BOE Recognizes High School Hero, Formally Extends Korea Teacher Exchange Program

The Fort Lee Board of Education opened its regular meeting Monday by honoring the Fort Lee High School student and baseball player who quite possibly saved a man’s life last week, while risking his own, when he used his own last-measure resources to help a fellow diabetic and a total stranger during a diabetic episode onboard a flight from Florida.

Superintendent Raymond Bandlow said 17-year-old junior Ross Fasman was invited to Monday’s meeting because the board wanted to “publicly express our appreciation.”

"[Fasman] stepped up to the plate—pardon the pun—and provided the help the person needed,” Bandlow said. “He knew what to do, he was compassionate [and] he understood. He was comforting to the family, to the gentleman, and really came through in a way that we’re all so incredibly proud of.”

Board president Carmelo Luppino said he’s known Fasman for a long time and wasn’t surprised when he learned of his heroic actions.

“I love Ross,” Luppino said. “The second I heard of the situation [I knew it was him]. I know the fabric of which this kid is made. And a lot of us do in Fort Lee. And as soon as we heard that, we said, ‘We need to make this public.’ All we hear is the bad stuff that these children do, and the majority of our children are great children … and Ross, I’m very proud of you … and that’s kudos to mom and dad, who are great people.”

Joined by his parents in front of a larger than normal audience for a board meeting and after congratulatory handshakes and the presentation of a memento, a humble and slightly reluctant Fasman offered a few words of his own, saying the next step is to find out “who the guy was and what his name is; I still haven’t.”

“But I’m very humbled by this,” Fasman said. “I didn’t really want it to get this far. Seeing the appreciation kind of really puts it in perspective to me. I still don’t really think I did that much, but it’s very cool to be recognized like this.”

Other business

The school board also made official its previous decision to renew and expand its partnership with Bloomfield College on a program that brings teachers from South Korea to Fort Lee schools for six-month stays to be mentored by Fort Lee teachers in an American classroom setting, signing a formal memorandum of agreement.

The Total Immersion Course for Korean English Teachers (TICKET) program, now in its third year, will expand to the spring of this school year and continue for the 2011-2012 school year.

“This is a program where we will have as many as five Math and Science teachers from Korea will come to [Fort Lee] from Korea most likely in January or February and work in our schools as co-teachers to learn more about how we work and for us to learn [from each other],” Bandlow said. “And we also have the opportunity for five Fort Lee Math and Science teachers to go to Korea for a month this summer.”

Fort Lee teachers will be given the opportunity to apply for the program, according to Bandlow. The Fort Lee teachers’ airfare, lodgings and “cultural experiences” will be paid for by the government of Korea, Bandlow said, emphasizing that there is no cost to the school district nor to the individual, other than incidentals.

“So it is a wonderful professional development experience for our teachers, as well as something that will have a larger impact too when they come here and spend time with our students and our staff,” Bandlow said.

The next group of Math and Science teachers will be arriving in Fort Lee at the end of the summer for a six-month stay as part of the program, Bandlow said.

Dr. Peter K. Jeong, vice president of the Institute for Technology and Professional Studies at Bloomfield College, who specializes in setting up educational exchanges between Korea and other countries, was on hand Monday to receive the signed agreement, which expands the program for five years.

Other news

Bandlow said the administration learned this past week that the school district qualifies for a $25,000 federal grant for School No. 3, because of the swine flu pandemic last year, which closed the school for three days.

“We were one of just about half a dozen schools in New Jersey that were closed for a few days,” Bandlow said.

On the agenda

The board also passed the following list of resolutions at Monday’s meeting:

Curriculum and Instruction

1 Cur – Approval of class trips

(2 Cur – Approval of Italian Curriculum was pulled from the agenda, according to Luppino, because it requires further discussion)

Finance

1F – Approval current bills list

2F – Acceptance of donations

Health-Welfare and Safety

1HWS – Payment of home and bedside instruction services

2HWS – Additional related service provider

3HWS – Out-of-district placements

Personnel

1P – Approval of staff trips and conferences

2P – Retirement of Alfred Toledo as custodian at School No. 1

3P – Retirement of Michele Fox as district supervisor

4P – Retirement of Gloria Norton as middle school music teacher

5P – Resignation of Alexis Kiefer as high school English teacher

6P – Addition to home instructors list

7P – Adjustment for Daniel Cirone as three-fifths high school language arts teacher

8P – Re-appointment of Brad Deitsch as tutor

9P – Appointment of additional substitutes for the 2010-2011 school year

10P – Approval of job description—principal

Policy

1POL – First reading and adoption of policy/regulation 5410

The full agenda from Monday’s meeting is available on the school district’s website.