Fall Issue 2013Fall Issue 2013Fall Issue 2013

Above: Former student and professional

Nutritionist, Heather Marino and ESL teacher Isabel Guarino pose with students at the ESL Summer Enrichment Program following a lesson on healthy eating.

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WITCHENSEN AND FRIENDS GATHER AT SHERMAN

G ood and bad witches of all shapes and sizes congregated at Sherman on their favorite day of the year. The Sherman

School princ ipa l cou ld not be found , but her look-a- l ike Mrs . Mary P . Witchensen was spotted parading around the school. Shrieking and cackling could be heard through the halls during the classroom Halloween parties. Parents reported the children had a ghoulish time!

T he witches were dressed to the n ines , donning stylish dresses with color accents of purple, orange, pink and turquoise in favor

of their traditional black garb. When complimented on finding such bewitchingly styled dresses, Mary mischievously replied, “We a lways find great deals on QVC! See photo above.

ALDENE STUDENTS RAISE

MONEY TO REPLACE SIGN

E JF-Aldene students are all smiles as they pose with

former principal Charles Costanzo in front of the EJF-Aldene School sign. The children themselves raised the money necessary to replace the sign after it was destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. The original sign had been

gifted to the school by the PTA and dedicated to Mr. Costanzo when he retired in 2003. See the photo at right.

Above: ESL Teacher Wendy Ozeri goes over an “Our Bodies, Our Bones” lesson with students enrolled in the ESL Summer

Enrichment Program.

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Above: Mr. Larry Cyre discusses his time during the Vietnam War with the RPHS students in the library.

Above: – RPHS students sit in a filled library viewing Mr. Kevin Rodriguez’s slide show of his time

in Iraq.

Above: “Soldier” – Mr. Kevin Rodriquez shared photos of his

time in the service with the students in the RPHS Library.

NEW FACES IN THE HALLSNEW FACES IN THE HALLSNEW FACES IN THE HALLS

WELCOME

Pedro A. Garrido Superintendent

Stacey Perlman Psychologist

Amy Pasternack Reading Recovery

Alexandra Swirz Special Education

Nil Ulas Librarian/Media Specialist

Courtney Steinwand Special Education

Amanda Batista Basic Skills Instructor

Lindsay Scott Speech

Cheri Tibberts Behaviorist

Abby Noel RPMS Science

Emily Brewster Special Education

Lauren O’Connell Special Education

Rebecca McEvoy Special Education

Linda Makofsky ESL Teacher

Melissa Malone First Grade Teacher

Katie Im Physical Therapist

HONORING OUR VETERANSHONORING OUR VETERANSHONORING OUR VETERANS

MIDDLE SCHOOL MOMENTSMIDDLE SCHOOL MOMENTSMIDDLE SCHOOL MOMENTS

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CRAZY SOCKS FOR

RED RIBBON WEEK

T he RPMS celebrated Red Ribbon Week

with a variety of fun activities.

Classroom lessons were conducted in gym

classes during the week of the 21st. Each day,

students participated in a fun, spirit-day

theme like wearing crazy socks for our “Sock

It to Drugs!” theme day. All students and staff

enjoyed participating in the many events of

the week! See photo above.

Above: All staff participated in Crazy Hat Day for our Red

Ribbon theme day called “Put a CAP on Drugs.” Principal Kathleen Carlin and secretary,

Kim Belford get in the spirit!

MIXED UP LUNCH

T he RPMS students kicked off Respect Week with a Mix It Up at

Lunch Day. They were asked to move out of their comfort zone and cross social boundaries by sitting with different students for one day. Eighth Grade Student Leaders facilitated lunch table discussions about respect of self, others and com-munity. Pictured above: Eighth Grade Student Leaders.

RPHS WORLD LANGUAGE

T he World Language Department held their Honor Society

Induction Ceremony on November 4. The ten students that were

inducted into the French National Honor Society are: Kellyjean

Abraham, Mathias Amaro, Sarah Barbosa, Noel Cheng, Victoria

Konczynski, Katherine Mota*, Mary-Anne Ospina, Riva Patel, Colleen

Sweeney and Vanessa Vogler. The twenty-two students who were

inducted into the Spanish National Honor Society are: Christian

Aguilera*, Mateo Aristizabal, Janemarie Buli, Marissa Cafaro* Kezia

DaSilva, Lauren Dinardo, Nelia Elmera, Joseph Garcia, Joshua

Gergich, Brendan Hall, Katherine Jenkins, Nicolette Keaveney, Gina

Maiorelli, Steven Matos, Madison Miranda, Nicole Mogenis, Maggie

Nese*, Raymond Nivar*, Philip Palmarozzo, Kiran Patel, Leslie Salas,

Marc Signorello*. Students must have completed at least two years

of high school language with an A average for two consecutive years and

be currently enrolled in a level 3, 4 or AP class in order to qualify. After

the inductions, family and friends shared refreshments with the honorees.

See the two photos above. The asterisks denotes 2nd year member.

HIGH SCHOOL HAPPENINGSHIGH SCHOOL HAPPENINGSHIGH SCHOOL HAPPENINGS

The 2013 Dan Szymanski

Memorial Scholarship Awards

S usan Carlstrom, Director of Guidance/

Testing presented "The Dan Szymanski Memorial Scholarship Awards" to three

members of the RPHS graduating Class of

2013. The Graduates are Bridgette Maiorelli, Halisa Gjokaj, and Alissa Moritz. Each Graduate received a PAW scholarship

check for $1,000.00 and will have her name engraved on the memorial plaque that hangs in a place of honor RPHS. Several RPHS

Alumni attended this presentation. In the above photo from left to right are Jack Kiyler '56, Frank Kuczynski '57, Bridgette

Maiorelli '13, Halisa Gjokaj '13, Alissa M o r i t z ' 1 3 , B a r b a r a ( S a x e r )Germinario '56 and John Mortensen '56.

CHEMISTRY LAB LESSON

M rs. Joanne Carbotti’s fifth grade

students were introduced to a science lab with seventh and eighth grade middle

school science teacher, Mrs. Eileen Carroll. Students were given a tour of the science classroom. Mrs. Carroll explained the various

parts of the light microscope. Students enjoyed viewing all kinds of specimens on prepared slides with the microscopes.

With goggles in hand, the students participat-ed in a chemistry lab. They learned how to

precisely measure liquids with a graduated cylinder and to understand the precautions necessary when working with certain

chemicals. Under Mrs. Carroll’s supervision, the fifth graders were able to prepare a mix-

ture of various chemicals and watch chemical reactions. They observed first hand several chemical reactions such as bubbling,

which was the release of carbon dioxide, how other reactions caused the beakers to get hot, while other reactions caused the beakers

to get very cold, or even in some cases for the solution to bubble over to everyone's

delight. The lesson was a glimpse of what they could expect when they move on to middle school next year. See the two photos

at right, top and center.

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HEART RATE STEM ACTIVITY

S ixth and seventh graders took part in a STEM activity where they

used soldering irons to create a circuit board with an infra-

red light that when placed on a finger blinked to their heart beat.

They soldered over 40 connectors to make their own heart rate

monitor under the guidance of Michael Allen, a former RP student.

M r. Allen lives in Massachusetts where he is an electrical engineer

for Mobius Imaging, LLC. He also works as a part time

instructor, running a program called “The Saturday Thing”. Mr. Allen

currently designed the AIRO which is a surgical CT scanner. It offers

complex multi-dimensional surgical imaging. See photo on top, left.

THE TALENTED & GIFTED EXPERIENCETHE TALENTED & GIFTED EXPERIENCETHE TALENTED & GIFTED EXPERIENCE

LEADERS FOR A DAY

M rs. Joanne Carbotti’s eighth grade students were leaders

for a day for the annual activity

Creative Kids Day. Students created lessons which they shared with their group of T & G

students ranging from grades two to seven. The older students also designed a T-shirt that promoted

the theme “Super Heroes”. Some of the many activities enjoyed on CKD were a sand art activity

where students designed a bottle to reflect the theme; other activities were making a super

hero mask and creating a life size

model of a super hero that will be on display next year. Both Mrs.

Arlene Terpenning’s and Mrs. Carbotti’s students created many amazing super heroes. See photo

at top right.

DISSECTING LESSON

M rs. Carbotti’s fifth grade students

had the opportunity to dissect

an owl pellet and understand the

relationship between predators and

prey in the food chain. First,

students dissected the pellet using

a virtual lab to understand what

the pellet looked like, and to see

how small and delicate the bones are

that compose the pellet. Afterwards

student got hands-on experience by

actually dissecting the pellet and

separating the hair, fur and bones.

They identified the bones by

placing each one on a bone

identification key. This helped to

identify the contents and see

exactly what their owl had eaten,

such as a rat, mole, bird, etc.

It also revealed how many rodents

the barn owl had ingested. The

final activity was re-building the

skeleton to identify what type of

animal the owl ate. Students

learned to understand the anatomy

of the rodent through skull, jaw and

other bone identification, as well as

predator-prey relationships, and

food chains. See the photo at left.

PRE SCHOOL’S PUMPKIN PATCHPRE SCHOOL’S PUMPKIN PATCHPRE SCHOOL’S PUMPKIN PATCH

Above: Apple Tasting Day - “We tasted apples and voted on our class’ favorite apple”.

Students in the RP Extended School Year Program created crafts commemorating

the 4th of July. The program ran for five weeks. Students worked on reading, writing

and math skills, and had some summer fun! See the four pictures above.

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WE’RE “FALLWE’RE “FALLWE’RE “FALL---ING” FOR SPECIAL EDING” FOR SPECIAL EDING” FOR SPECIAL ED

Above: Ms. Rebecca McEvoy’s students celebrate Halloween by

wearing their costumes.

Above: Parents & students attended the first PSDA, Parents for

Students w/ Different Abilities meeting. The event was held at the

Anthony Signorello Center. They mingled & participated in activities.

Students in Amy Balestrino’s and Nancy Caputo’s classes enjoyed a community based trip to the pumpkin patch. Students ventured through a corn maze and selected a pumpkin to take home. See the seven pictures above.

Above: Ms. Dina’s preschool class made “All About Me” books..

Above: Preschool students and their teachers wore their H a l l o w e e n costumes to school.

OUR FALL TRIP TO THE PUMPKIN PATCH

Above: Ms. Erin’s class picked pumpkins at William’s Nursery.

Above: Ms. Megan Ripka’s class had fun dressing up for Halloween. See photo at left.

ALDENE’S AWESOME AUTUMNALDENE’S AWESOME AUTUMN !!!

Above: Third graders Stefan Miskovic and Anthony Bien complete a math lesson using pumpkins. Estimate and circumference skills were emphasized.

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Above: First graders Ben Basil, Justin Hamenia, Logan Lualhati, Jayden Estevez, and Megan Berrios eagerly line up for the first day of school.

Above: Kathleen Udasco from New Jersey

American Water Company teach fourth

graders about the water cycle and about the

process of cleaning water so that we have

access to clean water in our homes and

schools.

Above: September Students of the

Month: Kenneth Cheng, Brianna

Valasquez, Sefan Banic, Hanoor

Randhawa, Victoria Henry, Jason

C h u m b i a u c a , R e m i n g t o n

Newhart, Logan Lualhati, Sofia

Perez, and Patryk Kaszubowski.

Above: The kindergarten class is ready to walk in the class parades

for their parents on Halloween.

Above: Third grade students perform for parents at their EJF-Aldene Halloween celebration.

Student Council, above from l to r:

Moderator Danielle Crown, Jasmine Perez,

Aleksandra Alavanja, Xavier Vasquez,

Al.J. Landi, (Front row): Erik Montero, Isha

Patel, Ivanni Francois, Sam Mendoza,

Xavier Vasquez was selected as EJF-

Aldene president on Election Day.

Above: Fourth graders pose on stage during the EJF-Aldene Halloween presentation

Above: Second graders Matias Agreda,

Kayla Makhoul, Nira Patel, and Abhay

Sirohi stand next to EJF-Aldene’s

Anti-Bulying Pledge taken by the

entire student body.

Above: First graders, Kamila Castro-

Dworzynska, Matthew DeLeon, Justin

Hamenia and Kira Posso proudly pose

next to popsicle sticks that were

decorated by each member of the

student body to show school spirit.

THE ROBERT GORDON GAZETTETHE ROBERT GORDON GAZETTETHE ROBERT GORDON GAZETTE

Above: front row: Justin Dias, Andres Avila, Michael Alvares, Aubrey Reyes, Adrian Oakley; Back row: Alisha Persaud, Camila Martinez, Sofia Sanchez, Gabrielle Hillburn, Rachel Leone, Nicholas Ocampo, Austin Kuterka.

Shown above are photos of Dawn Marie Warren’s kindergarten classes

visiting the fire truck and learning about fire safety. 7

Above: Students from Mrs. Jean

Erbeck’s class on Halloween.

Sitting from l to r: Jocelyn

Vazquez, Danae D’Amore, Yana

Patel; Standing l to r: Sophia

Biggerman, Mya Pena, Jovanna,

McGuire, Giselle Naranjo, Karen

Saavedra.

Ab o v e : R G S t r on g Assembly Game Show - Antonio Antonucci with Scrunchy looking on.

Above: “Hands” - Students from Ms. Rebecca McEvoy’s class.

SHERMAN’S SNIPPETS AND SNAPSHOTSSHERMAN’S SNIPPETS AND SNAPSHOTSSHERMAN’S SNIPPETS AND SNAPSHOTS

Pictured at left: Fourth grader uses a model to demonstrate an earthquake in science class.

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Pictured at left, center and far right: First grade students develop their literacy skills during center time: Word Work, Book Making, Guided Reading, Sentence Structure, and Writing.

Above: 5-D students collected rock specimens at the Sterling Hill Mine and Museum.

Above: 5-S students researching information on rocks using computers.

T he Sherman fifth graders’ study of rocks and

minerals included observation, research, and field trip. See the three photos above.

Above: Miss Randi Sheps 5th graders observing sedimentary rocks.

Halloween at Sherman: Students and teachers dressed up for Halloween. Ghosts and goblins were in the air and on the front lawn, and in the gym, as teachers read aloud Spooky Tales to fourth and fifth graders after dark. Treats and activities were enjoyed in the cafeteria afterwards.

Priyanka’s Artwork

P riyanka Dhingra, a fourth grade student at

EJF Aldene School, had her artwork of a tree with a patterned background selected for the 2013 Fall Exhibit. It is on display at the NJPAC in Newark. This is Priyanka’s third award. See the two photos above.

VAN GOGH’S CORNERVAN GOGH’S CORNERVAN GOGH’S CORNER

ARTWORK FEATURED IN CALENDAR

E mily Tribiano, a fourth grader at Sherman School will have her artwork featured on the

2014 Art Educator’s of New Jersey calendar! Her artwork and 11 others from around the state were selected from hundreds of artwork created by children in grades K-12! Emily created the artwork in third grade while learning about the artist Henri Matisse. The original piece of artwork will be displayed from September 10 to December 7 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Emily was honored at NJPAC on September 22. See the two photos above.

SHERMAN’S VERY OWN ART DISPLAY CASE

G enerous donors from Donors Choose recently donated a brand new display case for the Sherman School hallway! Now 3D artwork can be shared safely for all to see. Many thanks to the following donors for making this happen: Alex

Fenik, Sherman School Jean Day Fund, Alexandra Nascimento, Milagros Rivera-Perez, Councilwoman Charlene Storey, Jacob & Sofia Ortiz, Mary Christensen, Jen Burgos, Troy Gerten, Allison Procacci, Cheryl Harms, Karen Donnelly, Jessica Cordero, Marvin/Lillian Wasserman Jamie O’Connell, Monica Carle, Christina Harms, Deborah Italiano, Sandra Deegan, Carrie Russoniello, Diane Appleby, Judith Maldonado-Pineda, Lillian M. Infant, Denise Matarante, Jennifer Burgos, John Hamas, Sonya Leingang, Mayson Harms, Jennifer Miller, Melinda Talent, The Horace Mann companies, The Donors Choose.org Board of Directors and Anonymous Donors. Three students are pictured above posing in front of the display case.

WATERCOLOR WITH MANIKINS

F ourth graders at EJF-Aldene and Sherman School recently created drawings of art “manikins”. Wooden

manikin models were used. They posed them before drawing. The manikins were generously donated by a donor of Donors Choose. Students then blended two shades of a color using pastels and finally painted the backgrounds with watercolor. Look for these amazing works of art in the Sherman School front staircase and at the Board Office, See the two photos at left.

K & K INSPIRED ABSTRACT ART PIECES

F irst grade arts students have been learning the basic elements of art-line, shape and color. The students have been creating many abstract pieces of art inspired by artists like Wassily Kandinskey and

Paul Klee. Students explored crayon resist on their abstract artworks. In the four photos above, from left to right, are Alexis R., Damian S., and Kathryn F., Angelina G. and Lauren D. See the four photos above.

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE RP BOARD OF HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE RP BOARD OF HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE RP BOARD OF EDUCATION!EDUCATION!EDUCATION!

A Publication of the

ROSELLE PARK BOARD OF EDUCATION

510 Chestnut Street

Roselle Park, NJ 07204

www.rpsd.org

Board of Education

Christopher Miller - President

Barbara Sokol - Vice President

Scott Bruckenstein

Donald Chin

James Damm

Troy Gerten

Loren Harms

Scott Nelson

Jeofrey Vita

Pedro A. Garrido

Superintendent of Schools

Susan Guercio

Business Adm./Board Secretary

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: The Roselle

Park School District guarantees each

student equal educational opportunities

regardless of race, color, creed, religion,

sex, ancestry, national origin, or racial

or economic status.

For more information contact District

Affirmative Action Officer, Mrs. Mary

Christensen at (908) 245-1886.

NONDISCRIMINATION: The Roselle

Park School District does not discriminate

against handicapped persons with

regard to admission, access to or

treatment of employment in its

programs, activities, and vocational

opportunities.

For more information, contact District

Public 504 Compliance Coordinator,

Mrs. Susan Carlstrom at (908) 241-4550.

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