February School Highlights

 

Academy of Allied Health & Biomedical Sciences

Students enrolled in dual-credit, college classes with Rutgers University School of Health Professions took their end-of-course exams on February 6^th. All seniors took Anatomy & Physiology 1 and had a 100 percent pass rate, the highest average in several years.  All juniors took the Introduction to Clinical Research exam, which was re-introduced to the Academy in the fall semester.  Again, 100 percent of the students passed with an average over 90 percent.  Seniors enrolled in the very challenging Scientific Principles of Nutrition also took the test and performed well.

 

The Whole School, Whole Child, Whole Community Wellness Grant third monthly wellness and stress relief day on February 7^th offered students and staff a chance to exercise, breath, relax, and turn their thoughts inward. “A burst of positivity” was how one student described it. Students chose among 12 activities and presentations, including yoga, meditation and mindfulness, meditation and philosophy, drawing, aroma therapy, kickball, coloring, Valentine’s crafts, creative writing, and music.

 

The annual Tech Expo was held at Woodbridge Academy February 22^nd. This year’s showing was more than double last year’s participants, with 15 groups presenting ideas to Ms. Wilhelmy, Ms. Bowen, and Dr. Schrader.  Due to the theme of collaboration, most student groups were able to connect with industry professionals in healthcare, technology, or education to assist them with their amazing presentations.  In the end, 10 projects were chosen to compete.  The administration and staff were very proud of the students who submitted projects.  The winning Woodbridge Academy Tech Expo project, Ulcermate Prevention Wheelchair, was completed in conjunction with students from the Edison Academy.

 

On February 2^nd, 12 of our juniors participated in the 2019 Perry Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, three students were accepted into the day-long, hands-on job-shadowing program of the Perry Initiative at NYU.  The Perry Initiative is designed to inspire young women to be leaders in the fields of orthopedic surgery and engineering.

 

On February 23^rd five Academy students competed in the Science Bowl in Princeton. The team represented the Academy well and advanced two rounds further than last year, defeating last year’s first- and second-place teams. The team made it to Round 12, the semifinal. This was the 26th year Princeton Plasma Physics Lab hosted the Science Bowl in which 16 middle school teams and 32 high school teams compete.  

 

Senior Anika Pruthi was awarded the Prudential Spirit of Community Certificate of Excellence Award for her community service achievements. She was among the top 10 percent of applicants from New Jersey. Senior Anika Pruthi and sophomore Nitya Sathees were awarded the Presidential Volunteer Service Award.  Both do so while maintaining impressive GPAs and positive relationships throughout the building.

 

Eight Academy students qualified for the Rutgers Oncology Olympiad that will be held on April 6. The students are juniors Darshan Patel, Akul Umamageswaran, Emily Zarczynski, Rithvik Ghankot, Nina Chereath, Soumya Vavilala, and Malia Ahmed and sophomore Adam Tseng. A total of 225 students registered for the test to qualify for the event. The Oncology Olympiad seeks to raise awareness about cancer and support the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Students are tested and compete in areas that focus on cancer diagnosis, treatment, symptoms, genetics, and healthcare specialists.

 

Academy for Science, Mathematics, & Engineering Technologies

Our intermediate team (10^th graders) of the American Computer Science League achieved a perfect score for the first two contests of the series and are on their way to qualifying for the Regional Competition on May 25^th in Wayne, NJ.

 

The Academy took first in the Middlesex County division of New Jersey High School Consumer Bowl. Congrats to juniors Urmi Jani, Sharanya Pogaku and Ria Vora, and senior Nikhil Pampati. Consumer Bowl is by the state Division of Consumer Affairs.

 

Math League has been busy! Aditya Agashe is on a roll, scoring a perfect score in the month of February on the ASMA, NJML, and Mandlebrot competitions. The following students also received perfect scores in February's ASMA: Max Grebinskiy, Spencer Ng, and Glenn Sun.

 

The Academic Team (A-team) qualified for the National Academic Quiz Tournament to be held May 24-26 in Atlanta.

 

Congratulations to Glenn Sun, Kevin Tang, Sudheshna Vemula, Saneel Sreeni and Yoga Pathak for being named National Merit Scholarship Program Finalists!!

 

Urmi J. & Sharanya P. organized a Girl Up! Regional Summit at West Hall. Guest speakers were Mayor Liz Lempert of Princeton, Miss Central Jersey Kyra Seeley, and CEO of Kali, -Jonna Piira, spoke on mental health, their journeys and mentorship; 250 feminine hygiene kits were assembled.

 

Engineering Week 2019 kickoff included presentations by Joe Luti (Chemical Engineer), Eric Saam (Computer Engineer), Sonny Gottstein (Engineering Student), Sindhu Suresh (Sr. Project Manager-Siemens), Amit Pandey (Research Scientist) and Abhishek Sharma (Research Engineer).

 

Freshman Shivam Syal has been selected as a poster presenter for the 2019 Junior Science and Humanities Symposium at Rutgers University.  His research is on neuro-technology and neuro-related disorders like Alzheimer’s, Epilepsy, and PTSD.

 

Congratulations to all the teams who participated in Tech Expo 2019 at the Academy. The winners are: third place, Care Bear – helps relieve a child’s stress at the doctor’s office; second place, CF Tracker – an app that calculates a user’s carbon footprint and techniques to improve it; first place, A Sustainable Future in a Grain of Rice – plastic bags made from rice starch leading to a plastic-free world.

 

East Brunswick Campus

Alexis Wilner, a junior in Ms. Aladren’s theater program, has been accepted into the Cherub Class of 2019 Film and Video Production Division. The Cherub is considered one of the top summer training programs for high-schoolers in collaboration with Northwestern University. She has also been selected to the crew of the first New Jersey All-State Show as a stage manager for this year’s statewide production of the Thespians. 

 

The Education Project, a musical created by Ms. Aladren’s theater program, which was recently performed at Bronx Theatre High School in New York, was selected as one of the finalists in NJ Advance Media’s “Think your high school puts on the best musical in N.J.” competition.

 

Ruth Learn, a junior in Ms. Aladren’s theater program, is eligible to present her individual event at the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Neb., in June. She recently received an overall superior assessment on her individual event for acting at the New Jersey Thespian event. 

 

Lauren White and Maalala Sharrief, juniors in Ms. Aladren’s theater program, have been selected to present their plays at the NJIT Rising Playwrights Festival.

 

February, which is Career and Technical Education Month, culminated with our campus’ Career and Tech Expo. Digital Film received first place for their collaboration with the Thomas Edison Media Arts Consortium and their history of lighting in film, television, and photography.  Second place went to Graphic Design in collaboration with the East Brunswick Public Library and our campus’ MakerSpace in the creation of an Escape Room.  Third place was awarded to Dance, Multimedia Art and Design, and Arts Technology for their Ames Room creation. 

 

Isaiah Gomes, a senior in Mr. Libitz’s Digital Film program, won first runner-up for his short film “After Dark” in the Suspense/Thriller Category at the Fifth Artists Alike Film Festival.

 

Amanda Clark, a senior in Mr. Libitz’s Digital Film program, won the Top Film Pick out of 50 films screened for her short film “Deception.” Winning this prestigious honor will result in her film being screened and judged at the 17^th Garden State Film Festival.

 

Noah Perez and Isaiah Gomez, seniors in Mr. Libitz’s Digital Film program, completed their Drone Pilot Safety Training under the supervision of Mr. Libitz and received their Federal Aviation Administration Small UAS Certificate under the Fly Model Aircraft Section 336.  These two students are now registered as drone pilots to film any student production.

 

East Brunswick School of Career Development

On February 21^st, East Brunswick Career Development and East Brunswick Tech hosted their annual Tech Expo. Each shop class that participated did an excellent job.  The winners for Career Development were as follows: first, Building Services (Mr. Wiseman), in collaboration with Architecture, Ag Science, Machine Tool Technology, and Graphic Design, for the Courtyard Project; second, HVAC (Mr. Gent) in collaboration with Architecture for their Fabric Duct work design; third, Culinary (Mr. Roth) in collaboration with Baking for their Natural vs. Artificial Dye demonstration

 

Levine’s World History class took part in a unique World War I simulation activity. Students took the roles of countries and formed alliances with each other. They also formed secret alliances and made treaties with each other. The purpose was to show how the war transpired and led to World War II.  They were able to spend pretend money to purchase industries and colonies, and to boost their military.  Within the lesson, they learned what they could have done better and how to proceed for the next war.

 

Perth Amboy Campus

The Perth Amboy Campus participated in the annual Tech Expo on February 27^th. Five teams competed with the winning project created by the Computer Systems Technology, Electrical Trade, and Carpentry shops.  Their project, titled “Magic Mirror” demonstrated the power of the fully integrated technological home of the 21st century.

 

The varsity boys and girls basketball teams each qualified for and hosted a NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 1 tournament game. Congratulations to each team on their excellent seasons.

 

Perth Amboy Campus Automotive Technology seniors Rafael Miranda and Edisamir Caraballo finished in third place in the NJ CAR Tech Competition at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft. The two-student teams demonstrated their skills on six hands-on stations, including engine performance, brakes, engines, HVAC, electrical, and Controller Area Network (CAN bus). The stations measured the students’ ability to assess and undertake vehicle repairs. Faculty and lab assistants from Brookdale -- which offers an automotive technician program -- served as judges for the competition.

 

Piscataway Campus

On February 19^th Health Technology students were introduced to the medical field of anesthesiology by a Piscataway parent, Dr. Hany Abdelsalan. Abdelsalan practiced in Egypt and Saudi Arabia before coming to the United States.  The students learned about the educational requirements, skills and responsibilities of an anesthesiologist in, and outside of the operating room, as well as life balance in the demanding medical field.

 

On February 25^th Piscataway Campus held our Annual Career Tech Expo. The winners were: third, Mr. Sadowski, Agriculture/Horticulture, and Mr. Vitale, Culinary shop, presenters Denzel Kuria, Yarivette Delgado, Karleydi Camarillo Gomez, Janayssa Arcia, Cindy Merino-Palma; second, Mr. Schubert, Welding, and Mr. Minnella, CADD shop, presenters Jedrek Fuentes, Nick Cashin, Kyle Blackmire, Jasmeet Makkar, Kelly Calvo Romero; first, Ms. Roy, Graphic Design shop, presenters Alexandra Gonzalez Torres, Jocelyn Medina, Blessing Kayee.

 

On February 15^th Piscataway Campus hosted "Coffee with our Counselors". Parents were invited to have light refreshments and learn about the great things that are going on at our campus from our counselors.

 

On February 21^st the Practical Nursing Program held their graduation ceremony at the Piscataway Campus.  There were 26 student nurses graduating, with Dawn Lystad, director of adult education, introducing the ceremony.  Ms. Lystad said the most recent graduating class of June 2018 had a 94 percent NCLEX pass rate for state licensure in nursing.  

 

On February 26^th Piscataway Campus hosted the Annual Debate Competition against South Plainfield H.S. The two topics included vaccinations and universal healthcare.  South Plainfield won Best Overall Team.  However, Piscataway sweep all individual awards as follows: Best Negative, Richard Faria Santos; Best Affirmative, Waina Ali; Best Cross Examiner, Elsa Nyongesa, and Best Rebuttalist, Genesis Sencion.