Woodland Park School District News
May 21, 2021
Welcome to the Woodland Park School District e-Newsletter which is sent out weekly when school is in session. It serves as a glimpse of some of the wonderful things going on in our schools, as well as a point of reference for upcoming events.
Your Partner in Education,
Michele R. Pillari, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools
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Youth Month Participants Take Part in Meetings
Woodland Park’s annual Youth Month kicked off on May 5 with a virtual visit from Mayor Keith Kazmark to all Memorial School eighth graders. He described the program and its similarities to running for real office. Students received descriptions of the jobs they could run for to be elected to by their peers.
“Participants get to learn about how every element of the town works,” Kazmark said, noting that he had served as a Youth Month councilman as a student in 1992.
Following elections at school, the students selected for the positions were able to see their government in action Wednesday night, where students took part in the Mayor and Council meeting via Zoom. Mayor Kazmark will also be meeting with the students at Memorial School on Monday.
The 2021 Youth Month participants are:
- Mayor - Aidan Weeks
- Council members - Jaslene Medina, Jorge Ramos, Joseph Papienuk and Ryan Sage
- Borough Administrator - Danniel Moreira
- Borough Treasurer - Noah Cheski
- Borough Attorney - Sarah Ramirez
- Borough Court Judge - Allyson Maldonado
- Recreation Coordinator - Kolyha Garcia
- Superintendent of Public Works - Robert Papienuk
- Police Chief - Francesco Vincenti
- Fire Chief - Zahir Collins
- First Aid Squad Captain - Erin Ryan
- Library Director - Gonzalo Vila
- Superintendent of Schools - Katerina Stojanov
- Board of Education President - Joseph DaSilva
Wednesday evening after the Borough Council meeting, the Library Board held its regular meeting in Council Chambers. It welcomed two new Library trustees - Councilwoman Tracy Kallert (Mayor's Delegate) and Ron Arnau. The Trustees passed the resolutions to apply for the second round of the NJ Library Construction Bond Act, and it had the honor of having the Youth Month Library Director, Gonzalo Vila attend, via Zoom.
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Growing Gardens
Ms. Tonti’s first grade class at Charles Olbon School became gardeners. The children planted marigolds in the class flower bed. Students are hoping the flowers will grow in order to be transferred into individual pots to take to a home garden. This week, the class planted lavender outside at the front of the school. The children are excited for the next gardening experiment.
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Twisting Tornadoes
Ms. Shafi's third grade class at Beatrice Gilmore School has been learning about and exploring weather patterns and severe weather. The students learned why it is important to be ready for severe weather and were exposed to various images of tornadoes. The students made individual tornadoes in a bottle containing glitter. Students continued learning in a weekend challenge whereby all students were encouraged to make their own tornado in a bottle using two water bottles. Students presented the individual projects to the whole class with some facts about tornadoes.
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Exploring Expressionism
Mrs. Farrell's fifth grade art enrichment students at Beatrice Gilmore School completed a digital illustration inspired by Piet Mondrian using Doodle Drawing.
Modrian was a painter from the Netherlands and one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century. He moved to France and was inspired by Picasso and Cubism, but used that genre as a stepping stone to expressionism. He used primary colors, black, white, gray, vertical and horizontal lines.
Students learned how to use Google Drawings and completed the work. They used a grid for accuracy and at the end of the work, deleted those guidelines. Our fifth graders really knocked this out of the park! To date, the students have completed two digital illustrations. The first project was presented using canvas.apps.chrome. The students used Google Drawings for this second project.
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They Rocked It
Congratulations to the cast and crew of the Memorial Middle School 2021 play for their two amazing performances of School House Rock Live! Jr.!
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Learning About Life Cycles
Mrs. Guariglia's Pre-K 3 students at School #1 have been studying the life cycle of the butterfly in science class.
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History Lessons
Mr. Sans' fifth grade students at Beatrice Gilmore School read, discussed, and researched various events leading up to the American Revolution. Students showed off their creativity by demonstrating the causes through a creative and informative visual poster.
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Studying Pets
Mrs. Parker's Pre-K class at Charles Olbon School is taking part in a study about pets.
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Memorial School's Yearbook Receives Jostens Recognition
Jostens, the leading producer of yearbooks and student-created content, announced that Memorial School’s yearbook program has achieved the Jostens 2021 National Yearbook Program of Excellence award at the Bronze Level.
The program recognizes engaging yearbooks that reflect a broad representation of the student body while helping students develop 21st Century skills such as communication, collaboration, and information and communication technologies literacy.
Memorial School’s yearbook program is run by multiple students under the direction of Ms. Samantha Ament, yearbook advisor.
“Jostens is proud to recognize those individuals who have created an exceptional yearbook for their school and community,” said Tammy Whitaker, Jostens VP and COO Yearbook Division. “These schools did an exceptional job on multiple levels, despite the challenges presented by this school year. Yearbooks are a critical part of capturing and telling a school’s story, and Jostens is dedicated to supporting yearbook staff members as they do their important work.”
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Coming up at the Alfred Baumann Library:
The Alfred Baumann Library will host the following children's programs. All programs are VIRTUAL unless noted. To view virtual programs, click here.
Friday, May 21 - Registration will close for Syd’s Snail Mail. Sign up for Syd's Snail Mail to receive a letter, activities, and craft from the library's mascot Syd! Pick up your snail mail at the library or have it mailed directly to you. Register here.
Friday, May 21, 6 p.m. - Join in for a special virtual spring bingo for kids on Zoom. Prizes will be available for winners. All ages welcome. A bingo card and the Zoom meeting information will be provided after registration. Register here.
Monday, May 24, 10 a.m. - Virtual Weigh to Go group meeting. Register here.
Tuesday, May 25, 1 p.m. - Sensory Play for babies - PreK. Register and pick up a monthly kit (available on the second Tuesday of the month). Then join in on the fourth Tuesday of the month via Zoom for a loosely guided playtime that focuses on sensory perceptions and motor skills. Register here.
Wednesday, May 26, 10 a.m. - Join Miss Bri for early literacy virtual story time for babies and toddlers with stories, songs, rhymes and more. Register here.
Wednesday, May 26, 7 p.m. - Join Miss Sara for a Snails & Tales virtual story time with stories, songs, rhymes, and more. Register here.
Wednesday, May 26, 7 p.m. - Join Brianne as the adult book club discuss the May selection, "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer, with a live discussion via Zoom. The eBook and audiobook are available for instant download with your Library card via Hoopla. Get the ebook here or the audiobook here.
Thursday, May 27, 6:30 p.m. - Arts & Crafts with Miss Dana and Miss Sara in Zoom. Make your own cloud dough! Supplies will be available for pick-up at the Library. Register here.
Thursday, May 27, 7 p.m. - Spice of the Month Club. During the first week of the month come to the Library to pick up a new packet. The packet will include a sample of a spice, a recipe and a brief history of the spice. Explore new, exotic spices as well as some old favorites. Choose to make the suggested recipe or one of your own, and join others to talk about what you made, what you want to try, and what you thought on the last Thursday of the month.
The Library's website is www.abwplibrary.org. Phone number is 973-345-8120. Reach the Library via email at library@abwplibrary.org.