Clinton Township Newsletter

1 3 J u l y 2 0 1 4 S I N O U R S C H O O L S : Can our SRS students be "Star Readers" this summer? Summer is a time to enjoy family fun in the sun, as well as enjoying great books together! Although the next school year may seem far away at this point, it is important to help children maintain an academic focus and stay ready for the upcoming school year. A great way to do this is to spend time reading every day over the summer months. A trip to the library is a fun fam- ily event, and an opportunity to check out exciting stories to read together as a family, as well as independent reading opportunities for children. Please be sure to visit our SRS and PMG librarian, Mrs. Ehlert, this summer at the Hunterdon County Library, stop by the local bookstore or simply choose great books from your own bookshelf, and please continue to read for at least 15 minutes every day! Visit our website at: www.ctsd.k12. nj.us/spruce-run-school-2014-summer-reading/ to download the summer read- ing packet or to find out more information about our Summer Reading Program at Spruce Run School. We know our SRS students are fantastic readers, and we look forward to hearing about all of their summer reading adventures in the fall! S p r u C e r u n S C h o o l p a t r i C k m C g a h e r a n S C h o o l Transitioning to PMG: Each year we provide opportunities for students who are moving from Spruce Run to Patrick McGaheran School to become familiar with the building prior to the start of the new school year. This helps to relieve potential anxieties and starts to build the warm community we are so proud of. The first opportunity is Move-Up Day, in which students board school buses and are transported from SRS to PMG. Students spend the morning on small group tours of PMG classrooms, special area rooms, outdoor learning areas and other important places. Plenty of time is provided for questions and answers. The next opportunity is for parents, as they are invited to a Move-Up Night, where a brief presentation is followed by a teacher-led building tour. Finally, an Open House is offered to families one afternoon, the week before school begins. This is a quick meet and greet with teachers and a chance for students to see their new classrooms and find their desks. Child's Play: Each spring we welcome Child's Play Touring Theater Company to PMG. This lively touring theater group from Chicago performs original skits based on stories submitted by students across the country. In addition to these regularly performed skits, each year two or three writing submissions by PMG second and third graders are selected and transformed into skits which have their "World Premieres" in front of our students and staff. Families of the students whose stories are performed are also invited to attend. Many other students receive honorable mention certificates for their efforts. Students may submit their writing to this organization at any time through their website. Diane Chelminiak, PMG's enrichment teacher, coordinates this activity. The CT PTA funds this assembly. Footprints Worth Following: A group of our creative and caring students produced a fabulous video showing how a simple act of kindness can grow and touch those around them in a positive and satisfying way. Students created a 'Kindness Boomerang' video that was shared at our All School Meeting. The crowd was mesmerized by the performance and the cheer at the end was inspiring! Good job Round Valley students! Wax Museum: Our fourth graders took us back in time with their Wax Museum! Stu- dents chose a person to research and wrote about the significance that person has had on others. Students then became that character in a presentation to peers and parents. How wonderful to walk into the 'museum' and have a conversation with Rosa Parks and Franklin Delano Roosevelt! Stock Market Fun: This year, Mrs. Comly and Mr. Greco's Opportunity Time groups participated in the 'Stock Market Game.' Student teams competed against other middle school teams throughout the state. Each team was given a fictional $100,000 to invest for two and a half months. Of 570 teams, Mrs. Comly's highest ranking team of Caitlin K., Emma A., and Celina K. placed 64th overall. Mr. Greco's highest ranking team, the Pink Puffy Potatoes, placed 146th. This team was comprised of Reagan D., Marissa H., Nina K., and Eliza F. "The students really learned a lot about how investing works and how volatile the stock market can be from day to day." said Mr. Greco. POPS: Prototypes or Possibilities: 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students recently participated in the POPS program. Prototypes are small working models of an invention idea. Possibili- ties are just that–a model and description of how it would work. The POP invention contest is designed for students who like to think of ways to improve our lives with a new tool or gadget. It can be an improvement of an existing tool, or the invention of something brand new! What a creative and inventive experience. Some of our winners: The Light Bulb Fixanator, The Tec Desk, The Wake Up Pillow, The Meat Keeper, Bluetooth Earrings, The Ear Buddy, The Cell Saver, and the Temp Band. r o u n d v a l l e Y S C h o o l C l i n t o n t o w n S h i p m i d d l e S C h o o l • Congratulations to Hakan Saplakoglu and Andrew Hollabaugh for their great showing at the Inter-County Junior Solar Sprint Competition! Andrew and Hakan qualified for this competition by placing 2nd and 1st, respectively, in the Hunterdon County Competition two weeks ago, out of about 60 teams. In this week's competition they competed against all of the finalists from Warren, Sus- sex, Morris, Essex, Passaic and Union Counties. In the speed competition, Hakan's car placed 8th, and Andrew's car placed 3rd among 58 finalists. In the judged competition, Andrew also earned a 3rd place award for engineer- ing. Andrew then went on to the Philadelphia regional competition, where he won First place for Technical Merit and Best Overall Junior Solar Sprint car. Great job, boys!" • The 2014 Hunterdon Film Festival was held on Friday, May 23 at CTMS. Middle school students from the county were invited to enter this documentary film competition, Congratulations to all of our moviemakers who entered this film competition! CTMS students took home 4 of the 5 trophies up for grabs! Winners were • Jack Gilligan–Honorable Mention • Alex McMullen, Lauren Connors, Jules Grampone and Valerie Sieber–3rd Place • Prajeet Sarker and Hakan Saplokuglu–2nd Place • Catherine Stenberg, Gabriella Pinto, Angela Kearsely and Kate Approvato came in 1st Place! Way to go, filmmakers! CTMS Distinguished Students: Gisele Thompson, Prajeet Sarker PTA Top Students: Meghan Klisch, John Anderson Scott VanDoren Awards: Haley Marra, Erik Dehkes Gebhardt & Kiefer Award: Dylan Hartman Knights of Columbus Awards: Lauren Connors, Paul Woolhouse William Colantano, Jr. Award: Indra Glasergreen Walter Schaufele Award: Molly Stockwell CTEA Character Counts Awards: Sky Gonzalez Kelly Mahaney Steven Ruggiero Michael Donahue National Geography Challenge 1st: Kyle Piekarski Kyle also received a special award for placing 1st place in the nation! 2nd: Brandon McCloskey 3rd: Siddharth Datar Prajeet Sarker • Congratulations to the 7th grade Word Masters team, who won the 2nd place in the nation! President's Education Awards Program Educational Excellence: John Anderson Namarata Battula Casey Bertola Sarah Bradshaw Jordan Fernandes Thomas Flynn Fernanda Flynn Cameron Holt Justin Johnson Sarah Kennedy Meghan Klisch Thomas Kochanowski Kelly Mahaney Haley Marra Erik Pan Steven Ruggiero Sophia Scala Molly Stockwell Margaret Swan Gisele Thompson President's Education Awards Program Educational Achievement: Samantha Downey Zada Edwards Andrew Gapas Indra Glasergreen Madalyn Higdon Samuel Hisaw Maria Kish Scott Lloyd Charles Lockner Daniel Mannix Kathryn Miller Christina Nelson Jared Parker Andrea Pauliuc Antonio Rojas Mia Russo Sydney Shack Juliette Shore Katherine Szalecki Noah Willsey On June 9, the faculty of the Clinton Township Middle School was proud to recognize the outstanding academic achievement, excellence in the fine arts and exemplary citizenship of our students. The follow- ing students received awards from local organizations and individuals.

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