Please read the important news from the Principal. 
VOORHEES HIGH SCHOOL
Principal's Newsletter
March 2017
Upcoming Events
Important dates to remember:  

  • 3/3  B+ Club Vike-A-Thon 7-9 PM Mall

  • 3/9  Mind of the Athlete for Spring Sports

  • 3/10 Arts Night 7-9PM Auditorium

  • 3/11 Key Club Pancake Breakfast, 8:30-11:30am,  Cafe

  • 3/16 College Night II, 7-9PM, Auditorium

  • 3/17 Choir Coffee House, 7-8PM, Cafe

  • 3/22 NHV Community Health & Wellness          Series – VHS Auditorium – 7:00PM
             Are Our Students Safe? Teaching              Personal Safety

  • 3/24 Coast Guard Academy Performance, 12:00-3:00PM – NCAF/Aud
     
    3/24 B+ Tricky Tray – 7-9PM Cafeteria
  • 3/29 through 4/5  PARCC Testing

  • 3/30 - 3/31 Teen PEP Workshop:    
                        7:30AM-2:30PM – NCAFE

  • 3/31 3rd Marking Period Ends
Spring Musical -
Legally Blonde
The Voorhees Drama Club will be performing Legally Blonde the Musical on April 6, 7 and 8 at 7:00pm and on April 9 at 2:00pm in theater.  For ticket information, please click here.

Vikings in the News:

Mikayla Simanski, Voorhees junior and Peyton Heart Project Ambassador of the Year, organized a team of students, teachers and community members to provide every member of the Voorhees family with a "Peyton Heart" on Valentine's Day. Through a group effort, Mikayla made, collected and distributed over 1,400 hearts. Peyton hearts are in memory of those whose lives were lost too soon to suicide.

“The Peyton Heart Project was co-founded by Jill Kubin and Sue Harris in 2015. Its mission is to help stop suicide and bullying and to help end the stigma surrounding mental health issues.

What is the purpose of this project?

~To bring awareness to the issues of teen suicide and bullying.
~To get people talking about these issues.
~To show people that their lives are worth living and that every life matters.”

Please see http://www.thepeytonheartproject.org/ for more information on the Peyton Heart Project.
Girls Basketball Team Fundraiser
NJ Assemblyman Erik Peterson recognizes Old Turnpike School 8th grader Tyler Cashman for creating the Points for Pain fundraiser for the U.S. Pain Foundation.  Joining them below are Old Turnpike Principal Scott Yerger and Voorhees HS Athletic Director Brian Baumann.
Lady Vikes basketball team’s second Points for Pain fundraiser game held on 1-31-17
Athletics News: 

Girls Basketball
        Qualified for state tournament

Boys Basketball
        Qualified for state tournament

Wrestling           
         Team made it to the Semi-Finals of the Central Jersey Group 2 Team Sectional Championship 
          Ricky Kurtz – Assistant Wrestling Coach of the Year for District 16
          Michael Fernandes won his 100th match on Saturday, February 11th, against Woodbridge; h e is               the 10th wrestler in school history to accomplish this feat.
          District 16 Team Tournament Champions -  First District Title since 1992
              District 16: 10 Place-winners
                 1st Place
                       Aidan Taylor - 106 lbs
                       Colby Koshinski - 113 lbs
                       Michael Fernandes - 160 lbs
                       Sam Huff – HWT
                 2nd Place
                       Hunter Rinehart – 120 lbs
                       Scott Fernandes – 182 lbs
                       Lewis Fernandes – 195 lbs
                3rd Place
                       Liam Cutri-French – 138 lbs
                       Ben Brandner – 170 lbs
                 4th Place
                       Colton Riley – 132 lbs      
               Region 4: 4 Place-winners 
                  2nd Place
                      Michael Fernandes – 182 lbs
                      Lewis Fernandes – 195 lbs
                 4th Place
                      Aidan Taylor - 106 lbs
                      Scott Fernandes – 182 lbs

Girls Fencing
The Girls Foil Squad qualified for the State Squad Championships and placed 7th 
The members of the squad are: Taylor Hubiak,  Magdalena Clevenger, and  Estella Clevenger

Girls Indoor Track
Nicole Cassavell – 2nd in the 2-mile in Group 2
Jennifer Murray – 4th in the High Jump in Group 2

Boys Indoor Track 
Evan Minor – 4th in the mile and 7th in the 2-mile in Group 2
Jack Memoli – 4th in the High Hurdles in Group 2

Cheerleading
Senior Kelly Krupa was recognized for her contributions to the Varsity Cheerleading Squad during Senior Night.   Her accomplishments were recently featured on the front-page of the County section in the Hunterdon County Democrat. 

Art Department:

The following Voorhees High School students exhibited a piece of artwork in the Thirty-First Annual Invitational Art Competition at Mt. Olive High School. A reception was held for the show on Tuesday, February 7, 2017. A number of the students attended the reception with their families.

Megan Coward (11th Grade) - Digital Photograph
Nicole Lukas (12th Grade) - Digital Photography
Matthew Moran (12th Grade) - Digital Photograph
Michael Stazzone (12th Grade) - Digital Photograph
                                  Jade Andersen (12th Grade) - Acrylic Painting                                   
Erin Shaw (11th Grade) - Colored Pencil Drawing
                          Christa Baldino (12th Grade) – Acrylic Painting                    
Rosaleen Travers (11th Grade) - Ceramics
Kayla Corradi   (11th Grade) - Ceramics
Kate Tweedie (11th Grade) - Ceramics (won 3rd Place for Ceramics)

ART STUDENTS OF THE MONTH: 

Senior Christa Baldino and Junior Kate Tweedie have been selected as Art Students of the Month for the month of January. Christa is being recognized for her excellent work in Drawing, and Kate is being recognized for her excellent work in Ceramics. Congratulations to Christa & Kate! (See photos below)


Life Savers Club

A Blood Drive was held on February 23, 2017.  
131 products were donated by 100+ individuals.

Thanks to everyone who donated!

College and Career Center

     Raritan Valley Community College Honors College Information Session

  • Greg DeSanctis, the head of the RVCC Honors College, came to Voorhees on January 30 to host Honors College Information Sessions.

  • Raritan Valley Community College General Information Session: Ivalis Henderson, our RVCC admissions recruiter, came to Voorhees on February 1 and February 2 to host Information Sessions.  Eighteen students attended at Voorhees.


     Raritan Valley Community College Application Day

  • Ivalis Henderson, our RVCC admissions recruiter, came to Voorhees on February 15 and North on February 16 to host Application Days. During the event, Ivalis helped students complete their RVCC applications.  Twenty-nine students attended at Voorhees.

English Department: 

The WHAM Team competed in the Phillipsburg Academic Tournament on Saturday, February 4, finishing 10th out of 50 teams from throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Math Department:
Approximately 100 students of Voorhees High School participated in the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) contest sponsored by MAA, Mathematical Association of America, on Tuesday, February 7, 2017.  Each year, the AMC 10 and the AMC 12 are on the National Association of Secondary School Principals Advisory List of Contests and Activities.  The AMC contests are considered to be of such great value that 21 professional societies and organizations support them with financial contributions. 

For the AMC 10 contest, Ioannis Ypsilantis (9th grader) was the first-place winner of the school.  The team winners, ranking 2nd and 3rd for the AMC 10 Contests, respectively, were Ryan Mauriello (10th grader) and Andrew Tevebaugh (9th grader).  

For the AMC 12 contest, Christopher Romero (11th grader) and Duncan Stewart (10th grader) were the first place winners of the school with a tie score.  Christopher Sernas (11th grader), ranking third, was a team member.  In addition, Duncan Stewart was awarded a Certificate of Achievement.  The Certificate of Achievement is awarded to students in grade 10 or below who score over a 90 in the AMC 12.
Music & VHSTV Departments
The Pops Concert took place on February 23, 2017, under the direction of Aidan Giannelli.
Mr. Brandt, Video Instructor, along with his students in TV/Video III, collaborated with the Music Department to produce one of the musical pieces for this concert.  Mr. 
Giannelli and Mr. Reynolds provided an audio recording of the Viking Band performing "Under the Sea."  Over the course of two weeks, nearly all sixty band members came into the VHSTV studio to be filmed against the green screen. The footage was ultimately compiled to produce a simulated underwater performance of the song.  At the Pops Concert, the video was projected onto the stage against five 6' x 12' white panels as part of the concert performance. Mr. Brandt and Mr. Giannelli are already starting to brainstorm ideas for next year's Pops Concert!
Social Studies:
 
B.R.I.T.E. Academic Competition (Mary Galal and Kathy Manz are the advisors)

Voorhees HS has two teams competing at B.R.I.T.E. (Bridgewater-Raritan Invitational Tournament of Excellence).  B.R.I.T.E. is a New Jersey State qualifying quiz contest preceding a National Academic Championship. Competition takes the form of a modified Jeopardy game. Each round consists of three games. There are five categories of questions within each game. The questions cover a variety of subject areas and increase in difficulty.
 
VHS scores thus far:
ROUND 1 (Tuesday 02/07): Both Voorhees teams won: Voorhees Team 1 scored 1020 against North Brunswick Team 1, who scored 390; Voorhees Team 2 scored 770 against North Brunswick Team 2, whose team scored 530.

ROUND 2 (Tuesday 02/14): Both Voorhees’ teams lost: Voorhees Team 1 scored 470 against Wayne Hills Team 1, who scored 1030; Voorhees Team 2 scored 380 against Wayne Valley Team 2, whose team scored 670.

UPCOMING Round 3 (Tuesday 02/28) will decide if the teams move on to the semi-finals of top 16 teams.

Since 1978, B.R.I.T.E. has sent champions to the national competition in Washington, D.C., Texas, Florida, and Ohio, awarding more than $200,000 in scholarships to finalist schools. Today, the B.R.I.T.E. tournament has grown to become the only one in NJ whose winner is an automatic qualifier for the National Academic Tournament.

Unified/P.A.C.T News:

On February 3rd, a gathering was held for parents and students to kick-off the start of a Unified Sports Program at Voorhees High School, made possibly through a grant from Special Olympic New Jersey.  The Play Unified Basketball team will consist of students with and without disabilities.  The team will play twice against North Hunterdon High School and once against Delaware Valley Regional High School.  The first home game is March 15th at 5:00pm against North.

World Language Department:  
On February 7, 2017, a representative from Smithsonian Student Adventures came to speak to the students about summer immersion travel.  Michelle Kush arranged the visit.  Many Spanish, French, and German classes attended the presentation. 

The German Club at Voorhees (Christine Scarloss is the advisor) completed its two-week Pet Food and Supply Drive to benefit the club’s two animal charities, Tabby’s Place and Pact for Animals.  To publicize the drive, club members made posters and flyers and hung them throughout the school.  Members also met to make cat toys for the cats at Tabby’s Place.   (See photos)

STUDENTS OF THE MONTH
 These are the February PTSO students of the month:

      Grade 9     Aria Odendaal                   
 Grade 10  Colleen McCord           
  Grade 11  Jordan Pfenninger       
Grade 12   Claire Ayotte               
 Grade 12    Kayla Breitkopf           
Voorhees High School, 256 County Road 513, Glen Gardner, NJ 08826.  Tel: (908) 638-2199
www.nhvweb.net/vhs