Clinton Township Newsletter

1 5 a p r i l 2 0 1 9 Round Valley School National Geographic Geography Bee: Please join us in congratulating RVS Fourth Grade Student, Rylan Jessop, who qualified for and competed at the 2019 National Geographic GeoBee New Jersey State Competition contest on Friday, March 29. We're proud of you, Rylan! This is the second level of the National Geographic GeoBee competition, which is now in its 31st year. School GeoBees were held in schools with fourth- through eighth-grade students throughout the state to determine each school champion. School champions then took an online qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. The National Geographic Society has invited up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories to compete in the State GeoBees. How would you fare as a National Geographic GeoBee contestant? At the school GeoBees this year, students had to answer questions like these. (Answers are at the bottom of this page.) 1) At more than 100 miles in length, Long Island is the longest barrier island in which state—Kentucky or New York? 2) The Magdalena River, the principal river of Colombia, flows through the city of Barranquilla near the Caribbean Sea on which continent? 3) Which animal famous for its tusk spends most of the winter months under the sea ice in Baffin Bay between Canada and Greenland — emperor penguin or narwhal? 4) Which country does not include part of the Kalahari Desert— Namibia, Botswana, or Eritrea? 5) Commercial flower bulb production is an important economic activity in what country just north of Belgium? 6) The Alboran Sea and the Ionian Sea are both part of which larger sea? April is Autism Awareness Month! According to Autism NJ, "Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or autism is a developmental disorder that affects a person's social communication and interaction. Individuals with ASD also have restricted and repetitive behavior,interests and activities. These characteristics fall across a "spectrum" ranging from mild to severe. While one person may have symptoms that impair his or her ability to perform daily activities, another may have only mildly noticeable differences and have few, if any, functional impairments." Here at Round Valley School, Autism can look many different ways! It could mean that you see someone communicating using devices such as iPads or specialized communication books. It could mean learning about cool, new and different things from student experts. It could mean having students in class, in the hallways and at assemblies who learn in different ways. Most importantly, here at RVS, Autism looks like making good, true friends who understand and celebrate our differences as much as our similarities! We hope our Clinton Township community continues to learn about and understand Autism Spectrum Disorder because chances are, you know and love somebody special with ASD! If you're looking for more information about autism, www. AutismNJ.org is an awesome resource! Clinton Township Middle School Our 9th annual CTMS Relay for Life was a huge success! We raised over $30,000 for the American Cancer Society this year alone! Students, parents, staff, and family came together to help in the fight against cancer. Our nine year total is now over $320,000. Thank you to our generous community for your support! The CTMS TREP$ Marketplace will be held on Wednesday, April 10 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm, and everyone is invited! In this program, our young entrepreneurs about business, create their own products and sell their wares at the marketplace. Come to shop and see what they have dreamed up! Recently, our CTMS Student Ambassadors were inspired to create hearts, each one made by hand and representing the delicate heart of a life lost to suicide. Each heart had various inspiring quotes attached to it, along with information about The Peyton Heart Project. Collectively, the students were able to make and distribute approximately 50 hearts. The Peyton Heart Project was inspired by several stories including that of a 13-year-old boy named Peyton James who died by suicide in 2014. Far too often our children express concerns with bullying behaviors, as well as, feelings of depression, anxiety and other mental health issues. Sometimes these issues can increase the likelihood of suicide. The hearts were placed r a n d o m l y a r o u n d CTMS for anyone to find, with the hope that they caused people to stop for a moment and reflect on a young life lost to suicide, a n d o n t h e f a c t t h a t everyone's life matters. The ultimate goal was to leave people with a feeling that there is good out there in the world, and people who care. If you would like to be part of this mission and help spread the message of the Peyton Heart Project, please go to: Answers: 1) New York 2) South America 3) narwhal 4) Eritrea 5) Netherlands 6) Mediterranean Sea www.ThePeytonHeartProject.org.

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