Dear MK Community,

It is hard to believe that we are halfway through the school year! We have had a successful first semester and I am so proud of our students for all of their accomplishments in both their academic and co-curricular endeavors.

Our mission remains to provide every student with the highest quality education possible. As educators, we have the incredible responsibility and opportunity of not just teaching our children but also making a positive impact on their lives. I look forward to continuing to partner with you for the remainder of the year to ensure that all members of our school community feel safe, valued, respected, and supported.

Our theme for the school year is “Together, We Rise”. It truly is our time to rise to new heights! We have witnessed our students excel in so many areas and this newsletter is dedicated to their achievements. In addition, I have included useful information for both students and parents.

Please know that my door is always open and I welcome your involvement. Please feel free to reach out to discuss any concerns, suggestions, or ideas to make this a great year!

Together, We will Rise.

With Golden Eagle Pride,

Ryan MacNaughton - Principal

The NJ Governor's Educator of the year program recognizes staff members who serve as an exceptionally skilled and dedicated educator in a public or charter school; inspires students of all backgrounds and abilities to learn; demonstrates leadership and innovation in and outside the classroom; has the respect and admiration of students, parents, administrators and colleagues; and plays an active role in the community as well as the school.

Each year, Parent Heart Watch (PHW) recognizes individuals who demonstrate a continuous commitment to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest in youth by taking specific actions that support the PHW mission of protecting youth from sudden cardiac arrest and preventable sudden cardiac death.

The Heroes for Young Hearts awards were presented on January 13, 2023, at the welcome dinner of the Parent Heart Watch 18th Annual National Heart to Heart dinner in Houston, Texas.

Kiersten was honored for starting her own charity, Heartfelt Harmonies, which is dedicated to donating life-saving AEDs to socioeconomic disadvantaged communities and providing music therapy kits to pediatric hospitals.

Untapped Potential is a non-profit organization founded by seniors Sankalp Chandesh & Michael Carnathan. Over the course of this year, the organization has worked with local schools and ice rinks to collect and donate $80k worth of hockey equipment. By partnering with the Ironbound Recreation Center in Newark, NJ, they’ve been able to distribute their equipment to 450+ underprivileged kids. Through the efforts of Untapped potential, kids of all backgrounds will have the opportunity to pursue the sport they love.Way to go Mike and Sankalp. Together, We Rise!

Commended students are honored throughout the nation for their scores on the the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Congratulations to these fine students who have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success and placed among the top 50,000 students in the nation.

Semifinalists are the highest-scoring entrants in each state! State Semifinalists will have an opportunity to compete for national scholarships.

Angeliz created a design for the Morris County Manual Contest and it WON! Her design took first place in the contest, and as a result her design will be used for the cover of the manual. The book is mass produced and distributed to all the municipalities in Morris County. In addition, she will be celebrated and presented with a $500 check at a special ceremony in February. Her design is pictured below.

Charles was selected as first chair trombonist performing with other talented musicians from across the state in Atlantic City on November 10th and at NJPAC on November 18th with Christian McBride, a Grammy award winning bassist.

Dom DelleMonache- 2nd

Chaz Young- 2nd Cole

Newton-4th

Gavin Gomes- 4th

Luke Shivas - 5th

Eamon Kinney-6th

Nick Forgione-6th

Elijah Frix- 6th

Ms. Mainkar and student volunteers distributed winter clothing for hundreds of people in Paterson and served as Santa's elves handing out gifts to all the children in Hilltop Haven Shelter in Paterson. Great work!

Student Volunteers

Emma Dirmann (9)

Lucia Nash (9)

Julia Ramos (9)

Jackie Williams (12)

Maria Tzoumas (9)

This fall, the SOAR Transition Program partnered with Tiffany & Co. for the People of All Abilities program. The goal of this program is to provide our students with an opportunity to learn job skills and gain employment with Tiffany & Co. Each student is assigned a Peer Mentor who works with the students on training as well as general navigation of the environment. Students are paid employees of Tiffany & Co. during their time in this program. Congratulations to Jessica Hamtil, Elian Briones, Peter Bloom, and Patrick Butler!!

Starting the new year with acts of kindness, the FCCLA (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America) Club held a Babysitting Night early this month on Friday, January 6th. This fundraising idea was recreated by the lead officer of the committee, Kari Mindrebo (kmindrebo24@mhrd.org), who had originally participated in this event with another organization! The parents were able to have a wonderful night off, dropping their children off for 2 hours where they could participate in a multitude of exciting activities. These included baking, coloring, painting, and an obstacle course! We thank the help of National Honor Society volunteers in this event, who gave their time to help make the night a success. Mindrebo reflected, “We decided to start small with some NHS (National Honor Society) volunteers and a few children, but we plan to expand in the future and organize another babysitting night in the Spring.” As 2023 progresses, FCCLA will venture into new committees while setting goals for the club as a whole in order to honor the everlasting message of creativity, teamwork, and diligence. If any student is interested in joining this great after-school program, email bseaman@mrhd.org for more information, or visit room A18 after school on Wednesdays for club meetings!

"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world."

- Robin Williams

4th - Ella Bozic (11) and Sara Brzyzek (11)

5th - Anfal Mahmoud (9) and Sara Gomez (11)

6th - Ace Gauthier (9) and Andrew Sklar (11)

In addition the Forensics Club participated the Annual Randolph Fall Classic Speech & Debate Tournament--with junior Eli Pikus winning sixth in Junior Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Additionally, junior Lauren Hicks placed third in the NJSDL November 2022 Speech Festival!

"TechCent$ is a tech-oriented business podcast hosted by seniors Sankalp Chandesh & Lucas George. The podcast is centered around the goal of spreading financial and technological literacy for teens. From analyzing the business genius of Taylor Swift to using a high-school relationship to explain the process of drug development, each episode of the podcast has an interesting spin to it to make the listening experience fun & entertaining. As of right now, the podcast has reached 500+ downloads and has international streams. For any teens looking for a place to learn about business and emerging technologies, this is the podcast for you!"

Anika Zoeller became the first female Eagle Scout in Rockaway on October 25, 2022!

Anika's Eagle Project, renovating her church's garden and restoring her father's Eagle Project from the 1980s, was featured nationally by the Boy Scouts of America in this article.

Shout out to Alexis Gounuad. Alexis is a freshman this year at Morris Knolls and her parents are super proud of her for managing their unique and difficult family dynamic. She works hard, stays social and positive despite the difficulties and exclusions life with a special needs sibling encompasses. Her older sister Devan was born with numerous brain deficiencies resulting in profound special needs and medically serious complications (Aicardi syndrome). Devan faces many obstacles and health dangers in her everyday life. Alexis has become a lovely (fierce) independent young lady, who is able to sustain herself and move forward with dignity and grace in the face of all the distractions that she may encounter. We are proud of you Alexis!

We are looking for 100% participation to help - Together, We Rise!

NFHS Athletic Streaming

Morris Knolls High School is proud to announce our continued partnership with the NFHS Network to broadcast our Golden Eagle athletic contests and school wide events LIVE. We have invested in new technology that will bring you every game or event from Caruso Stadium and the Gene Kelly Gymnasium LIVE online. That means that if you or family members can’t make it to the game or school event, the live action can be watched from anywhere on your phone, tablet, computer or smart TV.

The NFHS Network will help showcase our primary mission of expanding participation and opportunities for involvement in education-based interscholastic sports and activities. The Morris Hills Regional School district has paid for memberships for all of our families and joining the NFHS Network and subscribing for unlimited access is a simple process.

Just follow these simple steps!

1. Go to NFHSnetwork.com

2. Enter Morris Knolls in the search box. This will bring you the free site for your Golden Eagle broadcasts.

3. Click “Follow” so you can stay up to date on all upcoming Morris Knolls broadcasted events.

Thank you for your continued support of Morris Knolls High School. We look forward to bringing you top notch broadcasts of our events!