Monthly Archives: March 2016
New Police Officers Training In The Field
By Frank Sinatra, AAP Editor
Two longtime Pennsauken residents, Linnette Ramos and Daxton Canales, are currently serving their community as two of the Township’s newest police officers.
A Commitment To School Safety
The Pennsauken Board of Education, working in partnership with both the school administration and Pennsauken’s municipal government, has helped to coordinate a series of drills that allow local first responders to train at school facilities.
The issue of school safety is of paramount importance in the Pennsauken School District. To that end, the Board of Education, working in partnership with both the school administration and Pennsauken’s municipal government, has helped to coordinate a series of drills that allow local first responders – EMS, firefighters, and police – to train at school facilities.
“There have been so many attacks in schools, the procedures have changed dramatically,” says Board President Nick Perry. “The only way to leverage what we’ve learned from these incidents is for our first responders to get hands-on training in the buildings themselves.”
The drills, many of which were held over winter break to take full advantage of school buildings, allowed Pennsauken’s police, fire department, and EMS squad an opportunity to practice a series of rapid response scenarios. In addition to these training exercises, all Pennsauken schools conduct both fire and “shelter in place” drills on a continual basis, to help better prepare teachers, staff, and students in the case of an emergency.
“We have a responsibility to make school facilities as secure as possible, allowing our community’s children to be safe from the time they get on the bus in the morning, to the time they get home from school in the afternoon.”
As part of this commitment, the Board of Education and school administration have received invaluable feedback from Pennsauken’s first responders, who had an opportunity to evaluate school security features to not only see if any weaknesses are present, but also find ways to further enhance school safety.
“There are a lot of things that now have been developed in the realm of school safety that we are working to address,” explains Perry. “We, as well as the school administration and Pennsauken’s municipal government, are continually looking to further enhance the safety of school staff and students. It’s an important, ongoing process.”
Mrs. Hardy’s Class Having An Extraordinary Year
Mrs. Hardy’s class at Carson Elementary School was very busy learning and exploring concepts in science, reading and writing.
In science, students concluded a unit on matter! They completed hands on activities for buoyancy, surface tension, and properties of matter.
In reading, students were very enthusiastic and enjoyed the small group discussions during our guided reading groups.
For writing, students learned how to summarize. They used figurative language, added interesting words, practiced writing an opinion piece, and organized stories with a beginning, middle and end.
Students worked hard on becoming superb writers. Their collaborative efforts promoted discussion and critical thinking.
Great job everyone!
Roosevelt School Participates In “Pasta For Pennies”
Roosevelt Elementary School participated in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s “Pasta for Pennies” campaign again this year. We beat out our record with a grand total of $900! Mrs. Harris and Ms. Fitzgerald’s classes raised $410 alone!
We are very proud of all the students at Roosevelt School for raising such a large amount of money to help children in New Jersey with cancer. Special thanks go to Mrs. James for making this a success!
Longfellow Makes Lunches For Cathedral Kitchen
Last December, Longfellow Elementary School donated over 100 bag lunches to the Cathedral Kitchen in Camden, N.J. The staff and students worked together to collect items for the lunches, with each grade level taking a portion of the lunch: kindergarten collected crackers and snacks; first grade collected juice and water; second grade collected bread; third and fourth grade collected peanut butter and jelly. Also, student council members worked hard to make the sandwiches and fill the bag lunches. This was a fantastic event for the entire school.
This is the first year for Longfellow School’s student council, run by Ms. Grant and Mrs. Steck. Congratulations to our students and families for a successful first event!
First Graders Write To Pen Pals
Mrs. Irwin’s first grade class at Carson Elementary School is writing letters to pen pals in California.
The students are exchanging letters with the class of first grade teacher Sarah Joyce, who is the daughter of Principal Diane Joyce. The children were eager to send and receive the letters and learn about the differences between the two schools. Mrs. Irwin’s class most recently wrote about the snow we had!
It has been such a great experience and students are looking forward to writing many more letters this year!
Students Enjoy Delair Disco
In late January, students enjoyed dancing at the annual Delair Disco.
Children attending Delair Elementary have been earning Dolphin Dollars as part of the positive behavior intervention and support system at the school. Students earn Dolphin Dollars for being helpful, working hard, following directions, being courteous, having perfect attendance, good behavior and not receiving any discipline slips. They were then allowed to use the Dolphin Dollars to “buy” admittance into the Delair Disco.
Students, teachers and staff had a great time dancing at this special event!
Delair To Host First-Ever Spring Festival
Delair Elementary School and the Delair PTA are hosting their first-ever Spring Festival on Saturday, March 19 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The event is already promising to be a great time with food from Mary’s Mobile Diner, craft and business vendors, games and crafts for the kids, live entertainment, and much more. The PTA’s main goal is to provide a fun, affordable, family day out for the entire community, all while benefiting the students at Delair.
The PTA still has vendor openings at $25 per table, and is currently looking for volunteers who are able to work at the event or help build games and booths with the supplied materials, as well as any local businesses and organizations who are interested in sponsoring or participating in the event. High school students are welcome to earn volunteer hours as well. You can contact Krista Peters at DelairPTA@gmail.com for vendor applications, builder materials and plans, or to schedule your volunteer time.
Board Of Education Recognizes Two PHS Student-Athletes
Four years of hard work on the track and in the classroom have paid off for two of Pennsauken High School’s finest student-athletes. Amanda Bakley, one of the most heavily recruited steeplechase runners in the country, signed a full scholarship to attend the University of Toledo. Group III Sectional Cross Country star Briana Roberts signed a full tuition scholarship to attend the University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus.
In addition to the countless medals these student-athletes have won while competing for Pennsauken High School, both student-athletes are also champions in the classroom.
Click on the photos for more information about these great student-athletes!
A One-Of-A-Kind Experience In Hollywood
By Paola Tirado, sixth grade student, Pennsauken Intermediate School
Hi! My name is Paola Tirado and I am a sixth grade student at the Pennsauken Intermediate School. I wanted to share with everyone the wonderful news I received on November 27, 2015! I was told that I was going to meet the “Liv and Maddie” cast: Dove Cameron, Kali Rocha, Benjamin King, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, and Joey Bragg. I could not believe I was about to meet the cast of one of my favorite Disney Channel shows!
On my way to Hollywood Studios, I had the chance to ride in an extravagant limousine and see historical places in Los Angeles, Calif. The first person I had the opportunity to meet was Dove Cameron, who plays the roles of Liv and Maddie in the show. I was excited to finally meet her! She was extremely friendly and kind.
Furthermore, I was able to take a tour of the entire set and watch a live recording of the show. Also, I had the chance to act on set with my brother. To make things even “sweeter,” I had lunch with the production crew!
This was such an amazing experience; I hope you enjoyed reading all about it!
