County College.

 

Sophomores and juniors attended a National Hispanic College Fair at Montclair State University on April 28^th.

 

The Safety Ambassadors visited Randolphville Elementary School for the third time on April 3^rd 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 had an onsite visit to Johnson and Johnson Head-quarters in Piscataway, New Jersey on April 21^st.  The students had the chance to work with presenters on finding their brand, building strength and learning who they are. 

 

The Piscataway Chapter of SkillsUSA submitted six competitors for the State SkillsUSA Compe-tition on April 8^th.  Students competed in Culinary Arts, Commercial Baking, Public Speaking, Extemporaneous Speaking and Job Interviews.  Although none of our students placed in the top three positions, each made valuable connections through networking, cemented relationships within the group, and made memories that will last a lifetime. Students are beginning to plan for next year's event and hone their skills in the chosen categories.

 

School of Career Development carpentry shop teacher James Wiater coordinated a police canine demonstration for his students on April 5^th. His support of police canine started with a story from 1998 about a dog who was killed in the line of duty. He wanted to do something to protect the police canines, so this year he donated armor vests for New Jersey police canine officers. The vest donation was made possible from proceeds of a children’s book written by Mr. Wiater, titled “The Adventures of Solo, The Big Dog.” The book started as a simple story he made up for his daughters about a K-9 officer. The book was titled after real life “K-9 Solo” who was killed in the line of duty in Bradley Beach, New Jersey in 1998.