Health & Fitness
Livingston Public Schools e-News May 27, 2011
Weekly news from Livingston Public Schools
Dear Livingston,
In this edition:
Find out what's happening in Livingstonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The Livingston Board of Education has scheduled a voting meeting on Monday, June 6th at 7:30 p.m. in the Livingston High School Auditorium.
Find out what's happening in Livingstonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
- May 31, 2011 – Schools closed; Memorial Day
- June 7, 2011 – NJ Primary Day, partial day for elementary school students
Save the date for some spring special events:
- June 2, 2011 – Eighth Grade Career Day
- Livingston Public Schools honored its 2010-2011 Teachers of the Year Monday with a special breakfast in the orchestra room at Livingston High School. Collins Teacher Jim Diegnan was selected to represent Livingston in the Essex County Teacher of the Year program. The following teachers were recognized: Burnet Hill teacher Loren Svetvilas, Harrison teacher Renee Sachs; Hillside teacher Dana Wallock; Mount Pleasant Elementary teacher Kristin Macagney, Riker Hill teacher Tracey Bock; Heritage Middle School special education teacher Victoria Ziering, Mount Pleasant Middle School teacher Mitchell Wasserman and high school mathematics teacher Jeffrey Wieboldt.
- Livingston Superintendent Brad Draeger and the Livingston Board of Education recognized the District’s retirees with a special ceremony at the May 23 Board of Education meeting in the auditorium of Livingston High School. The retirees included: Willie Simpson, Jeanine Madden Losito, Linda Mirabella, Pam Clause McGroarty, Dulcinea Arantes), Eddy Verna, and Harold Kravis, Bernadette Pilchman, Cindy Spies, Theresa Loboda, Gael Henderson, Barbara Finn, and Jules Geftic. Some of the other retiring employees were not able to attend the ceremony on Monday evening. They are: Maria Hubert Friscia, Patrick Keenoy, Frank Toth and Victoria Ziering.
- Livingston High School seniors, members of the military and veterans paid tribute to 25 Livingston citizens who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives in defense of their country at the high school’s 13th annual Silent Memorial Service Friday. Senior class officers and senior SGA officers led the program along with Corporal Michael Munley, the high school’s drivers’ ed and physical education teacher and a United States Marine Corps Veteran who served in Iraq. As students read the 25 names, other students extinguished the flames of candles representing each hero.
- Livingston High School took first place overall for the 23rd consecutive year in the Essex County Math League Wednesday at Caldwell College. Four out of six teams came in first in advanced math, Algebra 2, Geometry and Statistics and the other two LHS teams in Calculus and Algebra 1 came in second. Teams from Millburn and Montclair high schools came in third.
- LHS Junior Zachary Lustbader was crowned the 2011 Knights of Pythias Public Speaking Contest State Champion last night at the Stanford M. Schor Lodge in the Livingston Community Center. Regional winners from across the state participated in the competition. As the state champion, Zach received the $1,000 grand prize. This is addition to the $250 prize he won for prior victory for the Knights of Pythias North Central Regional speak-off.
- The Livingston High School Marching Band will leave June 3 for Disney World in Florida where the band will play two Elvis Presley songs, it’s program for the fall, as it leads the June 5th Magic Kingdom parade down Main Street. The band submitted an audition tape to be selected for this honor. While many high school marching bands, dance troupes and other arts groups audition and are selected to play at different venues in Disney World, it is very prestigious to be selected to lead the Magic Kingdom parade with the likes of Mickey Mouse and Goofy.
- Students in the Livingston High School Science Research program participated in the 6th Annual Science Research Symposium Wednesday night at the high school. Sophomores, juniors and seniors in the program spoke to parents and the public about their research projects and many awards. The graduating seniors in the program are: Terence An, Michael Bao, Connie Cheng, Dillon Cislo, Joel Grebel, Joy Ming, Sharmili Rahkit, Ellika Salari, Katie Simko, Todd Waldenberg, Benjamin Wang, Lauren Wolfe and Kelly Zhang.
- The Livingston High School chapter of the Art Honor Society and the Livingston High School chapter of the National Honor Society inducted new members into their societies at Livingston High School this week. The art honor society also sold students’ artwork in a silent auction before its induction ceremony Monday and the honor society performed its induction Tuesday and kicked off its collection of used SAT, ACT and AP study guides. Both featured candle lighting ceremonies.
- Livingston High School students Ryan Leslie, a senior, and Klara Blazek, a junior, had their work selected for the Fresh Perspectives, a Juried High School Art Exhibition at the Morris Museum, now on display through June 12. Ryan’s graphite and colored pencil drawing “Persephone’s Regret,” and Klara’s black and white photograph “Sacre Couer,” are two of the 50 pieces of artwork featured in the exhibit with art work by high school students from across the state. The Morris Museum is located at 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morris Township. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Museum admission is $10; $7 children, students and senior. Admission is free to the public 5 to 8 p.m. Thursdays. For information, visit www.morrismuseum.org or call (973) 971-3000.
- The Livingston Parent Academy presents “Reading at Home With Your Child” Tuesday, May 31 from 7:30-8:30 p.m. at Heritage Middle School. The informal program will be presented by Elaine Bakke, Livingston’s K-12 Language Arts Supervisor, and will look at ways that parents can encourage positive reading behaviors at home, both during the school year and over summer vacation. The presentation will address the value of literacy, tips for reading at home and summer reading. Please RSVP by Friday, May 27 by e-mailing gdipopolo@livingston.org or by calling (973) 535-8000 ext. 8029.
- The Livingston Recycling and Reclamation Committee and Livingston Public Schools PTOs are appealing to parents to turn their engines off while waiting to pick up or drop off students at school. The committee and PTOs are working together to increase environmental awareness in the schools, according to Sue Fershing, chair of the Recycling and Reclamation Committee. “State law prohibits idling for more than three minutes,” Fershing said. “An idling vehicle emits 20 times more pollution than one traveling at 30 mph, 15 minutes of idling emits almost 1 pound of carbon dioxide and 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than turning the engine on and off.”
Anti-Idling signs have been installed throughout the district, she said. Fershing said that parents need to be aware that children are especially vulnerable to air pollution. “Children breathe faster than adults, inhale more air per pound of body weight than adults and stand closer to tailpipe height,” Fershing said. For information, email Fershing at sfersh@juno.com.
- Livingston’s Youth Appreciation Week will continue through Monday May 30. The week-long event, which is chaired by the Healthy Community Healthy Youth Initiative of Livingston, celebrates the township’s youth and recognizes their achievements and contributions to our community. Superintendent Brad Draeger said he is very excited about Livingston Youth Appreciation Week. “This is a wonderful week to celebrate our community as well as the youth and diversity of Livingston. “ Check out the live television preview on Fios and Comcast. Special events include a Parent’s Night Out Friday from 6-9 p.m. with kids activities at the senior center, an Open “Mic” for high schoolers and a family festival day at the oval Saturday May 28 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., a circus Sunday May 29 and Monday May 30 and the Memorial Day Parade and ceremonies May 30. For information, e-mail mackermann@livingston.org.
- A new “Shining Star” Sports League: A League for Exceptional Children, offered by the new Senior, Youth and Leisure Services League for children with special needs, will kick off its new programming in September. Parents must register their children for the new soccer, basketball, floor hockey and t-ball/baseball programs beginning June 1. The league will meet on Saturdays and/or Sundays from 9 a.m. to noon at the Monmouth Court Community Center from September to June, 2012. Two leagues will be offered: a “junior” league for children ages 5 to 9 and a “senior” league for youth ages 10 to 16. The cost is $75 per sport. To register, visit http://livingstonsyls.org or enroll at the SYLS office at the Livingston Senior and Community Center on Hillside Avenue, Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, including program qualifications, and volunteer signup (training will be provided), contact SYLS Adaptive Recreation Coordinator Mark Silance at (973) 535-7925 or email msilance@livingstonnj.org.
- The LHS National Honor Society is having a book drive and will be collecting used SAT, ACT and AP study guides and later sell them at a reduced price to benefit a local charity. Books may be brought to LHS A116, world language teacher Barbara Kaplan’s classroom (also the NHS adviser) or at the high school main office with Kaplan’s name. For information, email bkaplan@livingston.org.
- Cub Scout Pack 16 is accepting registration for new scouts for the 2011-2012 scouting year and will offer an informational presentation June 2 at 7 p.m. at the Livingston Senior/Community Center. All boys currently in kindergarten through 4th grade are eligible to join. For information, e-mail committeechair@livingstonpak16.org.
- Global Friendships is seeking host families for 15 junior high school and high school students from the northern region of Spain for a cultural exchange program June 30 through July 27. The students have knowledge of the English language and will attend ESL classes week days from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the day at Anthony Franco’s Pizzeria. They will also be taking special day trips to New York City, the beach, Six Flags Great Adventure etc. Host families will be asked to provide a bed, three meals a day and transportation and make the student feel like they are part of the family. For information, call Yvette A. Borondy at (973) 992-5177 or e-mail nyuci@aol.com.
Until the next edition of e-News…
Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!
Allison Freeman, Interim Manager, Communications and Community Outreach, Livingston Public Schools
(973) 535-8000 ext. 8036
(973) 535-1254 - Fax
