School Highlights April 2019 In This Issue Unified Cup Basketball Tournament Burlington Township High School.....................11 There was a lot of fun had at this year’s Uni- Burnet Middle School .......................................10 fied Cup Basketball Camden Street School .........................................5 tournament. Eleven col- Delsea Regional High School ............................13 lege teams and six high Fountain Woods Elementary School ...................6 schools competed in Frank J. Smith Elementary School ......................8 the tournament held on Sunday, April 7, 2019 at Grant Elementary School ..................................11 Princeton University. Gregory Elementary School ................................8 Holmdel ..............................................................3 Division 1: Drew Univer- Lyndhurst ...........................................................4 sity, Montclair University, RCGC, Rowan University, Stockton University and Georgian Court. Lyndhurst Unified Club Presents Spirit Week ...14 Metuchen High School .......................................9 Division 2: Kean University, Mercer, Rider University, Rutgers Moorestown High School ..................................10 and TCNJ. Mount Olive High School ....................................3 High School: Hamilton High West, Montgomery High, Parsippany Hills High School ..............................3 New Milford High, Ridge High, Cinnaminson and Newark Pond Road Middle School ...................................8 JFK/WestSide. Rutherford High School ......................................2 Final results are as follows: Rowan defeated Montclair 56 to Somerville High School ......................................2 48 in the Championship game in D1, TCNJ defeated Georgian Unified Cup Basketball Tournament ...................1 Court 33 to 27 in the Championship in D2 – this was TCNJ’s Union City High School .......................................7 first ever Championship in program history and Montgomery Voorhees High School .......................................12 defeated Newak JFK/WestSide 43 to 39 in the Championship in the HS division. West Morris Regional High School District .......10 Click here for more fun photos on Flickr. Office of Special Education Programs Page 1 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights April 2019 Somerville High School The Somerville High School bulletin boards throughout ing RESPECT week. Respect (SHS) Unified Bowling season the hallways. Life Skills stu- week was planned completely came to a close in March, but dents, paired with peer men- by the students and focused their Unified Club (Peer2Peer) tors, appeared on the morn- on educating peers through had a very busy month. Since ing announcements each day games and activities. April is Autism Awareness with facts and statistics about Month, many of their activi- ASD. Students and staff were The Life Skills teachers and Uni- ties were focused on educat- encouraged to participate in fied Club members began visit- ing the students at SHS about Autism Speaks’ “Light it Up ing Freshman classes to recruit Autism Spectrum Disorders Blue” campaign by changing new members and teach them (ASD) and how they can be- out traditional light bulbs for about the Inclusion Revolution, come more involved with the blue ones. Unified Sports, and how to get Life Skills students. involved. SHS students also The Unified Club was thrilled signed the “Choose to Include” The Unified Club designed to receive the new Inclusion pledge banner during their giant puzzle pieces with facts Revolution shirts from Special lunch periods, while Unified about ASD and hung them in Olympics New Jersey! They Club members explained the the lunchroom. They created distributed them to wear dur- meaning of the pledge. Rutherford High School Unified club at pep rally. Office of Special Education Programs Page 2 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights April 2019 Holmdel Mount Olive High School The students in Holmdel participated in a myriad of activities in April. Holmdel High School and Satz Middle School: Stu- dents had their first practice for Unified Track and Field. They had a brief team meeting before prac- tice to introduce new members. After that, they went down to the track for a warm-up. Following the warm-up, the team completed a 400m run. They cooled down and then went over what the starting position looks like. Team UNIFY High School: Students worked togeth- er to collect non perishable items to donate to the Redbank Lunch Break Food Bank. They will be drop- ping the food off and taking a tour of the facility and also learning about volunteer opportunities. Team UNIFY Satz: Student athletes warmed up with a slow jog around the track. They then ran through drills (high knees, butt kicks, walking lunges, side leg swings) and reviewed proper running form. Next, they played the centipede game to get every- one more comfortable with running. They ended with a continuous relay game in two teams before cooling down and stretching. William R. Satz School: Planned a Spring bake sale Parsippany Hills High School and decided what everyone would bring. They Parsippany Hills High School has three made posters and flyers to hang around the school. student athletes who are very new to They also planned activities for their last two meet- Unified Track and are participating in ings (bake sale, Karaoke, just dance and kickball and the shot put. Their Unified partners are ice cream party). The also played ”Finish my sen- all participating in field events. How- tence” game and ate snacks. ever, since their athletes have started to participate, the general education Indian Hill School: Practiced warm-ups, stretch- peers who participate in the shot put, ing. They did a 1/2 mile jog around track and team have taken their athletes under their building games. wings. The inclusiveness that is seen at Village Elementary School: Ran relay races with every practice seems to be very seam- stacking cups, hurdles and relay races with batons. less and effortless. Office of Special Education Programs Page 3 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights April 2019 Lyndhurst This month, the Lyndhurst Uni- fied Club continued their two monthly Tuesday meetings after school from 2:50 to 3:50. They also had a kickball and basketball tournament where students from Memorial, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt School met at Jeffer- son School Field for this exciting event. Students had a great time competing against each school. At the end of the month, the entire district participated in Uni- fied Club Week of Respect. During that week, each day had its own theme: Motivational Monday – Dress as a favorite superhero. Students are asked who will you become? Tourist Tuesday – Dress up as a tourist, ready to vacation. Stu- dents are encouraged to wear hats, cargos, and floral shirts. Workout Wednesday – Wear exer- cise clothing and sneakers. Uni- fied Club members lead a school wide minute of active time each period. We are Lyndhurst Thursday – Wear school colors which are blue and gold. This day all Unified Club members in Lyndhurst meet at the high school field for an Ulti- mate Game Day. Flashback Friday – Dress up in your favorite decade. During this week, Unified Club works to put together a video about Inclusion and Unified Club. See page 14 to see how Lynd- hurst promoted their Unified Club Spirit Week. Office of Special Education Programs Page 4 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights April 2019 Camden Street School April was a busy month of inclusion for Camden Camden Street has a regular monthly dance in Street School. However, month to month, at collaboration with Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. Camden Street, they find that inclusion is not Dancers from the troupe visit Camden Street something they have to strive to achieve – they’re School to work with inclusive groups of students, already doing it quite naturally in so many classes guiding and teaching them effective dance tech- and activities. Read on for some examples. niques and movements. The groups of participat- ing students are inclusive, learning and dancing in Camden Street chess champions won their 6th each and every class. straight Newark Public School District Chess Title In celebration of Autism Awareness Month, one of in the Landsburger Chess Tournament. Their the inclusive activities was done in collaboration team competed against more than 80 students with Home Depot. Employees from Home Depot from the Newark school district. They had a col- brought hammers and other tools for the students lective record of 43 wins with just 19 losses. Out to learn how to use them effectively. Students of the team’s 14 members, 3 are special needs worked with Home Depot to help organize the students. One of these special needs students event, and assisted them with setup and cleanup. placed third in this chess competition. All of the students, both special needs and non-spe- cial needs, picked up some very useful DIY skills. In an art contest for 2-D and 3-D projects with the theme of black history and influential black In addition, Every “Specials” teachers (dance, leaders and people, one of the special needs stu- music, instrumental music, art, and STEM classes) dents, who is very talented in art, won first prize. has at least one inclusive class every day. Office of Special Education Programs Page 5 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights April 2019 Fountain Woods Elementary School Each week, on the Fountain Woods Elementary