LionsView_01-07-08

Dear Members of the North Community:

During the 2007-2008 school year I am going to keep you updated on the many achievements, events, programs and initiatives taking place in Middletown North. My message will be known as LIONS' VIEW, and the acronym represents (LATEST INFORMATION ON NORTH STUDENTS/STAFF VERY INTERESTING EXCITING WORTHWHILE). The links for these updates will be listed at the bottom of this page. Click on a link date to view that information.

The Action Plan for High School North this year will be to promote a positive ATTITUDE, to require ACCOUNTABILITY and to focus on ACHIEVEMENT. To maintain an educational climate conducive to teaching and learning, we need to have rules, policies and procedures in place. Every classroom and office will display the NORTH PRIDE rules and behaviors that we expect everyone to follow. (insert the rules)

As the Principal of Middletown High School North I am pleased to report some of the many positive happenings that have taken place during the month of February.

(Departmental Highlights at North for February 2008)

SCIENCE DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS—FEBRUARY 2008

**Both Physics teams continued on their winning ways. Physics 1 has won both competitions in the NJ Science league while AP Physics C tied with HS South for first place and finished second to HS South at the previous competition. HS North has two teams in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, as well as a freshman science team.

**Ms. Schueler’s and Mr. Copolla’s Chemcom classes made and flew hot air balloons to demonstrate the application of Charles’s Gas Law. They used hair dryers and Bunsen burners to create the hot air that caused the balloons to fly. What a sight when all of them flew!! The students were very enthusiastic, and the demonstration solidified their understanding of a rather difficult concept.

**Katie Connelly’s CP Biology classes spent the last 4 weeks on an Inquiry-based unit about Evolution. It focused on four main problems or questions:

What is the Nature of Science?

Who was Charles Darwin?

What is the Evidence for Evolution?

What is the Process of Evolution?

Did Humans Evolve?

The activity was based on the PBS website www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution. It included a teacher’s guide, video clips, activities and resources all for free. Many of the activities were web-based and also provided by this site. Students constructed a time line showing the evolution of the whale, read journal entries from Darwin’s diary about his voyage on the Beagle and plotted his course on a world map, and compared amino acid sequences from different organisms to identify similarities and differences. They learned about cladograms (how to interpret them and how to construct them) and simulated natural selection in a population of rabbits. All of these activities were designed to help them answer the questions above.

Mrs. Connelly also used the site www.becominghuman.org for the Human Evolution section. The first part is an interactive documentary with comments by famous paleoanthropologists currently working in the field. It introduces students to the evidence about human evolution. The next part contained “exhibits” about topics such as “The Anatomy of Bipedalism”, “Are We Primates” and “Profiling Fossils”. The students viewed the documentary and then visited various exhibits and wrote essays about what they had learned.

On another note: Mrs. Connelly subscribed to a web hosting service (www.teacherweb.com) so she now has a web site devoted to her CP class. It allows her to post homework and due dates (nothing special) but it has other great features. She has a “links” section where students can go to find a list of helpful sources she has compiled that they can visit. It also has an “extra credit” section where she has posted interesting articles that her students can read and summarize, in addition to a “handout’ section where she uploads all of her files to the chapter in case a student misplaces his/her copy. They can also access and send her email to school from the site as well.

**Ed Zawistowski is working on coordinating a trip to the Bodies Exhibit in NYC.

**The SEARCH Club had a very successful fundraising effort. They invited bands to play at a Coffee House, and the money raised that will be used for club projects and trips. A significant portion will be donated to environmental groups. Outgoing president, Sarah Habeck planned and coordinated the event with the help of the new president, Kate Baklarz. Donations from Whole Foods and the PNC Art Center (through Mr. Baklarz) added to the success of the evening. SEARCH club members, in their STAFF t-shirts, worked the entire night setting up, running the event and cleaning up. They were all recognized and congratulated for their hardworking efforts.

The club is also moving forward with a presentation on the importance of recycling at HS North to be presented to the Board of Ed.

Plans are being made for the construction of a pond in the courtyard this spring.

The club has decorated over a half a dozen bulletin boards throughout the school relating to environmental & biological issues.

**With Martha Niekrash’s help, the Science Department is piloting a computer-based sign out system for the use of their computer cart. It will allow teachers to check on the availability of the cart and to update/modify the schedule from their classroom computer. We hope that this will allow for more efficient use of this valuable resource.

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS ~ FEBRUARY 2008

MICHELLE GOLDFARB: Her 11^th grade classes are reading Night and working on a project using technology to make a presentation about a current human rights violation.

In her 10^th grade classes the students are finishing Julius Caesar and are creating a film using Shakespeare’s language in a 21^st century setting.

PATRICE THORNTON: She is pleased to announce that Billy Van Zandt (playwright, screenwriter, actor/director) will be coming to her Period 9/10 Drama class in April to speak with the students. They will also be filmed for NJN!

GERRY MAHONEY: The cast and crew are in rehearsal meetings for “Gypsy,” scheduled for performances in April.

On Feb 20 the “Night of One Act Plays” took place at the Middletown Arts Center featuring student directed plays, two of which were student written.

The Papermill Playhouse Adopt-a-School Program took place on 2/8 and 2/15.

LINDA RANGER: The TV Production classes took a trip to The Montel Williams Show. They met Geraldo Rivera at the first show and won thousands of dollars in merchandise at the second show. The second show was in recognition for the upcoming Academy Awards Show. The kids had a blast. Aside from winning all the give-a –ways, they were able to talk to the production staff!!

MICHELE TAYLOR: 9th grade: NJ PASS PREPARATION. Grammar packets, writing exercises, picture prompts and rubrics were used.

10th grade: For the Julius Caesar newspaper contest, the students wore togas to present their news stories. Testing preparation included writing practice on picture prompts and persuasive essays. Class readings were assigned for Billy Budd.

SOPHOMORE COUNCIL: Preparation for Cold Stone Creamery Day, our bulletin board was updated, and refreshments were sold at the Mr. North competition.

SOCIAL STUDIES HAPPENINGS—FEBRUARY 2008

Danielle Paul arranged for Abe Chapnick, a Holocaust survivor, to speak to all the US History II classes.

Doug Felegy’s Economic classes are participating in the SMG Stock Market Game for the New Jersey Economic classes.

Barbara Guenther invited Major Sharfenberger and Township Clerk, Heidi Abs, to speak to her US History classes.

Ed Jones, Danielle Paul, Jenn Smith and Barbara Guenther are on a committee to rewrite the US History curriculum and to pick out a new textbook.

Cheryl Laue and Doug Felegy participated in a three day In-service coordinated by the Middlebridge Liberty Fellowship

WORLD LANGUAGE HAPPENINGS—FEBRUARY 2008

Italian - Mrs. Cuscina and Mrs. Lentini took their Italian students on a field trip to the Metropolitan Opera House on February 8^th. On February 7^th, Mrs. Lentini’s Italian I classes presented their handmade masks for Carnevale in the Auditorium.

French - Mrs. Barca, along with Mrs. Finkelstein from High School South, is preparing for French Immersion Day on March 12^th at Drew University. This event is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French. Students spend the day learning and using French while enjoying fun activities with students from other New Jersey schools. These two teachers met on February 9^th to begin their preparations.

Spanish -Mrs. Beatriz Pelaez-Martinez will be presenting at the following conference:

NEALLT Conference (Northeast Association for Language Learning Technology)

It will take place February 29-March 2 and it is hosted by the Rutgers University Language Institute and the Office of Instructional and Research Technology (OIRT)

Ms. Duffy is preparing for her Germany trip that will take place at the end of June. Mrs. Lentini is also preparing for her Italy trip that will take place at the end of June.

BUSINESS, FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCE, VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS AND COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY HAPPENINGS—FEBRUARY 2008

Roberta Vega (Photography II Class) - Eden Buenaventura received a commendation in the first level of a photography competition.

Gerry Corvo - During the month of February the Child Development classes collected candy and made valentine cards for a Marine platoon serving in Iraq. One of our preschooler’s uncles, Cpl. Adam Danville, gave us the names of the people in his platoon. The preschoolers all made valentines, and each brought in a box of candy. The high school students also made valentine cards. The National Honor Society also helped out making cards. Everyone tried to make sure that each Marine received at least two personally addressed valentines. Cpl. Danville is a graduate of High School North.

Carin Trocchia - She began preparation for three students from Monmouth University who would be doing practicum work in the Art Department. They were responsible to work with three students for a total of 70 hours.

Carin also has completed writing Functional Design I and II midterms and finals that now correlate with the updated curriculum.

Maura Domashinski - Congratulations are in order for exemplary student musicians, freshman Emily Grant and sophomore Eric Ficarra!

Both students represented MHSN well on Monday night at the annual All-Shore Band Director Association’s auditions for their honorary Symphonic Band. High School students from all across Monmouth and Ocean County came to compete for only a few seats to perform in this prestigious and competitive ensemble. Emily did very well in her competitive situation and only missed one of the seats by a few points. Eric Ficarra performed exceedingly well! Only a sophomore, he had the second highest percussion and timpani scores in all of Monmouth and Ocean County!

MATH DEPARTMENT HAPPENINGS—FEBRUARY 2008

Jen Vought and Suzanne Ruda, under TITLE 9, are working as Supplemental Educational Services Teachers at Thorne Middle School. Jen is working with grade 6, and Suzanne is working with grade 7. Each has expressed that the experience has given them a real “taste” of the Connected Math Program.

Leslie Scott developed a very successful manipulative activity to help her students discover the “Triangle Inequality Property.”

Rich Decker has had a very successful first semester with the new engineering course offered by our department this year. The students have engaged in many hands on activities designed to expose them to some of the simple principles of engineering.

Dr. Giordano administered the AMERICAN MATH CONTEST on Feb 12^th to 37 10^th, 11^th and 12^th graders who where qualifiers from the MAA contest administered in December.

In addition, Dr. Giordano sponsored The New Jersey Math League Contest, which is a state wide test given to 9^th – 12^th grade students. In the Continental Math League Calculus Division, the Calculus BC students participated in a nation wide contest.

Dr. Giordano is working toward developing a hands-on activity that involves pairing linear equations and their graphs. Although it is only in the beginning stages of development, Dr. Giordano wanted to share her ideas with the rest of the department at the monthly meeting.

Three Pre-Calculus classes participated in the ALG2 End of Course testing pilot program. Richard Piro, Richard Decker, Poroshat Shakoor, John Oxley, George Kostas and Nubeja Allen were trained using the program and then administered the test.

In Mr. Kostas’ Algebra 2 class, students have become so intrigued with the new document camera in his room that they have been volunteering to teach lessons to his class.

The math department received a wonderful letter of appreciation from former student Andrew Tomaino. Andrew is currently studying engineering at Rowan University and has been asked to represent Rowan in the “Math Contest in Modeling” competition.

GUIDANCE DEPARTMENT HAPPENINGS—FEBRUARY 2008

The staff met with the SENIORS to complete Brookdale applications. They also assisted the 10^th and 11^th graders with their 2008-2009 course selections.

The Seniors are finalizing all applications for Scholarship opportunities.

The counselors introduced the Naviance college/career program to 10^th graders.

The ASVAB was administered to 160 !0^th, 11^th & 12^th graders.

As part of a Guidance Department Scholarship Fundraiser, the office staff will be selling quilted lunch bags.

Two interns are completing their professional certification hours under the supervision of our counseling staff.

LION'S VIEW