School Highlights May 2019 In This Issue Spring Youth Summits 2019 Arthur L. Johnson High School .........................17 Four SONJ Berkeley Township ..............................................6 Spring Youth Summits were Burlington Township High School.......................9 held this year: Burnet Middle School .......................................11 North I Clayton High School .........................................15 Friday, May 17 - Delaware Valley Regional High School ...............4 The College of St. Elizabeth, Delsea Regional High School ............................10 Morristown East Hanover Middle School ...............................5 South Frank J. Smith Elementary School ....................15 Tuesday, May 21 - Riverwinds Community Center, Deptford Freehold Township High School ........................18 North II High Bridge Middle School .................................5 Wednesday, May 22 - Randolph High School, J. P. Stevens High School ..................................16 Randolph Lanoka Harbor Elementary School ...................11 Central Lyndhurst ...........................................................2 Friday, June 7 - SONJ Sports Metuchen High School .......................................3 Complex, Lawrenceville Monroe Township High School .........................14 In attendance were over 400 UCS youth leaders, representing Morristown High School ...................................12 32 schools: Burnet MS Lincoln MS Roosevelt MS Mount Olive High School ..................................18 Chatham/ECLC HS Metuchen HS Rutherford HS Delsea HS Mt. Olive HS Sayreville MS Old Bridge High School ......................................8 Delsea MS New Brunswick HS Steinert HS Overbrook High School .......................................5 Florence HS Old Bridge HS Union Avenue MS Franklin HS Overbrook HS Union City HS Parsippany Hills High School ............................12 Hamilton HS West Parsippany HS Washington Twp HS Hillsborough HS Parsippany Hills HS Woodlynne ES Pond Road Middle School .................................17 Jefferson School Pond Road MS Woodrow Wilson MS Randolph High School ........................................8 Kawameeh MS Randolph HS (Clifton) Kingsway Regional HS Robbinsville HS Woodrow Wilson (NB) Ridge High School ............................................11 The students intermingled on the playing field, presented on Sayreville War Memorial High School ...............19 the highlights of their 2018-19 activities, celebrated one anoth- Spring Youth Summits 2019 .......................... 1, 20 er’s accomplishments and shared ideas to plan for next year. Union City High School .....................................12 See page 20 Voorhees High School .......................................13 for more West Morris Regional High School District .......16 photos and click here to Woodrow Wilson Middle School (Clifton) .........17 see the rest Woodrow Wilson (New Brunswick) .....................7 on Flickr. Office of Special Education Programs Page 1 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights May 2019 Lyndhurst May was another exciting month members in sixth, seventh, and students who were honored for the Lyndhurst Unified Club. eighth grades participated in a presented the Lyndhurst Unified At the beginning of the month, Faculty vs. Unified Club kickball Club 2019 video to the board. Unified Club participated in the game. Students enjoyed compet- Color Run, and they had their ing against their teachers. Also in May, Lyndhurst eighth first fundraiser bake sale dur- grade students attended the ing this event. It was a great day On May 20th, 15 students were SONJ Spring Youth Summit filled with color, laughter and honored at the Lyndhurst Board at Randolph High School. The fun. Tuesday, May 14th was the of Education meeting for exhibit- students enjoyed sharing their last Unified Club meeting of the ing outstanding leadership abili- experiences, and meeting new school year. To end the year, club ties, as well as teamwork during friends as they participated in Play Unified Club meetings. The outdoor activities. Click here to watch the Lyndhurst Unified Club 2018-2019 video. Office of Special Education Programs Page 2 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights May 2019 Metuchen High School Metuchen High School was busy during May. They participated in “Project Adventure,” played kickball and backyard games, and had a therapy dog visit with them. Some students volunteered at Armed forces Appreciation Day at a local school to honor servicemen and women. In addition, they had a social to pass the torch to new the students, who will be involved in the Unified PE class next year, and spoke to their parents and guardians about their Unified pro- gram. Pizza and dessert were served. Office of Special Education Programs Page 3 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights May 2019 Delaware Valley Regional High School Delaware Valley Regional High School held Disabilities Aware- ness Week in May. They had two fundraising events: cookie tast- ing and foul shot contest. Stu- dents signed up and paid $2 to be a cookie taster judge and to take foul shots. They raised $78 and the students had a great time during the lunch hour for this event. They also required the students to read informa- tion about disabilities and sign the inclusion poster. In addition, they celebrated yet another successful Unified Buddies Club year by taking field trips. Freshmen and sopho- mores went to Sky Zone and enjoyed pizza at lunch. Juniors and seniors went to the 9/11 Memorial Museum. A great time was had by all. The Delaware Valley Unified Track and Field team had a fabu- lous year and finished out their season in May. Office of Special Education Programs Page 4 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights May 2019 Overbrook High School East Hanover Middle School The Overbrook The East Hanover Middle School Play Unified High School Club met once during the month of May 2019. This was their last meeting. Attendance was Unified Club slightly down due to numerous sports games made books and events both at school and in town lead- for their senior ing up to the end of the year. As a result, the members. number of students with special needs attend- ing and those without approached a 1:1 ratio. Attendance at the May 2019 meeting was open to all members who attended any other meet- ing this year. Play Unified Club members have continued to wear their club t-shirts during the school day on days when they have a meeting, which has helped spread their message of re- spect and inclusion. For their final meeting, they started in the Media Center with a guided meditation around the topic of growth and new experiences. After being verbally guided through relaxation tech- niques and an exercise to cultivate presence, students were encouraged to focus on how they feel they have changed or what lesson they have learned over the course of their participation in Play Unified this year. After the meditation, students were invited to share one takeaway from their Play Unified experience this year. Many shared favorite memories with students who were new friends they made through Play Unified and thoughts about the importance of being open to meeting people who are different from them. The adviser thanked the students High Bridge Middle School and let them know that she was proud of them and honored to share this experience with them. The High Bridge Middle School’s last The second half of the meeting provided stu- meeting date was May 9. They had an dents the opportunity to engage in interactive end of the year party where students ate play activities in the cafeteria and outside in Rita’s ice. They played yard games with the main courtyard of the school. Activities partners and in groups. They also dis- included four squares, Connect Four, conver- cussed what they liked about the club and sation starter cards, Battleship, puzzles, and drawing/coloring. what they would like to see next year. Office of Special Education Programs Page 5 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights May 2019 Berkeley Township Students had fun on their Strider bikes in Unified PE! Here are some pics of them cruising in the gymnasium. Students are loving these!!! Office of Special Education Programs Page 6 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights May 2019 Woodrow Wilson (New Brunswick) Here are some pictures of the Woodrow Wilson (New Brunswick) Play Unified May events: Unified Game Day at Rutgers, Unified Fun Run (with their amazing fans) and their Unified Rec Night- Masquerade Prom! Office of Special Education Programs Page 7 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights May 2019 Randolph High School Click here to watch news coverage of the May 22nd Youth Summit that News 12 has on their website: Education Matters – Randolph High School hosts ‘Project Unify Youth Summit.’ Old Bridge High School Old Bridge High School takes a quick little photoshoot with their purple “Inclusion Revolution” shirts. Office of Special Education Programs Page 8 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights May 2019 Burlington Township High School May 10 was “Black and Gold Night” at Burlington Township High School. The Unified Club played bucketball (but had so much fun that they didn’t get a picture) and they cheered on their teams with the rest of the school! One of their presidents was a team captain :) At their May 16 meeting, they made decorations, glitter calm down bottles and wrote to pen pals from Nevada. Office of Special Education