On Wednesday, June 10, 2009 a group of Woodbury High School’s R.E.B.E.L. anti-tobacco club (Reaching Everyone By Exposing Lies) visited Ms. Lyons and Ms. Frazier’s second-grade classes.

R.E.B.E.L. students explained who they were and the purpose of their club before reading An Uninvited Guest, a story about the dangers of secondhand smoke, to students. Each student received a copy of the book to take home and discuss with his/her family. Evergreen students are helping R.E.B.E.L. spread their “Clear the Air” message by toting their themed backpacks and pencils! The students also enjoyed a visit by the R.E.B.E.L. mascot, “Ciggy Butts” who distributed Frisbees and “Smarties Don’t Use Tobacco” packs to students.

For more information about New Jersey R.E.B.E.L. go to http://www.njrebel.com.

Sergeant Ed Alicea from Glassboro visited Woodbury Junior - Senior High School on April 22 to share his life story including multiple moves from New York to Puerto Rico, attending twelve different schools before graduating, and being a former gang member.

Sergeant Alicea has served the Glassboro Police Department for over twenty years. During his tenure he has been a DARE officer for over twenty (20) years; a School Resource Officer, and an undercover narcotics officer. He is a certified instructor in several areas: Firearms, Honor Guard, Suicide Bomber Identification, Prevention, Terrorism, Cults, and the Occult, and Gangs. Sergeant Alicea currently teaches at Police Academies throughout the State of New Jersey.

In addition to his law enforcement career with the Glassboro Police, Sergeant Alicea served twelve years – traveling the world -- with the United States Marine Corps. His duties include Machine Gunner, Platoon Sergeant, Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare Instructor, and Presidential Honor Guard for President Regan's visit to Glassboro in 1986. Sergeant Alicea holds a BA and is currently working on a Masters in Home Land Security.

Sergeant Alicea spent over an hour sharing his story with Ms. Capodanno’s ESL students and other students outside of the program; the message was simple: You can always turn your life around and be a positive influence for others.

Check out the "Curriculum" page on our website (under the District Information tab at the top of the home screen). There you will find some articles specifically for parents.

During May and June, the Curriculum Office will be posting a variety of articles to help infuse educational opportunities into the upcoming summer weeks. The most recent posting is one from our Elementary Academic Coach for Mathematics, Kathy Estep.

Below is what you will see on the curriculum page. You can get to the actual page directly by clicking here: Go To Curriculum Page

Catching Up With Curriculum

Helpful suggestions from the Curriculum Office of Woodbury Public Schools
Parents: Partners in Writing - April 14, 2009
Summer Solving (part 1) By: Katherine Estep, Mathematics Coach K-5 - May 7, 2009

You have probably heard by now that CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamp) light bulbs are better for the environment than incandescent light bulbs, but --

• Did you know that one CFL light bulb uses 75% less energy, lasts up to 10 times longer, and can save 500 pounds of coal from being burned?
• Did you know that the United States alone goes through 2.5 million water bottles per hour and that 77% of these bottles end up in landfills?
• Did you know that Nike has a program that reuses old sneakers and converts them into new sports surfaces (running tracks, basketball and tennis courts, playground surfaces, etc.)?

These are some of the amazing facts that district-wide fifth grade students learned from a program called “Kids Going Green,” coordinated by Mrs. Stephanie Foran, Enrichment Teacher. The students attended the assembly last Wednesday.

“Kids Going Green” was 100% funded by the City of Woodbury through the Clean Communities Grant. Presented with expert knowledge and impressive energy by Michele Van Allen, of Jack Branagan’s Earth Matters, this program focused on educating students on concepts like fossil fuels and greenhouse gases while offering practical ways to reduce our carbon footprint and work towards creating a better environment.

“We were fortunate to have some city officials present with us in the audience, including Mr. Thomas Dukelow, Clean Communities Co-Coordinator and Director of Parks & Recreation, Councilwoman Gwendolyn Brown, and Councilman Harry Trout.

“Although Mr. Robert Law, Woodbury’s Chief Financial Officer/Deputy Administrator and Co-Chair of the Clean Communities Program, could not be present, he has been instrumental in serving as an extremely gracious and helpful point of contact over the past two years. We are very grateful to the City of Woodbury for their generosity and support, and we will keep the message of the program with us as we all work together to help save the earth.

Congratulations to the Woodbury High School top five academic scholars. Each was invited to be the guest of the various Gloucester County educational associations as students across the county were celebrated at an “Academic All-Star” banquet held last evening at Auletto’s Catering.

The Woodbury students honored included:

• Scott Bassler: Engineering (Stockton College)
• Stefana Burlacu: Business Administration/Finance (Temple University)
• Megan Kier: Liberal Arts/Mathematics (University of Vermont)
• Oluwatofunmi Oni: Biology/Pre-med (Rutgers University)
• Christian Schoning: International Relations (Middlebury University)

A paper that Ms. Gina Freidman completed in conjunction with her graduate school work on school leadership and the arts has been accepted to be part of the 2009 International Conference of Arts in Society.

Ms. Friedman will fly to Venice to be one of the speakers at the conference this July. The 2009 Conference will be held in Venice, Italy, 29-31 July 2009, in conjunction with the Venice Biennale.

According to the website for the conference, "the 2009 Arts Conference will address a range of critically important issues and themes relating to the arts in society. Plenary speakers will include leading thinkers and practitioners in the arts, as well as paper, workshop and colloquium presentations by researchers and practitioners in all fields of artistic engagement."

The following is how Ms. Freidman’s paper/session is listed on the website:
Art Education and the Role of School Leadership in a Diverse Society
By: Gina F. Friedman

Educators today face a myriad of challenges and changes as they strive to address the needs of increasingly diverse, ethno-racial communities (Hollinger, 2000). Within these challenges arises an opportunity for the development of a new paradigm for school leadership: one that has much to learn from the arts.

This paper asks many questions, and posits some possible solutions. How can the arts in public schools have a wider influence, helping to close the Achievement Gap? How do we, as artists, educators, and school leaders help to bridge the socio-economic divide in the K-12 American public school system (Payne, 2001) in order to pave the way for the type of change that can address our needs from a global perspective? What role can educational leaders play in raising the status of the arts in their local communities? (Fullan, 2001)

Some underlying issues will be identified, and the parallels between artists and leaders will be explored. (Gardner, 1999) Implications for school superintendents, principals and policy makers will be addressed, specifying what they can do to reduce the inequity of arts access between wealthy and poor school districts.

The fun part about a school with as much history as Woodbury is that sometimes the past will intermingle with the present in ways that make things interesting.

The boys basketball team will play tomorrow night in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group I Sectional Finals. The game is schedule for 7 p.m. at Kingsway Regional High School and the team plays Salem.

If you look at the banners in the Cap Paine Gymnasium, you will see that the only time Woodbury has won a South Jersey Group I championship in boys basketball was 1934 -- seventy-five years ago. Back then, there was no Cap Paine gymnasium; they were playing games in the "old" (blue) cafeteria. The wall between the cafeteria and the auditorium folded open and revealed bleachers for spectators to watch the action.

And -- this is where history overlaps with the present. I met a gentleman at the Woodbury vs. Salem game on February 14th of this year; he was attending with a friend. They travel all over South Jersey watching sporting events of all kinds. During the basketball season, these two watch a lot of high school basketball. As it turns out, this man was a Woodbury High School graduate -- Class of 1933! Mr. Claude Kennard remembers the 1934 team, and he will be there tomorrow night at Kingsway to cheer on the 2009 team.

Now -- that's exciting.

We are excited to announce that the following teachers have been selected as the New Jersey Governor’s Teacher of the Year Award recipients for the Woodbury Public Schools for the 2008-09 school year:

Each demonstrates hard work, dedication, and a professional spirit worthy of our recognition. The selection committee was pleased to be able to choose each as a representative of all the good teaching that takes place across the district.

Woodbury is fortunate to have a truly dedicated faculty, and we are proud to have these teachers represent the excellence that we strive for in each classroom.

Finalists from 4th and 5th grade classes at each of the elementary schools recently competed in a school-level National Geographic Bee. We are pleased to announce that –

Evergreen’s winner was 5th grader Derek Lane;
Walnut’s winner was 5th grader Joelle Murray; and
West End’s winner was 4th grader Annie Hughes.

Congratulations!

This is the 21st year that the National Geographic Society has held the National Geographic Bee for students in grades four through eight in thousands of schools across the United States.

After winning their school-level bees, Derek, Joelle, and Annie took a qualifying test to determine if they will advance to the state-level competition.

All school winners are eligible to win the national championship and its first prize, a $25,000 college scholarship, at the national competition May 19 and 20, 2009 in Washington, D.C.

We wish Derek, Joelle, and Annie well!

AND –

Brock Juliano, grade 7 is this year’s winner of the National Geographic Bee in the Woodbury Junior High School. He will represent Woodbury Junior High School at the next round and level of the competition that involves taking a written test administered for the National Geographic Society.

Brock has been a state competitor in this competition in the past – during his elementary school years. We wish him well in his quest to return to that level of the competition!

Congratulations Brock!

Former Woodbury High star athletes Joe “Jeep” Walker, Ruth Warren Colvin, Billy Washington, and Gerry Taraschi, along with coaching great Dominic Carrera have been elected to the Gloucester County Sports Hall of Fame!

The Gloucester County Sports Hall of Fame will hold its 29th Annual Induction Banquet on Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 6:30 p.m., at Auletto’s Sunset Ballroom in Almonesson, NJ.

This year’s inductees will be: Michelle Rowen (Washington Twp.), Jeep Walker (Woodbury), Ruth Warren Colvin (Woodbury), Gerry Taraschi (Washington Twp.), Ringo Adamson (Rowan), John Villecco (Deptford), Sal Marchese, Jr. (Delsea), Paul Deal (Pitman), Joe Herrschaft (Glassboro), Karen Dilmore (Williamstown), Ron Case (Gloucester CC), Jann Bower Jenkins (Glassboro), Bill Washington (Woodbury/Clayton), Anthony Maska (Gateway), Bones Howard (Paulsboro), Dom Carrera (Gloucester Cath.), and Frank Pulio (West Deptford).

Tickets for this year’s banquet are $36 apiece, and may be ordered by calling Gus Ostrum at (856) 435-3367 during daytime or evening hours. For more information on the Hall of fame, visit our web site at www.gchalloffame.com.

The Woodbury City Police Department and the Woodbury City Schools have a strong working relationship. One way that lines of communication are maintained is through the School Resource Officer Program.

Effective the beginning of this calendar year, a new School Resource Officer, Patrolman Daniel Steigerwald, was assigned to the school district. Officer Steigerwald has been provided specialized training through the police department to maximize his effectiveness in a school setting.

Over the course of the last couple of weeks, Officer Steigerwald has been in and about all of the city schools getting to know the buildings and the people. Though a majority of his time will be spent in connection with the Jr.-Sr. High School, he will have a presence in our elementary schools as well.

The School Resource Officer program has been a valuable program for Woodbury and other school districts. We welcome Officer Steigerwald and wish him well in his new assignment.

The Higher Education Student Assistance Authority announced its recipients of the Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished and Urban Scholars. Eight students from Woodbury Jr.-Sr. High School were selected to receive scholarships, which award up to $1,000 annually without regard to financial need.

The Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholar is intended to recognize the highest achieving graduating high school students in or from New Jersey. Bloustein Distinguished Scholars must have a class rank of one, two or three and rank within the top 10 percent at the end of junior year, or rank within the top 10 percent with a combined critical reading and math SAT score of 1260 or higher.

Urban Scholars are renewable scholarships awarded to high achieving students in the state’s urban areas. Students must rank in the top ten percent of their class and have a GPA of at least 3.0.

The following Woodbury students were recognized: Stefana Burlacu, Megan Kier, Megan Pierson, Laura Hassan, Caitlyn Pipolo, Oluwatunmi Oni, Scott Bassler, and Christian Schoning.

Each student received an award letter in early January providing notification of this recognition.

Woodbury Public Schools received a $22,000 grant from Verizon Foundation. For the second time in three years, the Verizon Foundation has awarded the Woodbury Public Schools a grant to support innovative programs that will provide a focus on literacy development.

Verizon and Woodbury originally partnered on a literacy project during the 2006-2007 school year through a $10,000 grant award. At that time, an after school reading program was launched at the West End Memorial School and Walnut Street School. During that pilot program, the district was able to utilize a computer based reading program developed by MindPlay Corporation, called My Reading Coach – Platinum Edition.

This year, through the Verizon grant coupled with in-district funds, the program has evolved to include all three elementary schools. The extra support will consist of an after school program as well as academic intervention during the regular school day; both efforts will utilize computer based interventions. The district has also acquired a new piece of computer software from the MindPlay Corporation to assist instructional staff entitled, “Fluent Reader Trainer”.

The Woodbury School District believes that that this partnership with Verizon, coupled with in-district resources and highly qualified instructional staff, will provide the elementary school students involved with extra resources necessary for academic success.

About the Verizon Foundation:

The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, supports the advancement of literacy and K-12 education through its signature program, Thinkfinity.org, and fosters awareness and prevention of domestic violence.

In 2007, the foundation awarded more than $67.4 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the United States and abroad. The foundation also matched the charitable donations of Verizon employees and retirees, resulting in $25.1 million in combined contributions. Through Verizon Volunteers, one of the nation’s largest employee volunteer programs, Verizon employees and retirees have volunteered more than 3 million hours of community service since Verizon’s inception in 2000.

This year, thanks to the generosity of Verizon customers who participated in the company’s Check Into Literacy program, 39 nonprofit organizations throughout New Jersey are receiving $325,000 in grants to support their literacy programs. For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizon.com/foundation.

Beginning this week, the Woodbury Junior - Senior High School Library will be open from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday for your use. The library offers a good setting to get school work done and a place for computer access. (The goal is to provide a place for students to work while the Woodbury City Public Library closes during these two “dinner” hours.)

This program is one of the action items of our new Strategic Plan Strategy I—to effectively utilize multiple sources of assessment data to improve instruction, close the achievement gap, and increase academic performance Action Plan 5: to assure the Jr.-Sr. High School library will be open to students and parents minimally from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, Monday through Thursday while school is in session.

This is one more way Woodbury Public Schools works to be a leader in personalizing education for our students — words found and manifested in our mission and beliefs. We feel that this action addresses a very specific need here in the Woodbury community. Please use the lobby door entrance to the school (across from the gymnasium) for your access the library. The library is on the first floor, turn right down the long hallway and take your first left.

Adults should bring identification to present to our Evening Library Program Coordinator when you arrive.

Kyle Parham, 11th grade student at Woodbury Jr.-Sr. High School, has been selected to be a Student Ambassador for People to People. Kyle went through a selection process that involved an interview and a requirement to submit three letters of recommendation -- two teachers and one community leader.

People to People was started by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958. His dream was to bring together students from around the world to promote world peace.

Over the summer Kyle will spend a total of three weeks in France, Italy, and Greece (where he will stay with a host family). The People to People hope is that this experience will help students return to their community and school with a new outlook on the world and help to build bridges to bring us closer together through peace and understanding.

Congratulations, Kyle.

Congratulations to Scott Bassler, senior at Woodbury Jr.-Sr. High School. Scott recently was notified that he was among the 50,000 highest scores on the 2007 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). There were over 1.5 million students who took the test nationally, and Scott’s score places him in the top 5% of all students in the nation who took the exam.

Scott's plans for post-secondary study will likely focus on biochemistry or biological engineering. Schools that he plans to apply to include Princeton University, Yale University, Drexel University, Roanoke College, and Washington Lee University.

We are proud of the strong academic performance by Scott on this test and in all his work here at Woodbury.

Information Session open to all Parents

DATE: Tuesday, October 14, 2008
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
Place: High School Auditorium
SPECIAL GUESS SPEAKER: Sgt. Steven J. LaPorta, Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office, Cyber Crimes Unit, CJIS - Terminal Agency Coordinator

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: Woodbury High School Main Office at 856-853-0123 ext. 200