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Elmira College

Rachel Katzenberger of High Bridge was inducted into the Elmira College Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society.

Hillsborough Public Schools

Jessica Smedley, director of guidance of Hillsborough Public Schools, was named the Somerset County School Counselor of the Year 2019 by the Somerset County School Counselor Association (SCSCA). The purpose of the award is to recognize school counselors for their achievements as well as for outstanding service to their school communities. School counselors are nominated for this honor by their colleagues and selected by the SCSCA members.

Dr. Lisa A. Antunes, assistant superintendent of Schools and Jessica Smedley (Photo: ~Courtesy of Hillsborough Township Public Schools)

Each New Jersey county school counselor association selects a Counselor of the Year and that award recipient’s application is then forwarded to the New Jersey School Counselor Association to be considered for the New Jersey School Counselor of the Year 2020.

Each county applicant is selected for this honor based on their ability:

• to implement a comprehensive, data-driven school counseling program,
• to deliver an effective program that supports students’ career, personal/social, and academic development,
• to demonstrate leadership and collaboration with colleagues and stakeholders,
• to promote equity and access opportunities to support all students, and
• to continue to expand their knowledge through professional development and advocacy.

Smedley joined Hillsborough Public Schools in August 2016 as the district’s Director of Guidance. Since joining the school district, Smedley has advocated for the expansion of the school counseling department, revamped the school counseling department program, and applied innovative ideas to involve school counselors in the district’s equity and access goals.

“Jessica’s unwavering commitment to student advocacy is the focus of her work. She never fails to communicate a clear vision of opportunity and excellence for all students while collaboratively identifying needs, determining priorities, and assessing programmatic implementation,” said Dr. Lisa M. Antunes, assistant superintendent of Hillsborough Township Public Schools. “Jessica’s work centers around the importance of maintaining a healthy and appropriately balanced student life along with increased student learning and program effectiveness. During her short tenure with Hillsborough, Jessica continues to exceed these expectations and we are honored to call her a colleague.”

Smedley was honored by the NJSCA as the Somerset County School Counselor of the Year at the organization’s March 22 meeting at The College of New Jersey.

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Union Catholic Regional High School

Audrey Davis flashed a huge smile from ear to ear and her eyes lit up with joy as she gazed out at the large crowd that was giving her a big ovation on Friday, April 5, in the gymnasium at Union Catholic.

Davis, a senior at Union Catholic, had just been presented with a Medal of Honor and Certificate by the National Catholic Educational Association as one of its recipients of a 2019 NCEA Youth Virtues, Valor and Vision Award.

Davis, one of just 10 students in the country to receive this award, was chosen from more than 1.8 million Catholic school students across the country, and she’s the first student ever from the Archdiocese of Newark to receive the award. 

The Youth Virtues, Valor and Vision Award from the NCEA is given for selfless service, determination, innovation and ideals that are changing the world. It’s made possible, in part, through the generosity and support of Cross Catholic Outreach, a Catholic ministry organization whose generosity helps support the NCEA awards.

Davis has shown great initiative as she has excelled in her academic studies and many other aspects of her school life. For her project, Davis created the first special-needs walking club ever: the A.W.A.R.E. Club (Active Walking and Respite Exercise Club). She chose to create this project because she found that many special needs teens and young adults are less physically active than their typical peers. She also knew how hard it is for special needs teens to make friends with other teens in the same age group. A.W.A.R.E. held six very successful events at Oak Ridge Park in Clark and Echo Lake Park in Mountainside. Twenty individuals participated as walkers, and most came to every event. 

Davis also helped organize a Special Needs Sports Day at Union Catholic, serves as the President of Union Catholic’s C.R.A.Y.O.N. Club (Community Raising Autism Yielding Opportunity Now), is a Eucharistic Minister, Student Ambassador, a member of PAC’s Executive Board and Students For Human Dignity, a Captain on the Forensics team, and a member of the UCTV staff.

Earlier this school year, Davis received the Youth Discipleship Award, which is presented to youths who respond to the call to discipleship through service or ministry to their parish or school community.

“I’m just so incredibly grateful to everyone who came out to support me and to the NCEA and Cross Catholic outreach for honoring me this way, and to Union Catholic for being so supportive throughout my whole entire four years,” said Davis. “I’m just so lucky to have such an amazing support group with my family and friends. I never could have done this with the support of everyone. I’m just humbled and honored to receive this award. It’s really great to be recognized for what I’ve done because it shows that I should continue doing work for the special needs community. I really have found my passion and my calling, and I can’t wait to continue doing this for the rest of my life. I’ve always been working toward the same goal of promoting inclusion in the special needs community. So I’m really glad this award encapsulates all the different work and projects I’ve been doing.”         

“I’ve been so incredibly supported by every teacher and administrator here at Union Catholic, every club moderator,” said Davis. “They’ve given so many opportunities to succeed, and I’ve really feel like I’m the luckiest person alive to have such an amazing high school experience. It all comes down to a Catholic school, where you not just able to learn through an academic sense, but also you are able to learn through God and your commitment to God. I’m really so honored and excited to be recognized, because it’s not only me, it’s everyone who has helped me out with everything I’m involved with. I feel so blessed.”

Barbara Dellanno, Union Catholic’s Dean of Academics and Faith-Formation, nominated Davis for the NCEA Youth Virtues, Valor and Vision Award. 

“When I read the description for this award I thought we have so many gifted and talented students, but there was one student who fit the description perfectly,” said Dellanno. “The NCEA Youth Virtues, Valor and Vision Award is awarded to a student who through personal witness and initiative in service learning or community outreach has become a hero to those who have been touched and nourished by his or her initiative. This describes Audrey’s project and Audrey’s impact to a T. Audrey brings Jesus to others through her words, which are eloquent, and but even more importantly through her actions. I can think of no one more deserving of this award.” Submitted by Jim Lambert,

University of Scranton

Carolyn Giordano of Annandale was inducted into Omicron Delta Epsilon, the international honor society in economics, and Alex Malecki of Hillsborough was inducted into the Chi Delta Rho, the University’s chapter of Chi Sigma Iota, the international honor society for counseling at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. 

Voorhees High School

The Voorhees High School cast and crew of Big Fish participated in the Bucks County Theatre Festival on Thursday, April 4, and came away with awards! Of the participating schools, Voorhees sophomore HarrySperduto was awarded Best Male Vocalist for his role as Will Bloom; seniors Duncan Stewart and DevenRunge shared the award for Best Dramatic Performance Male for their double cast role as Edward Bloom; and senior Madison Kaminsky was named Best Dramatic Performance Female for her role as Sandra Bloom. In addition, directors Nancy Lomas-Reynolds and Joe Reynolds were recognized with the Teacher’s Choice Award for providing quality opportunities in theater education.

Cast who attended the Bucks County Theatre Festival. (Photo: ~Courtesy of Voorhees Regional High School)

Warren: Woodland School

Imagine the possibility of wandering around the inside of a brain? On Friday, March 29, students from Woodland School had the opportunity to do just that. The Overlook Medical Center Community Health Department presented the large “Inflatable Brain” to students in grades 2-5 as one of the many exhibits for students to experience during Science Day. Woodland parent, Lorie McDonald, arranged for the brain exhibit. Students learned how to protect and nourish their brains as well as the importance of exercise, sleep, and mindfulness.   

The Woodland School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) in conjunction with Woodland School staff, arranged for a full day of science presentations, experiments and fun. Science Day committee members Paige Jasaitis and Dana Marucci worked with Jeffrey Heaney, Woodland School principal, to coordinate a schedule that would allow students in Kindergarten through grade five to participate in a variety of scientific activities.

Dr. Amy Williams, a post-doctoral associate from Stevens Institute of Technology shared a presentation on Coastal Engineering of living shorelines. Williams brought a wave tank and worked with the students to create and build their own structures to protect an imaginary town from the next big storm. 

Joseph Lodge and Nick Stryker, graduate students from Stevens Institute of Technology, gave a presentation on neutral buoyancy. Students worked together to build structures that would stay under the surface of the water without touching the bottom, similar to a submarine. Laura Kerr, a former Woodland School parent and a Research Coastal Engineer at Stevens Institute of Technology helped coordinate the presentations.

Kindergarten through grade 2 students viewed “The Call of the Wild,” a presentation by Mad Science of Western New Jersey. Students learned about animal calls, animal tracks, and animal teeth. Grade 3 students worked with Amanda McGrath, library media specialist, and grade 3 teachers, Lisa Lenci-Coppola and Hannah Nizri, as well as parent volunteers, to learn about owls and dissect owl pellets. Heaney, and Jill Zimmer, reach teacher, gave a forensics lesson using matchbox cars and ink to grades 4 and 5. The lesson was designed by Marucci.

CRODA, the company name behind the high-performance ingredients and technologies in some of the biggest, most successful brands in the world, sent a team of volunteers to Woodland School to make soap with every Woodland student. Danielle Rowell arranged for the CRODA activity.

The entire Woodland School community listened together as Caryn Lin, a musical artist performed Bach 2 Rock: The Science of Sound.  During this multimedia presentation, students took a musical journey from classical to techno. The Woodland students were introduced to the scientific concepts and art involved in the creation of live music. 

Westfield YMCA

UnitedHealthcare of New Jersey and the Westfield Area YMCA teamed up to host the UnitedHealthcare Health Bee on Tuesday, April 9 as part of a statewide initiative to fight childhood obesity and physical inactivity. In partnership with the Westfield Area YMCA, UnitedHealthcare provides all 7th graders in the service area of Cranford, Garwood, Mountainside and Westfield with a free Westfield Area YMCA limited pre-teen membership for the school. During the final round, a team from Orange Avenue School won in overtime, earning the school $1,000 for its health and wellness programs. Lincoln School earned second place and a $500 prize, and St. Michael’s School took home the school spirit award and a $250 prize. 

Willow School

Willow School fourth-graders asked Gov. Phil Murphy to ban plastic and create reusable bags:

”Dear Governor Murphy, Our class in science is learning about plastic in the ocean. I’m writing to share some facts about why New Jersey should help by using less plastic material and replacing it with reusable materials. Will you please consider banning plastic?” So begins a letter from The Willow School fourth grade class to the New Jersey governor.

Willow’s fourth-grade students are studying the ocean in their science class, learning that life started in the ocean, which is now home to as many as 100 million species. They’ve also learned that those animals are dying at an alarming rate thanks to the abundance of plastic in our oceans.

“About 100 million animals die from plastic in the ocean each year,” fourth-grader Callen LeVasseur of Chester said. “We are here to help these animals,” LeVasseur said. His class has taken on this issue, aiming to make an impact with their letter to the governor, a special reusable bag fundraiser, and personal pledges to reduce the amount of plastic they use in their own lives.

“The problem with plastic is that people think that it’s easier to use, but it’s hurting the environment, especially the ocean,” said fourth grader Dylan Auerbach of Bedminster.

“When plastic gets in the ocean, animals can eat it or get stuck in it. Turtles, dolphins, crabs, sharks, sea horses, seals, and coral all get stuck,” said Franki Meyer of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

Fourth graders hope that Murphy will help reduce the use of plastic in the state, but they’re not waiting for public policy to encourage others to make a difference.

“You can help by not using plastic straws in restaurants and using reusable water bottles, containers, and other reusable shopping bags,” Auerbach urged her schoolmates, teachers, and parents in a recent presentation fourth graders led at Willow.

The students designed their own reusable bags and will be selling them at the school to raise money for 4Ocean, an organization dedicated to actively removing trash from the ocean and coastlines. The students’ reusable bags, made from recycled bottles, feature their drawings of sea creatures.

“We designed our bags to encourage people to use less plastic,” fourth grader Collin Russ of Flanders said.

“If we stop using plastic, we can all make a difference,” fourth graders conclude in their letter to the governor.

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