January School Highlights

Academy of Allied Health & Biomedical Sciences

Capstone Presentations with industry guest experts and Central Office staff on January 7^th, January 11^th, and January 15^th.

 

Whole School, Whole Child, Whole Community Wellness Grant second monthly wellness and stress relief day on Friday, January 18^th. Students chose among 12 activities and presentations, including yoga, meditation and mindfulness, meditation and philosophy, drawing, aromatherapy, healthy relationships, coloring, crafts, creative writing, and college planning without stress.

 

In conjunction with Middlesex County College, the Academy initiated after-school courses beginning with Introduction to Psychology for the spring semester. The course will run Tuesdays and Thursday from January 31^st for 14 weeks. The class is 100 percent filled, with 35 participants in 10th and 11th grades.

 

About 40 Academy students, along with their advisor, Dr. Christine Wiamer, attended the Northern NJ HOSA regional leadership conference and competition on January 12^th. Students were able to compete as well as attend workshops and complete in activities. Half of the students who went were recognized as finalists or for placing in their event.

 

Senior Anika Pruthi received a National Center for Women and Information Technology 2019 national award for Aspirations in Computing. Anika was chosen as one of the honorable mention recipients from a pool of 4,300 candidates. She was chosen for her “demonstrated interest and achievement in computing, leadership abilities, academic achievement, and plans for post-secondary education.”

 

Two of our seniors, Meer Patel and Anika Pruthi, were announced as candidates for the 2019 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program in Career and Technical Education.

 

The basketball team had an impressive month with victories over Perth Amboy Tech and East Brunswick Tech.

 

Club Day was held on January 25^th, and Spirit Day (wear your pajamas to school) was also held on January 25^th.

 

Academy for Science, Mathematics, & Engineering Technologies

Junior Ryan Shah and freshman Dhyana Raman were selected to participate in Congressman Frank Pallone's Youth Advisory Council for New Jersey's Sixth Congressional District.

 

Senior Archi Parekh, a member of the Junior Academy of the New York Academy of Sciences, was featured in Scientific American for her work on wildfire prevention. She led an international team to develop a solution to wildfires caused by power lines.

 

The MCA Interact Club raised the most money in school history, $1,000, during the annual Talent Show for Toys for Tots. Interact Club President Ariana Novo delivered the check to coordinator Nick D'Andrea of Metuchen Toys for Tots.

 

Congrats to Ms. Kati Oakley for being chosen as our Teacher of the Year and Mr. Rich Fernandez for being chosen as Educational Service Professional of the Year.

 

Science Olympiad was sixth at Regionals. Medals: Anatomy and Physiology, second: Jason Li, Danielle Cui; Experimental Design, fifth: Sibhi Ramadoss, Spencer Ng, Neil Shah; Fermi Questions, second: Glenn Sun, Saneel Sreeni; Geo Mapping, fifth: Kevin Tang, Aditya Agashe; Ornithology, third: Jason Li, Glenn Sun.

 

Big thanks to Academy alumni who participated in our 2019 Alumni Panel discussion January 17^th. Alumni panel: Danielle Scala (2004), Faraz Hyder (2005), Dr. Pooja Sheth (2012), Payal Patel (2012), and Eric Simmons (2012).

 

Our Academy students placed first in the FBLA: Junior Achievement Titans Regional Round on January 22 at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. Team: "We Don't Do Hugs," Shreya Ghosh, Niranjan Deepak, Pranjay Kumar. Team: "Trifecta Trio," Arihant Gupta, Mihir Rastogi, Parth Adhia.

 

Snowball Dance 2019 was hosted by the Junior Class. Approximately 80 students attended.

 

East Brunswick Campus

Gabriel Sirimis, a junior in Mr. Tiedemann’s Multimedia Art and Digital Design career major, was accepted into the Cooper Union Outreach Pre-College Art Program for Winter 2019, concentrating in Intensive Drawing and receiving a full scholarship.

 

Isaiah Gomez, a senior in Mr. Libitz’s Digital Film program, had his work “Wanted” selected to the 17th Garden State Film Festival.

 

Amanda Clark, Melia Velez, and Isaiah Gomez, senior students in Mr. Libitz’s Digital Film program, had their works selected to the fifth Artists Alike Film Festival.

 

The ninth Brightside Film Festival selected 12 submissions from Mr. Libitz’s Digital Film program.

 

Students in Ms. Sobolewski’s Graphic Design class sent portraits of Rohingya refugee children to the Memory Project. Students in this class received photos of refugee children and then created illustrations both by hand and on the computer.

 

Students in Ms. Wolansky’s Cosmetology program visited the Perth Amboy Homeless Shelter to participate in Middlesex County’s Project Homeless Connect to provide haircuts and manicuring services. 

 

Ruth Learn, a junior in Ms. Aladren’s Theater program, placed in the Superior category for acting at the New Jersey Thespians state festival. 

 

Dariel Angeles, a junior in Ms. Aladren’s Theater program, was offered a costume assistant position for A Little Shakespeare: Macbeth, a structured learning experience and cooperative vocational educational opportunity.

 

Deputy Commissioner Hasan from the Department of Education and Kyle Anderson, the Interim Executive County Superintendent, visited our Pre-Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing and Multimedia Art and Digital Design career major classrooms. 

 

East Brunswick School of Career Development

Thirteen DECA students competed in the Regional Competition held at Kean University on January 4^th.  The students competed in the categories of Customer Service and Supermarket CareersTwelve of the students are now eligible to compete in the State Finals, which will be held at Harrah’s in Atlantic City March 4-6.

 

On January 22^nd, 12th grade student Zachary O'Connor received his Eagle Scout Award. The service project that Zachary completed has been nominated for possible national recognition. Zachary spent several months reviewing archives of firefighters from five firehouses in South Amboy, his hometown. He mapped out local cemeteries to find former members’ grave sites.  Zachary located over 155 grave sites of former firefighters, cleaned them and marked them. He was able to locate the grave of a firefighter as far back as 1890. 

Mr. Roth and his Culinary Arts students attended the ACF Jersey Shore Chefs Association’s Winterfest Competition in Point Pleasant on January 27^th.  Three teams competed in the junior chef hors d’oeuvres competition (hot and cold) against other technical schools from Monmouth, Ocean, and Middlesex counties. Seniors Lexie Enzana and Ana Tavarez received the bronze medallion in the hot food category for their “Sweet and Spicy Cheesesteak Puff.”

 

A group of EB and EBCD students attended the Young Men's Conference on January 18^th, where they heard inspirational and motivational speakers discuss a range of topics, including planning for college, staying mentally and physically healthy, and overcoming obstacles in one's life.

 

Perth Amboy Campus

Nine Culinary Arts students participated in the annual Jersey Shore Chefs Winterfest event to raise money for the Monmouth Food Bank. Daniella Perez and Arisleidy Torres won the gold medal for hot food appetizer, and Darlissa Morilla and Adrianna Navarro won the silver medal for cold food appetizer.

 

All juniors and seniors participated in a Military Opportunities Day presentation given by the local Army recruiter. Students were told about the various career opportunities available in all branches of the armed forces. There are career pathways for each of the career areas that we offer at the Perth Amboy Campus.

 

Forty students participated in the annual Young Men’s Conference at Middlesex County College. Students participated in breakout sessions and a presentation about healthy dating practices.

 

Sixteen Students in HVAC/R passed the Gas Heat Employment Ready exam by ESSCO.

 

Automotive Technology senior students were introduced to the local Automotive Union through a presentation given by a representative from the union.

 

Culinary Arts and CADD senior students were given a presentation on restaurant design by Kenneth Schimpf of KDS Consulting, who has worked with Marriott, American Airlines, and Michael Jordan’s restaurants. He has also worked with notable chefs Gordon Ramsey, Eric Ripert and David Chang.

 

Piscataway Campus

On January 23^rd, senior basketball player Sergio Rodriguez scored his 1,000th point versus Calvary Christian.

 

On January 15^th, Ms. Ciesielski’s cosmetology students traveled to Gregg’s Training Center in Linden to learn about Sugaring, a specialized hair-removal service cosmetologists can use in place of wax. The students were able to work hands-on with the instructor.

 

On January 22^nd, a presenter from the Amazing Lash Studio in East Brunswick came to Ms. Ciesielski’s high school cosmetology class and spoke about job opportunities available prior to and after graduation to those students with a cosmetology permit and who acquire a cosmetology license.

 

During the month of January, the Johnson & Johnson leadership group met and worked on interview skills, resume building, and job preparation.  The students learned how to appropriately prepare their resumes and practiced interviewing for the jobs that they would like to achieve upon graduation.

 

On January 18^th, 24 male students attended the annual Young Men's Conference.  The students attended workshops of their choice, which centered on becoming a man, preparing for their future, and family and lifestyle choices. They listened to a keynote speaker who spoke about motivation and making the right choices, then concluded the presentation discussing respect and dreams. 

 

Mr. Araujo, Global Logistics instructor, and his students walked over to Rutgers Livingston campus to learn about integration in their program and to watch presentations from Global Logistics students from across New Jersey. Students had the opportunity to introduce themselves to Rutgers faculty and connect with other Global Logistics students at both the secondary and post-secondary levels.