Another productive week at the Home of the Raiders! We are in the midst of our 12 Days of Holiday Spirit! The week was filled with concerts, guest speakers, school growth committee meetings, student workshops, and career fairs. Special thanks to all of our wonderful staff for their efforts to support our children!

I spent the weekend with the family. My older daughter came home a little early as her college covid cases are on the rise. She spent the weekend in isolation and testing to assure she is not bringing anything home. I enjoyed watching the new series of The Witcher on Netflix. The show takes a similar tone to the HBO series, Game of Thrones. I didn't get into Game of Thrones, but am enjoying the storyline of this monster hunter! Give it a try!

I hope you and your family enjoy this holiday season and are thankful for the things you have in this world!

Congratulations to Mrs. Rodriguez, Mrs. Marotto, and our Security Officers for placing first, second, and third, respectively, in our highly coveted Door Decorating Contest! Great job too to Dr. Kretz's classroom for being selected as Honorable Mention. I must say, proudly, I won the contest back in 2006 in Room E-23. Shout out to all of my former Period 1 students for all their efforts to be the very best the school has to offer! The victory still stands as one of my greatest accomplishments as a Raider!

Check out TREtoday for pictures of all of our 2021-2022 contestants!

Our Mentors and mentees spent time together on Wednesday making hot chocolate Reindeer gifts together. Great job to Mr. Trumble and Mrs. Mason for coordinating the activity!

Toms Jones, a former High School East graduate and Army First Sergeant, spoke to interested students and staff on Tuesday about the military branches and post-service career opportunities. Mr. Jones is currently the Global Head of Military and Diversity Recruitment at Verizon. Thank you Mr. Jones for taking the time to speak to our kids!

Our Climate Committee met on Wednesday to discuss out faculty pot luck, book club, Secret Santa, and our Winter Blues staff event in January.

Our College and Career Committee met on Tuesday to solicit staff connections to career speakers. We are looking for former Raiders, community members, and parents to support our goal to promote awareness for life after East. Our next topics include careers in Broadcast Journalism and Massage Therapy. We are in the process of developing a career survey for our students through NJCAN. Our counselors are also going to inquire interest to conduct college talks.

Members of our staff convened this week and chatted about two of this years “best seller” books. Various staff members brought in food and drinks that relate the culture of the books. The experience was enjoyable as staff shared their thoughts and made connections. Great job to Mrs. Tammi Pagano for organizing the Book Club!

OCVTS is hosting a Career Discovery Day (Jan 22) and an Open House (Feb 4). Please see attached the flyer for more information. OCVTS upcoming events (1).pdf. OCC is hosting a virtual NJ Stars info session on January 19th at 6:30pm. Registration is required, NJ STARS registration. The ACT is on February 12, 2022. Registration deadline is 1/7/2022. Register at www.act.org

Congratulations to John Mangono for being recognized as a Respectful Raider this week. John found a wallet filled with cash and returned the wallet to the Main Office. We were able to return the wallet to the owner! Thank you John for being a person of character!