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MONROE TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT
The Falcon Flyer Email Newsletter
January 2017
Your Monthly News & Updates
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A Message From The Superintendent's Office...
Dear Falcon Community,
Happy New Year! I hope 2016 was a good year for everyone and I wish everyone a healthy and happy 2017.
At the Board of Education meeting on January 4th, four Board members were sworn into service. Ms. Michele Arminio was re-elected to the Board, and Mr. Ken Chiarella and Ms. Patricia Lang were sworn in as new members. Mr. Chiarella previously served on the Board from 2008 through 2014. Mr. Paul Rutsky was sworn in as the returning representative from Jamesburg. Ms. Kathy Kolupanowich was elected President of the Board and Mr. Marvin Braverman was elected Vice President. The next scheduled Board meeting is January 25, 2017 at 7:00 pm in the Monroe Township High School Media Center.
Congratulations to DECA, which is our student marketing club, for their achievements at their regional competition on January 5th. Members of DECA will be writing and presenting papers at the state competition in February. Our Model UN students also performed well recently. More information about Model UN is inside this edition. Our middle school and elementary students continue to excel in all areas, as indicated in highlights in this edition. Our High School Marching Band returned from a successful trip to recognize the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Marching Band will be recognized at the Board of Education meeting on January 25th. And, our middle school AVID Program recently had college students speak to our middle school AVID students about preparing for college, the application process and college life.
We are continuing our efforts to create partnerships with universities and corporations. We feel that our students can benefit from unique opportunities, such as apprenticeships, internships and coaching, that would prepare students for college and a career. One example is for high school students who are between the ages of 16 and 18 to apply for a summer internship in the field of sciences at Princeton University. For more information, click
here
.
I will be hosting a new show on Channel 28. The show will be an opportunity to showcase the many different talents of our students and staff. In addition, I hope to keep the community apprised of our plans for addressing our continuing student growth.
In this edition, you will find important information regarding school, district and community events. You can also find valuable information on our MTSD Facebook page, @MTSDFalcons Twitter feed, MTSD website and MTSD app.
Respectfully yours,
Michael Kozak
Dr. Michael Kozak
Superintendent
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Stay up to date on events and happenings in Monroe Township!
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Download the MTSD District Mobile App!
Stay up to date with Monroe Township School District Events and Information!
Use the links below to download this
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The App Store:
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Staff Spotlight...Coming Soon!
Interested in being in the SPOTLIGHT or have a staff member you'd like to see in the SPOTLIGHT? If so, tell us about it!
Contact
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"MONROE"-OPOLY!
HURRY! SPACES ARE ALREADY HALF SOLD!
*Sponsored by MTHS/FBLA Future Business Leaders of America
Make a donation and "RENT" a space to ADVERTISE your business on Monroe's very own MONOPOLY game - MONROE-Opoly!
Game space donation prices vary.
(*Must be a business/group from Monroe/Jamesburg)
ONE (1) Game board is included with your donation!
Click the link below to"GET IN THE GAME" to view
Board Space Location and Donation information!
Once game board property space donations are complete, the game will be produced by a U.S. manufacturer and will be on sale for purchase to all! *Proceeds will support MTHS/FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America)
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MTHS Footlights Club presents
Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre
Thursday January 19th & Friday January 20th
Dinner @ 6pm -- Show @ 7pm
Monroe Township High School
Tickets: $12.00
Tickets must be pre-purchased
See a Footlights member or call (732) 521-2882 x6003
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
On November 17, 2016, MTHS/FBLA partnered with March of Dimes to raise awareness on behalf of WORLD PREMATURITY DAY.
Here are some pictures of Woodland School Character Crew, lead by Jamie Newcomb, creating cards for March of Dimes families!
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MTMS PTO NEWS
Dear Parents and Staff,
Thank you for all your continued support! A special thank you to all the Committee Chairs and Volunteers who helped make our fall fundraisers and events so successful! To highlight where some of our MTMS PTO fundraising monies went so far this year:
1) Our MTMS PTO Scholastic Bookfair brought in over $3000, where those proceeds went directly back to the school libraries! We also had grade level raffles, where 2 students in each grade received $15 of books of their choice.
2) The MTMS PTO funded the Rachel's Challenge Program, which included a student and parent assembly, and several activities students will be working on throughout the remainder of the year.
3) Our MTMS PTO Grant Committee supplied a grant to purchase supplies needed for the MTMS Connections Cafe and Connections Balloon Shop that some of our students participate in.
As the cold winter months approach, we have some social events planned for the students, when you are looking for something to do indoors! Look out for information in January for our MTMS 2nd 6th and 7th Grade Bingo, Student Paint Night, and Kids Tricky Tray!
The MTMS Kids Tricky Tray is looking for donations towards baskets for the event. If there are items that you receive over the holidays (that is Middle school child appropriate), and you may want to donate, please email carter1025@verizon.net.
Please remember some easy ways to help raise some extra monies by shopping through our Amazon link and clipping box tops!
Thank you for your ongoing support!
Happy Holidays!
The MTMS PTO
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INFORMATION ABOUT
2017-2018 KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
Click here to view the flyer
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Monroe Township Girls Softball Association
Spring Registration is NOW OPEN!
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WOODLAND SCHOOL NEWS
Happy New Year from Woodland School!
The band and chorus students are excited about performing for their families on Tuesday, January 10th at the Monroe Township Middle School Performing Arts Center for their Winter Concert. In addition, our students & teachers are looking forward to participating in the annual school wide Scripps Spelling Bee. Woodland proudly continues to focus on our school wide initiative of character development and anti-bullying. We have scheduled an assembly with Young Audiences "The Principles of Hip Hop by Hip Hop Fundamentals". This assembly inspires positive change in young people through an exploration of the roots of hip hop culture. The performance stresses respect, youth empowerment, health and fitness, cooperation, and active learning.
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Parents as Partners
Promoting a Partnership with Parents at Oak Tree School
by Maggie Fidura
Research has continuously shown the positive effects of parent involvement on students and schools when parents and schools continuously support and encourage students' learning and development. On November 3, 2016 parents of Oak Tree students in grades 1-3 were invited to participate in a first ever parent information night titled Parents as Partners. Parents were able to learn about and participate in informational sessions on Math, STEAM, and Technology. Teachers presented parents with information about the curriculum, programs, and also supplied resources for home. Tables were also set up to supply parents with information on Language Arts Literacy and the Workshop model. Additionally, parents were able to explore resources that the PTA and the Monroe Township Library provide. Attending parents were happily engaged in each presentation and provided positive feedback. This successful event provided another outlet for the school and parents to work together.
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Oak Tree Mixes It Up!
By Patty Dinsmore and Lauren Colflesh
Walking into a room full o
f people you do not know can be intimidating for even the most polished person. Now imagine asking primary aged children to do the same. Well that was exactly what occurred at Oak Tree School, but not without some preparation. During the month of November all Oak Tree classes received instruction on acceptance as part of their guidance lessons. Students were taught how to disagree respectfully and accept comments when differences arose. The underlying theme of the lesson was that everyone has feelings and wants to be happy. In order for that to occur on an everyday basis, we need to be kind, respectful and accepting toward each other.
On December 14th Oak Tree took it one step further by participating in Mix It Up Lunch Day. As students in grades 1-3 entered the cafeteria, they were each given a sticker with a planet on it or some type of celestial body. The children then found the table with a picture that matched their sticker and that is where they would be enjoying their lunch. Using conversation starters facilitated by Guidance Counselor Ms. Colflesh, students had the chance to share some of their interests and favorites in a small group. Students discovered things that they have in common despite our perceived differences and were instructed to use accepting comments toward each other
The response was overwhelmingly positive! Laughter resounded through the cafeteria and children walked out to recess with a new group of friends to play with. Children have begged their teacher to let them do it every week. Some instructors even created bulletin boards about it. Walking into a crowded room of people you do not know? Not a problem for the students of Oak Tree School.
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RANDOM ACTS OF KINDESS WITH
BROOKSIDE SCHOOL STUDENT COUNCIL
Mrs. Levine and her student council members had a school-wide activity for the month of November and December. All students were given a "Random Acts of Kindness" bingo board. The student in each grade who completed the most random acts of kindness were rewarded with a coupon and a bookmark created by student council members!
Grade 3 - Aryan Venishetty
Grade 4 - Jay Patel
Grade 5 - Ava Soares and Aishwarya Seshadri
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M
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MODEL UNITED NATIONS (MUN) @ MTHS
Model United Nations (MUN) is a three-day experiential learning conference in early January designed to introduce students to the operation and structure of the United Nations while providing them with an opportunity to actively learn about world cultures and debate issues of international importance. Students participated in conflict resolution, public speaking, and coalition building, in addition to making new friends and being exposed to new ideas. The program promotes leadership through character development, while introducing students to a vast array of ideas. Priding itself on its uniqueness as a student-run conference, our program provides an unprecedented opportunity to allow young people to grow and develop as communicators, researchers, negotiators, and leaders.
The first weekend in January, Joe Romano, club advisor, Chris Thumm and Carré Tringali attended the Model UN Conference with 50 of MTHS's finest students. The students did an excellent job and here is a quick summary of their achievements at the conference.
Anurva Saste:
Outstanding Country Research Paper in General Assembly C
Pranav Mallampalli:
Premier First Year Delegate in Legal A and was elected Chair of Legal A for 2018
Ariana Yousafzai:
Outstanding Country Research Paper- World Health Organization
Nishant Nagalia:
Premier Country (Representing Turkey)
Brianna Bruccoleri:
Premier Country (Representing Vietnam)
Shrina Parikh:
Chosen for (CONA) Conference on National Affairs held in North Carolina
...and Monroe Township was awarded Outstanding Delegation for our performance at conference this year!
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MTHS DECA REGIONAL COMPETITION
Congratulations to the MTHS DECA Regional Competition winners and club advisor, Deborah Stapenski. MTHS DECA had 26 winners who will be joining many others who are planning on writing papers at the state conference in February.
Individual Events:
Accounting Applications-Brian Hilliard (
3rd Place Overall
)
Business Finance - Tegh Aiden
Sports and Entertainment Marketing Individual Event-Megan Wang
Restaurant Full Service Marketing-Harshit Gupta and Caroline Cugini
Principles of Finance-Saanya Lingineni
Professional Selling Event-Soham Patel
Principles of Hospitality and Tourism-Riya Doshi, Mahi Purhoit, Isha Niranthar (
2nd Place Overall
) and Hena Shah (
1st Place Overall)
Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling - Katie Simone and Rithika Reddy (
1st Place Overall
)
Human Resources Management-Kimvy Tran and Karina Thanawala (
2nd Place Overall
)
Apparel and Accessories Marketing-Christina Gasko, Emily Wo and Pari Pandey (
1st Place Overall
)
Marketing Communications Series-Shivam Patel
Business Services Marketing-Manan Shah (
3rd Place Overall
)
Team Events:
Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making-Team of Olivia Tucker and Kara Turco
Finance Team Decision Making-Team of Anshul Rana and Pranav Reddy (
3rd Place Overall
)
Team of Naomi Doshi and Natasha Reddy (
1st Place Overall
)
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Look What's Happening at Monroe Township Middle School (MTMS)
T
he STEM Tag AMC 8 Math Competition results are in! Our third place finishers were Patrick Ryan and Divit Endal. Tied for second were Dhruv Reddy and Parth Adhia. And our first place winner at MTMS was Swagnik Roychoudhury, who also scored in the top 5% nationally. Congratulations to all who participated. Go MTMS!
At MTMS Mrs. Tafrow shared with her students some of the inspiring and emotional lessons that she took away from the December Challenge Day at MTHS. She shared with her students the value of being kind and respectful to others as well as the importance of compassionate gestures to those around them. She stressed to the students that they are not alone even on some of the worst days of their lives. Mrs. Tafrow encouraged each one of them to "be the change" at MTMS and to not be judgmental of others. Her goal was to reach at least one student that day and have him or her take away something from this life lesson. That goal was accomplished as she discovered the very next day that one of her students, Dylan Henley, heard her message. Dylan went home that afternoon and created a YouTube video that reiterated what Mrs. Tafrow had taught him earlier that morning. In his video, he mentioned how he wanted to "be the change" and he wanted the world to know how to do that. Mrs. Tafrow played his video to all of her students the following day. She realized in that moment, as the video was playing, that she had just taught a lesson more important to her students than the math lesson that was planned for the day. Dylan received the "Be the Change" award from Mrs. Chanley and Mrs. Tafrow later that week and was honored at a luncheon with Mrs. Chanley, Mr. Higgins, Mr. Sidler, and Mrs. Tafrow. Dylan's actions have jumped started a wave of change throughout MTMS!
The MTMS Team QUEST students held a variety of fundraising activities to raise money for Operation Goody Bag, a New Jersey based charity that recognizes the sacrifices made by our country's first responders and active duty military men and women. Through their efforts QUEST students raised $1,045.00. Quest's fundraising culminated with a "Serve Your Teacher a Pie" contest. By making a donation students were able to vote for the teacher of their choice to be served a pie in the face on December 12, 2016. Because QUEST met their $1,000 goal, not one, but the top FIVE Team QUEST teachers with the most votes, as well as Assistant Principals Mr. Higgins and Mr. Sidler, were each served whipped cream pies in their faces by MTMS Principal, Mrs. Chanley, while the QUEST students watched. Detective Breuer, from the Monroe Township Police Department, who conducts the L.E.A.D. program with the 7
th
Graders also volunteered to "take a pie" if the students met their goal. His pie was delivered on December 22
nd
. In addition to fundraising for Operation Goody Bag, the QUEST students each wrote a thank you note and decorated a Goody Bag, which will be filled by Operation Goody Bag and delivered to active duty military personnel around the world. By working together, Team QUEST able to recognize and remember our country's Troops and First Responders.
MTMS 7th grade visual art students in Mrs. Williams' class learned to draw continuous line self-portraits. They practiced the skill of drawing using only one line, without picking up their pencil. I
n this video, seventh grader Christina McCarthy demonstrates.
Mrs. Williams' Seventh Grade Visual Art students also participated in the Doodle4Google contest. The theme this year was "What I see for the future."
Mr. Cappo's 6th Grade STEM TAG class participated in the "Hour of Code" event. They were asked if anyone thought they could create a game or app that could be sold in iTunes or Google Play stores. No hands went up but by the end of the session, almost everyone thought they could. Some students are even going to create apps to simulate their STEM experiments this year or create graphs/charts based on their data inputs. A great time was had by all, a lot of learning took place and confidence was boosted!
MTMS 6th grade students in Ms. Montgomery's Computer class had the opportunity to participate in the Hour of Code on Thursday, 12/8, and Friday, 12/9. This is a worldwide event that people from all over the world participate! Students enjoyed the opportunity to try various coding activities from Scratch to Python!
During Mrs. Montgomery's 8
th
grade class, the Hour of Code 8
th
grade Multimedia students worked on coding activities with Sphero and Finch Robots. While using the robots, students tried to program their way through a maze or spell out the letters MTMS! They also were able to use Makey Makey's to create their own game controllers for programs they created using Scratch!
Here are some photos from the HOUR OF CODE at MTMS!
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MTHS College & Career Counseling Center (CCCC)
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GOT SCHOOL SPIRIT?
Check out
FALCON ZONE
School Store for all of your FALCON merchandise!
20% OFF
ALL ORDERS THROUGH 12/31/16!
Shop on-line using promo code:
Holiday2016
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MONROE RECREATION CENTER
Check out What's Happening!
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We are excited to present to you the 1st annual
MTHS Athletics Hall of Fame Induction.
We would like to pay tribute to the many individuals from our high school who have been a part of the MTHS athletic programs and part of the Monroe Falcons.
The selection committee will be meeting...
Stay tuned for our first Hall of Fame Class!
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STAY CONNECTED with ATHLETICS
Get the latest information on the
Monroe Township School District Sports Programs
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MTHS ATHLETICS ON "SCHEDULE STAR"
View
"SCHEDULE STAR" to keep current with upcoming athletic events at Monroe Township High School!
Enter Monroe Township HS in the search box for daily, weekly & monthly schedules.
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Student Registration & Documents
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Monroe Township School District | 423 Buckelew Avenue | Monroe Township, NJ 08831
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