Mr. Michael Citta, Principal Mrs. Mallory Kennedy, Supervisor

March/April, 2013

APRIL CALENDAR 1 School Re-Opens

5 End of 3rd Marking Period

11 PTO Clothing Drive 4-6PM

17 Report Card Portal Open

18 Spring Concerts 9:25AM, 1PM, 7PM

24 Lunch With the Principal

26 Charity Softball Game @ HSE 6PM

30 Kindergarten Show 9:15AM, 1:20PM

Husky Families,

Happy Spring!

Although the weather hasn’t quite shown its spring

temperatures yet, things are definitely springing into

action at “The Hoop”. Now that the students have

returned from their much needed break, it’s back to

the books and their studies they go. As the students

will continue with our curriculum and prepare for the

upcoming state testing in May, your child’s attendance

is imperative. Each day is filled with new information

and learning strategies that are so important to

academic success.

I do have to mention how fantastic this year’s talent

show was. Many thanks to our very dedicated PTO, all

of the performers and of course the parents who

juggle their schedules and support their children’s

every move. My favorite part, I have to say, is

watching the hundreds of students cheer, sing, clap

and encourage each other as they perform. We are

very blessed to have such loving and caring students in

our school, which is a direct compliment to all of our

parents. I hope that all of your spring breaks were

filled with relaxation, fun and happiness. School has

reopened as of Monday April 1st with open arms and

ready to continue the education process.

Respectfully,

Mr. Michael Citta, Principal

Hooper Highlights

HAE’s Teacher of the Year 2013

Mr. Marowitz!

Mr. Dave Marowitz, instrumental music teacher

at “the Hoop”, has been named our 2013 Teacher

of the Year. Because of his outstanding

dedication to our school, Mr. Marowitz was

selected by his peers to receive this honor. Mr.

Marowitz grew up in Ocean Township, New

Jersey. He received his undergraduate degree in

Applied Music and Music Education from Elon

University and graduate degree in Music

Education from Towson University. Before

coming to our school, he was Band Director at

Neptune’s Junior and Senior High Schools. Mr.

Marowitz has been inspiring Hooper Huskies for

the past twenty-three years teaching band,

orchestra, and general music. His favorite thing

about teaching is seeing his students start from

ground zero and develop into knowledgeable and

confident performers. He is married and lives in

Toms River, and both his daughters are former

Hooper Huskies. Outside of the realm of music,

Mr. Marowitz enjoys attending physical fitness

classes and reading about new discoveries in

nutrition.

101st Day of School

Guess Who Had Lunch With

Mr. Citta in February?

Jacquelyn Anderson

Hanna Aromando

Jamie Cataldo

Jonathan Dominie

Ryan Errion

Marco Ferreira

Emma Garbacki

Angelo Hunter

Addison Husenica

Brooke Jones

Charitie Kastner

Madison Kelly

Ava Kohr

Ava Kwortnik

Brooke Kwortnik

Ryan Lutolf

Josephine McKenna

Richard McMenamin

Grace Monahan

Gianna Morse

Alexa Napolitano

Raymond Offenburger

Paul Pescatore

Krystal Rodgers

Rachel Romeo

Adrianna Shan

Timothy Skweres

Naeem Thieme

Daniella Walano

Beth Wheelan

Alexandra Williams

Tyler Worthley

March is dedicated to celebrating art and all its

educational benefits. Art contributes to the

development of creative problem solving and

critical thinking skills. It grows sensitivity to

beauty and order. Art provides a deeper

understanding of multicultural values and beliefs

and it is a bridge to other subjects. Most of all,

art allows our students to create, explore,

experiment and express themselves! Youth Art

Month was celebrated at the main branch of the

Ocean County Library. The opening reception was

held on Monday, March 4 from 6-7:00 pm, to

honor our student artists, their families, art

teachers and special guests who support art

education. The exhibit ran from March 4th-21st.

We congratulate our very special Hooper artists.

Celebrate and Support Youth Art Month!

This Year’s Artists: Yusuf Ahmed Tommy Altieri Sabrina Backle David Beauchamp Angelina Befumo Kaytlyn Cazassa Paige Dieckmann Joseph Flores Sean Gaboury Lucky Hildner Sydney Huttemann Maura Kilfeather Danielle Klumpp Olivia Lucia Taylor Maire

Colin Mirabile Carly Muller Erik Narvaez Kaitlyn O’Reilly Brigitte Ortiz Annika Perry Richie Riley Betty Stoneham Sophia Stoneham Naeem Thieme Daniel Vazquez Daniella Walano Kristen Weppler Beth Wheelan Julianna Zagajec

Mrs. Siek’s first graders collected donations for

the Ocean County Animal Shelter and dressed as

Dalmatians for the 101st day of school!

PTO SPRING CLOTHING DRIVE

Thursday, April 11th

4-6PM

Help our school as you do your spring cleaning!

Hooper Spelldown 2013

The annual Hooper Spelldown took place on February 21, 2013. Twenty-two fourth and fifth graders

battled it out to see who could correctly spell the most words. Participants were:

Food Drive for People’s Pantry

Grade 5: Braeden McKenzie, Mychal Lembo,

John Higgins, Sydney Huttemann, Clayton

Baxter, Elizabeth Wheelan, Kevin Shaffery,

Austin Larice, Jack Seitz, and Krystal

Rodgers

Grade 4: Julia Weppler, Ryan Gordon, Julia

Lamparello, Jacob Tomasi, Josh Gordon,

Kaitlyn Light, Bella Ende, Ashley Zheng,

Yusuf Ahmed, Michael DiCarlo, Brandon

Feigin, and Anthony DeGeronimo

After many rounds of intense competition, it was down to two finalists: fifth graders Braeden

McKenzie and Kevin Shaffery. In the 17th round, Braeden correctly spelled two consecutive words

correctly to become this year’s school champ. Congratulations to all our hard-working classroom

finalists, our first runner-up, and our champ!

On the 100th Day of School, D-4 read counting

books, sang skip counting songs and made crafts.

We loved making Count-by-Tens Necklaces and

Gumball Machines with 100 Froot Loops!

Our entire school took part in a food drive for the People’s Pantry, located at 943 Fischer Boulevard in

Toms River. The People's Pantry was organized to assist victims of Superstorm Sandy and is still going strong.

Ocean County Library, Toms River

April 2013 Toms River Branch

Mon, Apr. 1, 2-3:30PM: Drop-in Wii Gaming. Drop

in to play Mario Kart. Ages 7-12.

Tues, Apr. 2, 6:30PM: April Showers Bring May

Flowers Craft. Make some cool and crafty spring

flowers. Ages 7-12. Register.

Wed, Apr. 3, 6:30PM: Boys’ Club. View live bugs

and learn about river bugs in the ecosystem. Boys

ages 8-12. Register.

Sat, April 6, 11AM: Pinelands Day. Learn about

the ecology and folklore of the Pinelands.

Activities, fair, lectures, and music. All are

welcome. Register.

Mon, Apr. 8, 6:30PM: Families Reading Together.

Celebrate the beauty of our world and read about

some famous environmentalists. Children ages 7-

12 and their caregivers. Register in-house.

Tues, Apr. 9, 6:30PM: Art Activity. Art fun for

ages 7-12. Register.

Fri, Apr. 12, 3:30PM: Build It! Building fun with

Legos and straw connectors for ages 6-12.

Sat, Apr. 13, 1-3PM: 2013 Children’s Festival:

Celebrate Our Children! Arts and crafts, music,

dancing, parachute play, and more. On-site

registration.

Wed, Apr. 17, 6:30PM: Girls’ Club. Scavenger hunt

for girls ages 8-12. Register.

Thurs, Apr. 18, 6:30PM: Game Night. Wild and

wacky party games for ages 7-12. Register.

Sat, Apr. 20, 11AM-Noon: Databases for Kids:

Science. Learn how to do science research using

the OCL database system. Ages 8-12 and their

caregivers. Register.

Sat, Apr. 20, 2-4PM: Drop-in Craft. Spring craft

for children 12 and under with their families.

To register for programs, please visit our website @ www.theoceancountylibrary.org

or call 732-349-6200, option 6

Students in grades 3, 4, and 5 continue to work

on grade level reading and math skills at

studyisland.com. The class who answered the

most questions correctly in January was Ms.

Lewis’s class, led by Michael Scannicchio and

Amanda Olsen. For February, Mrs. Donovan’s 3rd

grade class, led by David Anderson, answered

4,121 questions correctly to take top honors.

Study Island Monthly Champs

Annual Young Authors Conference

The Young Authors Conference, sponsored by the

Ocean County Reading Council, was held on

Saturday, March 2nd at Lacey Township High

School. Each year, elementary aged students are

chosen from throughout Ocean County to

participate in a day filled with language arts

projects and writing activities presented by guest

teachers. Additionally, each student submits a

writing sample which is distributed to all of the

other “young authors”. Hooper Avenue

Elementary’s participants for this year were:

Grade 2~ Nicolette Troche, Olivia Perrotta

Grade 3~ Emma Eberle, Carly Muller

Grade 4~ Isabella Ende, Olivia Badami, Lauren

Towey

Grade 5~ Alexandra Goodwin, Maura Kilfeather,

Cierra Jacobsen

Congratulations to our budding writers!

Kindergarten Registration 2013 Do you have a child who will be 5

years old on or before October 1,

2013? If so, he or she is eligible to register for

the Toms River Regional Schools kindergarten

program. Registration forms can be printed out at

home or can be picked up at any elementary

school. Go to www.trschools.com and click on

“Kindergarten Registration” for detailed

information and registration packets.

Hoops 4 Heart The annual “Hoops for Heart” basketball

shootout took place on February 12, 2013. Every

year, fifth graders raise money for the American

Heart Association (AHA) by having friends and

relatives pledge money for their participation in

the basketball competition. This year, Nicole

Platten and Ryan Rosenthal were the top point-

earners in the shoot-out. A total of $3420 was

raised for the AHA, with Nicholas Rome bringing

in the top dollar amount of $900! Thank you to all

who participated and to our generous donors.

Story Laboratory The annual Media Center Book Fair ran

from March 4th through March 8, 2013.

All students visited the “Story Laboratory”

during their regular Media or Tech class.

A wide variety of Scholastic books were available

for purchase. We were excited to provide the

opportunity for our students to pick out that

special book to take home!

—Mrs. McCarthy & Mrs. Koerner, Library

Mark Your Calendars!

Charity Softball Game

Hooper Huskies Staff

vs.

Magic Variety WJRZ All-Stars

Friday, April 26th @ 6:00PM

High School East (all proceeds go to Toms River Relay for Life)

Dinosaurs in D-5

Ms. O’Hara’s kindergarten classes enjoyed dressing the part on Dinosaur Day!

Artsonia Online Art Gallery

Visit www.artsonia.com to view more artwork!

Lucky Students Who Had Lunch With

The Principal in March

Claudia Barbosa

Lucas Biersack

Brett Bullock

Angelina Carlisle

Daniel Cerda

Ryan Cole

Victoria Colon

Tyler Corblies

Madeline Crewe

Nicholas DeLorenzo

Ryan Dever

Samantha Errion

Sal Fiducia

Jesse Flores

Camille Florie

Alex Goodwin

Rachel Grudus

Michael Jacobus

Anna Lapis

Tyler Madeo

Sarah McDermott

Hailey Mowad

William Muller

Erik Narvaez

Madelyn Peters

Tanell Petersen

Vincent Rossi

Kileigh Russo

Connor Shawlinski

Tyler Shawlinski

Caitlyn Siek

Morgan Slomkowski

“Image Completion” by John, grade 5

“Cherry Blossoms” by Emma, grade 1

“Line Contrast” by John, grade 4

“Mixed Media Forsythia” by

Samantha, grade 1