Everyone now call to order. This is North Brunswick Township Board of Education's meeting. It's conference public meeting for tonight, Wednesday, March uh May 27th, 2026. At this time, we will call the meeting to order. If we could all please rise
for the pledge of allegiance. Mr. >> Carter >> here, >> Miss Sepa, >> Miss James >> here, >> Mr. Lori >> here, >> Dr. Patel >> here, >> Mr. Singh, >> Miss Singha >> here,
>> Miss Toast and Mr. Wen >> here. >> We have a quum. >> All right. Good evening. The New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is
discussed or acted upon in accordance with the open public meetings law. The public notice of this meeting which included the time, date, and location was distributed by 3 p.m. Wednesday, January 28th, 2026 in the following manner. Posted on the bulletin board reserved for announcements in the board
office 25 lynwood place northwick New Jersey 08902 mailed to the home news tribune star ledger nj.com and the clerk of the township of North Brunswick delivered to the nine duly elected board members and beginning on March 1, 2026 all future
board meeting notices shall be published on the board's official website nbtschools.org or and be made available through the New Jersey Secretary of State's official website in lie of publication in a newspaper in accordance with public law 2025 chapter 72. Tonight
we are here at North Brunswick Township High School. We are honored to have uh building principal Mike Miller. He is going to introduce the presentation for us. >> Thank you. I'd like to take the w the opportunity to welcome the board of
education, Dr. Zakowski and other members of central office administration to the high school tonight um as we get an opport opportunity to show off some of the wonderful things that have taken place at MBTHs over the course of this school year.
>> To start off tonight, I I would like to >> Would you prefer us to sit in the audience? >> Um yeah, I was going to invite you to sit down there anyway. I guess now would be a good time. to start off. Um, as principal of a fairly large high school in Middle Sex County, I have to be completely honest
that I could not run this school on a day-to-day basis without the support of a very strong administrative team. Um, these people each have individual responsibilities that they all work very hard at and take very seriously. And I would like to take a moment um to thank
them for taking the time this evening to come uh be here with our families um and members of the board of ed to talk about the great things at MBTHs. So at this time um I would just like and you could just uh you know maybe stand for a second to be recognized. Um Mrs. Redia
Gamble is the 2026 assistant principal and supervisor of art. Mr. Lewis Emanuel is the class of 27 assistant principal and supervisor of academic support programs. Mr. Aaron Spelleller is the class of 28 assistant principal and the supervisor
of business, fine arts, and industrial arts. And Mr. Mark Sinsky is the 2029 assistant principal and supervisor of social studies. Mr. No way Feliz is the instructional dean for the class of 2026.
Mrs. Rebecca Petranco is the instructional dean for the class of 2027. Mrs. Kate Bloomer is the instructional dean for the class of 2028. And Miss Alra Garcia Ruiz is the dean
for the class of 2029. We also have department supervisors uh that oversee um in addition to the assistant principles who supervise departments, we have department supervisors who oversee some of our content areas. Mrs. Carrie Aluio is our supervisor of math.
Mr. Kevin Farrell is our director of guidance and school counseling. Mrs. Janine Lanir is our supervisor of science. Mr. Dr. Shawn Morurell is our director of athletics. Dr. Kain Ellis is our district director
of policy and communication and supervisor of English. Mrs. Marcy Marx is the supervisor of the learning center. Mr. Michael Cypot is our K12 supervisor of fizzed and health. Miss Danielle Nudelman is our K12
supervisor of music. and Miss Yenia Morales is our K12 supervisor of world language in ESL. I just want to thank them again for taking the time to be here tonight. Um, and some of them will be speaking to you shortly uh to talk about some of the
great things in their departments. Just a quick overview of MBTHs and tonight when you walked in um and I appreciate Mrs. Lanir uh and Dr. O'Reilly from our science department who this afternoon took time to put out displays of some of the great projects
and activities that are taking place in our science classes. Um, one of the tables they have there highlights our STEM academy at MBTHs. We currently have four cohorts of different classes students can take or coursework students
can take in the STEM academy. Students can take courses if they're interested in studying or possible career uh in college study in computer science, engineering, medical, and new for this year, environmental science. So, we're
very excited that the STEM Academy continues to thrive and grow at MBTHs. We also have a business academy for students in grades 10 through 12 where they can take different pathways taking coursework in areas such as entrepreneurship,
marketing, video and TV production um and also finance. And one of the greatest uh or great things we're extremely proud of is our Ruby program. We have every year we have students from MBTHs who attend a
special program at the Rucker Business School. When the program started back in 2019, we were one of the first five schools to participate throughout the state of New Jersey. We continue to be the largest school participating. Most schools might bring about 20 kids. We
bring two bus loads to the Ruckers Business School multiple times a year. They have the opportunity to learn from students who mentor them at the business school about different careers in business with the goal in mind that they will apply for any business school.
Ruckers wants them to apply for their school, but that they will apply for a business school um when they apply for colleges. So, it it's a great program. I I love seeing the pictures we get sometimes of uh our alumni who are now mentors to our
students who go to the Ruby program. So that's something we're extremely proud of that Mr. Spellellar oversees through the business department. Mr. Emanuel will come and talk uh in a little bit about our AVID and STAR programs which provide academic support for almost 200 students and provide them with college
exposure to college or exposure to college career readiness opportunities. We have our goal is for almost 10% of our students every year to be in the AVID program and we are very close if not at that goal and this year 34
students will graduate from that program and move on to college. We also offer and we continue to grow our number of dual enrollment courses where students can take classes at MBTHs to earn college credit. We currently have eight courses through Middle Sex College. Our
tomorrow's teachers course is through Ryder University. This year there are about 10 students enrolled in that class and all 10 students are achieving college credit through Ryder for that program. We have our TV production students can get credit through Kain University.
And then new uh for 2025-26 we had 18 courses approved by TCJ and we will continue that partnership with them next year. And then in 20 2026 and 2027, we will be adding new C uh approved
college courses through Syracuse University and also the University of Delaware. Our marketing program next year students will have the opportunity to earn college credit through Delaware University. So, we're very excited for that as well.
I appreciate every year um that the board of ed asks us to recognize our athletes and we do that three times a year. Um, but one of the the goals we've had as an administrative team at MBTHs over the last couple years is to appreciate we have our academic recognition program
that we hold every year, but we want to we want to do more as a school to show off the great things that are hacking happening academically with our students. So, first it is my pleasure to ask Miss Nudman to come to
the podium. You can cut for this year. Our winter percussion students had were recognized as the US band's scholastic standstill indoor percussion champions.
Um, good evening everybody. Um, before I get started and before you get to see the wonderful performances of our children tonight, uh, I just wanted to thank Mr. Neller and Dr. Zakowski and the board of education um, for allowing us to showcase the incredible talents of some of our music students here at MBTHs. Um, and just a quick little humble brag. Uh, for the 11th year in a
row, the music department in North Brunswick um, has been awarded the NAM Best Communities for Music Education Award. Um, this is an incredible achievement. Yes. Thank you. So, Uh it's an incredible achievement that would be impossible without the support of the families here in North Brunswick,
the dedication of our students and our staff and without such um the support of all of all building and district administration. Um I maybe I'm biased because I went here and I teach here and I supervise here, but I think that the music program here in North Brunswick is one of the best around. Um yeah,
and uh I'm very fortunate that I get to be a part a very small part in the incredible success of our students and our staff. Um tonight I am very honored to introduce two of MBTHs's award-winning extracurricular ensembles. The first being our MBTHs winter percussion. So guys, you can come out
and start setting up. Um they are under the direction of two NBTHs class of 2008 alumni, Mr. Joe Scalla and Mrs. Liz Facelman, two of my dear classmates. Um, like Mr. Neller was saying, um, this
past season, Winter Percussion is the US band's indoor standstill champion. Um, they scored a 92.6, which is the top score over out of all 21 groups in the entire show, both in and out of their class, which is an incredible feat. Uh, these kids work tirelessly
throughout the year. Um almost all of them are part of our award-winning Raider marching band which uh our season for the marching band ends right around Halloween and then these kids do not get a break. They don't get that November breakoff. They start rehearsing the Tuesday immediately following when our marching band season is over. Um and
then put in an a lot of hours of work from even though it used to be called winter percussion because it was just in the winter and now it's winter percussion but it goes all year round. Um so they as you can are still rehearsing. They have their final rehearsal tomorrow night and then we have marching band June 9th. So they get
a very small break of a week this time and then they're going to start rehearsing with their marching band. Um their show this year is entitled Uncharted Waters. It was actually written by one of our directors, Joe Scala. Um and in just a couple sec if you could and you'll see if you can see behind
them um the one there's a couple of students that I would like to recognize and those are our percussion captains. So when I say your name, just give a quick little wave. Uh, one of our captains is Gabriel Lopes and Joshua Cho, who will be attending Peabody Conservatory for Music uh, in
the fall. We're very excited for recording arts and sciences. So, he's continuing his music education. And our over on the base, Mr. Victor Popart is our other captain. Did I miss any captain? Um, so I hope those of you in the front
row brought your earplugs because it's loud. Um, but they'll be ready in just about a second. So, uh, under the direction under the direction of Mr. Joscala and Mrs. Elizabeth Aman, the NBTHs Winter Percussion Ensemble So beautiful.
Find your way. I like that. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Oh my god. Hey, hey, hey.
I think it's pretty obvious why they won. Thank you so much, Winter Percussion. Thank you, Mr. Scalla, Mrs. Spackleman, for dedicating your time to our students. Um we are so so incredibly thankful for you and your talents and the children as well. Um the next group that I would love to recognize is our
indoor color guard. Um yeah, our indoor color guard uh who only in their second official season um competing in the main indoor uh color guard region, they finished second place. Uh they jumped multiple
classes. So, they were in a novice class because it was only their second season, but jumped multiple classes, outscored a ton of groups who've been around much longer than we have to come in second in the entire show, and we are incredibly proud of them. Um, the color guard is under the direction of uh Mrs. Sarah Wil, Miss Sarah Wilson, and Miss Kayla
Wason, who we are so excited to have her as a physics teacher next year here at the high school. Uh, we're so very excited to have her on on full-time staff. Um, yeah, that's awesome. Just graduated college yesterday. Yeah, literally just graduated college.
Um, the color guard, uh, when I say your name, you can stand up. Uh, the we're very excited that the color guard is here tonight. So, thank you so much for being here. Uh Mariam Buab is contractor
uh Valyriia Diaz Medita Kristen Espanel Varela Jasmine Garces Bana Hernandez Lazardo Celicia Kai
Luci Menso Corval Mariana Melendez Shade Royster Emily Sanchez Palma, Hannah Uptograph, Jana Walton,
and Kaya Yolikar. Uh, color guard is not uh something that kids pick up like uh like in inter mural soccer or baseball league. It's something they can't really start until they're at the high school. Um, so a lot of these students that you see have one to two maybe max three years of
experience under their belts and to come in second place is truly amazing. We're very proud of them. Um, for space reasons, we don't have them performing in here tonight. Um, but we do have a link to their championship performance uh here somewhere. It turns me around when I hear
Hey baby, let's get away. Let's go. you thinking of you thinking of you thinking of you thinking of you. Yeah.
Down. Yay! Yeah. Heat. All right. Woo. Um, some of those tricks and and and and tosses that they learn are impossible for my brain to understand. I
don't know if anybody's ever held a rifle and thrown it 20 feet in the air and then caught it. I tried it and broke my fingers a couple of summers ago. So, these kids doing it just on a normal Monday night is is truly incredible. So, we're very proud of them. All right, you're almost done with me.
Uh, the last thing that I'm going to talk about tonight is I'm very proud to recognize five NBTHs students who auditioned for and were accepted into various region and all state band and choir ensembles. Um, auditioning for and performing with these groups uh is a real prestigious honor that stems from
hard work and dedication towards their specific craft. Um, these students spend hours of independent practice time getting themselves ready on top of juggling school work and jobs and sports and extracurriculars and the music that they're learning here in school. Um, and they take time out of their day to practice something completely different
um, and audition to go up against kids from all over New Jersey. Um, and we're really proud of of these students and their incredible hard work and their wonderful representation of the music department here in North Brunswick. Um, so we have certificates for you. So when I call your name, please come to the stage. We have I guess I'll go in the
order that's here. uh Michael Dakolo who was accepted into that's right big one here CGMEA region two wind ensemble and orchestra and also the all state wind ensemble and orchestra he is the number two trumpet in the state right now which is incredible for
Michael and Michael's very excited the number one trumpet is a senior and is graduating so we're hoping that Michael is the number one trumpet next year in the state uh next we have Oh yeah you clap for Michael absolutely clap for Michael uh Next we have Erica Tuckman, who's also been on stage for winter percussion
tonight, who made it into the region 2 symphonic band and orchestra. And then we have three choir students who made our all-state choir under the direction of our wonderful choir teacher, Mrs. Sarah of Fleto, who's here tonight um supporting her kids. Um, we
have Ava Delipaz who made All State Choir. As a freshman, nonetheless, only a freshman. We have Alicia Taylor who made All State Choir. Alicia is also continuing her music studies at Manmouth University. So,
we're very excited for her to go on and be a famous music composer. And lastly, we have Natanya Svatzen, who is uh in All State Choir, who also plays in Mr. Ford's chamber orchestra here at the high school, but sings as well.
Uh, once again, we're so incredibly proud of the accomplishments of these students. Like I said, they take time out of their own day and their own practice schedules to prepare this music on their own and go up against I mean, we're in a very competitive division. I mean, you see it with sports. It's no different with us with music with we're going up against Edison and South Brunswick and Monroe and JP Stevens. And
these students did a wonderful job representing the music program in North Brunswick and we are so proud of them. So guys, thank you so much and congratulations. Smile for the camera and good luck following that performance. I'm all done. Thank you all
so much. Have a great night. I would like to echo u Miss Noodleman's sentiments. Uh over the last couple weeks, I've attended uh our spring concerts for band, orchestra, and chorus. Um, and our color guard, you know, I've seen you perform at football games, but to see your video and just
how much effort beyond just the music itself that goes into what you you put together, the theatrics, um, the planning, it it really, you know, we're very proud of our music programs here at MBTHs. And it starts with the supervisor and the teachers. So, um, I know Miss
Aleto, our course teacher, is here tonight. So, I just want to thank her for coming. Um, but, uh, Mr. Ford, our orchestra teacher, uh, Mr. Smith, our band teacher, also Mr. Scallow, Miss Falman, who come from other schools to work with our students.
We truly appreciate all of their efforts and all of your efforts. So, thank you for being here tonight. If there was ever a person that I thought could follow Miss Noodleman, it's Mr. Emanuel. So, I am going to invite Mr. Emanuel to
come up and uh he's going to as I mentioned in my opening um we're very proud of our AVID program here at MBTHs. Mr. Emanuel serves as the site administrator for the AVID program and he wanted to give you um just an update
on our program for this year. >> Thank you, Mr. Neller. Welcome everybody. Uh in in preparation for this uh this event, I spoke with a council member, board member that I used to coach. He told me I had 80 minutes to
speak about AVID. 80. Hence the big binder. But I see the crowd is leaving before even started. So I'll cut it to eight. Uh good morning again or good morning. Tonight I would like to provide an
overview of our AVID and STAR programs. AVID advancement via individual determination. STAR students taking academic responsibility are two programs in which positively impact our school, our staff and our
community. Before discussing the program itself, I would be remiss if I didn't recognize the people who make up our AVID site team. Our avid sight team focuses on leadership, collaboration,
and commitment throughout the year. Those members are Dena Fleming, Willow Ha, Elvis Reyes Cologne, Rebecca Cahill, Dan Gorzinski, Allison Briggs, Kim Genevies, Rosalia Ka, and Rachel Darge.
Their collective efforts uh to continue and strengthen both AVID and STAR and the instructional culture at NBTHs. One of the things that we do as an AVID team is uh meet over the summer and we discuss how our program can positively
impact not just the students at NBTHs but the teachers as well. In order to have the students succeed, we need the teachers to be on the same page. We all need to work from the same local same vocal cord, the same idea, the same philosophy. One of those things that we
really focused on this year was a definition of rigor and then and through that strengthening our instruction. So one of the most significant accomplishments that our Avid site team did this year was successfully align our schoolwide understanding of academic rigor. What we
did was we sat as an academic team. We identified uh what was different about each department and we tried to find something similar. We conducted a staff training for the entire high school where we took all of their input.
What science did, what math did, what science did, what art did, and their ideas, their philosophies, all blended into our specific high school definition of rigor. That allows all of us teachers and students to understand that rigorous
work in English can be accomplished the same way as that in art or music or fizzed. So that way we're all working from the same definition and that was a major accomplishment for our site team. Each definition is given to this in in
each of our classrooms. We fortify that through our PLC's, professional learning communities. Our teachers meet in PLC's whether they're an AVID or regular teachers and we talk about schoolwide definition of rigor. We talk about what rigor looks
like. We talk about how students might demonstrate rigorous learning. We talk about writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading skills. This has allowed AVID principles to extend beyond our AVID coursework and become part of the larger instructional culture
of our high school. Now that we understand the role of what our teachers do, let's talk about what our students do. Student accomplishments and post-secary pathways. Our AVID class of 2026 represents seniors that the
results of intentional future planning and individualized student support. Each student has developed a unique pathway that reflects the development and evolution of his or her personal goals. This is a 4-year journey. It's not we're going to start in September 2 and finish
uh June 30. That's not how AVID works. It starts on the very first day of orientation when they begin as freshmen. So they develop their pathway. They develop their course of of of work throughout their high school career.
Through that, our AVID teachers, our AVID site team members, our school counselors and families all work together to help them develop this plan. Over their four years, they visit different a variety of post-secondary
opportunities, including four-year colleges with uh some of our some of our county and community colleges with apprenticeship speakers and a few of our avid students see themselves committing to the military.
So not every student is going to go to college, but every student is going to find a post-secary plan, a post-secary pathway. This is especially meaningful is that our students are making informed decisions based on exposure,
preparation, reflection, and long-term planning developed through their avid time all four years. Of course, we all want our students to go to college. We all want to go, you know, and I'll speak for some of the people out here. There
are some of us who are first generation who weren't born here. That's me. I get it. So, going to college is something special and unique to our nation and something that we all strive for for our families so we could stand on the
shoulders of those before us. What we try to do is expose our students to these college visits and get them their ideas that they can achieve this. This is something they can go to. A major strength of our AVID program is that the level of real world exposure
and experimental learning opportunities provided to our students. Every AVID grade level participates in an organized college visit and career exploration experience. For example, our underassmen often begin by visiting local county colleges to
build familiarity and comfort with the college environment. As they grow, our upper classmen will participate to visits and visits four-year larger colleges and universities both instate and out of state. So, they can see that it's something that's achievable and
something they can they can be. But in addition to those college visits, representatives and guest speakers also visit our high school. They meet with our students right here in our auditorium directly speaking with students about academic programs, admission processes, career
opportunities, financial planning, and life after high school. These experiences help our students visualize themselves in post-secary settings. So, one of the things we coach our players and our students, envision yourself doing great things. Envision yourself
making those opportunities. And that's what our that's what our AVID program does for our students. They learn how to ask informed questions. They explore future opportunities and better understanding the connection between their current
academic work and their long-term goals. Our AVID program is growing and it grows at a steady and regular pace. This growth is important because it allows us to maintain program fidelity while ensuring students
continue to receive the individual support and highle instruction that are central to our AVID AVID model. The goal of this program is twofold. to provide students with the organizational, academic, and college readiness skills associated with AVID.
And while simultaneously accelerating language and acquis acquisition and student independence, our AVID program goes beyond just our regular English-speaking world. We have a multilingual program now, which is evidence of our program growing at a
steady and regular pace. Our expectation is that our students in this cohort will develop the skills necessary to successfully successfully transition out of our multilingual program as soon as possible and ideally by the conclusion of their sophomore year.
Our AVID program is on the cutting edge of leadership. Usually we will go to Baltimore to to to participate in AVID training, regional AVID training northeast United States from Maine all
the way down to Virginia as far west as Illinois. Sometimes there are people even further west, but we won't talk about that. Anyway, what we did this year was talk to our representatives at AVID and said, "Hey, let's do it locally, regionally.
We have a lot of New Jersey schools. Let's do it here at NBTHs. So, we will be hosting in July our a our regional AVID summer training. This will allow our teachers from all
our entire district to participate in and we can talk about classroom instruction, student achievement, college career readiness, school culture, and equitable access to opportunity. The work being done through AVID supports not only the students directly
enrolled in our program, but the larger instructional vision of our long-term goals of our entire school community. We are proud to we are sorry, we are proud of the progress our students and staff have made. We look forward to
continuing to grow the program in a meaningful in meaningful ways moving forward. If you have any questions about AVID, you can surely ask me, but I will pass those questions on to Mr. Neller so he could answer them for you now. Thank you. Good night, Raider Nation.
>> Thank you, Mr. Emanuel, for giving that overview of our AVID program. Um, we're very proud to be hosting a summer training this year. There could be upwards of 400 um individuals from different schools around the tri-state area who are involved with the AVID program and it'll give us an opportunity
to also show off our building. Um next, I'd like to ask uh Mr. Zalinsky, our social studies supervisor, uh to come join me on the stage. This year, our social studies department has participated in the history happened here initiative in New Jersey, which is
commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the establishment of the United States. Um, so we also are lucky tonight to have one of our teachers and some students who will speak to you about a project they completed. But first, I would like to
let Mr. Zalinsky say a few words. >> Thank you, Mr. Neller. Okay. M board of education, Dr. Zakowski. Um our program that that uh Mr. Neller was talking about uh it's called the Revolution New Jersey program through
the New Jersey Department of Education. Uh it was established to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the beginning of our country. I'd like to thank you Dr. Zakowski, Dr. Johnson, and Principal Neller for their support in our participation in this program. is about
a year ago we applied for and and became part of this program. So we're known as a a revolutionary school. Uh and really there are two prongs to uh the program. One is to celebrate and commemorate events and figures uh you know that
occurred here in New Jersey having to do with the revolutionary war and the revolutionary period. Um but then it is also in a in a second way wants to take the ideals of that revolution for example liberty, equality, justice and
see how we have discussed debated applied those ideals in our modern world. Uh so you know in our in our in our department before we even joined uh the Revanj program we had established a
subcommittee a semi-quincentennial um uh subcommittee which is the awkward word we use for 250th anniversary but the semiquentennial committee is uh made up of Mr. Smuckco uh Mr. O'Hita Mr. Totten and Misty Pasqual and they've
done a magnificent job over the last year and will continue to work on this uh for the next year as this is a two-year uh initiative that we have. Uh you know during this year those four teachers have led us in variety of
activities. is we welcomed a traveling display from the New Jersey Department of Education um that you know we had posted up on our social media and they had created uh learning resources from that display that our classes used uh
for you know a time when it was here in January and February. Uh they also created a PD for the department. Uh there was a a reenactment video that uh I'm not saying that we're in negotiations with Netflix to distribute
this. Uh but it was pretty impressive. And there were some people in Vet Park when the reenactment was going on asked if uh you know Mr. Oita and Mr. Smunko were real actors uh that were you know putting together this uh this thing. Uh but anyway uh they also spearheaded this
our effort to adapt the history happened here project guidelines for MBTHs. I thought it was a great thing that the state actually allowed history teachers and history supervisors, social studies supervisors, uh, to create this project
and they provided a great deal of leeway and our teachers took that and ran with it, uh, and collaborated in order to create a project that then could be used uh, throughout our core courses in our
sophomore and junior years. So our US1 students for the most part um dealt with projects having to do with the revolutionary era. Our US2 students uh and courses you know basically concentrated on 20th century applications of those revolutionary
ideals that I referred to earlier. Um this was uh the the committee also had a few teachers represent our school in Newark at NJPAC in September where there was a a launch uh of the project and you
know a you know contributions that were given from people around the state. Uh Ken Burns was there and he premiered. He gave a little sneak preview of all the different segments of the American Revolution uh documentary which has
since been shown on PBS. But uh seven segments especially that had to do with New Jersey history and then participated in a Q&A. So for you know history nerds like ourselves was a little bit of a fanboy moment um to to have with uh with Ken Burns. Um so tonight what we want to
present to you is uh a project. We nominated two projects uh from the many that our our teachers uh guided in their in their classrooms. Both of those projects actually uh were awarded uh by the state committee. Madison Paredes
Hernandez not able to make it tonight uh with hers. We are we're going over to Rutgers University tomorrow to Livingston uh student uh center for uh an expo in which our projects will be on display along with projects from students around the state and you know
we'll be there uh for those honors and Mr. O'Hita and our young ladies will be there too. So uh Mr. Roita's bilingual US2 class. Uh we had an especially wonderful uh project that was done by three students who are here tonight with
us. Uh Kiri Marte Sanchez, Martinez Cabrera, and Lione Quintana Sant Santana. Um they're going to come up here now with Mr. Oita. uh and they they were going to present to you a project that they did that went above and beyond
the guidelines uh that were established in the classroom uh for that revolutionary New Jersey project. Come on up, ladies. So, they're going to introduce the video to you and then we'll we'll show you their their finished work.
>> Good night everyone. My name is Katie. Today me and my group Olangi Martinez and Lauren Nintana are going to be presenting our video about all meal All Queen and Sabella Park. During this project, we learned so much about the
history and the culture behind those places. I hope you guys like it and thank you. Hello everyone. Welcome to the New Jersey historical news. Today we're going to be talking about some historical places in New Jersey like Neiltown, Huckers University, and
Sabella Park. Now we're going to Rockers University with Lauren who's reporting. Rockersto College. foreign. for twins. Park, New Jersey.
Revolutionary work. Listen. Lawrence Roader forestry. New York City. Revolutionary War, New Jersey. Thank you guys for reporting these places and thank you guys for watching
this. See you next time. Thank you ladies. Congratulations. And uh just a final note, you know, the the this project was aimed at connecting local history to the larger topics and themes that we study right throughout
our nation's history and world history as well. And I just want to thank our our staff members in the social studies department because they I think they do that every day in the various different courses that we offer, both our core courses and our electives as we try to prepare our our young people to go on to
college and out into the workforce in the world um ahead of us. And you know, these kinds of initiatives, of which this is only one, um are things that we're really proud of uh you know, in our department and our young people do a great job and and Mr. Rohita and his
colleagues also. So, thank you very much for your support. >> Uh, Mr. Roita would just like to uh say a few words about the project. >> Uh, good evening everyone. I just wanted to point out um these girls, they're part of the bilingual program, so
English is not their first language. So when I I signed a project, I said to them, look, I believe in you. I want you to make all of the decisions. So I taught you the skills, but I want you to apply those skills. So you can come to me with the final product. So I'm not
taking any credit for what you saw tonight. They made the decision, okay, we want to make sure that we are understood. So because English is not their first language, they made the executive decision. Well, we're going to say it in our first language, but without asking
me, they figured out, well, we need subtitles so that they they could understand what we're saying. So they applied their bilingual and ESL skills for to to this project. So that's why they spoke in Spanish, they had it the subtitles, and they threw in an extra uh
uh uh person who spoke English well enough to be the the to introduce it and and and end end the the video. So that's why it was in Spanish. Okay, great job, ladies. Thank you, Mr. Aita, for being here tonight and for our students uh who came
tonight to show their project. I'm very excited to to go to Ruckers tomorrow to see you uh present it. Um it's going to be a great opportunity for you. I would like to thank the board of education. Um over the last couple years, the number of students who have
been given the opportunity to travel abroad has increased. Um over the last couple years we had we had students attend uh or travel to Spain for a Spanish exchange program and then um their partners from Spain came and visited the United States. Uh we have
our German exchange program uh which has um many years of students traveling to and from Germany. Um our model UN has traveled to the Czech Republic, Spain um over the last couple years as
well. So, and this year we had the opportunity for students from our Italian club to travel to Italy with their teacher. So, at this time I would like to ask uh two of our students, Anushri Loit Rita Vias and Mr. Russo uh
is our Italian teacher to please come up. Uh they want to talk a little bit about their experiences in Italy this year. Hello, I'm Rica Vias. Okay, I'm Rick Vayas. I'm Anushi Lohit and today we're going to be presenting about our Italian trip that we took
March 27th to April 4th. Okay, so to start off the some of the cities that we went to were Rome, Florence, and Naples. And when we went to Florence, it was a day trip. And when we were in Rome, we went to Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel, which was also a day trip.
So the first city that we went to was Rome. Um, it was personally one of my favorites. We did a lot of walking, a lot of getting sweet treats, going to cafes. One of my favorite places we went to on the first day was the coliseum. It was so beautiful to see the ancient
Roman architecture and just going there and just seeing the tour and seeing like gladiators were fighting here at one point. So, that was really interesting to see. So right after the coliseum that same day we went to the Palatine Hill and the
Roman Forum and those two places were like kind of in the same area. And so we did a tour for that. And the tour was basically like we had like a tour guide and we would have like these earbuds in and we would listen to her like talk about the history of like the architecture and the area. And I just
found that really helpful because even if she was even if she was like far away, we could still understand what she was saying and it was really insightful. Next, we went to the infamous Trevy Fountain. It was so much more beautiful in real life than on the pictures you see. We got to take a lot of pictures
and we did the famous coin drop over your right shoulder, which is good luck. So, that was really fun to do. And it was just great to be around our friends during this time. And even Mr. Russo, he was teaching us so much about the architecture of the Trevy Fountain and even like the Colosseum and Palentine
Hill in the Roman Forum. Um, and then next we did a vat a day trip to Vatican City and this is Dean Chapel. So these places are so so beautiful and I would I definitely want to go back. Um, but all around like when
we went inside there the walls were covered in like beautiful art and like even above like the ceiling was really really beautiful and it allowed me to like take like really internalize like everything that was going on. And the thing about the cysteine chapel is that there was no flash photography which
honestly like I loved because it allowed me to like be in the moment and like look around and I loved it so much. So next we went to Florence. We visited the UI Gallery Point and Florence Duommo. So this was a day trip and when
we got there we first saw the Duommo which was such a beautiful building. It was really big, but also the architecture was like none other that we've seen in Italy. It was colorful and it was just a re really good site to see.
Um, and then we also went to the O of Gallery, which was actually one of my favorites. There was a lot of art there and like architecture. And if we had any questions, we could ask Mr. Russo and he like told us some like fun history facts and like stuff like that. And I loved like there was like an order to like how
you enter the room and it was just really beautiful. And then one of the other spots we got to see in Florence was Ponttovecu. This was we only went there for five minutes while we were passing by. But it was really pretty to see. It was a very famous location. So a lot of us took pictures there and a lot of the students
love to take pictures during the trip. So that was really fun. Um, and like the last picture like on the bottom, uh, we're at this like really famous uh, sandwich shop that's like globally lo known. Um, it's called
like Alante Vin Ven Venolo. Um, basically I actually went there twice in the same day because it was so good. Um, but it's globally known. A lot of uh, like celebrities go there and I definitely want to go back. So lastly, we went to Naples. Um the
first thing that we did when we visited Naples was Pompei, which was so beautiful to see. I was really intrigued and I know a lot of the other students were because it's like a place that was frozen in time. Like if you don't know the history about Pompei, one day in um
like ancient Rome, the volcano erupted and a lot of the people were frozen in time. So, like the ashes like hardened because of like the volcanic like ash or something. Sorry, I don't really know how it works. I'm not a scientist. But
it was really interesting to see because you could also see like the bodies. We put it um on the slideshow on the top right. That was one of the bodies that we could see. And it was just really interesting to like think like, wow, like there's ancient Romans like actually living there. And it was like
it was preserved really well. So, our tour guide was really nice and informative. Um, and you can see in the bottom right, we went to a pizza cooking class, which was definitely one of my favorite things to do there. Uh, we made everything from
scratch. We made like the dough, like the marinara sauce, and like the cheese. And the best part is that we got to try it after. So, yeah. U, it was definitely one of my favorites. Then lastly, we had a shopping day. A lot of the kids love to go out and shopping. I know a lot of
the boys were getting ties and suits while the girls we went to this store called Berska. It's like if there was Hollister in Italy. It was really cool and we got to see like European like fashion. So yeah, I got a lot of clothes from Italy and I know a lot of people on
the trip did too. Um, shopping was definitely a favorite on the trip. So, okay. And lastly, the biggest takeaway from this trip is is definitely the friendships that I made. I've made some of my like long life like friends from this trip with people that I didn't
think I would get like so well along with and like connected. Um cuz we're in the same class, but we take like different like levels. So, I'm really I'm just so grateful to have met these people and we definitely plan on going together as a group again. >> If there was one word to describe this
trip, I would say family. I think the biggest thing that I did take away from it was the people that I talked to and met. It was an and and and like like an big amount of like smiles and laughing. And at first I wouldn't really think
that I would be talking to these people, but then when I got on this trip, like I loved every single one of them. So I think the Italy trip showed me like to always broaden my horizons to who I talk to. I could talk to anybody and become friends with them. So, I think that was one of my big takeaways from the trip
that I've like made a family here. So, next we have a little video to present to you guys. Never going to find me another love girl. I'm never going to find me another love girl.
Baby, you can look around. Thank you so much Russo. I just wanted to Dr. Scowski directly. Uh it is an extremely rare opportunity to allow students to go abroad. This is something that's not only rare for the
state, there really not many programs in the entire country, United States alone that to have not only our program, but all of the world language have that opportunity. Um, that's a huge huge thing. Um, I do want to say to you also, it's
not just a fun thing for students, it's an investment in them in a world that's becoming increasingly artificial. You're helping to ground our students in reality, not only here, but abroad. and you're helping to create leaders that are afraid to confront the big problems
that are coming. So, thank you very much. And as a small uh token of our appreciation, we have a gift to the board. So, them thank you guys so very much and we look forward to more opportunities in the future. I want to thank uh Arouchy and Ritica
for putting a presentation together. Uh I only spoke to them last week um and they put a lot of effort into that um their presentation and of course Mr. Russo for being here. One of the things we're very proud of at MBTHs is the opportunities that our students have um and outside the classroom, the
opportunities to create core memories. And I believe that those students who went on that trip have a memory that will last a lifetime for them. And again, I'm very grateful to the board of education for supporting us and Dr. Zakowski um to make that trip possible for our students. They went this past
spring break last year. Um they spoke to you about year one of our H.B.CU CU trip. Um, again, I want to thank the board of education for supporting the opportunity for students to be exposed to historically black colleges and
universities as they make their final decision on where they would like to attend college after graduating from MBTHs. Um, this was a trip that had never been done before. Um, and last year was extremely successful. So, this year was year two of the H.B.CU trip.
So, I'd like to invite um, Mr. Spellellar and Mrs. Gamble uh to say a few words about the trip. >> Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight about the H.B.CU trip. Just to give a little
background, H.B.CU stands for historically black colleges and university and universities. And fun fact, there are over 107 federally recognized H.B.CU in the United States.
On behalf of our team, Mrs. Gamble, myself, Mrs. Lamar, Mrs. Perkins and Coach Byron. We'd like to give you a little highlights of our trip. This historic experience was truly
life-changing for our students. As was mentioned by Mr. Russo and others this evening. We want to thank you, the board of education, Dr. Skowski, and Mr. Neller for supporting us in this endeavor. Beginning in November, the board
supported us to attend the Malcolm Bernard HBC College Fair, which provided exposure to a wide range of historically black colleges and university through the campus. The on-site admission opportunity and direct engagement with with college representatives. Due to the
high level of student participation, two buses were required to transport our students and our staff. This experience focused on the access and exposure and building initial college connection. As a result, our seniors achieved an
impressive 78 college acceptances on spot. 35 of the students that um were there. Yes, they re received four um four of the students received full rides to the to the scholarships um to the schools and
four of them received partial scholarships. So, congratulations to those students. The November fair and the and the April um HB.CU college tour was two distinct but equally impactful experience for our
students. While the November fair introduced the students to a broad range of the colleges on the settings, the April tour provided an immersed opportunity for students to visit the campus in person and as they would say to be able to go down south um to engage
directly with the faculty, the coaches and current students across several of the H.B.CU schools. We attended five universities which included Morgan State, Northfor State, Hampton, North Carolina, ENT, and Delaware State.
Students explored the campus life, asked thoughtful questions, and they also were able to see the student life um firsthand for their future um hopes of going to college. One of the highlights of our opportunity was to spend time with our own alumni that actually
attended the schools which did the tour for us. The students that went on our tour the first year, they were our tour guides for this year. >> I have to say they cut out my alma mater, North Carolina Central University from the first tour to the second tour,
but we're going to reinsert that great university next year. Shameless plug. Sorry. Together, these experiences created a powerful continuum of exposure and opportunity. The fair opened doors and
expanded students awareness of what is possible. While the tour allowed them to step on the campuses at least 10,000 steps a day, it also allowed them to envision themselves in those places building meaningful personal connections with the
H.B.CU community. These opportunities have helped our students move from awareness to aspiration and from aspiration toward action. We're deeply grateful for your continued support in expanding opportunities and helping shape our
students postsecary pathways. Thank you. At this time, we would like to share the video that our students put together so they can you can hear from their perspective and also some of the highlights from our trip. And Mr. Escalon. We want to shout out to help
the students put this together. Before this experience, I didn't really know much about H.B.CU. I think like just like maybe like 2 years ago, I kind of learned what it was like historically black college or university. And I feel like mostly on social media, it's kind of just viewed as like a party school. I
feel like a lot of people think when they think of HB.CU is they think of partying, but actually getting to go on campus and see it, you kind of realize like it's more of a community. And that's what I think drew me so much to Howard or like made me want to go to any H.B.CU. In fact, because everyone is so close together and welcoming and you get
to see a lot of your culture. HBCU are definitely places that um black people can succeed together. And so yeah, after visiting the trip, I definitely did get to see, you know, black people getting to enjoy themselves, getting to just be who they are. >> Through the experience, I viewed H.B.CU
as like a place of for black people to come together to kind of have a sense of community. And going on the trip really strengthened that view, and I got a real sense of how it feels to have people like you surrounding you, like motivating each other. >> At the experience, I have viewed it as
it's very good. It's always something to do. It's never nothing to not do. And you can meet a lot of good friends, good people. You can view a lot of good people there. It's always any events to do there. And it's always something that you can grow as a good community, meet new people, new friends, and see a lot
of good activities there, too. >> I wanted to go on a trip because I wanted to see like different black culture like mostly cuz I wanted to experience like the H.B.CU lifestyle, but financially that was not going to be a plan. But mentally, I was like, since I'm not going to HC, I do want to
experience like a one day in a life. So, that's why I was interested into the trip. >> Um, I noticed how like just the community was, everyone had a very positive vibe to them, especially some of like the first ones we saw like Morgan. I was just I love the vibe of the campus and the way it felt and it
kind of showed me like what I was kind of looking for with the community. >> For me, it felt like because I was so uneducated about H.B.CU, to use like it felt like a need like I needed to go and actually like expand my horizons and know there's like more to schools than
just PWIS. So I decided to go just to like dip my toes into it and I ended up really liking it. Like it was a really informational educational trip. >> My favorite campus was definitely ENCAT. Um I just like how the Southern School
the vibe I just like how it was a really sense of community. Like we would go out, we would see students interacting, we see like football games, like they had a 7v7, they had flag football, like everybody was just like look happy to be around each other. >> That's a beautiful campus, you know,
like everyone's together. It's diverse. You could fit in all the time. You cannot like not fit in like Yeah, ENCAT's definitely up there. >> After HBU trip, I've actually taken I think two more trips to Morgan after that. and I started to like really like
see myself there and just the support like that I already have from like my friends that go there and my family that lives there. It just seemed like the right choice for me. >> Uh my favorite campus I saw was probably Delaware State. Um it was it was modern. I like the basketball court right in the
middle. Uh and it was like it was like a bright campus. What made me want to go to Howard is because of the like the alumni like after you graduate the school like the alumni have like a really good like program and just a lot of people are successful cuz Howard just like a really big school and like a lot
of like companies go and there's like a lot of internships that through the school. So I thought that was important. when we were at um I think it was Norfolk State, there was like um like dinner happening and there was like a break um like a break dance like there was like partying in the middle of dinner and I literally like was like I
never knew that they do this here and it was just so interesting to see and like we got to join and we got to dance with them and I just kind of like like now that I look back at it like I wish like that was my life every single day. >> My favorite part of the trip was like spending late nights in the hotel like just bonding with my other student leaders and my administrators and the
other students on the trip. like I felt like I gained a whole new friend group based off this trip. >> Uh I feel like the community of like everyone had the biggest impact on me because it kind of it made me feel like everyone was like closer. I thought college was going to be an experience where everyone kind of does their own
thing. But like the trip really made me like like see that you know you'll find people that have the same hobbies as you, same interests as you and you kind of grow together with those people. And even if you don't really know much about them, people want to get to know other people and they they're like open to having friendships and stuff like that.
>> Um I learned a lot about H.B.CU. I didn't know too much before the tour, but um it was very informational. Um and also it was nice to get closer with friends. Um there was people who I went on the trip with who I didn't really know as well, but because of the trip,
we became closer and I really appreciate it. Uh the biggest impact for me is seeing how outgoing people are to talk to you. You know, with high school, it's like everybody is in their own bubble, you know, and and with college, it's like, you know, now that you're in a new environment, you like kind of have to be
outgoing and and connect yourself with other people. >> I didn't get to go on the trip cuz of my injury, but I know like leading up to it, just being able to like talk with everyone and like even like Alfreda, James, Kadija, we've all known each other, well, I feel like our bond like just grew closer. the landing like I was
back there like I wish I went on this trip. So if you are thinking about going on this trip just go on it. Don't second guess yourself like I did. >> In all I think this trip is really worth it. It's a really good experience. You know you get to leave with your friends if visiting new schools and most importantly you get to leave the state. You know some people don't have the
opportunity to do that and to really explore and to do that with your friends is also another special experience. So I want to say thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you guys. >> Thank you. >> Thank you to Mr. Deller, the principal of North County High School. He really supported us the whole time during this trip. Our first our first time doing it
and our second time doing it. You know, he was always there to help us and he was basically one of the biggest backbones of this trip. >> Miss Gamble, Miss Perkins, Mr. Byron, >> Mr. Spelleller, Miss Lamar, >> Mr. Escalona for taking our pictures and help editing our photos and helping out
with our HBCU shirt. And thank you Miss Gamble for being such a supportive administrator. It's really nice to be around an administration that actually cares about where the black students are going and what they're interested in and their success and their care and their mental health. It's really important. So
truly from the bottom of my heart, I do thank you guys for this trip. It was hard and it's a lot and it's a lot of funding, but I feel like the result of it is all worth it. And being able to actually enjoy and educate myself and educate the people around me is really
impactful. And I think it should be around forever. >> This rainy day is temporary. The contrast is why we come. The sunshine is just a cloud away way.
>> So what you blown a fuse? >> Well, that happens to us all. >> That happens to us all. I come with great news with great news. >> The day could change change. We've all of course been there before.
Been there crying, fighting the dark. Let good energy day is temporary. The contrast is why we got them. The sun shining through is just a cloud. Away way.
>> Today the rock star. >> Today the rockar >> feels like singing the blues. >> Feels like singing the >> Don't abandon that song. >> Cuz the tone could change change. We've all of course been there before.
Been there crying, fighting in the dark. Gravity doesn't mean the earth on the chain chain chain chain chain chain chain. >> So, thank you again um for allowing us to go on the trip. I also wanted to
mention that our students um like I said, they put together the video, but they really took the initiative. The amount of money that they raised this year was over $15,000 for them to be able to go. So, I just wanted to say congratulations to all of our students
and their hard work and their parents. >> Thank you, Mr. Spelleller, um and Miss Gamble for your presentation. Um, I do want to say, uh, you know, like Dave mentioned, um, it's just like the Ruby program at Ruckers, it's great to see
our alumni are now mentoring our students as they go to visit these institutions. Um, I'll give a shout out to Coach Cypot, one of our former uh, North Brunswick Township High School football players. Um Jared Tines transferred to Delaware State to play
football this year. And I think he was just a couple weeks into the semester. Um but he gave the tour to our our students. I think he's class of 23 or 24. You don't remember? 23. Um and he gave the tour. So it's really great uh to see
our students giving back even after they leave MBTHs. Um so lastly for tonight uh as I mentioned as you were coming in this evening um in the back of our our auditorium uh we have displays of different works um from our science department. Um another opportunity we
have through Ruckers University is with the Waxman Institute. Dr. O'Reilly um has done a lot of work with them over the past few years and ex and given our students the opportunity to work through Ruckers University through the Waxman program. So, I'd like to welcome Dr.
O'Reilly, Mrs. Lanfir, and some of our students from the WAC the Waxman Scholars um to come up to give our final presentation for the evening. >> Good evening, Board of Education. Dr. Zikowski. Um, I want to thank you for
this opportunity to highlight our Waxman student scholar program. Um, I also would like to thank our student scholars and their families who have come tonight. Um, this is a program again, it's called the Waxman student scholar
program. It is a Ruckers initiative. There are many amazing things that these students have accomplished and that this program does for them. I would like to summarize very briefly and then give the students the
opportunity to tell you about their experience in the program. So in summary, um this program has been ongoing here at NBTHs for 12 years under the leadership of Dr. O'Reilly. It offers
it offers students graduate level opportunities not bachelor's level opportunities graduate level opportunities in biomecular biomolecular research um and they really are adding
to the field of research in DNA and its applications. One of the goals of the program is for students to be researchers as well as scientific communicators and finally to develop their leadership skills.
As students have worked in this project, one of their goals is to research their um their work that they've done in the lab and develop a DNA clone that is worthy of being published in the
National Library of Medicine at NIH. This is a very significant opportunity for students. Over the years, we have 75 and counting uh publications in NIH through our work
uh with the Waxman Student Scholars Program. There's a again a lot to share and a lot of it is very technical. Um there are some pamphlets and handouts and presentations in the back as well as a QR code that you could scan on your way
out. Um, and so really my goal here tonight is to turn the description over to our science researchers, communicators, and leaders. So with that said, I am going to um present Ashwin
Batia. He is one of the students who has published um he is also the president of our science national honors society. And I would also like to make sure you're aware although the program has been ongoing for 12 years with the support of
the board uh Mr. Neller um the curriculum office as well as Dr. O'Reilly's continued involvement we now have a class so that students can officially be recognized. It was sort of happening informally for many many years
and this year we have a class and a way for students to get this on a transcript. um but while keeping the other pathways for our busy students to still be able to participate outside of the school day. So again, Ashwinbatia, he is going to
lead the student developed presentation on the Waxman program. Thank you, Miss Lir. Good evening, parents and staff and board of education. My name is Ashin Batia and I am presenting on behalf of our main research assistant Parinis
Santos who unfortunately could not join us today. We are the Waxman Student Scholars Program or just simply Waxman for short. First off, what is Waxman? Waxman is a biomolelecular research program at MBTHs. We dedicate the school year to
performing challenging research investigations in order for our students to publish real data on the National Center for Biotechnology Institute or the NCBI. Rather than hypothetical situations in a classroom or studying words on paper, we perform genuine
research, physically operating science for real world health applications. Waxman revolves around a species of duckweed called Landoda puncta, a plant with immense potential for the healthcare industry. We study this plant's proteins through a number of laboratory protocols, including
polymerase chain reaction, restriction digest, and DNA purification. But besides laboratory skills, we learn biioinformatic skills where we learn to compare and examine DNA sequences. As wordy and complicated it may sound, our students have taken the time to learn
in-depthly about all these procedures for a successful publication. Our program students have been pushing out research for over a decade with over 70 DNA clones published onto NCBI. In the previous year alone, we had 12 DNA clones published and we have nearly 20
DNA clones to be published this year. But why is Waxman a unique program? Waxman to me is a unique program because it doesn't just provide university level classes like our AP classes, but provides university level experiences. Experiences shape scientists more than
anything. It allows us to reach into our textbooks, reach into our lecture notes, and really feel what's happening in our world. Waxman's experience has shaped many of our students skills and knowledge, leaving students prepared for the shift in science technicality from
high school to university. Waxman has also steered many students into the realm of STEM. I myself had no idea what path to choose in my junior year of high school until I joined Waxman that which revealed the excitement behind scientific research and left me satisfied for the impact I made through
that research. But most of all, Waxman recognizes the potential in just simple high schoolers. Yeah, Waxman taught me biology. It taught me molecular science. But more than anything, it taught me that I don't need a university degree or
extensive rigorous science certific. Waxman taught us that all we really needed was a passion. At the end of the auditorium is our Waxman booth where you can find information on the application for Waxman for the 2026 to 2027 year. We will also be running as Miss Lanier a
special honors class for Waxman as well as its after school counterpart which you can find more about again at the Waxman booth. I'd like to give a special thanks to Miss Lanfir, our science supervisor, Mr. Neller, our pres, Dr. Brian Zakowski and the board of
education, Dr. Dr. Frederick Johnson, Dr. O'Reilly, our waxman adviser, and of and the waxman advisers at Ruckers University, Dr. Andrew Vashan, Miss Sue Colette, Mr. John Brick, and Dr. Janet me.
Thank you. Now I would like to give out certificates to our honorary Waxman student scholars for their hard work, dedication and change that they have made in our world through health and research. Vassia Patrick Bielski
Arnodra, Chris, Jooshi, Soho, Mishra, Kayla, Rajan, the Vinder Singh, Anish Cena, Nikita Venugo, Shredar Visa and a couple of people um unfortunately
cannot be present today but I'll also read out their names for recognition. Um Granut Abini, Srij Bandandy, Aayu Kagra, Eva Patel, Yashi Patel,
Netherra Pradep Kumar, Para Santos and Anushia Vaklaga. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh finally we would like to recognize um our student leader scholar.
So each year Ruckers selects a student lab leader. Um from each school they attend the summer institute and do all of this work in preparation for leading the next group of students here at the school um in collaboration with Dr.
O'Reilly. So they function as a lab assistant. Our student ecala student scholar for 2526 is piranha Santosh and appar and um unfortunately she was unable to attend this evening so we did have Ashwin in
her place. Um we would like to announce that Ruckers has selected our next student scholar. Our next student ETA student scholar is Patrick Bielski. At this time, we would like to have
Patrick come forward. He will receive his lab coat as a student leader and the baton of the micropeper will be passed to him. So again, thank you for this opportunity to recognize our students. There is work
from a variety of science classes in the back because we do want to recognize um all the different levels of work and the grade levels of work that we have here. Um but really the Waxman program is the culmination um as a graduate level
course. Again, thank you. Congratulations students. Thank you parents. Um and again, thank you to the board of education for supporting our continued development of this program. First of all, I want to um I want to thank our students and their parents. Uh
I know you were the last presentation of the evening and it's been a long night, but I want to thank you for your patience um and for staying till the end uh to see their their presentation. Um, I do want to uh thank Dr. O'Reilly. Um, she goes above and beyond to work with
our students. She gives countless hours outside of the school day um, working with them. So, I do want to thank her. So, as we conclude our program, um I again I just want to thank uh the parents and students who were here tonight um to participate in our
presentations that I think really showed some of the wonderful things that are happening in MBTHs. I want to thank the administrative team for being here as well. Um, and I also again want to thank the board of education for all of your support um, every year to make MBTHs a
great place for our students where they have opportunities both in and outside of the classroom to really grow and thrive during their times as students. So, thank you. Uh, tomorrow night we do have an it is a a busy week. So, tomorrow night we have another uh long night, but we have our
academic recognition um program, which is always an exciting year to recognize our student scholars. That's in the Commons at 7 PM next Tuesday. Um it's always a sign that things are starting to wind down a little bit, but we have our senior awards program at 7 p.m. in
the auditorium. And we and then finally coming up at the end of June on Monday, June 22nd, we have our annual graduation ceremony, uh, which will be at Ruckers University at Jersey Mike's Arena at 400 PM. Um, so I want to thank you again for
being here tonight. Um, have a good evening. All right, we are going to return to uh our business here to continue our meeting. Um but before we do so, I just want to thank Mr. Neller for one sharing
the high school with us. Um for giving us a taste of what happens day-to-day. I feel like whenever we have our conference meetings, we are seeing on paper the actions that we're taking, but being able to actually see it in real life. Um the impact, the enriching
experiences, the exposure that is being offered to our students and that there really is something for everyone. Um is truly a privilege. I think it really brings to light what we do every meeting um behind the scenes that most people don't see that there really is an impact
um and hopefully a positive one for our students. So, we're very grateful for the work that you all do. We're grateful for the collaboration that we're seeing with you and your cabinet and your team. Um so, thank you so much. Much appreciated. >> Anyone else has comments? >> Madam VP, I just wanted to say uh to Mr.
Neller, I asked him today because we were here all day, Dr. Ellis, Miss Rumbo, and Miss Kea. Uh, as we were running around the high school and I said, "Mr. Nella, what's going on?" In the morning, we had the our learning center children field day and we ran and
had a wonderful helicopter presentation and we had a unveiling of student work for the driver's education mural and then there was a various other issue other activities going on. I said, "Mike, what do you call us?" And he says, "Just another Wednesday." Wow. So,
it was great to see the state of the schools and and we get a chance to experience the uh you kind of the hard work that goes in dayto day and thank you for uh really giving us a taste of the child's experience in this school. I think our vice president said it well.
there's something for everyone here and thank you for your leadership to make sure we harness that, we cultivate that and we have a chance for every student to kind of um you know come out of their shell and demonstrate what they've been able to experience here at North Brunswick Township High School. So,
thank you Mr. Nelly. >> All right, no further comments. We are going to move on to our next item of the agenda. And so, as you all can tell, I am sitting in Miss Toast's place. Our board president is uh not with us tonight. So, I will be um taking over
the review of the agenda for our next meeting that is scheduled for June 3rd, 2026. If our board members can um have that handy, as always, the review of our agenda is just letting the public know that we have um obviously had discussions our
our conference and committee meetings to go over the items that are listed here. Um, and this is just to make sure that we are seeing what is being uh set forth for our next meeting. So, we'll be looking at pages one and two, pages three and four,
pages five and six, pages seven and eight, pages 9 and 10, pages 11 and 12, 13 and 14, 15 and 16, 17 and 18, 19 and 20.
And we are concluding with page 21. All right. At this time, we will have public session on agenda items only. If there's anyone from the public that wishes to come forth and speak, please do so now. Okay. Seeing none, I would like a motion
to close the public portion of the meeting. So move. >> Second. >> All in favor? Is anyone opposed? This session is closed. And at this time we will open the it up for a public session on any matter. If anyone from the public would like to so
speak, please come forward. >> Also seeing none, can I have a motion to close the public portion of the meeting? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? This session is closed. >> All right. Having no executive items tonight, we will close the meeting. It
is now 8:48 p.m. If I can have a motion to conclude. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? We are ajourned. >> All right. Have a good night, everyone. >> Thank you, Mr. James.