Newsletter

July 2019

Watchung Hills Regional

From the Desk of the Superintendent

On September 24, 2019, you will be asked to vote on a referendum to fund necessary electrical upgrades

as well as a 21st Century Media Center. I would like to take this opportunity to provide you with

information on the upcoming referendum, which will have no impact financially on

taxpayers.

The selection of these projects from our long range facilities plan to include in the referendum is not

arbitrary. The Board and administration participated in a thoughtful process to prioritize our list of

projects in terms of safety, educational impact, and affordability. The electrical panel upgrades are

necessary to replace outdated operational systems with upgraded systems for increased safety. The

redesign and renovation of our Media Center is an outgrowth of our 5-Year Strategic Plan through which

we have established a district goal to “Integrate creative, innovative, and interdisciplinary learning

throughout the district to empower and inspire students to succeed in a changing global community.”

The ways in which our students use our Media Center have evolved not only due to the increased access to and integration of

technology in learning, but also due to the expanded opportunities for collaboration with their peers to pursue innovative learning

opportunities beyond the classroom, including such endeavors as TEDx, LaunchX, and virtual learning. The upgrade to the Media

Center will expand and redesign the existing space, incorporating areas for collaboration, independent study, large group

instruction, experiential learning, and enhanced use of technology, including video production and virtual reality.

By passing the referendum for these projects, the State of New Jersey will reimburse the Watchung Hills Regional

High School District up to 40% of the cost of the project. The savings will go back into capital reserve for future projects

without burdening taxpayers in the future.

I would like to reiterate that this bond referendum has no impact financially on taxpayers. An affirmative vote will

save the district up to 40% of the total cost of the project. The Board expects to fund the remaining local share (approximately 60%)

of the project using our own capital reserve funds. Should the referendum not pass, we will look to scale back the Media Center

project to what we are able to fund with our allotted capital reserve without the State of New Jersey’s reimbursement via debt service

aid.

For additional information, please visit our web site at www.whrhs.org. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to

contact our School Business Administrator, Timothy Stys, at 908-647-4800, ext. 4850, or my office at 908-647-4800, ext. 4890.

Thank you for your attention to this significant financial issue impacting the Watchung Hills Regional High School District.

Warm Regards,

Dr. Elizabeth C. Jewett

Superintendent

High School District

Page 2 Newsletter Page 2

From the Desk of the Principal

We had a very successful year in our professional learning communities (PLCs). On May 8 and 15, the faculty

shared their good work, and we celebrated the results with a gallery walk/convention-style fair on each of those

Wednesday afternoons. Topics included augmented reality and instructional technology, coding, writing

instruction, questioning techniques, and participation strategies, among others.

The PLCs are based on research that supports the growth of teacher agency as a powerful tool to improve student

learning. They are intentionally designed to strengthen faculty autonomy and ownership throughout the school.

The focus is on adult learning that advances student learning in a measurable way. To provide time for

professional collaboration, faculty and department meeting time has been restructured, and throughout this past

year, the PLC groups had twelve work sessions, in addition to the two sharing sessions in May.

In September, the faculty formed groups of 3-4 members, defined a problem of practice in teaching or counseling, and set out to

research and explore. They chose topics that were instructionally focused and designed to improve student learning. They conducted

research and shared articles. Then they decided how to measure progress in terms of student learning. With goals set, they began

exploring, experimenting with strategies in the classroom, and taking risks. They used the PLC work sessions to engage in collective

inquiry, review assessment data, analyze results, and reflect. And then in May, they drafted executive summaries and created a visual

display for the gallery walk/fair. The energy created was exceptional, and it gave our PLCs real momentum for the fall.

We’re proud of our faculty’s commitment to learning. They’re modeling inquiry and collaboration for our students and strengthening

our school community in the process.

George Alexis Principal

Page 3 Newsletter

From the Desk of the Director of Curriculum & Instruction

As many of you know,

representatives from

all four k-8 districts

and the high school

meet frequently to

ensure ongoing

cohesion. In addition

to monthly meetings

among the

superintendents'

group, and the

principals' group - the

curriculum directors' meetings focus on

improving instruction and sharing

resources. Under the direction of the

superintendents, the curricular

articulation requires communication,

collaboration, and alignment. This year,

the five supervisors embraced two new

initiatives: universal participation in

departmental learning walks and a pilot to

share online resources/tech possibilities to

improve the Algebra 1 curriculum in all our

schools. The learning walks in each

department offered monthly opportunities

for multiple middle school teachers to

observe diverse instructional activities at the

high school. Every school was represented

for every discipline, and there was a brief

training video shared upon arrival at the

high school. Then, mixed groups of three

and four professionals visited three high

school classrooms before a debriefing period

with the observers and the high school

teachers. Along with the learning walks, the

Algebra 1 teachers focused on integrating

coding/computer science into the core

curriculum at both the high school and

middle school levels. The middle and

high school Algebra 1 teachers and

supervisors, came together multiple

times to discuss the use of technology

to improve student engagement and

foster deeper learning. Many effective

discussions ensued, and high school

Algebra 1 teachers were asked to

incorporate more student-centered

activities as they re-write the Algebra 1

curriculum. With the help of Google

forms, all the teachers of Algebra 1 were

asked to share a best practice or resource

which demonstrated the integration

between purposeful technology and the

NJ Curricular Framework for Algebra 1.

Prendergast Speaks To WHRHS Students

John Prendergast, a human rights and

anti-corruption activist as well as a New

York Times best-selling author who for

35 years has focused on issues about

bringing peace and greater

human understanding to Africa,

spent some five hours at

Watchung Hills Regional High

School on Friday, March 29, the

guest of the student co-curricular

club, the Diversity Club, and

Social Studies Teachers Jamie

Lott-Jones and Mark Sok.

Arriving during the start of

student lunch period, Prendergast

visited first with the Diversity

Club members in Room 116A. He sat in a

student desk that he turned around to

face the students of the Diversity Club

who were eating their lunches, and

shared with them a little bit about his

educational journey.

He had taken a one-of-a-kind type of

academic path that led to successes,

graduating from Georgetown University

in Washington, D.C., and eventually

became the Founding Director of the

“Enough Project,” an initiative to end

genocide and crimes against humanity.

From that curiosity, from that aspiration,

and from a seemingly unquenchable thirst

to learn how to turn his knowledge into a

course of action that would “made a

difference,” he fashioned a career “one step

at a time.” Eventually, his involvement grew

to him being the Co-Founder of “The

Sentry,” an investigative initiative to search

out the assets of African war criminals and

their international collaborators.

Prendergast’s journey brought him to work

in the Clinton White House, the U.S. State

Department, for two members of Congress,

the National Intelligence Council, UNICEF,

Human Rights Watch, the International

Crisis Group, and the U.S. Institute of

Peace, among others.

All his international level, world

changing work was put aside – or

he might say it was further enriched

by – his riveted focus on March 29,

2019 on the students of WHRHS. In

Room 116A and the South

Auditorium, he zoned in on the

students of WHRHS, sharing his

story as a prelude to engaging the

students in conversation on their

level. He persisted the entire time

he was at WHRHS, answering

student questions, and learning

from them .

There were questions during lunch

period. Questions, too, at two assemblies

in the South Auditorium during the two

afternoon classes. Then after the

assemblies, he was back in the Diversity

Club classroom 116A, where he remained

for as long as there were questions to be

answered. He didn’t stop until the school

day was over. In fact, even then, he

continued to receive – and answer--

e-mails rich with questions sent to him

from WHRHS students for days later.

Mary Ellen Phelan Director of

Curriculum & Instruction

Page 4 Newsletter Page 4

2019 Teacher of the Year—Angela DiIorio Bird

Vocal Music Teacher Angela DiIorio

Bird has been named the Watchung

Hills Regional High School Teacher of

the Year for the 2018-2019 School Year.

WHRHS Principal George Alexis

informed DiIorio Bird of her

selection during the week prior to

Easter Weekend.

“Please join me in congratulating

Angela DiIorio Bird, our Teacher

of the Year for 2018-19,” Alexis

said. “Angela has played a

significant role in deepening our

commitment to the arts. Her

passion for music and

performance benefits our students

and our entire school community.

She is a talented teacher who

knows how to differentiate in-

struction and help students of all

abilities reach high expectations. In

addition, she produces beautiful chorus

concerts, serves as vocal coach for the

musical, and mentors students all year

long.”

DiIorio Bird is in her eighth year

teaching at WHRHS, and 10th year

teaching overall. During her first two

years after college, she taught in the

Lambertville Public Schools, a district

she described as among the smallest in

New Jersey.

That stood in stark contrast to the size of

WHRHS. However, DiIorio Bird was

already very familiar with WHRHS,

having graduated from WHRHS in 2005.

She had grown up in Watchung, and

attended Watchung Public Schools.

When was DiIorio Bird first attracted to

music?

“My grandfather gave me my first piano

lesson when I was in 1st grade,” DiIorio

Bird said. “He was an opera singer. He

came from a musical family. I fell in love

with music then.”

She played tenor saxophone in high

school in the WHRHS band program

for all four years, as well as the oboe.

She qualified for All Region Band in

tenor saxophone. She sings in the Alto

section when she sang for three

years in the WHRHS Choir.

“Piano is my primary instrument,”

she said. “My undergraduate

degree at Ithaca College is in

piano performance and music

education.”

Following Ithaca College, in

Ithaca, N.Y., DiIorio Bird earned

her first master’s degree in

Education from The College of

New Jersey (TCNJ), Ewing

Township. She is currently continuing

her studies, pursuing a second master’s

degree, this in Educational Leadership,

at the College of St. Elizabeth in the

Convent Station section of Morris

Township.

She added that she has also completed training for certificates for Principal and Supervisor.

WHRHS Junior Recognized for Extraordinary Work

A high school junior, volunteering her time, has brought creativity, comradery and joy to the

adult residents of Mt. Bethel Village for almost two years in an extraordinary commitment of

service to others.

Niharika (Nina) Iyer, who is finishing up her junior year at Watching Hills Regional High

School, first reached out to Mt. Bethel Executive Director Carolann Garafola in 2017 with a

desire to bring art projects to Mt. Bethel’s developmentally disabled adults. The projects were

designed to be done in two or three hours and could be taken back to each adult’s apartment

to be enjoyed later. They grew beyond day projects and are now part of the fabric of life at

Mt. Bethel Village, located at 130 Mt. Bethel Road in Warren. Ms. Iyer continues visiting MBV,

completing to date more than 22 projects over 66 hours on-site with countless additional hours

of prep time including the purchase of materials. The projects are planned, in writing, and tied

to seasonal events and holidays and are tailored to each individual’s capabilities.

Page 5 Newsletter

World Languages Honor Societies Induction Ceremony

Some 202 Watchung Hills Regional

High School students were inducted into

five World Language Honor Societies at

the 14th Annual Honor Societies

Induction Ceremony, Wednesday, April

24, in the WHRHS Performing Arts

Center.

Parents and

families attended

the ceremony,

where in addition

to induction into

language honor

societies, some 63

seniors were

recognized for

having received

from the New

Jersey DOE the

New Jersey “Seal

of Bilieracy.”

Brad

Commerford, the

WHRHS

Supervisor of

World Languages

and Health/

Physical

Education, explained that students

who qualify for the Seal of Biliteracy

have demonstrated that they were able

to speak, read, listen and write in two or

more languages at a high level of profi-

ciency. They demonstrated a mastery

in English by their passing score in the

PARCC Test in English Language Skills,

and their passing scores in a test from

the American Council on the Teaching

of Foreign Languages.

The Seal of Biliteracy was an initiative

started by “Californians Together” in

2008 to acknowledge and reward

hardworking bilingual and multilingual

students. In 2011, it officially became

legislation in California, and multiple

states have implemented a statewide

Seal of Biliteracy. In 2016, New Jersey

became the 15th state to do so.

The breakdown by language for the 63

students, who were recognized for hav-

ing qualified for a Seal of Biliteracy, is as

follows: Chinese -3; French -14; German-3;

Italian-6; Russian-1; Spanish-35; Polish-2;

and Portuguese-2. Three students were

recognized for having been awarded two

Seals of Biliteracy.

The breakdown of how many students were

inducted into each Language Honor

Societies this year is as follows: Chinese-

40; French-27; German-7; Italian-30; and

Spanish-98. One student, Alia Bu, was

recognized for being inducted into two

world language honor societies: Chinese

and Spanish, Commerford said.

As part of the World Languages Honor

Societies induction ceremony, students

stood at the seats in the middle section of

the PAC’s orchestra seats as their names

were called by their teachers in each of five

languages. Then students representing

each of the languages came forward to the

stage to read the Oath of Induction for and

in each language. The students in unison

responded in that language.

“Every language is a lens through which

we see the world,” Commerford told the

students. “If you were to wear green

colored glasses and never took them off

or exchanged them for another color,

you would have to assume that the

world is green.

You wouldn’t see

green as a

perspective. It

would be your

only reality. If

you only know

one language, it

is difficult to

realize you are

looking through

a particular lens.

You simply

think your world

is as you see it.

Fluency in a

second language

gives you a

chance to see the

world through a

different lens.”

He added: “Inductees, whatever reason

for learning a second language has

brought you here tonight, we hope you

continue to gain proficiency both here

at WHRHS or at the university level

where many of you will be next year.

Consider that learning a language is a

life-long experience. It is fulfilling,

provides you with insight and it

broadens your understanding of other

worlds and cultures. It propels you on a

journey and prepares you to accept the

challenges of global citizenship. The

Administration and World Language

Staff of Watchung Hills congratulate all

of our inductees on taking this critical

step towards fluency in a world

language. Thank you for allowing us to

be part of your success.”

Page 6 Newsletter Page 6

Spring Musical “Fiddler on the Roof” When audiences attended the four

performances of the Watchung Hills

Regional High School Spring Musical,

“Fiddler on the Roof,” from March 21-

23, they were treated to a fetching

performance in which the actors,

actresses, singers and dancers

personified the characters of a poor,

largely Jewish neighborhood of a

farming village

in 1905 Russia.

The student

thespians

seemed to walk

in their

character’s

shoes. They

wore their

clothes. They

identified – and identified with –

their coming-of-age hopes and

dreams, trials and tribulations,

even with the lyrics of one of the

musical’s most poignant song:

“Sunrise, sunset, Sunrise, sunset/

Swiftly fly the years/ One season

following another/ Laden with

happiness and tears.”

The Spring Musical brought

together a 39-member on-stage

student cast, a 35 member largely

student orchestra, and a 45-

member behind-the-scenes largely

student production team. They all

seemed to work together as a cohesive

119-member artistic unit. The largely

student team under the direction of

faculty and technical staff, seemed to

pass the first threshold of entertainment,

mastering the skills of music and song,

acting and dancing, spoken word and

literary nuance, not to mention be

supported by professional-quality

lighting and sound, scenery, staging and

prop dressing, among other essential

production tasks.

The performance also fit in with the

third goal of the WHRHS Strategic Plan

Goals 2015-2020: “To Integrate creative,

innovate and interdisciplinary learning

throughout the district to empower and

inspire students to succeed in a changing

global community.”

Audiences were offered historically-

appropriate, meaningfully-rich and

respectfully-appreciated celebrations of

ethnic customs and costuming. The

production even took advantage of the

school’s availability of skilled student

violinists. One student, violinist Emma

Golkin, portrayed the character from which

the title is derived, “The Fiddler.” In the

opening scene and then again, in the

musical’s final scene, Fiddler Golkin was

perched on a rooftop, center-stage, and

nearly-silhouetted. Dressed in a likely

orchestral performer’s black suit and hat

from 1905 Russia, Golkin played the music

of the play’s theme with appropriate

nuance, as the narrator, the play’s

patriarch, or “Poppa,” Tevye, explained the

Fiddler’s significance before summoning

the musical to its rousing opening anthem:

“Tradition.”

She then quietly and unobtrusively left the

stage during the set-change between Scene

1 and 2, to take her place in the orchestra,

there to perform with her fellow orchestra

musicians. She appeared again on stage

and on her perch for the last scene. It was

her nuanced and mournful playing that

was the last sound emanating from the

stage, as Tevye, now a refugee, left the

stage… before the reprise of “Tradition”

accompanied the standing ovations of the

curtain calls and cast bows.

Like the WHRHS Fall Drama earlier this

school year, Arthur Miller’s iconic Tony

Award winning

drama, “The

Crucible,” which

was about the

Salem Witch

Trials in a poor

farming village in

the

Massachusetts

Bay Colony in

1692 and 1693,

the on-stage talent in Fiddler on the Roof

seemed not just to be reciting lines, and

in this case singing songs. They seemed

to be “living” the hopes, dreams,

frustrations and anxieties that their

characters were facing. These were living

-learning roles for the student thespians,

as well as for the members of the

audience.

This was, after-all, a coming-of-age story

about coming-of-age young adult women

and men, and their parents, elders,

neighbors and government officials. They

were being portrayed by young adult

student actresses, actors, singers,

dancers, musicians and supported by

largely student production crews. At the

same time, the audience in the PAC for

each of the performances was largely

young adult women and men, and their

parents, elders, friends and neighbors.

As the saying might go: “Nearly everyone

in the WHRHS PAC could relate to the

musical’s drama.”

The characters, like the actors who

portrayed them and the audiences who

viewed the performances, were

experiencing some of the same array of

issues as the characters on stage: When

to move away from the home nest; who

to marry; whether to follow tradition,

adapt it, or break free from it; whether to

ask their parents for their “permission” to

Page 7 Newsletter

Spring Musical “Fiddler on the Roof” (Cont’d)

marry, as distinct from asking for their

“blessing,” and as dramatically different

from simply following their own

instinct, regardless. Likewise, the

parent characters on stage and the

parents in the audience are likely going

through some of the same sets of

anxieties: The may well have engaged

or will in the future engage, in the

virtual acrobatics of feelings, as the

Poppa on stage, Tevye, goes through

when forced to make a decision. In

their own minds, and more importantly

in their own hearts, they no doubt can

relate to Tevye’s recurring debate

syllogism: Weighing “On the one

hand…” versus “On the other hand…”

In the opening scene, Tevye addresses

the use of the fiddler as metaphor about

personifying “survival in a life of

uncertainty.” The fiddler is perched

somewhat precariously on a roof

"trying to scratch out a pleasant simple

tune without breaking ‘his’ (or in this

case of this production, ‘her’) neck."

Likewise, the fiddler metaphor also

refers to the survival of their beloved

“tradition” in a life of uncertainty. Cue

the opening number, the proud,

rousing, defiant and emotional anthem,

“Tradition.”

In the end, and on top of all the

“coming of age” themes and challenges

to tradition, comes government

decrees. The Jewish families of their

village, named Anatevka, are forced to

become refugees. The good people of

this village, ones that we in the

audience have come to identify with,

must flee their homes and

communities, look for asylum in

suitable alternative communities that

they hope and pray would welcome

refugees. There they will once again live

by what is perhaps their most prized

possession, after love of family: A code

of conduct, honor and discipline that is

baked into their DNA. Cue the curtain

call for the rousing reprise of,

“Tradition.” Audiences are invited to

proudly sing along, with gusto, and

with “happiness and tears.”

Page 8 Newsletter Page 8

of Mathematics and Business Dan

Twisler, and Business Teacher Dianne

Krutz.

Student speakers for this year’s

conference at WHRHS were: Shefali

Sahay, Surya Rai, Ishika Agrawal, Kaitlyn

Roth, Eliana Sussner, Abby and Emma

Kotar, Isha Nagpaul, and Anchal Dhir.

The faculty member who spoke was

Physics Teacher Matthew Dellibovi.

Senior Shefali Sahay, who plans to attend

next year the Mason Gross School for the

Arts at Rutgers University, New

Brunswick, spoke about aspiring to study

graphic design, digital marketing and

communications. She said she loves

watching Netflix and Disney movies, and

enjoys art and fashion. Sahay’s talk was

inspired by how it is important for one to

overcome challenges. She also displayed

some of her own artworks in her

One of the highlights of this second half of

the 2018-2019 School Year at Watchung

Hills Regional High School was Thursday

night, March 28, on the stage of the

school’s Performing Arts Center, when

nine students and a physics teacher shared

stories of their explorations and

challenges, at the 2019 edition of

Tedx Youth@WHRHS.

They speakers also shared

strategies on how to achieve

personal growth, while also

encouraging audience members

to explore and broaden their own

horizons.

The theme for this year’s TEDx

event, the third such event

during the last three years, was

“Aspire.” What is TED?

According to event literature,

“TED is a conference for

dreamers, thinkers, makers, and doers

to help inspire them to make a

difference in the world.”

Past influential speakers at TED events

across the country have included

Microsoft’s Bill and Melinda Gates;

Dame Jane Goodall, the world’s

foremost expert on chimpanzees; and

American educator and entrepreneur

Sal Khan. TEDxYouth is a TED

conference geared towards high school

and middle school students. The

TEDxYouth@WHRHS annual event is

an independently organized event which

tries to bring a TEDYouth-like experience

to Watchung Hills.

The event, which reflected the school-wide

strategy to encourage, recognize and grow

from interdisciplinary approaches to

problem-solving learning and

explorations, was organized by a

collaboration of the Steering Committee,

which included: Students Davin Lui,

Marilyn Du, Nina Iyer, Matt McCracken,

Jordyn Youngelson, and Megan Krutz.

The Faculty Advisers for the event

included: Director of Curriculum and

Instruction Mary Ellen Phelan, Supervisor

TEDx Youth@WHRHS

presentation.

Sophomore Surya Rai, who aspires to be

a lawyer, spoke about anxieties students

face as adolescents and provided

assurance that High school assessments

and experiences may not tell the

“whole” story regarding future

success. He is an active

participant in the Diversity,

Economics, Model UN, and Mock

Trial clubs. Outside of these

clubs, Rai plays three

instruments, including the piano,

drums, and baritone sax, and he

has played basketball since 6th

grade.

Senior Ishika Agrawal, who plans

to attend Cornell University,

Ithaca, N.Y., explained that she

aspires to apply her passion for

music to continue organizing

local volunteer music performances.

She hopes to be actively engaged in

serving the community as a writer, and

advocating for social justice through

the UNICEF Voices of Youth.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Roth has a full

range of interests and skills, including:

Playing Ultimate Frisbee; earning a

second degree Black Belt in

Taikwondo; and working toward her

Gold Award in Girl Scouts, the

equivalent of a Boy Scout Eagle Scout.

She spoke about aspiring to convince

the audience to live up to their own

expectations, rather than to the

expectations of others.

Junior Eliana Sussner said she has a

thirst to read, write and learn new

things, including history and languages.

She shared that she aspires to counsel

students: To find a balance in their

passions; and to discern a career path.

She shared that she would try to be

savvy to the fact that an “ideal” career

path may not necessarily be achieved

along a “linear” path.

Juniors Abby and Emma Kotar are

identical twins and very active in a

variety of co-curricular activities and

Page 9 Newsletter

TEDx Youth@WHRHS (Cont’d)

interests, both in school and out of school.

They shared that they are in both similar

and different school activities, which reflect

their similar and different passions. They

said they aspired to share with the audience

some insights into how to be strong

individuals who create their own destinies,

despite their common interests and

strikingly similar physical appearances.

After all, they hypothesized, even though

their fellow students are not identical twins,

many teens their age and academic class are

in the midst of both similar and different

coming-of-age explorations.

Sophomore Isha Nagpaul, who has rich

co-curricular interests and who plans to

study pre-medicine in college, explored

common high school norms, and shared

how she has learned to navigate them. She

hoped she inspired others to find their own

paths.

WHRHS Senior Anchal Dhir explained she

is also a senior at Vocational and Technical

High School, with a focus on vocal and

acting training. She is president of the

WHRHS chapter of the International

Thespian Honor Society, is a member of the

Tri-M Music Honor Society, and the Script

and Cue Drama Program. She shared what

she has learned about the importance of

seeking spiritual balance in the material

world.

14-year WHRHS Physics Teacher Matthew

Dellibovi explained that he earned his

teaching credentials through New Jersey’s

Alternate Route Program, after having

received his bachelor’s degree from Case

Western Reserve University, Cleveland,

Ohio, and master’s degree in Education

from Saint Peter’s College, Jersey City. He

shared how his failures, as well as his

successes in the classroom over the years,

had shaped him into the teacher he is today.

He suggested that students can learn

valuable lessons for their own personal

journeys through the careers they choose,

and to understand they may find themselves

adapting along the way.

Page 10 Newsletter Page 10

broaden his ever-growing knowledge of

CS, going forward. He said he is so

fascinated by CS because of its possible

applications in other fields.

During the panel discussion that started

the day, each guest described how useful

CS is, how to learn more about it, and

how to get more proficient using it as a

tool in just about everything.

They also fielded questions from the

audience, many of which were posed in

true CS style: By entering the questions

using a CS code on their SmartPhones,

tablets or CS devices. They did so to alert

event Lead Organizers, WHRHS Juniors

Jagdeep Bhatia and Mayur Sharma, who

could screen the questions and organize

them for the purposes of seeing trends

but reducing duplications. Then, they

conveyed them -- again CS-style -- to

Panel Moderator Twisler on stage, who

then asked them of the panel.

Some 60 students, ranging from middle

school through high school, dedicated a

Sunday afternoon to learning more about

computer coding, various computer

languages and the importance of

Computer Science (CS) education, all at

the 2019 HillsHacks Day, Sunday, May

18, at WHRHS.

Among the Middle School students who

attended HillsHacks were those from the

middle schools in Warren Township,

Watchung, Long Hill Township and Green

Brook Township.

To kick off the day, HillsHacks

participants heard from a panel of CS

devotees, including:

• WHRHS Supervisor of Mathematics and

Business Dan Twisler, who also acted as

panel moderator and Faculty

Adviser to HillsHacks;

• WHRHS Special Services

Science Teacher Carl Bird, who

said he has approached his

knowledge of CS as a valuable

tool for his many varied areas of

learning and teaching, including

Science, Special Education,

Education in general, and Music;

• 2012 WHRHS graduate

Matthew Carbone, who is a

graduate of the University of

Rochester, with interests both in

Chemistry and Physics. He now is a

doctoral candidate at Columbia University

in Chemistry Physics. He said he uses daily

the CS knowledge he developed along the

way while in graduate school. CS is now

vitally important as he digs deeper into his

field while pursuing his advanced degrees;

• 2018 WHRHS graduate Jared Pincus,

who has completed his first year as a CS

student at Stevens Institute of Technology,

Hoboken. He said he probably will

concentrate on pursuing advanced degrees

in CS, and then possibly teaching CS; and

• WHRHS Senior Neelay Trivedi, who

helped add leadership to HillsHacks, both

last year and this year, and aspires to

2019 HillsHacks

The question and answer session was

robust, too, with just about every

member of the panel sharing their

perspectives on just about every

question. There appeared to be no end

in sight to the participants’ curiosity

until the 2019 HillsHacks schedule

called for a light lunch.

Some of the biggest take-aways from the

panel discussions and questions were

the ideas that:

• CS students, especially those just

starting out, should aspire to learn more

than one CS language;

• CS students should seek opportunities

to learn with a friend who is interested

in CS or in a group; and CS students

should expect to discover that many CS

projects will require teamwork to solve

problems;

• CS students should try to

use what CS skills or

knowledge they acquire as

they acquire them. Use

them as tools to solve

problems, even if they are

little or seemingly

inconsequential problems

to solve. Experimenting

with finding out how CS

learning can be applied in

small matters, even in

playful matters, could come back to help

some day with trying to hypothesize to

solve big and serious problems.

• CS students should develop a keen

sense of curiosity and learn how to learn

by searching online and with other CS

referenced materials;

• CS students should not be bashful

about asking teachers for help when

needed; and

• CS students should be unsurprised if

they find that CS skills can be helpful in

not just the STEM (Science Technology

Engineering and Mathematics) subjects,

but in the Language Arts, Humanities

and Social Studies subjects – really in

just about every subject.

Page 11 Newsletter

2019 HillsHacks (Cont’d)

Panelist Bird shared that it was CS that

appeared to be a common denominator in

his broad learning/ teaching interests,

from science, to education and special

education, and to music.

“Music may have been the first computer

language,” he observed. “The player

piano’s roll of punched parchment paper

to have a machine strike particular notes

at a particular time

and in concert with

other notes could be

considered an early

form of coding.”

All the panelists also

advised the audience

to expect to keep

learning well after

they leave middle

school, high school,

even college and

graduate school, and

up the ladder of promotions in a career.

One questioner from the audience asked

if learning new CS languages ever

becomes “easy.” Many panelists said not

necessarily, although it may get “easier,”

the more they do it. There are

commonalities across languages or

problem-solving systems that may assist

that.

But CS students shouldn’t shy away from

trying to solve little and then big CS

problems, and discerning what CS

language best applies, they said. It is in

the solving of the problems, and

experimenting with different applications

to find the right problem solvers, that CS

students will learn. It is in tackling the

hard stuff that the real learning takes

place, the agreed.

The light lunch after the panel session

afforded participants an opportunity to

become better acquainted with each other

and the speakers, who were there to

answer more questions.

Immediately following lunch, the

students could choose from a variety of

mini-workshops. The morning speakers

and other guests proficient in the world

of CS led these workshops, each tackling

different computer science topics. Among

the additional HillsHacks volunteers,

were two local Gifted and Talented

program teachers: Elaine Chesebro,

former Gifted and Talented teacher in

grades 5-8 Valley View Middle School in

Watchung; and Regina Nadbielny, who

lives in Watchung and teaches in the

Gifted and Talented STEM program at

the Orange School District. She was

honored this year as New Jersey Gifted

and Talented Teacher of the Year.

Additional WHRHS students who pitched

in to share their knowledge of CS

programs, languages and applications

were Juniors Adnan Contractor and

Calvin Khiddee-Wu.

Among the topics offered in each of the

four classrooms were: Introductions to

Python in all four sessions; Tech Toys

MicroBits, Spheros, Banana Physics, and

Machine Learning for Cats and Mice;

Making Video Games and Nailing The

Hackathon Pitch; and Coding in Space,

Website Design, Why is CS Important,

and LaTeX and Math.

After the workshops, and over a late

afternoon snack/early supper of pizza,

participants organized themselves into

smaller break-out groups, and

brainstormed on how they might apply a

simple CS tool to a likely mild problem

for the purposes of improving a situation.

Many gravitated to issues such as

teachers reporting-out grades, or

students receiving useful systems to

help them outline subjects to improve

studying for tests and doing homework,

or researching a term papers or

answers to likely essay questions.

The teams then decided on who would

be the group spokesperson, or

approach I as a team presentation.

They put together a power point type

presentation, and

once the numerous

groups completed

that task, they would

all head to the South

Auditorium to give

their presentations to

the full group.

The teams competed

for prizes, and were

judged by a subset of

the panelists.

As many as 10 different groups of

students were formed, and the three

winning presentations were: A ”Grade

Genie,” which could help predict future

grades in a subject based on points

assigned to study habits, past

performances and the like; a “Smart

Desk,” which would empower student

desks with abilities similar to the way

Smart Boards beefed up the capabilities

of the age-old classroom blackboard;

and a “Tempest Time management

App,” which would help both students

and teachers keep track of assignments,

estimated time it might take to

research, read, learn and or write about

or absorb, and other such tasks.

Page 12 Newsletter Page 12

Denton, featuring vocalist Summer

Stuart; “Spain,” by Chick Corea,

arrangement Paul Jennings; and “I

Heard it Through the Grapevine,” by

Whitfield and Strong, arrangement Paul

Murtha.

The five numbers performed by the

advanced WHRHS Jazz Band, are:

“Diggin The Dorian,” by Richard Linton;

“So Cry Me A River,” by Arthur

Hamilton, arrangement Victor Lopez,

featuring vocalist Summer Stuart; “Feels

So Good,” by Chuck Mangione,

arrangement Victor Lopez; “The Gospel

Truth,” by Craig Fraedrich; and “Proud

Mary,” by John Fogarty , leader of

Creedence Clearwater Revival,

arrangement Dave Wolpe.

The members of the WHRHS Jazzy Band

are: Alto Sax, Conner Cheng, Alex

Martino, Manthan Naik, and Rahud

Verma; Tenor Sax, John Schmitt; Bari

Sax, Sean Witmaack; Trumpet, Zach

Cashman, Leah Lavender, Sam Jiang,

Lauren McAvoy, Elisabeth Russo;

Trombone, Chris Baker, Chad Huang,

Martina Lavender, and Nicole LoCascio;

Piano, Adrian Jackson and Adam

Moszczynski; Guitar, Alex Azarian and

Parents and fellow students filled the

portable seats of the Performing Arts

Center on-stage “Little Stage”

configuration, with its low lighting tones

and coffee house atmosphere, on Friday

night, April 5, to hear two Watchung Hills

Regional High School student jazz bands

explore the jazz compositions and

arrangements of the works of nine artists.

Conductor for the Jazz Showcase was

WHRHS Instrumental Music Teacher Paul

McCullen. Providing assistance and

playing piano at the concert

was WHRHS Music Teacher

Chris Wyatt.

“The two jazz bands operate

more like our Symphonic

Band and Wind Ensemble,”

McCullen explained. “The

Jazz Band is for more

advanced students that go

to adjudicated events, while

the second band is for

developing jazz skills and

learning to play in the genre. Both

ensembles are mixed grades 9 - 12.”

Both bands explored a mix of the familiar

with the not-so familiar. The Jazzy Band

tackled the familiar “Porgy and Bess”

favorite “Summertime” and Motown

favorite, “I Heard It Through the

Grapevine,” among others, while the

Advanced Jazz Band shared their best on

‘So Cry Me A River,” “Feels So Good,” and

“Proud Mary,” among others.

Senior Choral singer Sumer Stuart was

vocalist for two numbers, one with each

band.

In the process, WHRHS instrumental

music students soaked up a tutorial from

such notable composers as W.C. Handy,

George Gerschwin, Chick Corea, Whitfield

and Strong, Arthur Hamilton, Chuck

Mangione and John Fogarty.

The four numbers performed by the

WHRHS Jazzy Band are: “St. Luis Blues,”

by W.C. Handy, arrangement: Mike

Collins-Dowden; “Summertime,” by

George Gershwin, arrangement John

Jazz Showcase

Andrew Shi; Bass, Anjali Blow; Drum

Set, Anthony Azevedo and Eric

Peterson.

The members of the advanced WHRHS

Jazz Band are: Alto Sax, Timothe

Iroudayassamy and Brandon Tang;

Tenor Sax, Adam Moszczynski and Vijay

Subramanian; Trumpet, Ryan Branco,

Elliot DeGulio; Miah Manning;

Matthew Schaefer; and Kathryn

Sellinger; Trombone, Ryan Britten,

Omar Lateef, and Cristina Sarrico;

Guitar Zachary Goodman and Andrew

Shi; Bass, Kyle Merritts; Piano, WHRHS

Music Teacher Chris Watt; and Drum

Set, Max Schwartz.

Page 13 Newsletter

2019 Unsung Hero Student Recognition Program

Watchung Hills Regional High School

Senior Elizabeth Wood of Gillette was

among nine students from Somerset County

high schools honored by the Somerset

County School Boards Association at the

2019 Unsung Heroes Student Recognition

Program, Tuesday, April 3, in the

Performing Arts Center at WHRHS.

Robert Morrison, who is a longtime member

of the WHRHS Board of Education, hosted

the recognition as president of the SCSBA.

He was joined at the recognition by

numerous members of the SCSBA, as well as

various members of local Somerset County

school districts board members, school

officials from the schools attended by the

honored student unsung heroes, and by

parents and families of the honored

students.

Other students honored along with

Elizabeth Wood are: Abina Nimalashanthan

of Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High

School; Natasha Ishaq of Franklin High

School; Victoria Franco of Hillsborough

High School; Maria Castro of Manville High

School; Chilly Wallace of Montgomery High

School; Jeiner Betancourt Quintanilla of

North Plainfield High School; Grant Hilton

of Bernards High School; and Justin

Krishnamurti of Somerville High School.

When Elizabeth Wood was called up to the

stage as the ninth student recognized, she

was by no means a stranger to calls to the

PAC stage during her academic and

co-curricular career at WHRHS.

Earlier this school year, in October, she was

one of 97 students called to the stage to be

inducted into the National Honor Society.

Likewise in December, Elizabeth Wood was

among the more than 200 choral music

students who responded on cue to the stage

for the annual Winter Choral Concert.

Audiences at the annual Winter and spring

choral concerts are by now familiar seeing

Elizabeth Wood on stage as a member of the

Advanced Choir in the group’s Alto section.

She was among the student singers who

brought to life at this year’s Winter Concert

a broad array of songs in various musical

genres and styles, from tender

remembrances to rock-and-roll anthems

and empowerment statements. Among

them were: A set from the movie,

“Frozen;” the anthem from “The

Greatest Showman,” titled, “This is Me;”

a Tribute to Queen; a medley from

“Disney on Stage;” and John Lennon

and Yoko Ono’s by now annual seasonal

favorite, “Happy Christmas (War Is

Over).”

Elizabeth Wood is also no stranger from

being an empowering inspiration to all

who marveled at her achievement as a

WHRHS Warrior. She was born with

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a

genetic disease affecting the part of the

nervous system that controls voluntary

muscle movement. Nevertheless,

Elizabeth Wood has shown a lifelong

thirst for knowledge. She has

aspirations, after crossing the

graduation stage in Tozier Stadium this

June, to continue her academic journey,

possibly at The College of New Jersey,

Ewing Township, or Seton Hall

University, South Orange. She hopes to

study pre-law.

In introducing Elizabeth Wood to the

audience at the Unsung Heroes

Recognition Ceremony, WHRHS

Superintendent Elizabeth Jewett cited

the student’s exceptional achievements

in her rigorous course of academic

studies at WHRHS, as well as her active

participation in and contribution to: The

WHRHS Choir; the school’s Mock Trial

team; and Student Government.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to

speak about Elizabeth Wood, Watchung

Hills’ nominee for the Unsung Hero

Award,” said WHRHS Superintendent

Jewett. “Not only has Elizabeth

performed exceptionally well in some of

our high school’s most rigorous courses,

but when the bell rings at the end of the

day, Elizabeth is active in Chorus, Mock

Trial, and Student Government.”

The superintendent continued, “Her

classroom teachers marvel at her

intelligence, wit and engagement. Her

calculus teacher describes her as a ‘student

who works extremely hard, asks

appropriate questions, and cares about

helping fellow students to succeed.’ Her

physics teacher remarked he had never

seen a rising junior as excited to get

started with AP Physics questions.

“Elizabeth is not only a STEAM disciple,

her humanities teachers also marvel at

Elizabeth’s many talents; one of her junior

teachers misses having her in class

because of her intellectual ability, but

more importantly, this teacher recalled the

‘assiduous preparation’ Elizabeth

completed before class. Another social

studies teacher describes Elizabeth as a

‘class leader, team player who is funny and

kind to others.’”

In co-curricular activities, Elizabeth Wood

is also a stand-out, Jewett said.

“The student government advisor

describes Elizabeth as ‘a peer leader who

not only shows up for every commitment

with a positive ‘can do attitude,’’ but one

who is committed to service beyond our

school community- always modeling

appropriate behaviors for our younger

students.” Jewett said. “The Mock Trail

Advisor will remember Elizabeth not only

for being named earlier this year as ‘Best

Witness,’ at the Somerset County Court-

house, but also for her knowledge of each

case file and her insight into planning our

strategy for competition. Elizabeth read

carefully and could recall details precisely,

but she also understood how to synthesize

witness statements to frame a larger

argument.”

Page 14 Newsletter Page 14

Judges for the Talent Show were:

WHRHS English Teachers Heather

Farrington and Amita Lluveres; Science

Teacher Matthew Dellibovi; and students

Taylor Hestvick, Anachal Dhir, Ishika

Agrawal, Ryan Branco, and Ian Donnelly.

Student Vincent DeGeronomo acted as

host for the evening, introducing all the

acts.

The performances were:

“Today,” by Smashing Pumpkins,

performed by the band featuring

students: Kevin Lynch, Jake Dario, Pierre

Tejada and Anthony Russo;

“Frankenstein,” by Edgar Winter,

performed by the band featuring

students: Andrew Caffrey, Zach Good-

man, Sandy Friedman, Altay Kabukan,

and Kyle Merritts;

“Yesterday,” by The Beatles, performed

as an instrumental by the student duo,

Julian Lioanag and Brandon Tang;

“What You Got,” a dance piece performed

by the duo and identical twins, Jenna

Rokosny and Alexis Rokosny;

“A Moonlight Night on the Spring River,”

a traditional Chinese Dance performed

by student Isabella Zhou;

“Magic Act,” performed by student

Kathleen Kalb, with willing volunteers

Thirteen student acts, populated by

aspiring singers, musicians, dancers and/

or entertainers, participated in a friendly

competition at the 2019 ALS Talent Show,

Thursday, Feb. 21, in the Watchung Hills

Regional High School Performing Arts

Center.

The show is part of

a fund raising and

awareness raising

effort, organized by

the WHRH student

ALS club, called the

ALS Alliance.

The student

performers included

no less than:

Numerous student

bands; A solo

guitarist/singer and

a duet of instrumen-

talists performing

as a piano and bass duo; Two solo dance

performers as well as one dance duo

featuring identical twins; A magician

taking full advantage of the available

“jumbo tron” screen above the PAC stage

to give audience members an “up close”

view of her “can’t-figure-out-how-she

did-that” sleight-of-hand; And a crowd

pleasing finale that featured an “all-in”

performance of the iconic “Rocky Horror

Picture Show” classic song, “The Time

Warp.” The performance featured two

WHRHS English teacher singer/musicians

teaming up with two student actress/

singers/dancers, as well as audience

members and fellow talent show

contestants who knew the song by heart –

having grown up with it – and who were

not just invited, but encouraged, to come

up on stage to sing, dance and act as if

they were extras in an all-cast party scene

of the movie.

The annual event was to raise funds and

awareness for the ongoing effort to

research and find a cure and better

treatment protocols for Amyotophic

Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the debilitating

and fatal illness known to many as “Lou

Gehrig’s Disease.”

ALS Talent Show

from the audience. The act benefited

from a mini-video camera zeroing in on

a deck of cards on a table on stage,

which allowed audience members to

view on the theater’s overhead

jumbo-tron the magician’s skilled

sleight-of-hand;

“The Judge,”

by Twenty

One Pilots,

performed by

student Paul

Riedler;

“Break on

Through to

the Other

side” by The

Doors, and

“Money

(That’s What I

want),” by

Berry Gordy,

Janie Bradford and original singer

Barrett Strong, and covered most

famously by The Beatles, performed by

the student band featuring Thomas

Dardis, Ben Kosakowski, Mike

Kasokowski, Sam Boufford, and William

Broder;

“B.B.H.M.M.,” recorded and performed

by Rihanna, featuring student Hip Hop

dancer Joy Liu;

“All I Ask,” by Adele, featuring student

singer Malvika George;

“Do You Realize,” by The Flaming Lips,

featuring the mixed teacher-student

band, The Bertellicasters, featuring

Supervisor of Arts and Co-Curricular

Activities Dan Bertelli, Ben Kosokowski,

William Broder, and Thomas Dardis;

A Chinese YoYo demonstration,

featuring student Matt Luo;

And the Finale, “The Time Warp,”

featuring the mixed teacher-student

band, English teachers Michael Porter

and Kristin Czajka and student singers/

dancers/entertainers Kayla Martins and

Kyra Anthony, and the Rocky-Horror-

Page 15 Newsletter

ALS Talent Show (Cont’d)

Picture-Show-inspired audience and

fellow Talent Show Performer

enthusiasts, singing, dancing, milling

about as if at a party and laughing.

The Winners Are

The acts judged to be First, Second

and Third in the Talent Show were:

1st Place, “B.B.H.M.M.,” recorded

and performed by Rihanna,

featuring student Hip Hop dancer

Joy Liu; 2nd Place: “Frankenstein,” by

Edgar Winter, performed by the band

featuring students: Andrew Caffrey,

Zach Goodman, Sandy Friedman,

Altay Kabukan, and Kyle Merritts;

and 3rd Place: “Magic Act,”

performed by student Kathleen Kalb.

Page 16 Newsletter Page 16

Also in attendance as guests at the

unveiling ceremony were: Fine Art,

Mural Artist, Community Project Artist

and Community Art Teacher Cindy Klein

of West Orange, who collaborated with

the WHRHS Driver’s Education students

to create the mural; A number of

representatives from State Farm

Insurance Company, which helped fund

the project. Among the guests in

attendance were local agents Jean

DiGrande, of the Gillette Office, and her

husband, George DiGrande, who also is a

State Farm professional. The DiGrandes

are residents of Warren Township; And a

number of employees from the State

Farm Office just over the border of

Warren Township into the Martinsville

section of Bridgewater Township.

Among the WHRHS officials welcoming

the guests were: Superintendent

Elizabeth Jewett, Principal George

Alexis, and Health and Physical

Education and World Languages

Supervisor Brad Commerford.

The Driver Safety Education classes at

WHRHS fall under the purview of the

Health and Physical Education

Curriculum. The four WHRHS Health

and Physical Education Teachers who

teach Driver Safety Education Classes

are: Jill Gleeson, Sabrina Levy, Jennifer

Basini and Joseph Ascolese. The Driver’s

Watchung Hills Regional High School

Sophomores in this year’s Driver’s Safety

Education classes had the added benefit of

having some key messages about the

importance of

continually using

safe driving

habits, reinforced

by powerful

representatives

from the

community during

the unveiling

ceremony of the

“If It Saves Just

One” Driver Safety

Mural on Friday,

Feb. 22, in the

school’s South

Cafeteria.

The messages they

reinforced are:

Form the good habit of always obeying all

traffic signs and laws; always wear seat

belts and insist everyone in the car wear

seat belts; and never fall prey to distracted

driving habits, such as texting while

driving, excessively fiddling with the radio,

and always being alert to road conditions,

road construction detours and unexpected

maneuvers by other drivers.

At the unveiling ceremony, in addition to

hearing from their WHRHS Driver’s Safety

Education teachers – four WRHS Health

and Physical Education Teachers – the

students met and heard from guests from

the community, including: Sangeeta

Badlani, who is president of the Nikhil

Badlani Foundation of West Orange. She

is its founder, along with her husband,

Sunil. They are the parents of the late

Nikhil Badlani, who died at age 11 in 2011

when a driver ran a STOP sign at a busy

intersection on Wyoming Avenue in South

Orange; And four representatives from the

Warren Township Police Department:

Chief William Keane, Administrative

Commander, Lt. Eric Yaccarino; Traffic

Safety Officer, Patrolman Robert Apisa;

and WHRHS School Resource Officer, Det.

Joe Casorio.

‘If It Saves Just One’ Driver Safety Mural

Safety Education classes are taken by

sophomores. This year’s students

worked on their artistic contributions to

the “If It Saves Just One” Driver Safety

Mural project during

December and

January. Artist

Cindy Klein then

assembled the

collective student

artistic contributions

to create the mural

that was unveiled on

Feb. 22.

State Farm

Insurance provided

the grant that

supported the effort

by the Nikhil Badlani

Foundation to

reinforce the good

driving habit

messages taught in the WHRHS Driver

Safety Education classes. For more

information about the WHRHS Driver’s

Education Program, go to: https://

www.whrhs.org/academics/health-pe/

drivers-safety-education.

Sangeeta Badlani said that WHRHS is

the 21st school in New Jersey where the

Badlani Foundation worked with Driver

Education programs under the umbrella

of the Traffic Safety Artwork Project to

create murals to reinforce learning

messages. Among the most important

messages, and ones that were reflected

in the students’ contributions to the

mural, included staying alert, obeying

all traffic signs and laws, always wearing

seat belts, and never driving distracted.

In addition to promoting traffic safety

awareness, the Badlani Foundation also

works to expand and enhance the lives

of underserved children in West Orange

and neighboring communities through

individualized lessons for student

musicians, and college scholarships for

academically achieving seniors,

according to foundation literature.

“Nikhil was passionate about music, a

“straight-A” student, and an avid

Page 17 Newsletter

‘If It Saves Just One’ Driver Safety Mural (Cont’d)

reader,” according to the foundation’s

brochure. “Nikhil’s family has set up a

foundation to honor his memory and

spread the message that ‘STOP means

stop!’”

The Nikhil Badlani

Foundation elected to

immerse participating

students in the project

to spread the message

both to the students

who helped create the

art, and to all who view

the art. The goal was to

immerse the students in

an exercise to learn

about these very serious

messages in an

interactive,

interdisciplinary, living

learning and fun way.

About The Mural

The new “If It Saves Just One Driver”

Safety Mural is comprised of three 5 feet

tall by 3 feet wide panels – so, 5 feet tall

by 9 feet wide in total -- fastened to the

wall opposite to the kitchens in the

WHRHS South Cafeteria.

Mural Artist Klein explained that all the

students were organized into much

smaller groups of students to produce

some 40 drawings that Klein then

gathered together. She then condensed

the images, words, sayings and drawings

into the three panels.

Instead of using paints, ink markers,

colored pencils, crayons or charcoals,

Klein had the students use colored tissue

paper. The students would cut or tear the

tissue paper to fill the spaces they might

otherwise color with paints, ink markers,

pencils or crayons. They were taught how

to use multiple layers of colored tissue

papers to create both multiple

3-dimensional depths and multiple tints

and shades of color. The results were

fascinating, she said.

Klein then added outlining to the image,

using paints, inks, markers, crayons or

pencils. She included various random

images and lettering that were also

selected and worked on by the students.

She outlined these imagers and

letterings, much like what might be seen

in graphic novels, comic books and

crayon coloring books. The technique

helped give various elements “pop,” and

gradations of emphasis.

Finally, the diverse and various elements

were assembled by Klein into a collage or

montage, and adhered by use of an

acrylic gel on three sheets of plexi-glas.

Besides acting as an adhesive, the acrylic

gel also added another “pop,” producing

a clean, clear, crisp appearance. All this

helps to bring out colors, accentuate

outlines, and give it an overall finished

art appearance. The “tissue paper”

properties of the colored tissue paper, for

instance, is ever-so-slightly de-

accentuated in favor of highlighting the

“color and tint” properties. The color

wheel of the finished product seems to

include everything from basic primal

colors such as in a basic crayon box to

infinite gradations of shades and tints.

The

Klein said one of the outcomes she

hoped to achieve by choosing this

medium for the project is to give to all

the participating students, which no

doubt includes both highly-skilled

students who are heavily invested in

making high art and are enrolled in

WHRHS art classes, as well as those who

were not as invested in making high art.

She wanted to give all the students the

living-learning opportunity to be a part of

making something that would be proudly

displayed – a beautiful

work of community art --

at school for possibly

years and decades to

come. In addition, they

had a living-learning

opportunity to be part of

a community project that

stands a good chance of

making a significant

contribution to real life

driver safety in the

greater WHRHS area.

In studying the mural

from a distance, say from

half-way across the

cafeteria, the mural could

be described as a piece of abstract art,

exploring color and shape. It also appears

to fit in naturally with the two other

pieces of student-produced mural art in

the cafeteria: The roughly 31-feet by 2.5

feet Depression Era-influenced depiction

of industrial blue-color labor; and the

roughly 3.5 feet by 2.5 feet Jigsaw Puzzle -

influenced celebration of the broad range

of co-curricular offerings at WHRHS.

Looking closer, and trying to decipher and

discern the overall themes expressed by

the students through the mural, what

pops out are the very same recurring

themes and messages that Sangeeta

Badlani, Chief Keane, the Driver Safety

Teachers, and insurance professionals,

among others – and no doubt parents, as

well – have repeated over and over again:

Guard against distracted driving of all

sorts; be aware of, alert to, and obey all

street signs and laws, particularly, STOP;

exhibit good driving habits as a way to

teach younger siblings through parents

and elders how to drive safely; and stay

alert to driving conditions and the actions

of fellow drivers.

Page 18 Newsletter Page 18

2019 Arts Festival

Hundreds of pieces of art created by student artists were exhibited throughout the main entrance atrium, and up and down the

corridors surrounding the Performing Arts Center. The exhibit of student art featured pieces in a broad array of media generated by

WHRHS Visual Arts students in photography, fine art, painting, mixed art, crafts, weaving, jewelry, sculpting, fine woodworking,

mask decorating, computer generated poster art, ceramics, and music tech lab-computer mixed sound and music .

Page 19 Newsletter

2019 National Art Honor Society Induction

Parents, families, administration officials and teachers gathered in the lobby outside the Performing Arts Center , at Watchung Hills

Regional High School, on Wednesday, May 29, to congratulate 54 students who were inducted into the National Art Honor Society.

There were 20 new members, and 34 returning

members. The event was immediately followed

by the Artists Reception for WHRHS

Visual Arts students, their parents, and

teachers. They were attending the annual

Spring Arts Festival, sponsored by the WHRHS

Arts Department. At the Artists Reception that

followed the induction, the exhibit of student art

featured hundreds of pieces of art in a broad

array of media generated by WHRHS

Visual Arts students. The pieces of art in photography, fine art, painting, mixed art, crafts, weaving, jewelry, sculpting, fine

woodworking, mask decorating, computer generated poster art, ceramics, and music tech lab-computer mixed sound and music

were displayed throughout the school’s front atrium, PAC Lobby area, and up and down the corridors surrounding the PAC.

“Identity Crisis: A Showcase of Great American Scenes,” was presented by the

Watchung Hills Regional High School chapter of the International Thespian Honors

Society as part of the overall Spring Arts Festival, Wednesday, May 29, in the school’s

Theatre Arts Studio. Among some 30 students involved in the production, four were

student directors for the seven Great American scenes that were presented. The

student directors are: Kayla Martins,

Christine Tanko, Jacob Lesser and Anchal

Dhir.

Arts Festival Drama

Arts Festival Dance Ensemble Performance

Some 26 student dancers entertained audiences at two nights of the

2019 Watchung Hills Regional High School Dance Ensemble

Performance, Friday and Saturday nights, May 10 and 11, in the

WHRHS Performing Arts Center. The students performed some 13

pieces of modern dance at the shows. Many of the dances were

choreographed by the students of the ensemble, themselves. The

Dance Ensemble Adviser is Tara Catalina. The Dance Ensemble

Performance is part of a larger Arts Festival that occurs every year

during the Spring semester.

Newsletter Page 20

The audience of parents, relatives, guests, teachers and fellow students rewarded the Watchung Hills Regional High School

Symphonic Band and WHRHS Wind Ensemble with extended ovations, following performances at the 2019 Spring Symphonic Band

and Wind Ensemble Concert, Friday night, May 31, in the school’s Performing Arts Center. The Symphonic Band featured 66

student musicians, including eight seniors, and the Wind Ensemble featured 42 student musicians, including 18 seniors. As the

audience filed into the PAC from

the school’s front lobby, several

members of the two bands

entertained parents and guests

with several light arrangements.

The Symphonic Band performed

during the first half of the concert,

playing four selections and the

Wind Ensemble

performed during the second

half of the concert, playing six

selections. The Instrumental music students this year won several prestigious awards and honors. The Symphonic Band received a

Silver rating and the Wind Ensemble received a Gold rating at the CJMEA Band Festival. Accepted into the CJMEA Region II

Ensembles (including Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Orchestra and Jazz Band) earlier in the school year: Jeremy Cui, Katie Tan,

Alan Wang, Daniel Zeng, Daniel Zhang, James Narayanan, Matthew Schaefer, Ryan Branco, Ben Watkins, Shiv Goel, Cristina Sarrico,

and Andrew Muller. Accepted into the NJMEA All-State Ensembles are: Katie Tan, Daniel Zeng, James Narayanan, Matthew

Schaeffer, Cristina Sarrico, and Andrew Muller.

Spring Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble Concert

Spring Choral Concert

The student singers and instrumentalists of the Watchung Hills Regional High School Advanced Choir and a hybrid mix of WHRHS

Orchestra string musicians and WHRHS Wind Ensemble woodwind, brass and percussion musicians, were treated to the living-

learning experience of performing in a veritable “master class” toward the end of the school’s 2019 Spring Choral Concert on

Wednesday, June 6, in the school’s Performing Arts Center .

WHRHS Choral Music teacher and Choir Maestro

Angela DiIorio Bird, who is the WHRHS 2019

Teacher of the Year, was the architect of a bold

program that joined together the voices of some

165 WHRHS Advanced Choir singers with 55

WHRHS Orchestra and Wind Ensemble

instrumentalists who all welcomed the

accompaniment of four very special WHRHS

singing alum, including a professional opera singer.

The performance also included the participation

of a choir director from a sending district middle school, Green Brook Township, and the collective support of, it seemed, the school’s

entire music community, from the choral, instrumental and music tech programs. The performance seemed to be staged to honor the

singular and thunderous artistic achievement of composer Ludwig Van Beethoven. It was none other than his triumphant

masterpiece, “Symphony No. 9: Ode To Joy.”

As the performance rose to the lofty, full-throated aesthetics of voice and instrument, one might easily be drawn to conclude: The

spirt of Beethoven, himself, had been summoned, channeled, saluted and satisfied.

On top of all that, the Ode To Joy was just one selection among five the Advanced Choir performed at the concert. Immediately

following the Ode To Joy, the WHRHS Combined Choir, some 240 strong-plus, delivered the equally energetic, joyous and

triumphant annual singing of the concert-closing “Hallelujah Chorus” from “The Messiah,” by George Frederic Handel. That number

featured both the 165-member WHRHS Advanced Choir and the 80-member WHRHS Chorus, along with scores of WHRHS choral

alum in the audience who are familiar with the piece.

Page 21 Newsletter

Scores of Watchung Hills Regional High School graduating seniors were congratulated on Tuesday, June 11, in the school’s

Performing Arts Center, at two ceremonies: At a morning Senior Awards Assembly for the Class of 2019; and at an evening Memorial

Scholarship Ceremony.

Awards presented at the morning assembly were presented by WHRHS faculty and administrators. Scholarships presented at the

evening ceremony were presented by representatives of the awarding family, foundations or community organizations, including

parents, family members, organization members, or WHRHS Administrators or faculty.

Both ceremonies were opened with the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Class of 2019, with Opening Remarks by

Principal George Alexis. At the morning ceremony, students were also greeted, regaled, and encouraged by Class of 2019 Salutatorian

Jessica Yan.

Salutatorian Remarks

In her remarks acknowledging the completion of high school for her and her fellow graduates -- what she called one of the “most

significant milestones of their lives” -- Yan said she wondered how the Class of 2019 members would describe their last four years.

She said she had a hunch they would include words about the excitement and disappointment, ups and downs, achievement and

stress, and sleep deprivation. There would be descriptive words about both the positive and the negative, their failures and their

achievements.

Yan acknowledged that like when they started at WHRHS four years ago, when she and her classmates thought high school would be

so much better than middle school, now they likely hope that college and their future experiences will be likewise better than past

experiences.

She urged her fellow classmates to remember their last four years buoyed by the irony that: What made high school so special, like

everything else, was that it was also messy, that it was also unpredictable. “That’s what made it so beautiful,” Yan said. “The past four

years have been so imperfectly perfect. Still, we made our impact.”

She wished all her fellow Class of 2019 members: “Good Luck” in their future endeavors.

Senior Awards and Memorial Scholarships Ceremonies

Newsletter Page 22

When Terrance MacConnell started as Vice Principal some 17 ½ years ago, he had already spent 21 years in

education: As a History teacher at Immaculata High School, Somerville, for 3 ½ years; and as History and

Sociology Teacher at North Plainfield High School for 17 ½ years, where he also coached Football and Baseball.

Mr. MacConnell had graduated from Plainfield High School, and earned his undergraduate degree in History

from Kean College (now known as Kean University), Union. He went on at Kean, to earn his master’s degree in

Education. and choose.”

When Catherine Angelastro started at WHRHS 11 years ago, she brought with her some 26 years of experience

as a teacher, educational consultant, guidance counselor, guidance director, and coach. Mrs. Angelastro is a

graduate of Columbia High School, South Orange. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Education from Notre

Dame College, Baltimore, Md., and a master’s degree in Special Education from Loyola College, Baltimore. She

earned an ED.S. degree in Counseling Psychology from Seton Hall University, South Orange. She also earned a

certificate for Director of Pupil Personnel services and she holds New Jersey state licenses as a Marriage and

Family Counselor. For three years, Mrs. Angelastro taught students who are deaf and communication impaired.

For six years, she taught a self-contained Special Education class at New Providence High School, and for three

years, she was an educational consultant for Boonton Township. For 14 years, she served first as a Guidance

Counselor and then as Director of Guidance at Randolph High School. While at Randolph, Mrs. Angelastro was

a Cheerleading coach both at Randolph High School and for Randolph Recreation.

Susan Obuch has been em ployed at W HRHS since August, 2002. Her three children, Jessica,

Justin and Joshua, are all graduates of Watchung Hills. She was born and raised in Westfield. After graduation

from Westfield Senior High School in 1964, she attended Essex College of Business where she earned her

degree as a Certified Court Reporter. She worked in the court system for four years, than as a private secretary

for a large insurance company. Mrs. Obuch said she then moved onto her next and most challenging career

choice as a stay-at-home mom. “Having moved to Warren in 1977, I quickly became involved in volunteering at

the Warren schools as well as PTO, Project Graduation, book fairs, and was President of the Ladies Auxiliary of

the Mount Horeb Fire Department for 19 years.” After her children were grown she was eager to go back to

work and was given the opportunity to take an administrative position at Watchung Hills.

Bonnie Burgdorf began her career at W HRHS as the Assistant W HRHS Marching Band Director

in 1997. She continued her musical expertise as a Marching Band Assistant, began the Brass in Black Ensemble

and occasionally augmented some student performances by adding her talent as an experienced musician on

Trumpet. She supported school musicals and concerts as a musician and role model for student musicians, a

role she continued through to the 2018 Instrumental Music Concert and her retirement at the end of December

2018. She added her expertise in security concerns, and began working as a security aide in 2002, a role she

continued through to her retirement in 2018. Ms. Burgdorf became known to the entire WHRHS community

for her concern for the lives of teenagers, cooperative nature and ready sense of humor, her knowledge of all

students, her willingness to extend a hand to support all in need, and her ability to ensure the safety of all

members of the learning community. She served the students, staff and parents of WHRHS for 21 years.

Chris Beckert (Not Pictured) - Chris Beckert w as first em ployed at W HRHS as a substitute secretary in 2001. She

professionally served the district as the Administrative Assistant to the Director of Guidance until 2010, at which time she advanced

to become the Database Systems Administrator. She broadened her skills and knowledge through many webinars and training to

become a master in the use of the Genesis, the powerful student data tool. She successfully taught staff on all aspects of the Student

Information System. Mrs. Beckert was known for her determination to meet and decipher challenges and puzzles to find solutions to

support students. Likewise, she always remained a professional, and a mentor to all she worked with and for.

Retiring Faculty and Staff

Page 23 Newsletter

Retiring Faculty and Staff (Cont’d)

After graduating from West Essex High School, Brian Brown earned a bachelor’s degree from Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, and a master’s degree from the University of Santa Barbara, majoring in Materials

Science and Engineering. His teaching career began at Columbia High School, South Orange, and during the

past 27 years he has taught mostly physics at all levels as well as other sciences and math classes. “I’ve been at

Watchung Hills since 2004 and have taught physics, in addition to being the Robotics and Science League

adviser,” he said, as well as coaching the boys and girls tennis teams at the school for many seasons. During the

summers, I taught summer school classes, coached tennis at local clubs and ran my own tennis clinics at the

high school courts.”

Nancy Koppel began her career at WHRHS in September 2001, after having taught in North Plainfield for 10

years. She taught several Social Studies courses over the years, including United States, European and World

History, in addition to numerous elective courses. Koppel remained a lifelong learner, herself, taking online

courses and attending professional conferences to increase her knowledge base and to keep fresh on

methodology and pedagogy. She also kept up with the proliferation of technology-based learning tools, which

she infused into the classroom experiences for her students. Mrs. Koppel also shared her experience and

expertise as a valuable and integral part of the school community by leading new teacher mentoring programs,

participating in the SCIP Committee and being involved in the National Honors Society.

Laura Dunn began w orking at W HRHS in 2005, after having w orked for som e 13 1/2 years in

education as a Special Education Teacher, Learning Disabilities Specialist, Substitute Teacher and Guidance

Counselor. Mrs. Dunn graduated from Highland Park High School in Highland Park, Ill., a suburb north of

Evanston, Ill. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.,

and her master’s degree in Communication Disorders/Learning Disabilities from Northwestern University,

Evanston. She earned a second master’s degree in Counseling from Montclair State University, Montclair, and

N.J. Certifications for: Teacher of the Handicapped K-12; and Pupil Personnel Services K-12. Mrs. Dunn was a

Special Education teacher for one year at Buffalo Grove High School in Buffalo Grove, Ill., a suburb of Chicago,

Ill. She was a Special Education teacher for seven years at Waukegan East High School in Waukegan, Ill., also

just up the Lake Michigan coast from Chicago and Evanston. While at Waukegan, she served as the

assistant boys' tennis coach and assistant girls' gymnastics coach. She also earned supervisory certifications in

several areas of Special Education. After Waukegan, she was a Learning Disabilities Specialist for two years at a private psychiatric

day school in Chicago. There, she worked with children ages 5 -11 years, in one classroom. Later, she was a Substitute Teacher for two

years in various high schools in the suburbs of Detroit, Mich., before working as a Guidance Counselor for 1 ½ years at Wayne Valley

High School, Wayne, N.J. Mrs. Dunn has been a School Counselor at WHRHS for 14 years. During eight of those years, she was

co-adviser of the National Honor Society.

Shupin Taihsu has been teaching Chinese for seven years at W atchung Hills. She has been an

outstanding World Language educator who has imbued her students with the love of the Chinese Language and

Culture and has successfully led our students to state-wide recognition for their academic abilities in Chinese

studies.

Page 24 Newsletter Page 24

Graduation 2019

Several elements of the Watchung Hills

Regional High School 62nd

Commencement on Friday, June 21, were,

in retrospect, hauntingly, but perhaps

fittingly, foretold by the Class

of 2019 Salutatorian Jessica

Yan, while addressing her

fellow graduates at the Senior

Awards Ceremony, 10 days

before on Tuesday, June 11.

She urged her fellow

classmates to remember their

last four years at WHRHS

fondly, buoyed by the irony

that: What made high school so

special, like everything else,

was that it was also messy, that

it was also unpredictable.

“That’s what made it so

beautiful,” Yan said. “The past

four years have been so imperfectly

perfect. Still, we made our impact.”

Some 498 graduates in the Class of 2019

were greeted on their graduation day

morning knowing that the

commencement’s start time had already

been postponed two hours because of a

forecast from official weather forecasts

that the two-plus days of on-again, off

again rain, sometimes heavy, sometimes

little more than a bothersome but

incessant dripping, was forecasted to

finally clear by 10 or 11 a.m., Friday

morning. That would give grounds crews

enough time to wipe down benches in the

stands and folding chairs on the Tozier

Stadium football field, set up the

appropriate electronics for the sound

system, and get word to the relatives,

faculty, and staff that the time had

arrived. The rain had stopped.

Graduation was about to begin.

The students appeared to be neither

surprised nor bothered by the weather.

The Class of 2019 seemed to have faith

that the break in the weather on their

special day would happen. Sure enough,

just after noon, the perpetually wet

environment seemed to dry, and even

though the sky was still filled non-stop

with massive clouds, some seemingly

stained with various shades of blue ink,

there were also clear signs that the rain had

stopped long enough to proceed with the

outdoor graduation ceremony. For the

Class of 2019, their messy, unpredictable,

uniquely impactful, and dramatically

memorable moment of graduation and

triumph did, indeed, begin. Cue the

WHRHS Band. Let the academic

processional begin.

After the Senior Choral Group sang “the

Star-Spangled Banner,” and All School

Council President Gabriela Santos led the

“Pledge of Allegiance,” she began the

student speaker program of the ceremony

with opening remarks.

Senior Class President Arianna Valenti

spoke next.

Valedictorian Neelay

Trivedi followed with

a message to his

fellow classmates

that also seemed to

be in-keeping with

the personality of the

Class of 2019, but

concluding with an

emphatic marching

order for the

graduates to walk out of WHRHS with a

call to action.

Trivedi acknowledged that the Valedictory

speech is traditionally “academic in tone

and lofty in purpose.” He might be

expected to “dole out wisdom, quote

some famous people, give some life

advice, and leave you with a confident

send-off.”

He quickly dispelled those

expectations, he said, in

order to exceed them.

“Instead, I want to talk about

uncertainty,” he said. He

said some of his classmates

are graduating high school

with a certain amount of

nervousness about leaving.

“In many ways, high school

is one of the most organized,

stable environments you will

ever be a part of. For the

past four years, we’ve

focused our minds and

bodies on a really specific set of tasks

that we repeat over and over and over

again. Much of that ends with high

school graduation. Big picture is going

to come knocking. Hard,” he warned.

“Doubt, confusion and ambiguity are

fundamentally good things,” he said.

”So much of what we love, we don’t

anticipate. The people we meet, the

friends we make, the relationships we

cherish, the ideas we have, these all

start as unexpected things.”

Trivedi encouraged his fellow Class of

2019 members to embrace uncertainty.

“Be skeptical of words like tradition,

safety and security.” There is nothing

wrong with embracing these goals, but

they may not lead you to be

remembered, to be celebrated, to do

what you were meant to do.

He spoke about “We Humans,” and

argued that humans are essentially

animals. In answering the question,

“What is our purpose in this universe?”

Trivedi got to the heart of his bold

message to his fellow graduates.

“I think we were put in this universe to

test its boundaries, to break stuff, and

cause trouble. We’re supposed to be

missionaries in a foreign land,

Page 25 Newsletter

perpetual explorers of the unknown,

hunter-gatherers that should feel the crack of

the wind on our shoulders once in a while.

That’s why my favorite place at Watchung

Hills is the Breezeway and that’s why I think

there is nothing more romantic than dying on

another planet. We are designed to be

curious, restless, and impatient. So, get into

that wild side of things. Don’t be satisfied.

Don’t ever feel like you’re full, and that the

meal is over.”

Or put another way, he urged his fellow

Warriors: “Ask hard questions. Don’t live to

be enjoyed and consumed by others. If you

make enemies, whatever. If you make a

bunch of people angry, that’s OK. Play by

your rules. Be guided by your vision, your

ideas, and your sense of purpose.

Congratulations Class of 2019. You deserve

it. You made it to this point. Now welcome to

the jungle. Face it with courage, compassion

and a whole lot of crazy.”

Principal George Alexis

shared with the graduates

portions of his favorite

poem by the English Poet

John Keats, “On First

Looking Into Chapman’s

Homer.” In particular he

cited the memorable lines of

the poem that might be also uses to describe

the depth and the breadth of learning that

the members of the Class of 2019 have

absorbed during their four years at WHRHS,

“Much have I traveled in the realms of gold/

And many goodly states and kingdoms seen.”

Alexis, who himself once sat where the Class

of 2019 sat, as a member of the WHRHS

Class of 1984, shared some understanding of

what the graduates might be feeling, “This

morning, you might be reaching back for

memories of childhood, not sure where the

time has gone. You might be looking forward

to your plans in the fall, or ten years down

the road. You might be a little nervous and

unsure whether you’re ready to move on. But

perhaps that’s how you felt when you sat

together for the first time in the PAC, the day

before high school officially began.”

Since that time as first year students, the

members of the Class of 2019 have learned so

Graduation 2019 (Cont’d)

much, including being “inspired to be

curious about the world, discover who

you are, and find your path forward.”

“The difference this morning then lies

within you and your growing sense of

self-awareness. As you sit with your

classmates, knowing that your past and

future have come together in this

moment, and that you are part of

something much larger than yourself,

consider how you have contributed to

our tradition of excellence in the

classroom, on the stage, in the gyms,

and on the courts and fields. Consider

how you’ve learned lessons in empathy

and integrity and strengthened our

school’s commitment to service. And

consider the strength of the

relationships you’ve developed during

your time at Watchung Hills.”

WHRHS Board of Education Vice

President Rita Barone said she was

inspired in her choice of message to the

graduates, by the performance at this

year’s WHRHS “Spring Choral Concert.”

It was the song senior soloist Sophia

Perez, sang, “titled, “You Say,” by

songwriter Lauren Daigle.

She said at the time, she was feeling the

weight of the responsibility about

deciding what to say to the Class of 2019

at graduation.

“What could I say that would potentially

resonate with all of you,” Barone said

she asked herself. “ Then I attended the

Spring Chorus Concert and, music often

being a muse, I knew what I was going to

say to you graduates today, and this is it:

This Board of Education, the

administrators, the faculty, staff and

your families strive every day to provide

you support in your academics, athletic

competitions, extra-curricular activities

and wellness initiatives. The reason we

do this is simple. It is so that when you

leave here, you know the single most

important fact about yourselves, and

that is: ‘You Are Enough.’ There is no

better success focus than to know that

you believe in yourselves.”

Superintendent Dr.

Elizabeth Jewett

ushered the members

of the Class of 2019

into their future,

quoting an

inspirational athlete,

adventurer, activist

and motivational speaker, whose inner

strength led him to an extraordinary

achievement:

“Members of the Class of 2019, today

we celebrate the end of one chapter of

your life - in which collectively you

have excelled in the classroom, athletic

venues, fine and performing arts,

community service, and numerous

extra-curricular activities and

programs - and we mark the beginning

of a new and exciting next chapter. As

you embark on this journey through

uncharted territory, I urge you to look

to the way of life of Eric Weihenmayer,

an American athlete, adventurer,

author, activist and motivational

speaker, and the first blind person to

reach the summit of Mount Everest on

May 25, 2001. In 2005, he co-founded

No Barriers, a nonprofit organization

with the tagline, “What’s within you is

stronger than what’s in your way.” This

organization helps people of diverse

backgrounds and abilities develop a

mindset to attack challenges head on,

problem solve, build winning teams,

and serve others. Watchung Hills Class

of 2019- you have demonstrated to all

of us your curiosity, compassion, and

grit. I challenge you to lead a life of No

Barriers as you explore and share your

talents and gifts with the world at large,

and always remember, “What’s within

you is stronger than what’s in your

way.”

“Now I will ask the members of the Class of 2019 to please stand. We have one last task for you before you throw your caps and line up for the recessional: Please move your tassels from right to left. Congratulations, Watchung Hills Regional High School Class of 2019. Let the recessional begin.”

Page 26 Newsletter

Graduation 2019

Newsletter Page 27

Page 28 Newsletter

Athletic Signings

Three Watchung Hills Regional High School

students-athletes who plan to play sports at

Division I colleges and 13 who plan to play

sports at Division III colleges declared their

intentions of where they plan to play on

Wednesday, May 1, at a gathering of the

athletes, their parents and coaches and

WHRHS administrators in the school’s

Media Center. They are: Seated, from left:

Andrew Martins, Lola Constantino, Colleen

Farrell, Shannon Twill, Mary Farrell, and

Nick Ciraulo and standing, from left,

Connor Ashnault, Kevin Badger, James

McKenna, Vincent Mattaliano, Salvatore

Cianfano, Eddie Williams, Michael Salermo,

Brendan Wahlers, and Frank Medina.

Sixteen of the 23 Watchung Hills Regional High

School graduating seniors, who have signed

Letters of Intent to play sports at the colleges they

plan to attend this Fall, gathered for a group

photo in the school’s Media Center on

Wednesday, June 5. They are: Seated, from left:

Madelyn Murphy, Jessica Carrieri, Kaylee

Donnelly, Kelly Fitzgerald, Lindsay Wolf, and

Colleen Farrell; and standing, from left, Frank

Medina, Connor Ashnault, Jamie Tomassetti,

Maggie Farrell, Shray Parimoo, Shannon Twill,

Clement Shao, James McKenna, Kevin Badger,

and Andrew Martins. Not available for the photo:

Lola Constantino, Vincent Mattaliano, Nick

Ciraulo, Salvatore Cianfano, Brendan Wahlers,

Michael Salerno, and Edward Williams.

Division I

Kaylee Donnelly, soccer, at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa.; Lindsay Wolf, soccer, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst,

Mass.; Madelyn Murphy, Lacrosse, Monmouth University, West Long Branch; Kelly Fitzgerald, soccer, University of Rhode Island,

South Kingstown, R.I.; Jamie Tomassetti, Track and Field, Central Florida University, Orlando, Fla.; Jessica Carrieri, Soccer, Elon

University, Elon, N.C.; Lola Constantino, Fencing, Princeton University, Princeton; Vincent Mattaliano, Wrestling, Sacred Heart

University, Fairfield, Conn.; and Kevin Badger, Football, Monmouth University.

Division III

Andrew Martins, Baseball, Nichols College, Dudley, Mass.; Connor Ashnault, Cross Country/Track, Franklin and Marshall University,

Lancaster, Pa.; Shannon Twill, Lacrosse, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pa.; Colleen Farrell, Field Hockey, Ramapo College,

Mahwah; Maggie Farrell, Ramapo College; Nick Ciraulo, Wrestling, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken; Salvatore Cianfano,

Soccer, Farleigh Dickinson University, Florham Park; James McKenna, Baseball, The College of New Jersey, Ewing Township;

Brendan Wahlers, Lacrosse, Stockton College, Galloway Township; Frank Medina, Wrestling, Stevens Institute of Technology;

Michael Salerno, Wrestling, Scranton University, Scranton, Pa.; Clement Shao, Golf, Stevens Institute of Technology; Edward

Williams, Wrestling, York College, York, Pa.; and Shray Parimoo, Soccer, Rochester University, Rochester, N.Y.

Newsletter Page 29

Arrowhead editor-in-chief, Adnan Contractor, published a novel this month. It is called Banana Physics.

Approximately 20 students participated in the Junior State of America Winter Congress Conference in Arlington, VA . This JSA Winter Congress brought together Texas and the Mid-Atlantic region, as well as some international schools for a debate competition where students crafted their own bills for passage in the model congress. Co-president Jordan Ginsburg won a best speaker award.

Biology League II Team members, Neelay Trivedi, Vivian Wang, Manthan Naik, Benjamin Binstock, ranked 6th in the state after three rounds of competition. Individually, Neelay Trivedi is ranked in the top 10.

WHRHS Model UN participated in the University of Delaware’s Model UN Conference – “HENMUN.” The conference included hundreds of student-delegates from high schools across the United States who came together to simulate the actions of the United Nations. After three days of debate, numerous midnight crises, and countless hours of research, 4 of our 20 delegates were recognized for their outstanding efforts in their individual committees. HENMUN Honorable Mention Awards went to Enzo Ruta, Mark Elbrecht, and Vansh Harkawat. Outstanding Delegate award went to Marshall White.

Jordyn Youngelson attended the State FBLA conference in Atlantic City on March 21 and qualified for National FBLA conference in San Antonio, Texas in June.

Jagdeep Bhatia received a perfect score on the March 19 NJ Math League Contest. In addition, four of our students qualified for the AIME exam. Congratulations to Jagdeep Bhatia, Mayur Sharma, Daniel Zhang, and Kevin Fu.

WHRHS Boys Golf Team Skyland Conference Delaware Division Champions

The Hills Final Roundup

WHRHS Fencing Team 1st Place—District 3 Sabre Team Champions

WHRHS Girls Track Team North II, Group IV State Sectional Champions

Page 30 Newsletter

The Hills Final Roundup (Cont’d)

“Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a

flame.”

William Butler Yeats

Diversity Club member Senior Aalyiah Bouza was nominated for the Paul Robeson Achievement Award.

WHRHS Jazz Band attended the Elizabeth Jazz Festival held at Elizabeth High School on March 15 and were awarded Silver. They were also awarded Best Trumpet Section at this event. Matthew Schaefer was awarded Featured Soloist (trumpet).

James Narayanan was accepted to the Region II Jazz Band Region auditions.

WHRHS Symphonic Band was awarded Silver and the WHRHS Wind Ensemble was awarded Gold at the CJMEA Band Festival held at Summit High School on March 19. The Wind Ensemble also attended the Metropolitan Wind Band Invitational at Roxbury High School on March 21.

Dave Ki and Tyler Wu were accepted into the NJMEA All-State Orchestra.

John Prendergast, human rights activist and author of The Congo, spoke to students on Friday, March 29, about his experiences in the Congo. He ate lunch with the Diversity Club students and their advisers, before giving two presentations to a group of history students.

Eighteen Watchung Hills students volunteered for the Saturdays in Motion Program at the Somerset Hills YMCA. This program completed its 27th year and is the longest running and largest non-public recreational program for children with autism and their families in the country. The student volunteers are are Elizabeth Askin, Maia Buckwald, Adam Cardoza, Kaitlin Chin, Kristin Chin, Natalie Curtiss, Gavin DeFuria, Justin DeFuria, Kristen Hamilton, Olivia Hayes, Abigail Langer, Emily Hold, Andrew Malfetti, Luke Malfetti, Megan McGee, Nick Miller, Margo Stefurac, and Jonathan Walpow.

WHRHS student Roopa Irakam earned the National Speech and Debate Association’s Academic All American award. This award recognizes academic rigor, competitive speech and debate success, and personal excellence. From more than 141,000 student members of the National Speech and Debate Association, fewer than 1,000 students earn the Academic All American award every year. This prestigious accomplishment places Roopa among the top one percent of all student members across the country.

Seniors Sarah Dang and Jeremy Cui have been offered college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for use at the institution that is financing it. Sarah was offered the National Merit University of Chicago Scholarship sponsored by the University of Chicago, and Jeremy was offered the National Merit Northeastern University Scholarship sponsored by Northeastern University (Massachusetts).

Pursuant to an agreement with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, Senior Isabel Vala has been selected as a winner of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Scholarship. This scholarship award is sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Inc.

On May 15, approximately 150 students went to Raritan Valley Community College to showcase their work, be adjudicated by

professionals, and take Master classes with music and arts professionals.

The Junior Grade Level Council hosted this year’s Junior Semi-Formal on Friday, April 26 at the Pines Manor in Edison, NJ. It was a wonderful evening full of smiling faces, delicious food and dancing throughout the evening. There were approximately 400 guests in attendance.

On April 29, all eighth-grade students were invited to attend our annual Eighth-Grade Orientation. The evening program took place in the PAC. The leadership team welcomed the students and provided insight into life as a first-year student at Watchung Hills. Our guests then heard from a panel of our current students before attending an athletics and co-curricular fair. Parents of incoming student-athletes were invited to a presentation given by the athletics and health offices, and all parents were invited to the co-curricular fair.

On May 3, our first ever Freshman Band Concert was held in the PAC. The concert featured curricular instrumental offerings from the Freshman Concert Band and Orchestra classes. The Orchestra performed Beethoven's Ode to Joy with the Chorus on May 30th at the Spring Concert.

We are pleased to announce that Amay Mehta is the recipient of the 2019 Allergan Foundation Scholarship, which is given each year to outstanding National Merit students.

Watchung Hills Regional High School

108 Stirling Road Warren, NJ 07059

Phone: 908-627-4800 Fax: 908-647-4853