I am so proud of our Autism Program at HSE. We are filled with incredibly kind and caring professionals wo care for students with special needs. Our students are beautiful people and we love them. I enjoy watching the interactions between our students and staff every day and could not be more pleased with the efforts being made to support our children! Here are a few interesting facts we read over the announcements throughout the day on Thursday:

• Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism compared to girls; Autism spectrum disorder now affects 1 in 68 children. Boys are nearly 5 times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with ASD; Vaccines do not cause autism; Children with Autism can learn and succeed in the classroom and beyond. Like every child, with the help of their families, providers, doctors, specialists, and communities, kids with Autism can thrive; We can’t yet pinpoint what genes create Autism Spectrum Disorder, but science has shown that there are strong genetic links to Autism; There is no “cure” for Autism, but there are several interventions that can help children learn important skills that improve everyday life; Autism affects children of all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups; Autism greatly varies from person to person (no two people with autism are alike); The rate of autism has steadily grown over the last twenty years; Autism now affects 1 in 44 children; over half are classified as having an intellectual disability or borderline intellectual disability.

Great job to all of our East staff and students for representing East with pride at the Expo. The following staff attended the event and what they presented:

• Greg Roth and Mike Nemeth (The importance of a healthy lifestyle); Diane Harz and Laurie Rose (East PTO); Brian Strohmetz and Greg Warren (East choir); Ashley Fitzgerald (Interact Club); Scott Kenny and Ralf Solomone (Safety); Kyle Austin and Chip Phillips (TV Production); Bridget Abatemarco, Scott Lindstrom, Colleen O'Donnell, Rachel Barry, Cody McMichael, and Karen Shaughnessy (East 18-21 Program); Casey Daniel (Tretoday); Doug Trumble and Eddie Goodman (Raiders Helping Raiders Mentor Program); Tammi Pagano (Promoting literacy); A.J. Delgesso (Robotics); Liz Rodriguez (Spanish Heritage Program); Dr. Kretz (ASR Program); EAST Ambassadors and East TEAM students for supporting the events

Thank you all for being so kind and generous with your time! You make me proud!

Great job to Mrs. Buckley and our Surf Club members for their efforts to support a beach sweep this weekend! I always appreciate giving back to our environment.

Mrs. Heather Richards-Barone spoke to our students last week. She is the President of EPA Financial Services Corp. in Toms River. Mrs. Barone was born and raised in Toms River and graduated from Toms River High School North. Her company works with Commonwealth Financial Services, their Broker/Dealer, and they have launched a financial literacy program. Mrs. Barone has her bachelor’s degree in Education and was a teacher in the district after college. In 2003, she left teaching to start a career with family business, financial planning and investments. Education has always been very important to her and she wanted to reach out to see if I can shed light on what it is she does and her business with the intent to share her professional experiences with our students.

The U.S. economy ranks 14th globally when it comes to the number of adults who are financially literate. Mrs. Barone feels this is a disappointing statistic, especially when you consider that individuals who lack basic financial knowledge can perpetuate this problem from generation to generation. That is why she volunteers her time to come in and speak to the Personal Finance Classes within the Toms River School District.

Thank you Mrs. Barone for coming in to meet with our children! I know they benefited from your rich experiences and knowledge in the field! Thank you for adding your value to our school community!

Field of Dreams, the project envisioned by High School North teacher Christian Kane, experienced its first test on Friday. With a bright sun and the hum of construction vehicles on the outskirts of the play area working to fully complete the project, High School East students receiving special services were bused in to try out the fully-inclusive playground area. Wheelchair-accessible trampolines and swings, slides, see-saws, and a beautiful new outdoor basketball court were just several of the fun activities students were more than excited to test out. As far as that test went, it passed with flying colors. Photos from the day below.

I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the efforts of our wonderful paraprofessionals today as part of Paraprofessional Day. We have approximately 35 paras at East. Our paras are empathetic individuals who connect with both adults and children. They understand the developmental stages of kids in different grade levels and adjust their communication style to connect with them more effectively. They are excellent at solving problems, communicating with students about their challenges and coming up with ideas about how to overcome them. I appreciate that our Paraprofessionals are friendly and optimistic, providing a positive influence over their classroom and encouraging a welcoming environment. They enjoy working as part of a team and take direction well from their Lead Teacher when preparing lessons and supporting student needs!

We are so fortunate to have kind, caring, and supporting paras who love children. Thank you to all of you for all you bring to the table as a member of our staff at East. You all are seen, understood, and respected. To show our support, we provided lunch in the Main Office Conference Room for our paras compliments of Della Cucina!

Thank you to J & J Snack Foods for offering to provide all of our students and staff with soft pretzels and icees on Tuesday. It was a beautiful day outside and the kids had an opportunity to enjoy the snacks!

As we get ready to begin the fourth and final marking period, it is not uncommon for us to begin to count down the days until summer. One of the main focuses of the year here at East has been goal setting. A couple of our previous activity periods have been dedicated to setting long-term goals for ourselves this year. The purpose of this month’s activity is to make every day count, especially as we start to countdown the last days of the school year. We are going to make everyday count here at East by setting a simple goal or task for each remaining day of the school year, (beginning Monday, 4/25 when we return from Spring Break.

Check out our Activity here!