Lawrence Township Public Schools News Roundup

Editor's Note: The following news briefs were contributed by .

Lawrence High School Science Olympiad Regionals

Lawrence High School students, along with chemistry teacher/adviser Breanna Bever, attended the Science Olympiad Regional Competition in earlier this year where they placed fourth overall. Individual medal winners were Richard Liu, Jeremy Savarin, Viktor Krapivih, Colm Humphreys, Bren Surendran, and Vai Pahwa. Because they scored well at the regional competition, they participated in the state tournament last week. Students competed in 24 different events in various areas of science. Stay tuned for those results. The photo in the media box to the right shows Regional Competition medal winners, from left to right: Colm Humphreys, Jeremy Savarin, Viktor Krapivih, Bren Surendran, Vai Pahwa, and Richard Liu.

Lawrence High School Scholar-Athlete

Lawrence High School Scholar-Leader-Athlete Justin Scott won a $1,000 scholarship from the Delaware Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame for excellence in academics and athletics. Justin is a three-year letter winner in football and made the All West Jersey First Team as a punter this past season. Currently, Justin is ranked fourth in the entire senior class.

Author “Skypes” with LES Second-Graders

On Feb. 23, second-grade classes at Lawrenceville Elementary School met in the library for a “skype” visitation from author Dan Gutman, who has written several popular series, including My Weird School and My Weird School Daze. Students asked him questions, including how he gets his ideas, what his writing process is, and what his favorite characters are. Students enjoyed the “virtual” visit. A photo of Dan Gutman can be found in the media box above.

Lawrence Middle School Career Day

Lawrence Middle School parents are invited to participate as presenters in the annual Career Day on May 11. Career Day offers students an opportunity to explore possible career choices and opportunities. If you would like to share your career information with students, please see the letter here and return the completed information sheet to LMS guidance counselor Kasey Kenworthy by March 23.

Seller Registration for Ben Franklin PTO's Third Annual Spring Sale

Yard sale sellers, crafters, vendors and businesses from the community are invited to participate in the Ben Franklin Elementary School PTO’s Third Annual Spring Sale on Saturday, May 19. Last year, close to 100 sellers participated.

Activities include moon bounce rides, face painting, refreshments, cash 50/50, raffles and performances by LHS cheerleaders. Register now at www.bfpto.org or by completing the application that can be found here. Space is limited. For more information, contact Amy Davis at afdavis814@verizon.net  or (609) 468-3488. 

Lawrenceville Elementary is a National School of Character Finalist

Lawrenceville Elementary School Principal Judy Bronston received notification recently that LES is a National School of Character (NSOC) finalist!  The Character Education Partnership named 22 public schools, three private schools, one charter school, and two school districts as finalists in the 2012 program.  Schools that apply for NSOC recognition benefit from self-assessment as well as the expert feedback they receive at no cost.  The 28 National Finalists were selected from an applicant pool of 126 schools and districts across the U.S. based on the quality of their written applications.  Within the next couple months, each finalist will undergo an intensive screening process that will include site visits and analysis of the impact of their character-related efforts on academics, student behavior, and school culture. Just as Eldridge Park experienced last year, the 2012 National Schools of Character will be announced in early May.

Lawrence Intermediate School Tips Off March Reading Madness Challenge

All Lawrence Intermediate School homerooms kicked off their March Reading Madness Challenge on March 2. Everyone is going for a slam dunk! All students who came to school dressed as their favorite Dr. Seuss character on the first day of the challenge were featured in a live parade on the LIS Morning Show. The challenge's reading goal is for each student to read for 30 minutes per day for the whole month of March. Each class that meets this reading goal will receive a certificate of achievement. The class at each grade level that reads the most minutes gets a Rita's Water Ice. Each homeroom student who reads the most minutes wins a $5 gift certificate to the Spring Book Fair (April 2012). Gabrielle Casieri organized the challenge.

DECA Students Head to International Competition in Utah

Over 1,400 DECA students attended the DECA State Leadership Conference in Cherry Hill, NJ. Lawrence High School DECA members (68!) participated in various areas of marketing, entrepreneurship, and finance.

Lawrence brought home 36 medals and 16 winning members are eligible to compete at the DECA International Career Development Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah in April.

Overall Winners

• Jimmy Wolf and Shurman Riggins - First Place - Entrepreneurship Written
• Vanessa Manso - First Place - Sports Marketing
• Frank DiMartino and Caitlyn McBride - First Place - Business Research
• Niraj Rana - Overall Finalist - Community service project
• Matthew Hinson - Overall Finalist - Sports Marketing
• David Budzinski - Overall Finalist - Marketing Management
• Aaron Wilson Watson - Overall Finalist - Human Resource
• Anthony Cerone - Second Place - overall Accounting
• Peter Finnerty and Jared Levin - Second Place - overall Finance
• Puja Patel and Ruchi Kehtan - Third Place - Entrepreneurship Promotion
• Criswell Lavery - Third Place - Principals of Marketing
• Shelly Sharma and Jennifer Eng - Third Place - overall Finance Literacy
• Marie Buschman and Tithi Patel - Fourth Place - Business Research
• Jessica Brienza and Natalie Kindley - Fourth Place - International Business
• Patrick Kelly and SaraBeth Sullivan - Fifth Place - Entrepreneurship Written
• Richard Lui and Aizeem Paroya - Fifth Place - Hospitality Research
• Tom Ikeda and Julian Bolton - Fifth Place - Sports Marketing
• Sreya Basuroy and Darias Teng - Seventh Place - Finance
• Noah Hotz - Seventh Place - Advertising Campaign

Instructional Winners

• Alyssa Aloyo, Sreya Basuroy, David Budzinski, Anthony Cerone, Neil Golatkar, Pratyush Hirmath, Noah Hotz, Sahajdeep Kohil, Vanessa Manso, Samantha Rivera, Darias Teng, Sean Titus, and Aaron Wilson Watson

Scholarship Winner

• Sreya Basuroy

ARRA Funds at Work in Lawrence Township Public Schools

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) included a $650 million allocation in ESEA Title II, Part D, commonly referred to as the Enhancing Education Through Technology program. This case study was prepared by the State Educational Technology Directors Association – the principal association representing the technology leadership of state and territorial departments of education – to provide an example of ARRA funds working at the district and classroom level that creates effective, viable, and robust reform in education, and improves the way teachers teach and students learn. See the study outlining how these funds are improving technological skills with the Talent 21 program at the Lawrence Intermediate and Lawrence Middle schools.

Budding Scientists Display Inquiries

The third annual Lawrence Science & Engineering Fair was held on Saturday, Feb. 25, at Lawrence Intermediate School. This year’s fair was a huge success hosting 117 experiments, 160 Intermediate School and Middle School participants, over 20 community demonstrations, and hundreds of attendees. Lawrence High School STEM students played a vital role mentoring and providing demonstrations. Read more in articles by the and Lawrence Ledger.

Academy Hosts Latino Parent Community Night

Organized by Lawrence High’s Academy of Business and International, led by teacher Jennifer Osemwegie, a Latino Parent Community Night took place towards the end of February in the Lawrence High School cafeteria. Members from over 70 Lawrence Township Latino families from grades K-12 attended.  Numerous organizations that offer distinct services to the community sent representatives to provide information and market their services.  Bilingual students of the Academy as well as students taking Spanish 4 and 5 Honors classes served as translators for organizations that did not have a bilingual representative and helped families with forms and applications.

Participating organizations were: Lawrence Recreation Department, Lawrence Health Department, Womanspace, YourResource, Eldridge Park School, Slackwood School, the Cardinal Bank, Sun Bank, Mercer County Community College, Bilingual Services, Jewish Family Children Services, LHS Transition, Mercer County Library System, Central Jersey Legal Service, Inc., Mercer Council on Alcohol and Drug Addiction, State Farm Insurance, and Central NJ Maternal Child Health Consortium. A photo can be found in the media box above.

Lawrence Athletics Post-Season Competition Update

Three Lawrence High School wrestlers placed at the Region V Wrestling Finals at the Hunterdon Central Field House. Sophomores Mike Jennings and Gordon Wolf placed fourth in their individual weight categories. Senior Donovan Morris raised his record to 21-7 while placing third in the tournament. He qualified for state finals in Atlantic City. During state finals, Donovan won his first match and lost the second. This is Donovan’s first season on the wrestling team!

Several LHS swimmers made state cuts in individual or relay events. Swimming prelims were on March 3 at Gloucester Institute of Technology and finals on March 4. The team’s head coach is Mike Underwood.

• Kate O'Rourke placed second in the state in the 50 freestyle and fifth in the 100 freestyle
• Peter Finnerty placed 12th in the state in the 50 freestyle
• 400 freestyle relay of Dominic Wirkijowski, Sam Sciarra, Michal Mus, and Peter Finnerty placed 29th in the state

The Lawrence High School boys basketball team beat Hamilton West 48-40 in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group III Central Jersey quarterfinal. The team lost to Neptune in the state semifinals on March 2. Neptune won the state title against Lakewood on March 5.

The Lawrence Middle School wrestling team recently competed in the Mercer County Championships.  The team had four medal winners in their weight classes. Both Mike Marsh and Eric Hyson beat the #1 seeds in their brackets to get to the finals!

• Second place:  Michael Marsh, Ian Rosenast and Eric Hyson
• Third place: Nyshere Woodson

Congratulations to all Lawrence athletes who achieved these elite levels of competition!