Superintendent's Corner
Bernard F. Bragen, Jr. December 23, 2014
Our Educators of the Year
Please join me in congratulating these educators for receiving this recognition, and for exemplifying the attributes that are critical to the success of the students of the Hazlet Township School District.
Katy Zoccoli (Sycamore Drive ECLC )
Elizabeth Bergslien (Lillian Drive School)
Dianne Ochse (Middle Road School)
Maureen Gibson (Raritan Valley School)
Tara Altilio (Beers Street School)
Catherine Mazzucchelli (Cove Road School)
Wayne Guzzi (Hazlet Middle School)
Mary Sutton (Raritan High School)
School Happenings
Computer Coding at Lillian Drive School
Raritan Valley School Holiday Celebration
Cove Road School Updates
During this month, many after school clubs have been meeting regularly at Cove Road School. These after school clubs give students the opportunity to get more involved. Odyssey of the Mind is working hard on their long-term problem of creating a vehicle that will perform many tasks through various forms of propulsion. In addition, the Drama Club meets weekly, working on the singing, dancing, and acting for their performance of “The Ever After."
In the classroom, Mrs. Nealis and her students have been working on improving their writing through various classroom contests. Her class just finished a “Shake It Off” writing competition and is currently working on a winter contest titled “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” This writing contest will encourage students to be creative and show off what they have learned about characterization and imagery.
Mr. Russo’s class is working on hands-on science labs on variables. Students will be learning the importance of independent and dependent variables, as well as constants, when conducting an experiment. Students will work on labs testing pendulums, gravity, buoyancy, and flight in the upcoming weeks.
Raritan High School’s Key Club's Waves for Water Project
Last year, Raritan High School’s Key Club raised over $4,000 in funds to purchase water filters for the village of Las Salinas in Nicaragua. Those efforts allowed for the installation of 75 filters for the village, school, and businesses. With each filter producing 8 million gallons of clean water over a 7 year period, Raritan High School is proud to announce that it saved many lives through this clean water initiative.
Our Waves for Water representative, Catherine Murphy, traveled to Nicaragua over the summer and taught the locals on how to utilize and operate the water filters. Her efforts are highlighted on the last page of the local Apprender Community Newsletter. Additionally, Waves for Water created a short video of the implementation project, which recognizes Raritan High School at the ending credits. (see below link)
We are so thrilled to be a part of this project as Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, literally does not have access to clean water. We are grateful for the efforts of our students in bringing this project to fruition.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ngkv1r7dg136dj9/WAVES_NICA_SHORT_MIX.mov?dl=0
Hazlet Middle School Students Take a Stand Against Bullying
The Hazlet Middle School Peer Leaders attended an anti-bullying event hosted by the NJ Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark, during which they learned strategies to bring awareness to bullying. The Peer Leaders reported that they learned so much by hearing the stories of other students, and they are looking forward to being role models at HMS and to educating the HMS students to support each other as "upstanders" rather than "bystanders."
New Rocket University Program at RHS
Raritan High School initiated its Rocket University Project this year, a tiered incentive system designed to celebrate the efforts and achievements of any students enrolled in one or more college level (Advanced Placement or dual enrollment) course and/ or MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). Nineteen AP or dual enrollment classes are offered to students in grades 9-12, and a massive list of MOOC offerings is available to any student free of charge from prestigious universities like Stanford, Duke, and Princeton. Students can take a MOOC for credit and a pass/fail grade on their RHS transcript.
Any student enrolled in an AP or dual enrollment level course, or any student currently completing a MOOC, automatically becomes a member of the Rocket University. As they complete additional college level courses and/or MOOCs, students not only bolster their RHS transcripts, but also earn the status of “Scholar,” “Commended Scholar,” or “Distinguished Scholar.”
Over 240 RHS students are members of the inaugural class in Rocket University. Eleven RHS seniors are poised to graduate with “Distinguished Scholar” status in June, having completed five or more AP/dual enrollment classes during their careers at Raritan. “Commended” and “Distinguished” scholars will be decorated during their graduation ceremony.
More information on the Rocket University Project can be found in the Raritan High School Student-Parent Handbook or directly from the counseling staff.
Enjoy the Holiday Season!
Hazlet Township Public Schools
Email: bbragen@hazlet.org
Website: www.hazlet.org
Location: 421 Middle Road, Hazlet, NJ, United States
Phone: 732-264-8401 1101
Twitter: @hazeltsupt