The Verona Board of Education met on Tuesday, April 9, and moved closer to establishing a final total for the capital improvements referendum that it intends to submit to voters this November. The BOE also revealed that is has been in talks with Verona’s municipal government about capturing more revenue from properties that pay a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) rather than traditional property taxes and that the school’s budget position has improved enough that the district will be able to add back some of the staffing that had to be cut for the 2018-2019 school year.

On the referendum, Superintendent Dr. Rui Dionisio said that the work needed at Verona’s six schools now is in the range of $27 million to $30 million, but stressed that this will not be the price tag for the referendum. “We’re still looking at how we get this down to be more reasonable for the taxpayers,” Dionisio said. “We don’t anticipate that this will be the number that goes out the the public.” (Verona’s last school improvements referendum was in 2014 and cost $13.8 million after state aid.)

The referendum could spend $7 million on several new school roofs, and $3 million is needed for safer rigging on school stages. There could also be funding for a new gym floor at Verona High School, and remediation of a deteriorating facade at H.B. Whitehorne Middle School and its track. It could also cover upgrades to the locker rooms at VHS and HBW, and to the phone systems at all schools except VHS. Dionisio said that while the BOE has discussed adding solar panels to school roofs, this would likely not be included in the referendum because it is not now cost effective, in part because the roofs would not be able to support solar panels without significant structural upgrades. The referendum could also include $5.5 million for school air conditioning, but Dionisio said the Board wants to have some community input on whether this is something that is warranted.

Dionisio said that he hopes to have a firm list of everything that will be in the referendum by the end of April, and that there will be a public presentation in May. BOE President Lisa Freschi said that all five board members have a “very detailed” binder on potential referendum items, and urged the public to direct questions to BOE members. “Approach us,” she said, “it’s very important to be informed.”

PILOT payments have been a point of discussion–and often contention–between the BOE and town government for several years because they can result in less revenue for schools while new developments add students to the school system. While Verona schools get 55% of normal property tax revenues, they get nothing from the value of property improvements under PILOTs because almost everything goes to town government. (PILOTs send just 5% of the improved value of a property to Essex County, instead of 20% of traditional property taxes.) The BOE still, however, gets its normal share of the land tax.

Dionisio said that he and Freschi met with Township Manager Matt Cavallo and Mayor Kevin Ryan on March 19 to talk about the PILOTs, and said there was “good constructive dialogue”. Dionisio said that is important because of the potential for new housing developments in Verona that would operate under a PILOT agreement and bring many more students into the district. “The impact that that could have on our school district is concerning,” said Dionisio. “Our schools are at capacity.”

Verona, like other New Jersey municipalities, has come under increased pressed to add affordable housing since former Gov. Chris Christie abandoned the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) and New Jersey’s state legislature failed to create a replacement. Last December, the Town Council approved an ordinance to buy the former Cameco property for low density affordable housing. The Council is also in talks with developers looking to build 300 apartments on the Spectrum 360 property on Sunset Avenue, and faces additional development at the edge of Eagle Rock Reservation and a privately owned lot that had been used as the town leaf dump.

Dionisio said that there are roughly a dozen students now living in PILOT properties, most of which at the Hilltop; one student lives in the Annin Lofts buildings. He said the district is still determining how many students, if any, live in the Verona Place apartments.

At the meeting with town officials, Dionisio and Freschi suggested that the BOE get a stipend from PILOT revenues for each new student coming from a PILOT building. “It was heard with open ears,” said Freschi, “and we’re going to go talk to the full Council.” Dionisio noted that when an elementary school grade gets so large that it must be split into an additional class, it costs the district $75,000 in salary and benefits. The BOE approved a resolution last year that students in PILOT buildings could be assigned to other elementary schools, if it would have an impact on class size. BOE member Jim Day encouraged residents to ask the five candidates now running for Town Council whether they supported giving PILOT money to the schools.

The BOE also said that the 2019-2020 school budget could restore funding for several positions that were cut last year. The budget will bring Mandarin instruction at VHS and HBW back up to 100%, increase HBW French to 100% and raise VHS graphics to 100% to meet the high demand for that program. Verona will add kindergarten teachers at Forest and F.N. Brown, a special education teacher at VHS and give stipends to several teachers for additional classes. The budget will not restore the elementary school technology facilitators, which Dionisio said were no longer needed because teachers have integrated technology into their lessons. The BOE will vote on the budget at its April 23 meeting.

The BOE meeting also included a presentation on the VHS Capstone senior internship program, which will include nearly all of the class of 2019 this year. You can watch the meeting in full below.

The Verona Music Parents Association (VMPA) is hosting its annual Spring Golf Tournament at the Crystal Springs Golf Resort in Hamburg, N.J., on Monday, May 6, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Shotgun start is at 9 a.m.

Tickets are $150 for individual golfers, $600 for a foursome and $50 for the BBQ only. Proceeds from the tournament, which includes golf, raffles, prizes, bag of swag and a BBQ lunch, will benefit the Verona High School Music Department. More than a third of Verona High School students participate in the school’s music program.

Participants can register by going to vmpagolf.org and filling in the registration form. VMPA is also accepting sponsorships for the tournament, at points from $50 to $1,000.

For more information, please email veronamusicparents@gmail.com.

It’s time folks: Time to support the theater program at Verona High School by participating in the VHS Spotlight Players‘ annual flamingo fundraiser.

This week, members of the VHS Spotlight Players will be delivering bright pink flamingo lawn ornaments all around town. The birds roost on a lawn for 24 hours and are then migrated to their next destination.You can send a trio of flamingos for $15 or a whole flock (a dozen feathered friends) for $20 to someone’s front yard.

The birds will roost on the lawn for 24 hours and then will be migrated to their next destination. You also can “forward” the birds for a small fee, and the SPPA offers AntiFlocking Insurance, which will protect you from any deliveries for the entire week.

For more information, or to send a flock to your Verona friends, email Spotlight President Ann Gault at agault321@gmail.com.

TCNJ President Kathryn Foster was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa as an honorary member of the Delta Chapter of The College of New Jersey at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 24. Foster, a 1975 graduate of Verona High School who was named the 16th president of TCNJ in March 2018, was honored alongside 77 students and TCNJ Professor of Psychology Jarret Crawford, who was inducted as an alumni member.

“I am honored to be an inductee into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most celebrated academic honor society,” Foster said. “I am particularly honored to be joining the Delta Chapter of New Jersey at The College of New Jersey, an institution known for its academic rigor and exceptional educational quality, an institution that I and others have long admired from afar, and one I have come to respect even more since becoming president here last July.”

Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s oldest and most widely recognized academic honor society. Fewer than ten percent of the baccalaureate-granting colleges and universities in the United States have the privilege of sheltering a chapter. In New Jersey, TCNJ is one of only four institutions to earn this distinction.

For more information on TCNJ’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter please visit its website.

Photo by Andrew Cislak via TCNJ.

This Saturday, May 4, is the Verona High School Student Council’s annual Town-Wide Garage Sale. While you can wait until Saturday to pick up a map and a list of sellers at VHS from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, you don’t have to: We have the links to both.

There are 25 addresses on this year’s digital map and if you click on the blue map marker on each address you can pop up a list of the “hot ticket” items at that address.

If just want a list of the sellers without a map, you can get that here.

The shopping begins at 9 a.m.

The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) formally installed its 16th president, Kathryn A. Foster, in a tradition-filled ceremony on Friday afternoon, May 3.

Foster, who grew up in Verona and graduated Verona High School with the class of 1975, spoke before an audience of more than 700 people about the rich traditions of TCNJ, its present strengths and its potential future. “I cannot wait to plan with you, to explore where we have been, where we are, and where we are going,” she said. “Here’s to three tenses at once, in our time, in this place, for tradition, for tomorrow, for TCNJ.”

“We bring personal connections and shared experiences,” Foster added, “a tenacity to take on big projects that make a difference, an ethos that values engagement, ideas, and one another, and a character that is honest, motivated, considerate, and ambitious.”

TCNJ presented Foster with a special commemorative medal.

Foster, who was known as Kate in Verona, was named TCNJ’s president on March 27, 2018 and officially began her tenure on July 1, 2018. Her audience included her sister, Meg Foster Slotkin and her brother Andy Foster; and her cousins Rob and John Schaffer, who all grew up in Verona, as well as her nieces Sarah and Rebecca Slotkin, also both VHS graduates, as well as many other family members and friends.

The ceremony featured remarks by TCNJ faculty and students, and local, state, and academic communities. Foster had earned her doctorate at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs, and Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber noted that her award-winning dissertation was later published by Georgetown University Press. “In Kate, TCNJ has found something truly special, a leader who exemplifies this institution’s values as an accomplished scholar, a dedicated teacher, and a tireless advocate for public education,” Eisgruber said.

And there was one big surprise for Foster at the end of the ceremony. She has a goal of visiting all 50 state capitals in the United States and while TCNJ isn’t far up the road from Trenton, TCNJ wanted to make sure Foster has a regular view of the state capital. The college’s Board of Trustees presented her with a painting of the New Jersey Statehouse by Eleanor Voorhees, a Lambertville, N.J. artist whose work has been featured in national publications as well as galleries and private collections throughout the region.

If you are a Verona High School senior and you want to apply for one of the very generous scholarships from the Verona Lions Club, you’ve got until this Friday, May 10, to do it.

The Lions scholarships are for graduating students who are Verona residents who actively participated in valuable services to their community, school, house of worship, or a non-profit charitable organization. The award criteria are not based on academic achievement or financial need but rather exclusively on volunteer service. Volunteerism and service to others is at the heart of the Lions Club credo: “We Serve”.

The Lions may present up to three cash awards, and the total amount the Lions will award this year has increased to $6,000.

Applications should provide a clear description of services performed and when they took place. Please mail applications to the Verona Lions, P.O. Box 38, Verona, NJ 07044. All mailed applications must be postmarked no later than May 10, 2019. The Verona Lions is an international service organization that has been active in Verona since 1951.

Caldwell University is pleased to announce that Rosa Sanchez, associate professor of Spanish language, literature and culture, is one of a select group of faculty members nationwide chosen by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies to participate in an Ancient Greece in the Modern Classroom seminar, “The Ancient Greek Hero.”

CIC and the Center for Hellenic Studies recently selected 20 faculty members out of 42 highly competitive nominations to participate in the seminar, which will take place July 25–29, at Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies campus in Washington, D.C. Gregory Nagy, Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature and professor of comparative literature at Harvard University, and Kenneth Scott Morrell, associate professor of Greek and Roman studies at Rhodes College, will lead the seminar. The program is generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

“Strengthening the teaching of the classics at colleges and universities is of critical importance. This seminar series addresses the challenge of keeping alive in undergraduate education classical texts that generations ago were read and understood by every college graduate,” said CIC President Richard Ekman. “We believe that Dr. Rosa Sanchez will contribute to the seminar in meaningful ways and learn much that will energize teaching when she returns home.”

Sanchez, of Verona, teaches Greek literature in her Spanish and Latin American literature courses. Dr. Barbara Chesler, Caldwell University’s vice president for academic affairs, is delighted for Sanchez and how the seminar will align with Sanchez’s research and teaching. Chesler pointed out that in Sanchez’s Spanish and Latin American Literature class she teaches how Aristotle’s “Poetics” influenced the Spanish Enlightenment movement. “Through discussion, students discover the core issues of antiquity and how they are still the same in modern society. This amazes the Generation Z student,” said Chesler. “This seminar will assist Dr. Sanchez in pursuing the Greek “hero” and various Greek writers in-depth with other scholars and will provide the opportunity for her to further study the Greek hero in poetry, history, and philosophy.”

Designed primarily for non-specialists, the seminar will explore what it means to be human. The organizing principle will be the study of a model of humanity, the hērōs (hero), as it can be reconstructed by way of textual evidence attesting to myths and rituals from throughout the ancient Greek-speaking world. Beginning with the Homeric poems, the seminar also will engage with works of Sappho, Herodotus, Hesiod, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Plato, providing participants who teach in a variety of disciplines with approaches to integrate the literature of ancient Greece into a wide range of courses.

For more than ten years, CIC has collaborated with the Center for Hellenic Studies to provide seminars on teaching the classics for small and mid-sized independent colleges that have a limited number of faculty members or courses in the classics. The seminar is ideal for faculty members who have been trained in other disciplines and who seek opportunities to explore major classical texts and learn new ways to teach these texts to undergraduates.

For its second theatrical presentation, Our Lady of the Lake School (OLL) selected the extraordinary, popular and award-winning Stephen Sondheim musical “Into the Woods”. Needing to accommodate a larger audience, OLL turned to the Mount Saint Dominic Academy (MSDA) stage for its presentation. The production was co-directed by Jihan Hanna and Catherine Duran, OLL educators. Musical direction was handled by Jihan Hanna. Choreography was overseen by Isabelle Duran and Grace Corrigan, OLL alumnae and MSDA students.

Fairy tales begin “once upon a time” and end “happily ever after.” Not so fast! After all the dreams come true in this Tony Award-winning musical, everybody returns to the woods for a reality check. Cinderella, Little Red Ridinghood, Jack (of beanstalk fame) and Rapunzel get tangled up with a bevy of other fairytale characters and a few new ones created to add to the chaos and discover the unexpected consequences of having wishes come true. Journey into a fantastical world where traditional fairytales take on fractured new lives and teach important new lessons.

“Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods was the perfect production for our students,” said Hanna. “They passionately embraced their roles and the final product was spectacular. We could not be prouder!”

“The stories told in the musical are tales that we all know and love but they are told with a fresh, unexpected twist,” said Duran. “Our cast really rose to the challenge with this presentation and provided an authentic rendition for all ages to enjoy.”

Our Lady of the Lake School is a two-time, consecutive National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence winner. Its supportive educational team of students, staff, parents, and community aims at providing a creative, rigorous learning environment. An emphasis is placed on developing students’ individual abilities, promoting social awareness, and encouraging them to become responsible, contributing members of church and society.

Henry B. Whitehorne Middle School is going to hold a “safety rodeo” on Friday May 17.

Students in grades 5 through 8 are encouraged to ride their bicycles, scooters and skateboards to school (wearing a helmet of course).

During lunch, representatives of the Verona-based e-bike store Electric Spokes will be going over information on presenting on bike maintenance and bike safety.

Verona High School students will once again exhibit their creative endeavors from this year’s curricular and extracurricular activities at the high school’s annual Creative Arts Festival on Wednesday, May 29, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Parents, families, friends, VHS graduates and the community are all invited to attend the annual event, which will be held at VHS.

The event is sponsored by the VHS chapter of the National Art Honor Society, with society officers and members setting up the displays and coordinating the evening’s activities. Art teacher Terry Sherman is the faculty advisor for the event and graphic design teachers Chrissy Sciacchitano and Helene McKelvey-Mclaughlin worked with their students to create the graphic design work for the event. Graphic design student Connor Seawright designed this year’s invitation/poster.

All displays will be set up in the New Gym. They include: art, fashion, graphics, photography, CAD, STEM, STEAM, Fabrication and Design. English literature and world language projects will be on view as well. Art students will be doing hand and face painting and leading a bracelet making workshop to benefit Minette’s Angels, a Verona non-profit foundation supporting breast cancer patients and survivors. Student made jewelry will also be on sale. In addition, F.N. Brown art teacher Joni Jasterzbski and VHS students will be painting ceramic Hearts of Hope.

The evening will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the front lobby with vocal performances by VHS students under the direction of Claire Ma. Instrumental performances by VHS students will follow. They will be under the direction of Erik Lynch and Ellis Jasenovic.

In the Old Gym at 8 p.m. there will be a catapult viewing and hovercraft demonstration. Throughout the night, the Engineering Club will be selling organic freshly popped popcorn, the proceeds going to Minette’s Angels.

At 8:30 p.m., the VHS Spotlight Players, under the guidance of Steven Munoz, will perform student directed one-act plays in the Learning Commons.

The VHS art department wishes to thank Clinton Glass in Verona for its donation of mirror and colored glass; the Verona Education Association for its Creative Arts Festival grant; and the SCA for the ongoing monetary support that this event receives for supplies, decorations and materials needed each year to put the show together.

Bridgett McIntyre, who graduated Verona High School with the class of 2013, received a masters of education in curriculum and instruction this past Saturday at New England College.

McIntyre had also done her undergraduate studies at New England College, which is a private liberal arts college in Henniker, N.H., and received a bachelors in education studies with a minor in psychology from that institution.

Congratulations Bridgett!

“It all sounded so logical,” Hilda Jaffe says of the busing program. “How could anybody have been against it?”

In the 1968-69 school year, Verona invited 40 Newark elementary school students to attend our schools to ease overcrowding in the underperforming Newark school district. Verona’s schools did deliver a better education to those 40 students that year, through an experiment that showed the best–and often worst–of Verona’s attitude towards the world. Residents acted locally on a commitment to improve civil rights, but racism flared into the open and neighborhoods and congregations split over whether it was Verona’s responsibility to fix problems beyond our borders. Adult friendships frayed, school friends grew distant and the Board of Education members that implemented the program received credible death threats.

Hilda Jaffe remembers it all as if it were yesterday. She is 96 now and lives in Manhattan, where she gives guided tours of the New York Public Library’s iconic main branch. But in 1968-69, Jaffe was the president of the BOE.

“It all sounded so logical,” she says of the busing program. “How could anybody have been against it?”

The logic of the busing program did seem straightforward to its proponents. In July 1967, riots broke out in Newark after two white police officers arrested and beat a black motorist. Life in Newark felt bleak thanks to a steady march of jobs and white residents to Essex County’s suburbs. Corrupt and inept officials had mismanaged Newark’s government and its school system, leaving it with 10,000 fewer student seats than it needed.

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis. Three days later, there was a march of solidarity in Newark that drew 25,000 people. More than a few of them were from Verona, including Joe Thomas. A parishioner at Our Lady of the Lake, he was also editor of The Advocate, a Catholic newspaper, and had been involved in improving inter-religious, and inter-racial relations in our area. “There was a call that went out for understanding,” he recalls of the Newark march, and he answered it. So did several Verona clergy leaders and the vice president of the BOE, John McDonald, who brought an idea back to the board.

On April 30, 1968, the BOE unveiled what it called “the sharing plan”. Verona had a small number of unfilled seats in its elementary schools. Newark parents would volunteer their children to participate and Newark’s BOE would pay for the busing. Since Verona schools didn’t have lunch services at the time, Verona families would volunteer to host them at noon. (This reporter’s family was eventually among them.) The Educational Testing Service would document the Newark students’ proficiency at the beginning of the school year and at the end.

Reaction to the plan was swift–and stunning. On May 13, 1968, some 1,800 people packed Verona High School for a meeting.They filled the auditorium, the “old” gym (there was no new gym at the time) and spilled out into Sampson Drive. And many would soon find themselves split into one of two groups–supporters of the plan or those who tried to block it through legal action. “The stuff hit the fan,” Jaffe says succinctly.

BOE members faced series of heated meetings, and more. Richard Heaslip, who served on the BOE with Jaffe, wrote an autobiography before he died last year at 94 that detailed some of the strife. His wife Marie was accosted at the Verona Pool. “You better tell your husband to straighten up if he doesn’t want trouble,” she was told. Heaslip himself was confronted outside one of Verona’s schools. [He] “told me if I don’t straighten up he would ‘take me apart like a clock’,” Heaslip wrote. Heaslip filed a complaint about the incident and when he went to Verona’s municipal court, the threat-maker was there at the entrance with a large friend for extra intimidation. Thankfully, the judge took a dim view of town officials being threatened.

Jaffe also received death threats, by phone and by letter. “I was so tense,” she recalled of one community meeting, “that when I got home my muscles ached.”

She still seems to ache from how the board’s intentions came to be mischaracterized. While some residents viewed the BOE’s decision as rash, it had actually studied several of the so-called city-to-suburbs school programs elsewhere in the country and had formed an idea of what could work in Verona. Jaffe participated in a state school board association to learn general best practices, but some residents decided it was a move to regionalize Verona schools and bring more black students in.

The turmoil is amply documented in Daring To Be Different, a history published by the late Verona resident Kurt Landsberger in 2001, that is available in the Verona Public Library. Landsberger wrote openly about the racism that surfaced in Verona in 1968-69, and the efforts to portray opposition to the plan as justifiable concern for Verona students. Before his death in 2014, Landsberger was invited to lead a symposium on the busing program for VHS students and parents. Robert Maher, a VHS history teacher, recalls how many students seemed astonished by what had happened in their town. “It was a divisive moment in the community but also very commendable,” Maher says.

Though Jaffe’s BOE survived the legal challenges to its efforts, it did not survive the February 1969 vote on the school budget driven by busing opponents determined to financially starve the board into submission. The board’s pro-busing majority fell apart with the election of a leader from the opposition group. In June, the BOE announced that higher enrollment for the 1969-1970 school year would leave it without enough seats to continue the busing program.

Newark students made it through the 1968-69 school year in Verona without harm, and ETS found improvement in test scores. Jaffe was given an award from a group of Essex County educators, but no other district in the county–or elsewhere in New Jersey–followed Verona’s lead. Families who had hosted Newark school children at lunch created a summer camp program for Newark children in Verona Park that continued for several years, and VHS students created lasting tutoring and collaboration programs with Newark students, as well as a holiday toy drive. State officials didn’t fully address the problems in Newark’s schools until 1995, but by 2017 they were deemed sufficiently improved to return to local control.

Jaffe says that, despite the hardships that she endured for championing the busing program, she would “definitely” do it all again, though perhaps take a bit more time to build community consensus. “Why should we be concerned with these children?” she recalls being asked. Her answer then was the same as it would be now. “Because they are growing up with my children and because I want the world of my children to be a better world.”

Yvette McNeal and David Galbierczyk, principals of H.B. Whitehorne Middle School, are proud to announce the names of those fifth grade students who have earned academic recognition during the third marking period of this school year 2018-2019.

These students have qualified for the honors award by attaining all “A” and “B” grades:

Dean Algieri, Juod Alqaisy, Braden Bailey, Olivia Baureis, Dylan Benavides, Zachary Bermeo, Dylan Bratek, Jocelyn Brooks, Madison Brown, Charlotte Brutman, Tyler Burns

Luke Caputo, Ryan Cavallo, Henry Cherep, Caitlin Chevalier, Giada Contorno, Isabella Czupak, Lauren Czupak, Christopher DiDiego, Daniel DiGeronimo, Abigail Donnelly, Sean Donohue

Grace Fatatis, Grant Fersch, Lauren Foley, Lillian Forino, Luke Freedman, Emerson Garrett, Noah Garson, Addisyn Garthwaite, Thomas Gawley, Sophia Graziano, Sarah Griffin

Jake Halen, Sydney Hannigan, Joseph Houck, Logan Knoetig, Evelyn Kogan, Sarah Komninos, Isabella Lambo, Alexa LeBosquet, Brooklyn Leagon, Andrew Liaukus

Robert Mack, Mason Mania, Sofia Marrero, James Martin, Shawn McElroy, Liam McEnerney, Caleigh Moore, Ryan Morrice,, Noella Newman, Jayden Nigro, Maximo Nogales

Preston O’Donnell, Julia O’Reilly, Anand Pancholi-Parekh, Jenna Papocchia, Gavin Penny, Charles Pepe, Elizabeth Petruzzi, Joseph Phelan, Nia Pilauri

Abigail Romanyshyn, Lea Romar, Brigid Rowbotham, James Russell, Nicolas Saj, Aiden Schmidt, Ayden Serfaty, Victoria So, Nicholas Testa, Erin Tevlin, Jessica Theobald, Grace Traficante, Evan Tsang

Jason Vacca, Sofia Valese, Johnathan Velebir, Brandon Venezia, James Waugh, Nate Williamson, Connor Zimany, Julia Zysk

The names of some students who qualified for the honor roll do not appear on this list because their parents have elected not to release personal information to the media.

Forest Avenue School’s annual car wash is Saturday, May 18, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost is $5 per car. All proceeds from this event will go toward purchasing a legacy gift for the school from the current fourth grade students. Forest Avenue School is located at 118 Forest Avenue in Verona.

Yvette McNeal and David Galbierczyk, principals of H.B. Whitehorne Middle School, are proud to announce the names of those fifth grade students who have earned academic recognition during the third marking period of this school year 2018-2019.

These students have qualified for the high honors award by receiving an “A” in every school subject:

Joseph Abello, Andrew Ackerman, Elin Attal, Nicholas Caruso, Sophia Chanana, John Cooper, Hannah Crinion, Justin Cruz, Christian DePalma, Stella DiNatale

Reese Falcone, Lily Filippazzo, Lauren Forrest, Francesca Ghetian, Sienna Griffin, Ryan Guo, Suri Gupta, Samantha Heimall, Payton Kohler

Ivy Liaukus, Michael LoCurto, John Loudon, Joshua Loudon, Patrick Mann, Taylor McClain, Stephen McDonald, Jenna McGrath, Michael McHugh, Michelle Mooncai, Corinne Mullings

Dylan Neale, Gwendolyn Neale, Isabella Powley, Rocco Quilici, Kai-Pai Rackley, Lily Riedy, Jamie Rosenbloom

Katelyn Scelfo, Anais Schechter, Matthew Schwartz, Brayden Shorter, Michael Siclari, Sophia Simon, Riley Stocker, Giulia Stoicescu, Synclaire Szamborski, Jessica Toriello, Charles Wacha, Brady Watkins

The names of some students who qualified for the honor roll do not appear on this list because their parents have elected not to release personal information to the media.

Yvette McNeal and David Galbierczyk, principals of H.B. Whitehorne Middle School, are proud to announce the names of those sixth grade students who have earned academic recognition during the third marking period of this school year 2018-2019.

These students have qualified for the honors award by attaining all “A” and “B” grades:

Jaye Auriemma, Jonah Axelrod, Ariella Balerio, Ella Barchie, Connor Barshay, Iyana Best, Ryan Bisaccio, Francesca Bopp, Shaun Brown, Wesley Brown, Leah Byrnes

Marc-Evans Calixte, Kate Carlson, Gianluca Checchetto, Kylie Conklin, Camila Cortes, Mairi D’Andrea, Lauren DeFabrizio, Luca DeFabrizio, Marisa DeFabrizio, Giada DeLorenzo, Jack DeMars, Andrew DePaul, Kori DePoe, Jordan Dunn

Manna Elessawy, Ava Evans, Joseph Farmer, Luke Fenton, Daniel Fernandez, Jaclyn Ferrer, Samantha FioRito, Jack Flannery, Daniel Frenklakh

Stephen Gaffney, Isabella Garcia, Benjamin Garnet, Hayden Garrett, Cali Giacomazza, Chloe Giessen, Michael Girgis, Eliza Glatter, Joel Gonzalez, Ian Gottstein, Lucia Grant, Ryan Gray

Isabelle Heimerle, Sophia Hippe, Vedarth Kallem, Christian Kaulback, Kylie Kiernan, Shaina Kogan, Parks Lamkey, Landon Lareau, Robert Maher, Zia Mahmood, Joseph Manganello, Molly McCabe, Sadie McMahan, Matthew McMahon

Maeve Nachbaur, Mia Nicolato, Nia Nikolova, Frank Orrei, Camille Pajonas, Shiv Pancholi-Parekh, Victor Paz, Matthew Raff, Johnny Ratuis, Aryanna Ricci, William Rice, Dean Rizzi, Mason Rossi

Michelle Salanon, Luke Sampers, Salvatore Santos, Halle Schulke, Ella Scipione, Angelie Sin, Gregory Sluk, Kieran Smith, Harrison Sorger, Brody Sperling, Augustine Stocker

Jesse Wagner, Camryn Wardrope, Madan Williams, Yianni Yanniotis, Lana Zecchino, Miriam Zikry, Nathaniel Zimmer

The names of some students who qualified for the honor roll do not appear on this list because their parents have elected not to release personal information to the media.

Yvette McNeal and David Galbierczyk, principals of H.B. Whitehorne Middle School, are proud to announce the names of those sixth grade students who have earned academic recognition during the third marking period of this school year 2018-2019.

These students have qualified for the high honors award by receiving an “A” in every school subject:

Kelly Barrow, Sophie Besante, Maya Cappello, Alison Carvalloza, Owen Chanana, Angelina Cheung, Angelina Codey
Julia Dacey, Sydney Fradette, Dylan Frey

Jonna Garcia, Jacqueline Gardner, Jack Harmon, Molly Hayter, Danielle Imbriano, Riley Kenrick, Isabella Lambert, Jack Latson, Brielle Marchese, William McGrath

Lily Nachbaur, Victoria Niziolek, Charlotte North, Angelina O’Dell, Vincenza Palma, Kaitlyn Pietrucha, Jackson Pope, Connor Potts-DeMasi

Sidney Quinn, Samantha Repoli, Ella Romanyshyn, Jane Sorger, Kaelin Walsh, Jessica Yu, Nina Zawodny

The names of some students who qualified for the honor roll do not appear on this list because their parents have elected not to release personal information to the media.

Yvette McNeal and David Galbierczyk, principals of H.B. Whitehorne Middle School, are proud to announce the names of those seventh grade students who have earned academic recognition during the third marking period of this school year 2018-2019.

These students have qualified for the honors award by attaining all “A” and “B” grades:

Tanzila Ahmed, Juliet Alkaysi, Samantha Andersen, Aidan Azarowicz, Marissa Barnett, Emma Baschieri, Sophie Beaubouef, Katherine Bernard, Daniel Bernardino, Tessa Bichalski, Sarah Bosco, Demitri Byrne

Christopher Caldera, Fiona Church, Nicholas Ciccolini, Brian Cleaver, Shane Costigan, Aeryn Curren, Cara DeMars, Max Della Fera, Alexandra Derderian, Robert Donohue, Maya Dufalo, Marcus Dunphy

Gabriella Egnezzo, Cara Ehrhardt, Caitlin Eng, Kayla Esposito, Ethan Fersch, Samorah Figueroa, Charles Fjeldal, Olivia Fuentes, Lauren Gawley, Charles Giacomazza, Colin Giarrusso, Brandon Greene, Kaya Gumusayak

Joshua Hayes, Paige Higgins, Molly Hipp, Anna Hoogterp, Grace Keane, Emma Kirby, Hannah Koffler, Daniel Kozachuk, Marley Kramer, Cristian Latorre, Violet Liaukus, Julia Loudon

Emma McDevitt, Megan McGrath, Katelyn Meehan, Peter Merle, Gavin Moore, Sophia Morales, Eoin Moy, Julia Nogales, Alexandra Palma, Anthony Passaro, Lauren Paz

Ryan Radigan, Agnik Ram, Lauren Ryan, Reese Sahadow, Julian Santorelli, Kendra Santos, Nixon Shick, Christopher Sluck, Evan Spitler, Briele Sposato, Nicolae Stanescu, Anna Stopka

Zoe Taub, Alize Vazquez, Ava Vega, Michael Venezia, Michael Villani, Jeremy Williams, Christian Zebrowski, Elliott Ziebert

The names of some students who qualified for the honor roll do not appear on this list because their parents have elected not to release personal information to the media.

I want to start off by saying that I am not afraid of change. Okay, that isn’t entirely truthful. I think all humans are afraid of change, but I am also willing to try new things. I hope that is a quality my peers admire in me. I love trying out new ideas and learning from new people, whether it is teachers who are just starting out or librarians I follow on Twitter. I am humble enough to know I need to improve my craft, and I cringe sometimes when I think about the mistakes I have made in my career. But I feel as though in the Blogosphere and the Twitterverse there is a disdain for all things old-fashioned. I may be imagining it, and I would love to hear your thoughts on that.

Something that will never go out of style is human connection. To me, that is the most important thing in education, and well, life. I don’t care if your classroom is Pinterest Ready. I don’t care how many Twitter followers you have. I don’t care how many digital badges you’ve earned. I get concerned sometimes that educators are so busy promoting themselves and saying, “Look at me,” that we are forgetting that our students want us to look at them.

By the way, my email signature has gotten downright obnoxious, and I am a complete hypocrite because I have two digital badges there and all my social media links. I think I am going to delete them all and keep my achievements to myself. After all, what is the purpose of a Google Certified Educator badge? Yes, I passed a three hour test and if you have a question about Google Suite for Education, I can help you. I also make silly mistakes with technology ALL THE TIME. Whether you have a digital badge or not, I can learn as much from you about being a good educator as you can learn from me.

I am appalled every week when my iPhone reports my screen usage time. How are we teaching our students and our children balance and digital wellness when we are always glued to our phones? I read something once that I can’t locate now (please send it to me if you can find it) about the danger of spending too much time tweeting in the classroom. The gist was that we are teaching our students to memorialize every aspect of their lives instead of just being present and living in the moment. I had never thought of that, but there’s a point.

Should we be teaching our students to blog or to have a face-to-face conversation? I am planning a Skype with a teacher in Italy, but maybe I should be planning a lesson to help our students interact better with the person right next to them. Should we teach our students to make a website, or should we encourage them to read more and have insight? Should we be teaching students to use an app or their imagination? I know these ideas are not mutually exclusive, and I love digital learning as much as the next person. I think these are valid questions, though.

Should I be writing a blog about a great book talk I gave, or should I just be reading a book that I can then recommend to a student? Should I be spending hours researching potential lesson ideas or should I be spending time with my family or taking care of myself so I am recharged and refreshed in the classroom? Should I respond to a parent’s email or should I pick up the phone and have a good old-fashioned conversation? I’m not exactly a teacher. I’m a librarian. But I still feel close enough to the world of teaching that I can say teaching has gotten much, much harder since I started out 19 years ago. There are literally endless possibilities for how you can use technology to improve your lesson. It can be paralyzing. I just have this vague feeling all of the time that I could be doing something more or doing something better.

Maybe I’m just tired after a long week of standardized testing. It’s the end of the year, and the to-do list is long. It’s the last lap, and it’s a race against the clock. Or maybe I’m on to something. Technology is a powerful tool, not something I aim to criticize or relinquish. But it’s just a tool. It’s not our purpose. And if it ever seems like I’ve forgotten that, please remind me.

Jennifer Kleinknecht has been the media specialist at H.B. Whitehorne Middle School since 2007. She writes about life as a school librarian on her blog, “The ‘Yes’ Librarian”. (Photo by Hennie Stander on Unsplash)