Southern Regional Collects 72K Items In Annual Food Drive

Here is the latest news from Southern Regional:

Annual Food Drive

'Tis the season of giving. Southern showed their power to make a difference, presenting 72,095 items they collected at the school's annual food drive to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission.

Students, faculty and staff collected non-perishable food throughout December and presented it Dec. 21 to the Rescue Mission in a school-wide assembly. The Southern Regional Music Department donated over $1,000 to the cause. The money will be used to buy specific items needed for children.

Before the assembly, Southern staff made a holiday dinner for members of the Mission. Southern, holding its 18th annual food drive with the Mission, has donated a total of 423,386 items to the organization.

Students Visit Bay Senior Residence

Twenty members of Southern Regional Middle School's Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCLLA) travelled to Bay Senior Residence in Manahawkin to share some holiday cheer with the residents.

The students held a party Dec. 18 with decorations, food, games, crafts and gifts. The seventh annual party honors the memory of Matt Caufield, the event's original planner. Caufield, a former Barnegat police officer, died in 2015 after a battle with cancer. He was 52.

FCLLA is a national organization that helps prepare students for careers in family and consumer sciences education.

Sports Shorts

• Congratulations to Southern Regional senior Caitlin Hambor for committing to NJIT women's track and field.
• Southern alumnus Liam Maxwell made the "Off the Block" 2019 preseason "Karch Kiraly Award" watch list for the nation's best outside attacker in NCAA Division I-II men's volleyball. Maxwell was named to the preseason watch list for the second straight year. Only 25 players made the list nationally.
• The Southern Regional girls basketball team placed third in the annual "Score at the Shore" Holiday Girls Varsity Basketball Tournament. The sixth-seeded Rams defeated Middle Township, 38-36, on Dec. 28 in the third-place consolation game. They previously defeated Holmdel in the first round and lost in the semifinals to Lenape to go 2-1 in the tournament.
• The Southern Regional ice hockey team defeated Wall Township, 6-1, to win the Winding River Holiday Tournament on Dec. 28. The Rams also defeated Rumson Fair Haven in the first round and TR North in the semifinals. Southern had not won a holiday tournament match since 2014.
• The Southern Regional wrestling team participated in the Hunterdon Central Holiday Tournament on Dec. 27. Ben LoParo, JT Cornelius, John Stout, Nick O'Connell and Nick Pepe were all champions in their weight classes.

Southern Security Guard Honored

Southern security guard Barb Phillips was named the "Score at the Shore" Varsity Basketball Holiday Tournament Service Award winner. Southern Athletic Director Chuck Donohue Jr. and coach John Pampalone presented the award.

Media Pacemakers Club

Southern Middle School and the Ocean County Library co-hosted the kickoff event Dec. 19 for the Media Pacemakers Club. Students got to work with green-screen technology and try their hands at art quilling.

Courtney Nieddu and Kristen Crepezzi, the Teen Librarians for the Stafford and Long Beach Island branches of the Ocean County Library, helped students with their experiments. The Media Pacemakers Club drew 30 members for its kickoff event. The club will meet once or twice monthly on Wednesdays.

Alumni News

• Caitlin (McMenamin) Howe, PhD, (Class of 2009) was selected for the Open and Affordable Textbooks Program Awards by Rutgers University Libraries. Howe, an instructor in neuroscience and cell biology, developed plans that include inquiry-based lessons on microbiological techniques. Her project will help an estimated 270 students and provide an estimated savings of $16,200.
• Gabrielle D'Amodio (2015) visited Southern High School's sports medicine classes to teach a lesson on ankle taping. Students learned the requirements on how to become an athletic trainer, as well as the mechanics of ankle injuries and steps for ankle taping. She completed her graduate degree in athletic training from Seton Hall.