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NEWS & EVENTS
Week of February 21,
2020
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In Roxbury Township Public Schools, our students and schools are involved with more than just academics. They are active members of the community who give their time and efforts to important causes. Check out all the upcoming events happening throughout Roxbury in the coming weeks.
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ROXBURY SCHOOLS IN THE NEWS
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Roxbury we want to hear from you! We're always looking for great stories of things happening in the Roxbury Schools and around town that involve our students, staff, and families! And now we've made it even easier to submit your content! Stories, high quality pictures, and even videos can be submitted
here or by emailing
goodnews@roxbury.org.
Please remember to include first and last names of individuals pictured!
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Student-Led Event Drives Annual Valentine's Senior Luncheon
 The annual Senior Citizen Valentine's Day Luncheon continued this year at Lincoln/Roosevelt School in Roxbury Township. The Townships two Roxbury Senior Groups, Ever Young and Roxbury Seniors Club, received special invitations this year from Principal Chris Argenziano.
This annual tradition that goes back for as long as most of the staff can remember has turned into a true student-led event with the help of Student Council Advisor Elena Tunstead. This year's student council is comprised of 41 students who won their class elections and included those who chose to be apart of this event
 committee. The Valentine's Day Luncheon committee comprised of 26 students met three times after school and made up the playlist, games, and placemats for the event.
These students not only planned the event and festivities but also waited on the tables, served up drinks, a hot meal, and dessert.
Instead of parent volunteers like in previous years, a new addition brought members of Roxbury High School's Interact Club, a community-minded group of students, overseen by Steve Alford from the Roxbury Rotary Club and Club Advisor Kaitlyn Oster, back to LRS to help the younger students serve up plates of food. The RHS Interact Club is a
 volunteer organization, associated with the Roxbury Rotary, that serves students, school, and the community. Of the eight Interact members, many recalled their days at LRS helping with this event so it was nice to be able to come back and be apart of it once more.
This year the senior groups had the privilege of hearing music from throughout the decades with the playlist created by the students. They were also treated to three songs, The Star-Spangled Banner, LRS School Song, and If
 You're Happy and You Know, by the 24 students auditioning for the 2020 Honors Choir under the supervision of Music Teacher Ellen Ng.
In the end, it was a great day had by all.
A special thanks goes out to all the volunteers, individuals, and businesses who donated their time and money to make sure this event happened including its sponsors, The Roxbury Diner, PJ's Auto Body, Alford Financial Group, Fullerton Grounds Maintenance, Judy & Lionel Frank, Legends Car Wash, Mt. Freedom Printing, Kathy and Bob DeFillippo, the Albrecht Family, Tim Smith & Family, Tina & Charlie Bautz, and High Grade Beverage.
Click here to read more about this event on our website under "In the News".
Roxbury Board of Ed Celebrates VFW Essay Winners
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EMS Patriot's Pen
Essay Winners
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The Roxbury Board of Education recognized eight students from Lincoln/Roosevelt School, Eisenhower Middle School, and Roxbury High School at its regular Board of Education meeting on Monday, February 10th in the Lincoln/Roosevelt School Auditorium. These students were recognized as winners of this year's VFW Patriot's Pen and Voice of Democracy Essay Winners.
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LRS Patriot's Pen
Essay Winners
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John Lehnert, the Post Commander of VFW Post 2833 in Kenvil, Nancy Bottona, and Don Banta were there to congratulate the students and present them with certificates. This year's topic for the VFW Patriot's Pen Essay Contest and the Voice of Democracy Contest was "What Makes America Great".
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RHS Voice of Democracy Essay Winners
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This year's Patriot's Pen winners from Eisenhower Middle School were eighth-graders Annika Szardenings (1st Place), Jared Weiss (2nd Place), and Aditya Mahalingam (3rd Place).
The first, second, and third place winners from Lincoln/Roosevelt School for Patriot's Pen were sixth-graders Virginia Leal, Katrinka Sullivan, and Christos Paxos.
This year's Voice of Democracy winners were Sophomores Sarah Rice (1st Place) and Kate Rice (2nd Place). Click here to read more about this recognition and program on our website under "In the News".
National Random Acts of Kindness Week Poster Parade at Kennedy School
 Last week Kennedy School's PTA had 25 volunteers of parents and siblings hold a Kindness Poster Parade as part of the National Random Acts of Kindness Week. This annual celebration by individuals, groups and organizations, nationwide are encouraged to commit acts of kindness both big and small.
These volunteers lined up at the entrances of Kennedy Elementary School in Roxbury Township with posters full of kind, uplifting phrases for the students and staff to walk past on their way into school.
"It was a beautiful way to brighten a dreary February morning!" said Gina Recchia, Kennedy's PTA President. "There were lots of smiles on Kennedy kids' and their parents' faces!"
The Kindness Posters now line the main hallway of Kennedy School to continue to bring smiles as the students pass.
"I think that the kids were surprised to see everyone and also enjoyed the personal touch of the volunteers showing up on a rainy morning with an encouraging word and a high-five!" Click here to read this coverage on our website under "In the News".
RHS Student Named Finalist in Drexel's Photography Contest
 Roxbury High School SeniorAutumn-Brook Tucker, an Advanced Photography student had her photograph selected as a finalist for Drexel University's High School Photography Contest.
The 19th annual contest was a record-setting one with more than 3,000 images submitted nationwide. Autumn was one of the 170 top photographs selected from around the country. Her work along with the other finalists is on display in Drexel University's photo gallery located in Philadelphia, PA from February 8th through March 1st.
Click here to read about this recognition on our website under "In the News".
Roxbury Art Students Place in Mt. Olive National Art Honor Society Invitational
 Five
art students from Roxbury High School had great results at the 34th Annual Mt. Olive High School National Art Honor Society Invitational.
Four high school seniors, Dana Gesregan, Emily Christel, Juan Espinosa, and Anna Kisatsky along with Junior Sheryl Peng had artwork submitted in the invitational and placed in the Morris County Chapter of Youth Art Month (YAM).
Placing second in her respective category was Gesregan for her Photography and place third in their respective categories were Christel for her Digital Art and Espinosa for his Drawing. Kisatsky received an Honorable Mention for her Painting.
Peng walked away with a pre-college Scholarship to the Delaware College of Art and Design for this summer.
Congratulations to them and the other students who were selected for the competition and special congratulations to all the winners.
An additional congratulations to Alexa Wanamaker, Helena Geraci, Alexa Hernandez, and Angelina Stigliano who were named YAM State Winners!
The YAM artworks exhibit will run from February 28th through March 6th at the Annex Tunnel of the Capitol Building at 125 West State Street in Trenton. Click here to read more about this art invitational on our website under "In the News".
Jefferson Preschool Sees the Benefits of Mindfulness
 The Jefferson Elementary School Preschool program has been fortunate to take part in the district's Mindfulness Program provided by Amy Rubin, Founder of SELFF (Social/Emotional Learning for Friends and Families).
Amy's goal is to make mindfulness attainable, relatable, and sustainable. "Knowing that the benefits of mindfulness are for anyone who practices and that it has so many positive effects for students of all ages and differences. The district has been overwhelmingly supportive of my programs and mindful approach allowing me to share my passion with its diverse student/teacher population. I've yet to meet a student I can't reach or adapt my lessons for," said Rubin.
Although the lessons may vary in delivery, the content and learning objectives are always the same: empowering teachers and learners with a practice that infuses calm and increases awareness and compassion.
All of the teachers in the program see the benefits of the demonstration lesson for students. Patti Klein, preschool teacher at Jefferson School noticed that her students were calmer and more engaged after practicing mindfulness exercises.
"The students just think they are having fun. It's wonderful to have more tools to assist all students in creating an environment to grown and learn," shared Klein. Click here to read more about this initiative on our website under "In the News".
RHS Announces Second Marking Period Honor Rolls
 Roxbury High School announces the students who have earned High Honor Roll and Honor Roll for the second marking period of the 2019/2020 school year.
Students must have earned all grades 90 or above on their second marking period report cards to qualify for high honor roll and students must have earned all grades 80 or above on their third marking period report cards to earn the status of honor roll.
Click here to view the student list on our website under "In the News".
Help the Roxbury Band Make the March of a Lifetime
 The Roxbury High School Band has been nominated by United States Congressman Tom Malinowski to be an official representative of the State of New Jersey in the 2020 National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, DC on May 25, 2020! This event is the official Memorial Day parade of the United States and is nationally televised across the US and streamed to our Armed Forces worldwide. Congressman Malinowski recommended Roxbury ba
sed on our long-standing tradition of musical excellence.
This is an amazing opportunity to showcase our students and our community at a national level!
This trip will commence on Sunday, May 24th and will include a two-day, one-night stay in our nation's capital, with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, an evening monument tour on the National Mall, a Smithsonian Museum visit and a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra on the US Capitol lawn. Then, on Monday, May 25th, Memorial Day, we will march in the National Memorial Day Parade down historic Constitution Avenue while representing our home community of Roxbury and New Jersey with the utmost of pride and dignity.
To make this trip affordable for all our students and families, we need to raise $10,000.
YOU can help the Roxbury Band Students make this March of a Lifetime! Click here to help support them!
Rox-THON gets their Flock on
 Flocking is back at Roxbury! It will begin this fall and continue until the ground freezes, before resuming next spring; all weather dependent. While the fundraiser remains the same, the organization bears a new name. Putting more of an emphasis on our local community, Roxbury High School's mini-THON will now be known as Rox-THON. It is the same group of students working towards the same cause, however, a majority of our proceeds will now stay here in Morris County.
Starting this year, donations will go to Goryeb Children's Hospital (Morristown, NJ) and 30% of those proceeds will support pediatric cancer research and medical bills through Four Diamonds (Penn State Children's Hospital). Roxbury High School will also host its 7th Annual event to fight childhood cancer on Friday, March 13, 2020.
"Flocking is super simple! Flocking is when you harmlessly prank your friends by signing up for us to put a flock of plastic flamingo
s on their lawn," explained Captain Holly Van Ness, a senior at the school.
If you would like to flock-a-friend, you can choose how many flamingos you want to migrate to your friend's yard for up to 48 hours. A small flock of only 10 flamingos is only $15, a medium flock of 30 for $25, or you can choose a large flock of 50 flamingos for $35. If you have a special occasion, you may also choose to request a specific date for an additional $15. Click here to read more on our website under "In the News".
The Gael Special - Special Education Newsletter
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RHS students visit Lifetown in Livingston
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Some amazing things are happening in
our Special Services Department.
Click here
for the first volume of The Gael Special, a newsletter to inform parents of what is happening in Special Services and current trends we are seeing throughout our community. Topics included in this issue are Community-Based Instruction, Multi-Sensory Reading, and Anxiety in Children.
Roxbury High School's Structural Fabrication and Design Journey
 Follow the new beginnings of the Structural Fabrication and Design program at Roxbury High School with weekly updates on the growth of the program and the work that the students are doing as they explore the human-designed world through the learning of SDF.
Click here to find out more information about the program and to follow along on this year one journey.
RHS Spring Musical: Fiddler on the Roof at RHS - Feb 27-29
EMS Musical Frozen Jr. - Apr 2-4 / Aspen Ice - Feb 22 / Princess Party - Mar 22
 Ticket Reservation forms are now being accepted for Eisenhower Middle School's spring musical Frozen Jr. by Disney.
Frozen Jr.
is
based on the 2018 Broadway musical, and brings Elsa, Anna, and the magical land of Arendelle to life, onstage. The show features all of the memorable songs from the animated film, with music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, plus five new songs written for the Broadway production.
With a cast of beloved characters and loaded with magic, adventure, and plenty of humor,
Frozen Jr.
is sure to thaw even the coldest heart!
This Broadway Junior musical
will run at EMS Thursday and Friday, April 2nd and 3rd at 7:00 p.m. and on Saturday, April 4th at 2 p.m. at the middle school located at 47 Eyland Avenue in Succasunna, NJ. Tickets are $10 each and the ticket reservation form can be found online at
www.roxbury.org
. Tickets will also be sold at the door for any of the performances provided that they are not sold out.
As part of their program for this year's show, they'd like to invite you to advertise your business and/or send a personal message to the cast and crew by filling out the Program Advertisement form by February 21st also found online at
www.roxbury.org
.
 Help support the EMS Drama Club at their upcoming Aspen Ice Fundraiser on Saturday, February 22nd from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome! Money raised will help support the upcoming production of Frozen Jr. Every attending skater will receive a FREE Cliff's skyscraper coupon! Admission is $12 with $5 skate rental and $5 walker rental. This is a cash only event. For more information, contact Sheri Rasizer at sheri9306@gmail.com or call 973-222-1242.
 Help support the EMS Drama Club with their upcoming Princess Party! This event will be held March 22nd from 2-3:30 p.m. at EMS. Come dressed as your favorite prince or princess! Join the cast and crew for some royal fun, crafts, snacks, music and more! To register, contact Donna Silfies at Princess2020@hotmail.com. Register early as seats are limited! Walk-ins will be accepted if space allows.
Click here to read about this musical on our website under "In the News".
 The Roxbury High School Band Parents Association is once again selling its annual discounted Hersey Park and Dorney Park Wildwater Kingdom tickets. Tickets are available for purchase between now and March 27.
Click here to view the Hersey Park ticket form.
Dates Set for Roxbury's Kindergarten Registration for Next Year
 Roxbury Township Public Schools, a K-12 school district preparing the children of today for tomorrow, has set its Kindergarten registration dates for the 2020/2021 school year. Children must be five years old on or before October 1, 2019 to participate.
Click here
for more information regarding Roxbury's Entrance Age Policy (P5112). If there are any questions regarding the policy or procedure, please reach out to Assistant Superintendent Dr. Chuck Seipp at
cseipp@roxbury.org
or by calling 973-584-6799.
Roxbury Township Public Schools offers a full-day kindergarten program designed to develop knowledge and skills in the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive areas. Our goal is to help children develop skills and strategies that will help them learn and establish a foundation for lifelong success in education. The program allows more time for students to address curriculum in depth and allows teachers to provide additional activities in learning.
To register for Kindergarten, parents must bring their child's original birth certificate, record of immunizations, and three proofs of residency at the time of registration. To access more details, visit
www.roxbury.org/KindergartenRegistration.
Parents must make an appointment at their home school to register their child. If the home school is unknown, please contact the Transportation department at 973-584-6756 and based on your address, they can let you know what school your child should be attending.
Click here
to view the different school's registration schedules.
Scholarships are offered in Morris - Deadline Mar 31
 The Morris County Retirees Education Association Philanthropic Fund, Inc. (MCREAP) is offering seven scholarships to Morris County residents who are attending and will be graduated from a public high school.
This scholarship is for students who plan to pursue a career in education and who will be attending an approved four-year accredited college or university offering a bachelor's degree with an education major.
The scholarships are for $2,000. The recipients will be sent $2,000. after the chairperson receives a copy of the first semester transcript which indicates enrollment in the field of education and a successful academic record.
The deadline for the receipt of applications is March 31. Scholarship applications are available at your high school guidance office or at
https://www.morriscountyrea.org
. Click here to read about this scholarship from the Roxbury Register.
Scholarship Opportunity from The 200 Club of Morris Cty - Deadline May 11
The 200 Club of Morris County is offering scholarship opportunities for students that have a parent(s) in law enforcement/public safety. The scholarships are also offered to students that wish to pursue a career in public safety. Click here to find out more about this opportunity.
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Roxbury Basketball Updates:
Pope John over Roxbury - Girls basketball recap - Feb. 13
Pope John got 15 points from Faith Pappas and 11 from Alana Robinson to help beat Roxbury 50-22 in Roxbury.
The win was Pope John's sixth in a row to improve to 14-8 while Roxbury fell to 2-15. Click here to read this coverage from NJ.com.
Roxbury boys basketball off to Morris County Tournament semifinal
About an hour after Roxbury upset Jefferson 52-37, in a Morris County Tournament quarterfinal, senior forward Brian Nichols was looking forward to the next game while simultaneously looking back at his life in basketball.
The sixth-seeded Gaels are heading to a MCT semifinal against Delbarton. It is their first trip to County College of Morris since 2011, when they lost to Mendham in the final.
"Seeing that made me really want to experience it for myself and my teammates," said Nichols, who had just started playing rec basketball back then. "
It's a big deal for Roxbury. We haven't been a basketball town. It's usually dominated by wrestling in the winter. No dig at them, but it's nice that to still be going." Click here to read more from the Daily Record. Click here to see this game's picture gallery from the Daily Record. Click here for additional game coverage from NJ.com.
Randolph over Roxbury - Girls basketball recap - Feb 17
Angeleen Mulero led a balanced Randolph stat sheet with 12 points, six assists and six steals in its 60-18 victory against Roxbury in Randolph.
Randolph (19-2) stifled Roxbury (2-16) to single-digit scoring in all four quarters. Madison Jenisch contributed to the win with nine points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Kendall Fehsal paced Roxbury with six points. Click here to read this coverage from NJ.com.
Boys basketball: Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference rankings for Feb. 19
Click here to see the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference rankings based on games played through February 17th from NJ.com.
Roxbury Ice Hockey Updates:
Roxbury Hockey Wraps-Up Regular Season with Victory as Playoffs Loom - Feb 16
With a win Sunday night, the Roxbury High School ice hockey team ended its regular season, beating Southern Regional 4-0, and emerged as the points leader of its division.
The victory gave the team a 12-8-2 record for the season as it heads into the state tournament semifinals on Wednesday against Vernon. Thanks to an unexpected 2-1 victory by Kinnelon over Montville on Feb. 8, Roxbury emerged as first in the Halvorsen Division and secured the top seed in the playoffs. Click here to read more from TAPinto Roxbury.
Ice Hockey: Projected seeds, pairings for NJSIAA state tournaments
Click here to read the projected seeds and pairings for the NJSIAA state tournaments from NJ.com.
Roxbury Hockey Earns Trip to Halvorsen Cup Finals - Feb 19
The Roxbury High School ice hockey team beat Vernon 7-1 on Wednesday night in a Halvorsen Cup semi-final contest at Mennen Arena, a win that sets up the team for a shot at the coveted trophy on Saturday.
Tough, aggressive play - led by two hat tricks and outstanding goaltending - were the key to victory for the Gaels. Nick Thomas scored the first of his three goals halfway through the first period with an assist from Nick Hefferle for a 1-0 lead.
Joe Carey scored the first of his three goals early in the second period on a power play, with assists from Kevin Keane and Hefferle. Nick Thomas scored an unassisted goal four minutes later to give Roxbury a 3-0 lead.
Roxbury continued to apply the pressure and with less than 30 seconds to play in the period Ethan Barooah found the back of the net with an assist from Keane for a comfortable 4-0 lead.
Carey added his second goal halfway through the third period with another assist from Keane. A minute later, Thomas recorded his third with assists from Kyle Jenkins and Barooah.
Carey closed out the scoring with his third goal with an assist to Keane.
Ryan Callahan was tremendous in goal-stopping, some being point-blank shots early in the game, to allow Roxbury to build its lead. He finished with 14 saves with the lone goal coming on a deflection off his own player.
Roxbury, 13-8-2, will play for the Halvorsen Cup on Saturday, at 7:15 p.m., at Mennen Arena. The Gaels will take on either Montville or Mendham. Click here to read this coverage from TAPinto Roxbury. Click here to read additional game coverage from NJ.com.
Roxbury Cross Country/Track & Field Updates:
 N1 G3 Sectional Placewinners. All moving in to Group 3 Championship.
* Boys team finishes 2nd overall*
(1) Schafer Sembrat - 1st 400m
(2) Alexis Merola - 2nd PV
(3) Thomas Schulz - 2nd 1600m & 3200m
(4) Willow Bradley - 3rd SP & 4th 55m (5) Nate Hajel - 3rd 3200m & 4th 1600m
(6) Danielle Meribe - 4th SP
(7) Hweeho Lim - 4th 55HH
(Not Pictured)
Tiffany Zieba - 3rd PV
Kenji Onari - 6th PV
For the latest T&F/XC updates follow them on Instagram at roxbury_xctf.
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Gaels Going Green - Did you know...
 Since 2016, the Roxbury Township Public Schools has been striving to become more sustainable and green in its policies and practices. The Board of Education and administration made the decision to pursue district sustainability and green initiatives by creating and approving a half of dozen different policies outlining its position and efforts.
To that end, all seven schools in Roxbury Township attained Silver certification through Sustainable Jersey for Schools in August 2018. In this section, you will find various green initiatives, events, and tips to live a healthier, greener life.
Click here for more information regarding our sustainability initiative.
Join the Roxbury Trails Committee on the next 2020 Free Guided Hike
 Get out and get a little fresh air with two free upcoming guided hikes around town.
Black River Park - Sun, Mar 8 @ 12 PM
The level trail follows the start of the Black River, and joins hilly trails in Randolph and Mine Hill. Two hike options! Parking at 1 Main Street in Succasunna.
Click here
to view this event flyer with more information in our Virtual Backpack.
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RHS Athletic Events Calendar
Click here
for the most up-to-date calendar of Roxbury High School sporting events.
RHS Performing Arts Calendar
Click here for the major events in performing arts here in Roxbury!
Specific school related events can be found on their respective website calendars by visiting
www.roxbury.org
and selecting the school from the drop down at the top left of the screen.
RHS Project Graduation
 Roxbury Project Graduation is NOT just for senior parents! We need all high school parents to get involved. This group and event benefit all Roxbury students. Don't wait, we need your help now.
Each year on the night of graduation, we host Project Graduation, an all-night, alcohol/drug free event for Roxbury's graduating High School Seniors.
To make this happen each year we need your HELP!
Our meetings are the second Tuesday of each month at 7pm in the RHS guidance conference room. The next meeting is Tuesday, October 8th. Check us out on our Facebook page, Roxbury Project Graduation or the link for our website on the RHS website.
If you have any questions or are interested in volunteering,
please contact
Alana Hayford or
Audra Sarafin. Click here to read more details about this year's Project Graduation from our Virtual Backpack under the Flyer section.
Roxbury Collects
Box Tops for Education
Roxbury Township Public Schools are continuously collecting "Box Tops for Education" at our K-8 schools.
This is an easy, practically effortless way to raise funds for our schools by purchasing items you buy all the time.
Clipped box tops can be sent to any of our K-8 schools district-wide. School addresses can be found on our website at
www.roxbury.org
.
Check out the Virtual Backpack!
 Here we will feature events of organizations, clubs, and teams throughout our communities that serve to enrich the lives of our students.
Announcements, upcoming events, documents and forms that were previously sent home via backpacks will now be included in the Virtual Backpack. (On occasion, some paper forms, and flyers and other important information, will come home with your student or be sent to you directly via email.)
This page is updated as flyers are received.
Check the backpack!
Check Your Honeywell Settings!
 Don't wait until severe weather hits to check your settings! You may want to change your time settings from Midnight to Midnight and have more than one way of being contacted...i.e., phone call/text message and/or email! This way if the phone lines are down/circuits are busy, etc., you are covered! Log into your Honeywell account
here.
Click here for parent instructions on creating an account.
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Roxbury Alumni In the News
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