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The column highlights the achievements of the junior citizens of the Jersey Shore community.It's not a trick. Toms River High School North's thespian society students decided to use the rescheduled trick or treating day, Monday, to solicit donations door-to-door for local Hurricane Sandy relief. The trick-or-treaters will be ringing doorbells and hoping for bottles of shampoo instead of bars of chocolate. The thespians will be out in their neighborhoods Monday, Nov. 5 from noon to 3 p.m. From parent Danielle Musicant: "The Toms River High School North Thespians are trick or treating on Monday November 5th from noon to 3:00pm and are asking for items needed for local shelters to help…
Why go to any old yard sale when you can go to one that comes with its own entertainment, in the form of Toms River High School North students singing show tunes and other ditties. A "Singing Yard Sale" will serve as a fundraiser for the Toms River North Nautical Star Theatre Company acting students, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday Sept. 22 at 127 Mapletree Road. Students will be entertaining shoppers providing impromptu and scheduled performances. And, of course there will be garage sale items for purchase. The event is a fundraiser for the students, as they save up for a June trip to a …
Duct tape and cardboard were the main ingredients of boats that sailed the Ocean County College pool last week. The annual event at the college, which consists of students racing canoes they design and build out of cardboard, duct tape and other basic materials, is part of Ocean County College's Tech Prep program. Lake Riviera Middle School's Tommy Costanza, Jack Jachim, Shariff Osorio, Mike Phelan, Shaun Smith and Jason Wilkowski sailed to victory in the 2012 Cardboard Canoe Race at Ocean County College last week. Students from Ocean County Vocational Technical School and elswhere in Ocean …
More than 200 sailors from 45 states will participate in the 2012 KO Sailing/United States Optimist Dinghy Association Team Trials April 26-29, hosted by the Brant Beach Yacht Club, and a Toms River youth is among them. "New Jersey and particularly Barnegat Bay have produced some of the best sailors in the U.S.," said race coordinator Ernest "Bub" Kovacs. "The current president of U.S. Sailing and former America's Cup skipper, Gary Jobson, is from Beachwood and grew up sailing on Barnegat Bay." This is the third time the competition has been held in New Jersey in the race's more than 25 …
Thirty color guards from around the state competed at the Pine Belt Arena on the Toms River North campus Saturday. Among the eight classes -- Middle School, Independent, Scholastic and World -- the color guards came to compete throughout the day. This event was sponsored by the booster organizations of Toms River High Schools East and North Marching Bands. More than 300 spectators cheered on their favorite color guards. The Barnegat High School Guard dedicated thier show " A Letter To You" to Billy Gross, a 16 year old boy with stage four cancer, and all the loved ones who have suffered with …
A Toms River High School North student topped the list of winners at last week's student art competition sponsored by the Monmouth Festival of the Arts. The Monmouth Festival of the Arts held its 18th annual student art competition and art workshops on Sunday at Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls. The student art competition featured the work of 11th grade high school artists from nine high schools in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Sixty students in all enrolled approximately 100 pieces of art. Organizers commended the temple for its support of the arts and art education and as the winner …
Beauty is in Maureen Saparito’s blood. “My grandma was a hairdresser, and my cousin wanted to open a salon,” she said. And the 16-year-old Barnegat High School junior is setting herself up for success in the same profession. She beat out a number of other Ocean County Vocational Technical School cosmetology students in the county’s recent SkillsUSA competition, and will now represent Ocean County at the state level. Saparito, a student at the Toms River OCVTS, decided to carve out time in her school day to study hairdressing in part because she wanted to pursue her passion, and also to better…
Passing down to younger grades the lessons learned about New Jersey's watershed, Advanced Placement high schoolers recently visited middle school classrooms as part of the New Jersey Park Stewards program. The Advanced Placement Environmental Science students at High Schools North and East spent the fall learning about local watershed issues. As part of that class, which took students into the field, students delved into topics such as cranberry growing and deer overpopulation. They then developed lesson plans about what they learned, and shared the knowledge further by visiting middle …
Toms River Regional School students spent early January embarking on a variety of charity and scholarly projects. According to the January News & Notes communication from the district, individual student efforts as well as particular classes or teams excelled at varied projects: Melina Sobieski, the founder of Bones for Bow-Wows, raised $410 to donate to the Humane Society by selling pet related items during lunch time at Pine Beach Elementary School. Melina has donated a large amount of money, food and other pet items to local shelters. Toms River High School North students dressed in black …
The All Shore Intermediate Band auditions held Saturday brought together some of the top talent from local schools' music programs. Student musicians at the intermediate school level from throughout the region made the cut, scoring high enough to be placed on the All Shore roster. From Toms River, Lizzie Amory of Toms River Intermediate North was accepted based on her clarinet audition. Lizzie is the only Toms River Regional student in this year's band. For the full line-up of students accepted into this top band, visit the All Shore website, here.
Efforts to put on a theater production at Ocean County College paired up college and vocational school students to make the event possible. "Lend Me a Tenor" is the first time the two schools have collaborated on a play. Ocean County College and the Ocean County Vocational Technical School's Performing Arts Academy have been at work throughout the semester. Opening night on the production was this weekend, and one more week of performances is scheduled at OCC's Toms River campus. "This production is especially exciting for us as it is the first collaborative effort between OCVTS and OCC," …
Amid a sea of purchase orders, personnel items, reports and lease agreements, there’s a portion of the Toms River Regional School Board meeting to hear about what students are up to. And, the news comes from students themselves. Specifically, the three student representatives to the board of education. One from each high school, the representatives are the presidents of their respective student councils. They are seniors, so there’s a new set of student representatives each year as another class graduates. This year’s students representatives are High School East’s Kent Zier, North’s Sarah …
The recent multi-million dollar bill signed by Christie addressing water quality management can be used to fix what recent water testing has found. Water quality due to stormwater runoff has been raising some eyebrows lately. More and more water sources are showing elevated levels of pollution and fecal waste. Students at the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Sciences (MATES) have been working on a project to monitor the bay’s water quality. On Friday, Aug. 5, five students from the program gave a PowerPoint presentation to display their results at the MATES Building at 195 Cedar…
Name: Ryan McGilloway, Toms River TownshipSchool: Toms River East High School, Grade 12Accomplishment: Ryan scored over 1800 on the SAT and was awarded advanced proficient standing for both portions of the HPSA.Key to Awesomeness: Ryan, along with other East Seniors, was honored at a special breakfast celebrating students who achieved over 1800 on their SAT. Ryan also received advanced proficient standing on both the Language Arts and Math portions of the HSPA. Ryan's achievements will be acknowledged on plaques which will be on display outside East's guidance office.
Name: Sumire Lundell, Toms River Township School: Washington Street Elementary School, Grade 4 Accomplishment: Sumire helped organize and conduct Operation Tomodachi which taught students to make origami cranes to sell to raise money for Japan. Key to Awesomeness: Sumire helped organize and conduct Operation Tomodachi, a special fundraiser for people whose lives were heavily impacted by the tsunami and earthquake in Japan. Sumire, along with her mother and Washington Street School staff, Mrs. Lundell, Mrs. O'Donnell and Mrs. Asch created Operation Tomodachi. Together they taught fourth …
Name: Casey Schuber, Toms River Township School: Toms River High School North, Senior Accomplishment: Casey saw success in the local American Idol tryout to receive a coveted spot at the Hollywood, Calif., auditions. Key to Awesomeness: Casey successfully auditioned for a spot on the Fox television hit "American Idol." At a local tryout, Casey was awarded the trademark golden paper announcing her advancement to the Hollywood auditions. Over the course of six months, Casey managed to make it to the final 60 contestants before being sent home. Casey has studied choral music for four years at …
Name: Fred Tucker, Toms River Township School: Toms River High School North, Senior Accomplishment: Fred received several awards for an outstanding season in the Shot Put among other areas of Indoor Track. Key to Awesomeness: Fred was named A South Champion, and went 49-7.5 in the Shot Put at Ocean County Championships, placing first. Fred also went 48-2.5 in the Shot Put at Shore Conference Divisional Championships, placing first. Fred was also named the South Jersey Group 4 State Sectional Champion during the 2010-2011 Indoor Track Season. Finally, Fred also served as Captain of the Boys' …
Name: Derek Nix, Toms River Township School: Toms River East High School Accomplishment: Derek marched in the Tournament of Roses Parade with the Salvation Army Marching Band. Key to Awesomeness: Clinching a coveted spot in the Tournament of Roses Parade, Derek represented the state of NJ as he marched with the Salvation Army Marching Band. Each year, only two representatives are chosen from every Salvation Army division to march in this world renowned parade and this year Derek received that honor. The parade took place on January 1 in Pasadena, CA. Derek has been an active member of the …
Name: Raider Chess Team, Toms River Township School: Toms River High School East Accomplishment: The Raider Chess Team completed their third undefeated season. Dare we say, dynasty? Key to Awesomeness: Toms River East High School’s Raider Chess Team finished the 2010-11 with a record of 10-0. This is the third season in a row that the Raider Chess Team has gone undefeated.
Name: Dana Schweiger, Toms River Township School: Toms River High School North senior Accomplishment: Dana wins in the 2011 New Jersey Meet of Champs for Pole Vaulting. Key to Awesomeness: Senior Dana Schweiger had an award winning season in Pole Vaulting. She was named Shore Divisional A South Camp, Ocean County Champ, Shore Conference Champ, NJSIAA Group 4 Champ, and overall New Jersey State Champ. Dana’s best jump in the 2011 New Jersey Meet of Champs was at 12’ 0” which was also a Toms River North High School pole vaulting record. Dana also served as the team’s captain.
