CHIEF’S REPORT PISCATAWAY HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS Jason Lester, Principal October 2016 MESSAGE FROM MR. LESTER It’s beginning to look and feel like fall. The leaves are changing to autumn brown and orange, which provides us with a beautiful view as we drive through the great state of New Jersey. We are in full swing at PHS. I cannot emphasize this enough - the students in Piscataway are doing tremendous things inside and outside of the classroom. Our BioMedical Program received the 30th Annual School Leader Award from New School Boards in late October. This is an outstanding job by the Science Department. Special thank you to Dr. Murphy, Dr. Szeto, and Ms. Wilson, the front line leaders of the program. We our very proud of Elise Merritt who is a 2017 National Merit Program Semifinalist as well as six other students that achieved the Commended Student status (Arth Baghel, Sarah Cianfrone, Danghuy Nguyen, Jovan Snyder, Catherine Wang, and Susan Wu), a fine group of young people. All students were involved in an array of activities during the Week of Respect through Violence Awareness and Prevention programs. The FBLA students hosted their annual Haunted House for younger students on October 28, which is always well attended. If you want to learn more about what students and teachers are doing in PHS please read on… Strength & Honor PHS HAPPENINGS STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT National Merit Program The list below contains the name of our Semifinalist as well as those students named as Commended Students in the 2017 National Merit Program. Congratulations to all! Semifinalist Elise Merritt Commended Students Arth M. Baghel Sarah L. Cianfrone Danghuy Nguyen Jovan L. Snyder Catherine D. Wang Susan Wu KEY CLUB NEWS The Piscataway High School National Honor Society Class of 2017 kicked off their year of service with a food drive. Eight hundred pounds of food was collected and donated to FISH, a food pantry serving the Piscataway and Dunellen area located on Williams Street in Piscataway. Pictured from left to right (PHOTO 2471) are NHS officers: Sameen Siddiqui, Treasurer, Chimdi Chukwu, Secretary, Kevin Carolina, President and Eyad Warraky, Vice President of Service. SCIENCE Science Trip to Hacklebarney State Park On October 21, Mr. Flynn and Mr. Bellew took 27 Advanced Placement Environmental Science students on a field trip to Hacklebarney State Park. The teachers developed some challenging questions for this group relevant to the AP curriculum, and based on their answers in the field trip handout, it was evident that their experience in the woods reinforced the concepts taught in the classroom. Furthermore, students were able to observe how animals (insects, salamanders, toads) interacted with plants and the abiotic aspects of the forest and other environmental science concepts such as food chains/ food webs, organism life cycles, bio- decomposition, water cycle, etc. Students were able to observe all of these concepts "hands-on" at Hacklebarney. SOCIAL STUDIES The social studies department has been busy this fall integrating Election 2016 lessons and activities into the classroom, including issues debates and a school wide Mock Election coordinated by Ms. McGowan through the New Jersey Council for Social Studies. The results are in! For President: Clinton/Kaine (D) - 72.4% Trump/Pence (R) - 12.3% Johnson/Weld (L) - 8.3% Stein/Baraka (G) - 7% For 6th Congressional District: Pallone (D) - 86.5% Sonnek-Schmelz (R) - 13.5% Should term limits be imposed for members of Congress, including both the Senate and the House of Representatives? Yes - 74.7% No - 25.3% Should New Jersey’s gasoline tax be raised twenty-three cents per gallon to fund repairs and improvements to the state’s roads and transportation infrastructure? Yes - 30% No - 70% COUNSELING NEWS Students, staff, parents, and volunteers from Piscataway High School Life Skills and Autistic programs participated in the New Jersey Pride Parade on Friday October 7. The students marched from the State House to West Lafayette with the Alliance Center for Independence. The purpose of the parade is to bring people and organizations together to celebrate pride among the disability community and to promote the belief that disability is a natural and beautiful part of human diversity. The students presented a PWAY Pride banner and individual statements of pride and accomplishment. VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS NEWS Superchiefs are Super! Piscataway Superchief Marching Band took 2nd Place at the US Bands State Championship, winning the caption award for Best Visual Performance. The kids were very happy with their performance and, although it was a cold & very windy night, they still achieved a high level of performance. Go Superchiefs! THE WEEK OF RESPECT & SCHOOL VIOLENCE AWARENESS WEEK Respect & Kindness Goes a Long Way! The goal is to place an emphasis on recognizing the diversity at PHS and respect ourselves, respect others, and respect our school community. Respect Week 10/3/16 - 10/7/16 During the Week of Respect, Ashton Burrell, a graduate of Highland Park High School and Lincoln University, addressed the entire student body encouraging each student to show respect for themselves and for the entire school community. He shared his story of overcoming obstacles of disrespecting himself and his teachers. Ashton explained how he discovered his passion and love for helping others at the early age of 19 while attending Lincoln University. He has written his first book Impact, which was released in September 2016. Ashton has received the Highland Park Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award and Spread the Word 2nd Annual Humanitarian Award. Additionally, Johnson & Johnson honored Ashton with their MLK Community Service Award. Ashton’s ability to connect to the students provide a strong sense of connection and pride here at PHS. School Violence Awareness Week (10/17-10/21) PHS Students pledge Against School Violence: As a student of Piscataway High School I will treat people as I wish to be treated. I believe that everyone has the right to a free and safe school community Therefore, I pledge to: Understand that PHS is a Special Place Inspire the Best in Myself and Others Care About Others by Demonstrating Acts of Kindness And Stand Up Against Bullying Whenever & Wherever I See It. Congratulations to the Class of 2017 for winning our Pledge Campaign; Bivi Baby, Angelimani Bateman, Kevin Carolina, Olivia Greene, Lance Justinianai, Megha Nigam Kavita Patel Rushil Patel, Nathalie Torres, Richard Valentin (missing from the picture: Olivia Greene and Rushil Patel) Class of 2018 supporting our Pledge Campaign: Bethea Maki, Syeda Husain, Shurti Mantha, Swetha Nandaxumar, Jessica Nesler, Kiara Reynolds, Sanjana Sukumanran & Lydia Zeller Class of 2019 supporting our Pledge Campaign: Donna Bardecker & Anisa Kamara Class of 2020 supporting the Pledge Campaign; Katarina Rodriguez & Isabel Almerco School Violence Awareness Assembly Det. Higgins & Det. Myers joined Dr. Gutches, PHS Behaviorist, during a School Violence Awareness training for the 9th and 10th graders. The training addressed what is school violence, facts about school violence, things that contribute to school violence and what students can do to prevent school violence at PHS. Dr. Gutches provides resources such as www.DOSOMETHING.ORG . This website is one of the largest online organizations for young people to get involve with making a social change. If You Feel Down? Talk to a trained crisis counselor. Text “DS” TO 741-741. Free, 24/7. Confidential. Det. Higgins explains his role as the School Resource Office for PHS along with the importance for everyone to feel safe in school. “If you see something going on in school say something.” He encouraged the students to continue to have pride in themselves and PHS. Det. Myers explains how social media impacts on school violence. Students should think first before posting anything on social media. Random Act of Kindness Initiative As a part of our goal to place emphasis on recognizing the diversity at PHS and respect ourselves, respect others and respect our school community during the Month of October teachers & staff were provided with Anti-Bullying Bracelets to recognize students during as a part of this Initiative. Congratulations to the following students who received a bracelet: Last Name First Name GR First Name Last Name GR ABDULFATTAH AFIFSHEIKH 11 MACAULEY NORMIE 11 ALMERCO ISABEL 9 MANTHA SHRUTI 11 AMORES JOCELYN 10 MCCOMB WILLIAM 12 ARIAS JENISA 11 MORRIS JANAE 10 ASHAN SAAD 12 NANDAXUMAR SWETHA 11 BABY BIVI 12 NATH TEJA 10 BABY BIVI 12 NELSON MALCOM 9 BARDECKER DONNA 10 NESLER JESSICA 11 BATEMAN ANGELIMANI 12 NIGAM MEGHA 12 BETHEA MAKI 11 PAPANIER CHRISTINE 12 BROOKS RONALD 12 PATEL NEHA 12 BUCCI NICHOLAS 12 PATEL KAVITA 12 BYNUM GARY 9 PATEL RUSHALI 12 CHAPMAN BRIANNA PATEL HIMANSHUKUMAR 12 12 CANTON GIOVANNI 9 PEREZ RUTH 11 ALLYZA CAPILI 12 PLYLER NICHOLAS 12 MONIQUE CARLON HUNTER 12 PUTAL AL NASRI 12 CAROLINA KEVIN 12 REYNOLDS KIARA 11 CEPEDA FAITH 12 RIVERA EVIAN 12 CIFUENTES EMELYN 9 RODRIGUEZ KATARINA ESCOBAR 9 DEEPAN MIA 9 ROLLACK KAYLA 10 D'SOUZA SUSANA 12 RUCKI DOMINIQUE 9 FLORES JEA MARIE 12 SALMON MATTEW 11 FOWLKES LOUIS 12 SELINGER KATHRYN 12 FRANK GARY 12 SHARMA MANAV 10 GALL ZACHARY 9 SINGH ERIC 12 GARVIN JONAY 10 SNYDER JOVAN 12 DILLARD GRAB MICHAEL 10 SPANN JASMINE 12 GREENE Olivia 12 SUBRAMANIAN JANANI 12 HANZICH ADALAINA 12 SUKUMARAN SANJNA 11 TAYLOR 12 TAY XAVIER 12 HENRY HOLMAN NADIR 10 TORRES Nathalie 12 HOPPELER JOHN 12 TRICARICO MATTHEW 11 HUSAIN SYEDA 11 VALENTIN RICHARD 12 JACKSON JUWON 10 WALSH ZOE 11 KAMARA ANISA 10 WANG CATHERINE 12 LALANI AJAY 9 ZEEB ALYSSA 9 LOPEZ ANYA 12 ZELLER LYDIA 11 STAFF NEWS Mrs. Leibowitz, Lt. Governor, NJ District of Kiwanis Pictured: Birju Dhaduk, Brianna Harris, Kristen Nyampong, Eileen Zhu, Nic Bagwandeen, along with Mr.