CGSD Newsletter
May 2019
Dear CGSD Community,
This month, the CGSD recognized its educators of the year, celebrated teacher appreciation week and held its annual Retirement and Recognition Service Awards Dinner. With 100+ staff and family members in attendance, the R&R celebration allowed us to give thanks and build upon a deeper appreciation for the incredibly important work we do as educators.
It's easy for most of us to recall a special teacher who helped shape our future. I am who I am today partly because of a great teacher, someone who believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. Growing up, I was inspired by educators whose dedication, insight, patience and kind words motivated me to pursue and achieve goals I never thought possible.
And like those memorable educators who touched my life, Cedar Grove's teachers, education specialists, paraprofessionals, support staff and administrators devote themselves to providing our children the tools for success - and inspire them to achieve it.
Please join me in thanking the following teachers, education specialists, secretaries and custodians for their tireless commitment to the health and well-being of our kids:
Retirees
Jody Bieber, Vincent Cardiello, Lester Cronk, Julie Donahue, Linda Leddy, Cheryl Johansson, Jack Mondsini, Marie Reilly and Sheila Salka
2018-19 Teacher/Ed. Specialist of the Year
NE - Geralyn Terzo
SE - Jennifer Coakley
MMS - Annamarie Damiano
CGHS - David Coster
10 Years of Service
Heather Garofalo, Erica Slota, Phyllis Spinelli, Kristen Vanderwolk, Sandra Malagiere, Jennifer Manning, Lauren Mastria, Kevin Skowronek, Robert Gogerty and Jetnor Rustemlliu
20 Years of Service
Suzanne Carr, Ashley Pines, Stacie Rego, Annette Scuralli, Novo Ljekocevic and Sean Riordan
25 Years of Service
Jennie Villanueva and Jerry Williams
30 Years of Service
Lisa Tower
35 Years of Service
Howard Munck
In large measure, this is an excellent school district due to the hard work and dedication of our faculty and staff. They put the children first, stand collectively for student achievement and their social/emotional well-being and make a positive difference each and every day!
#WeAreCedarGrove
Sincerely,
Michael J. Fetherman
Superintendent
NE third graders put on their gardening gloves to plant new flowers tend to their resident Butterfly Garden!
In art class, NE and SE students created Georgia O'Keeffe floral paper mache sculptures using repurposed boxes, paper towels and tempera paints. Third grade students enjoyed learning a new art technique!
Fourth grade students worked on the final phase of the authentic learning castle project, in coordination with media class. During the critique process, students expressed the greatest enjoyment through the engineering process. Collaboration within each group was imperative!
Building upon the Native American unit, third grade students designed "parfleche" bags, a style of "carry all" used by Native Americans. Students used a variety of materials to create a "one of a kind" design!
MMS 5th grade language arts students wrote poems in class and compiled poetry portfolios as their finished product! They worked collaboratively with each other and doing peer checking as they proof read and share their poems.
Our MMS Concert Choir was pleased to welcome the North and South End 4th graders for a touching performance at the spring concert!
MMS 7th graders chose a mythological god, goddess or creature to research. In addition, they wrote essays to convey their research and verbally introduced their mythological character to their peers through a fifteen line speech, all the while dressed in costume!
MMS 8th grade social studies students participated in a flipped lesson based on a video series named “How They Did It.” Pictured here are students watching the video and recording key ideas. Each group was responsible for a topic related to Ancient Rome and was asked to record five key ideas and one theme.
CGHS students in Ms. Amador's AP Literature class showed off their college choices this National Decision Day! We couldn't be more proud of their hard work and dedication to their academic studies these past four years!
Maria's Kitchen
Maria Zaffina has been cooking and serving lunch to the students of CGHS as an employee of Pomptonian Food Service for 44 years. This May, Mark and Candy Vidovich of Pomptonian Food Service honored Maria by officially naming the kitchen, "Maria's Kitchen". A banner was presented and will be displayed in the CGHS cafeteria for all to see. Congratulations, Maria!
Music Matters is a family-school organization supporting the music program at Cedar Grove High School. We work with the students and teachers to partner with and support community events and organizations in our wonderful town. Our 2018-19 theme is “It Takes Two!” and we are enjoying incorporating this theme into many of our music department activities throughout the year.
Please visit CGHS Music Matters online at: https://www.cgschools.org/cghs-music-matters/
On Facebook: CGHS Music Matters
On Instagram: cghsmusic
On Twitter: @cghs_Music
The mission of the Cedar Grove Education (CGEF) is to enrich and enhance the educational experiences of Cedar Grove students above and beyond the scope of the curriculum and to provide lifelong learning opportunities for the entire community.
Follow us on Facebook: Cedar Grove Education Foundation
CGSD Social Media: GET CONNECTED!
Email: fetherman.michael@cgschools.org
Website: www.cgschools.org
Location: 520 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, NJ, USA
Phone: (973) 239-1550
Facebook: facebook.com/CedarGroveSuperintendent
Twitter: @Cgssuper