War of the World, the Flu, and MLK

A boy’s love for hockey helped Alex Harte win this year’s Geography Bee at Mt. Pleasant Middle School.

It turned out he also knew a whole lot about places -- with and without pro sports teams -- all over the map. 

Alex beat out seven other finalists as the sixth graders battled on stage in a tense War of the World.

“The Bee is meant to encourage students to be aware of the world they live in by learning about the many locations of states and countries while also becoming familiar with many economic and cultural activities that take place all around the world,” said teacher Aaron Fike said.
 
Students answered questions of places near and far, knowing the land borders of famous explorers; trout-fishing meccas like Bozeman, Montana; the Hawaiian island where clouds form trade winds up the slopes of craters.
 
The School Bee is just a beginning journey toward advancing to the State and National Bees, where students compete for college scholarship money.

Stay tuned: This just may be the year Alex helps put Mt. Pleasant Middle on the map. Read more @ Geography Bee’s New King.
 
School Construction Decision Nears
 
Livingston Board of Education will hold a voting meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 23 to consider a special election for voters to decide financing to build new classrooms and learning resource centers in the elementary schools.
 
Livingston Public Schools for decades have performed among the very best. Achievement on test scores is at an all-time high. Many teachers have advanced degrees and a love of what they do. When the bell rings, students are ready to learn – and their parents support both their children and the schools.
 
But there is concern over housing developments proposed in Livingston that will be built without considering school availability, and genuine concern to educate more children with special needs in our schools.
 
The meeting of the Board of Education will be 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23 at the Livingston High School auditorium. (Click here for the full facility presentation from the Jan. 16th meeting).
 
DISTRICT NEWS
 
Superintendent Search: The community is invited to participate in a survey on qualifications they consider vital to the District’s future leader. The Board of Education has launched an online survey (click here to participate in the Superintendent search). Two community forums are also planned: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22; and 9 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 24.

The search consultant will review the hopes gleaned from the forums, survey, and focus groups at a special BOE meeting at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 28 at Livingston High School.

The Flu: Stay Home or Go to School?

That's what you are probably wondering if your child is ill.

This year's flu season is the worst in recent history, and New Jersey's Department of Health reports about twice as many people out of school because of the flu. Livingston isn’t immune -- it's showing spikes in absenteeism at our schools too.
 
Each day, many parents are faced with the decision: Should we keep our not-so-well children home or send them to school and see what happens? Often, the way children look and act can inform the best decision.

To prevent widespread flu in the school, we recommend that your child stay home from school if experiencing flu or cold symptoms. To decide whether or not to send your child to school, please read the guidelines by clicking here.
 
School Safety: The meeting of the Board of Education on Wednesday, Jan. 16, included a presentation by Superintendent Dr. Brad Draeger on School Safety (click here to read more about our response after Newtown).
 
Staff Survey: What does our staff at Livingston Public Schools like (hint: the students) and see as areas of improvement? Click here for the presentation. 

IN OUR SCHOOLS

FemGineers Excel in NJ Future City Challenge Heritage Middle School’s FemGineers (Female Engineering Club) took home top prizes for their utopian cities in the New Jersey Regional Future City Design Challenge held Jan. 12 at Rutgers University. 

This year, the middle school students came up with solutions to manage storm water runoff. They worked countless hours through the fall and over the holidays using SimCity software; researching and writing solutions to an engineering problem; and building tabletop scale models. Read more about how the Heritage teams fared by clicking here. 

Good Sports! Collins students and teachers show their Cougar spirit at Sports Night. See photos by clicking here.

COMMUNITY NEWS

“Dunk Your Kicks” for pediatric cancer – your kicks being old sneakers and tennis shoes. This fundraising effort by the Max Cure Foundation is a win-win for everyone involved, says Chris Bickel. “The collection of old sneakers raises $1.50 per pair to fight pediatric cancers in our community and beyond. And, the sneakers or shoes find a new life in the secondary shoe market by going to people in countries around the world who need footwear.” Learn more by clicking here.

See more Community News, Sports Registration Information, and Livingston @ 200 Events on our Bulletin Board by clicking here.

PARENT RESOURCES 

Click on the links for information about Preschool (Integrated Preschool Registration), Kindergarten (Registration), and LHS (Orientation for Parents of 8th Graders). 

DAY OF SERVICE

For Students, A Day On, Not a Day Off: Livingston’s schools are off Monday, but dozens of students will go anyway in honor of Martin Luther King. They will join Livingston’s faith and community groups to pay tribute to the teachings of Dr. King during a day of action at Livingston High School.

For many, Martin Luther King Day is seen as an opportunity for communities and individuals to give back. In Livingston, the Committee for Diversity coordinates the efforts, providing an arena for altruistic acts and donations of sports equipment and art supplies, and gently-used clothing.

“Martin Luther King Day shouldn’t be a day off,” says Keith Hines, co-chairman of the event, his words echoing the national theme in honoring the slain civil rights leader with community service. “It should be a day on.”

The event begins at 10 a.m., Monday, Jan. 21 in the Livingston High School cafeteria.

“Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.