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October School Highlights

Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences

Respect Week was celebrated with multiple activities. On Monday, October 1st, we participated in Stomp Out Bullying/Go Blue Day. Staff and students wore blue to bring attention to the need to end bullying in all its forms and unite as Upstanders. On October 2nd, we had Great Gratitude Day and students hung paper pumpkins on our Great Gratitude Pumpkin Patch. On October 3rd, we celebrated with Pay Respect Forward Day.  On October 4th, we held “Respect Is …” day and students built a solid foundation of respect in the building by adding their paper bricks to the wall. On October 5th, we celebrated with Respect Week Shout Outs for students caught during the week demonstrating respect and kindness. In the Career Choices wing, students from each class made respect posters. Officers from Woodbridge judged the posters and presented the winners with certificates.

 

Career Choices students hosted the bi-annual Career Cafe on October 17th. Ms. Rozner and her class did an incredible job. Mr. McGowan and his class made colorful, professional menus and placemats.

 

School Violence Awareness and Prevention Week was also observed. On October 16th, DARE officers from Woodbridge spoke to each morning and afternoon classes. On October 19th, Middlesex County Sheriff’s Officer Tracy presented on Internet Safety and Social Media.

 

The PSAT was administered to all 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students on October 10th. During the last hour of testing, the seniors had a meeting with their advisor, their student officers, Ms. Elko, and Ms. Ferrier about college applications, the class trip, senior pictures, and yearbook activities.

 

Our ACT Profile Report arrived for the October 17th release date. Our report shows a steady increase in the number of students at the Academy taking the ACT, from four in 2014 to 26 in 2018, more than one-third of our graduating seniors. Our average composite score was 31 out of 36, compared to the state average of 23.7. In addition, 100 percent of our students met the key 3-4 benchmarks and 88 percent met the STEM benchmarks compared to 37 percent in the state. Our average scores were 32.1 for English, 30.7 for math, 31.7 for reading, and 28.8 for science. The national averages were 20.2 for English, 20.5 for math, 21.3 for reading, 20.7 for science and 20.8 composite.

 

Senior Anika Pruthi was accepted into the prestigious New York Academy of Sciences’ Junior Academy. The New York Academy of Sciences is one of the country’s oldest and

most widely respected scientific organizations. As a member of the Junior Academy, Anika will have the opportunity to collaborate with 2,000 students from 85 countries on virtual challenges sponsored by industry leading companies.

 

Senior Soccer Recognition was held October 26th at the final home game of the year. Students and parents came out to celebrate the seniors and applaud their efforts on and off the field.

 

Freshmen elections were held the first week in October. We piloted online voting and it was very successful.

 

Despite some conflicts with the PSAT testing schedule, the Voting Registration Drive on October 10th was a super success! During lunch, we were able to register 23 students! Some students were already registered because they were asked at the DMV when they got the driver's licenses.

 

Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies

Dhyanashri Raman, class of 2022, was awarded the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for her numerous service hours in education. Dhyana coordinated a donation program in middle school that resulted in thousands of books being sent to Africa.

 

The first week in October was designated by the State of New Jersey as a Week of Respect. October 1st, Day 1 Declaration signed by students; October 2nd, students complete “MCA Eagles show respect by …” on large Post-Its; October 3rd, students recite the Anti-Bullying Pledge during homeroom; October 4th, seniors write “statements of encouragement” on blue Post-Its and place them on freshman students’ lockers, and October 5th, staff and students wear blue today to celebrate World Day of Bullying Prevention: An Initiative of STOMP Out Bullying.” Students and staff pose for a Peace Sign picture taken from the roof.

 

Academy seniors toured Rutgers Honors College.

 

Middlesex County College's Chief Neil Brosnan spoke to students for Violence Awareness Week. Chief Brosnan discussed campus safety, emergency situations, and ways in which the MCC police protect and serve our students.

 

Students signed up for MCC’s Emergency Notification System on their phones during the two lunches.

 

East Brunswick Campus

A representative from Full Sail University visited our digital film career major to deliver a stop motion and filmmaking workshop for Mr. Libitz and his students.

 

James Polos, Executive Director of the Middlesex County Improvement Authority, visited Mr. Mercadante’s pre-engineering and advanced manufacturing classroom with their M.C. Blue Robot, the nation’s first fully recyclable recycling robot.  The teacher and students have been tasked with redesigning and rebuilding this robot for future educational use. 

 

Mr. Libitz and his digital film students received recognition at the All American High School Film Festival at the AMC Theater Times Square in New York City.

 

Ms. Aladren, theater arts instructor, and her student Alexis Wilner directed and stage-managed a production of “The Cruelty of Children” at the Emerging Artists Theatre in New York City. 

 

The East Brunswick Campus promoted the Week of Respect and School Violence Awareness week with activities such as a door decorating contest, daily theme days, including Stomp Out Bullying Day and Unity Day, a cyberbullying presentation by the East Brunswick Police

Department, a movie presentation and discussion, and commencing our Humanitarian Drive to support the homeless.

 

East Brunswick School of Career Development

Dr. Menell and Ms. Thomas-Floyd coordinated a trip for 40 students to the Freedom Tower, observatory, WTC Memorial, Wall Street, and Federal Hall. They gave their students an incredible expeditionary learning experience. It is a unique example of collaboration between our school's academic classes and career majors.

 

The East Brunswick Career Development dry cleaning class and the South River Board of Health are teaming up to run a winter coat drive.  There will be drop-off points for coats in different areas of East Brunswick and South River. The coats will be delivered to Mr. Grimaldi in the dry cleaning shop; they will be cleaned and picked up once again by South River Board of Health.  We have been working on this project for the past six years.

 

East Brunswick Career Development and East Brunswick Tech 10th and 11th grade students viewed the film “Wonder” during the Week of Respect. The purpose of the movie was to promote the acceptance of differences and diversity, not only in school but in life in general.  In addition, Detective Brian Adams from the East Brunswick Police Department spoke to ninth graders.

 

On October 24th, EBCD visited Woodbridge High School to attend a college fair sponsored by the Woodbridge Board of Education. Students visited with representatives from different colleges and universities as well as representatives from trade schools. 

 

Mr. Wiseman’s building services classes have been working diligently on the beautification of one of the four courtyards on the East Brunswick Campus. They are currently working on installing concrete pavers for a walkway, and it will eventually be a place for classes to congregate. They plan to have it completed by June.

 

Perth Amboy Campus

Perth Amboy Campus culinary arts students competed in the Taste of Perth Amboy against 14 restaurants from the city. Our students were praised for their professionalism and presentation and took second place overall for food ahead of popular eateries like The Armory and The Barge.

 

Students on the Perth Amboy Campus were treated to a seminar conducted by Eric Shandroff about the creativity of words utilizing spoken word poetry and rap. This enlightening presentation was part of our Week of Respect, as he used that theme in his poetry.

 

Piscataway Campus

On October 5th, the Safety Ambassadors attended their first Safety Summit in which they learned about the different topics they would be educating elementary-grade students about in the coming months.  

 

During the Week of Respect, all 9th grade students participated in presentations on HIB, cyber-bullying and respect. During the week, the entire school participated in spirit days.

 

 

On October 12th, the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Department presented information on cyber-bullying and internet safety as a way to kick off Violence Awareness Week. Graphic arts students created posters related to the topic and the students participated in school spirit days.

 

October 16th was the first meeting for the Johnson and Johnson Young Women’s Group. The girls met the volunteers, learned about the program, and created their own vision boards. 

 

During the month of October, cosmetology students and the Interact Club collected mascara wands to be donated to Wands for Wildlife. The wands will be used to remove fly eggs and larva from the fur of animals at a nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation center in western North Carolina.

 

Mr. Sadowski’s agriculture/horticulture shop hosted its first farmer's market this month. It was such a great success. All of the fresh vegetables have been grown from seed and matured naturally in our very own Piscataway Garden. The fresh produce sold included: tomatoes, eggplant, jalapenos, and bell peppers.