Student news: Linden school is going to the dogs, for reading

• Students are reading and writing letters to the dogs as part of the Linden School No. 6 program
• Pink Night program at MCC and Brookdale Community College

Linden School No. 6 teacher Jen Sousa-Redgate and School No. 6 Social Worker Jamie Bodden have started a therapy dog reading program to improve the students reading and writing skills by having them read and write letters to the dogs, according to a school news release.

As part of the program, on Feb. 10 student Lilly Miller read a book to Jax, a Great Dane.

The therapy dogs are certified and insured through Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs. Since starting the program, the students have shown improvement in their oral reading skills, according to the news release.

In addition, dogs visit classrooms through out the year, as a means to educate students about dog safety.

Albright College

Emily Carey of North Brunswick was named to the fall dean's list at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. Students must have a grade-point average of 3.75.

READ: The good things students are doing in Central Jersey and beyond

READ: Education news from around the region

COLLEGE CONNECTION: Advice from local expert columnist

Davenport University

The following Central Jersey residents received their degrees from Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eric Hodasi of Linden and Deanna Marchand of Rahway.

Dunellen: Faber School

Snowy weather did not stop students and staff at Faber School from learning about dental health on Feb.10, as Dr. Carolyn Sheenan, from Distinctive Dentistry, visited the school to teach the students about their teeth.

Sheenan, who grew up in Dunellen, and practices dentistry in the borough, taught students and staff how to keep their gums and teeth healthy. She used a puppet to help demonstrate proper brushing techniques.

According to school nurse, Anne North, “it is important that students learn that brushing their teeth is part of staying healthy and also how to properly brush their teeth.”  Students left the assembly with a bag of goodies to help keep their teeth clean and healthy.

ALSO: Faber School students and staff  participated in “Jump Rope for Heart” and “Wear Red for Women,” which are sponsored by the American Heart Association. During gym classes the students participated in a variety of heart healthy exercises and raised money to help the American Heart Association fund research and educational initiatives about heart health. The students are also learning about their heart health and how to participate in a community service project. According to a school news release, students and staff has raised more than $9,500 this year for the American Heart Association.

Educational Services Commission of New Jersey

“I can’t tell you how excited I am about being both a statewide service provider and having statewide representation on our Board of Directors,” said Educational Services Commission of New Jersey (ESCNJ) Board President Dale Caldwell on a recent Better Together podcast.

The Better Together podcast can be heard by visiting ESCNJ’s home page at www.escnj.k12.nj.us and clicking “Realignment of ESCNJ’s Board Discussed on Better Together podcast,” listed under “News From ESCNJ.”

In March 2016, when the State Board of Education unanimously approved the then Middlesex Regional Educational Services Commission’s (MRESC)  request to rename itself The Educational Services Commission of New Jersey, the request included a process for phasing in  Board representation from every county in the state.

Previously, the Board consisted of 24 members, representing each school district in Middlesex County. As the ESCNJ, the board has expanded from 24 to 29 representatives, with the five new representatives coming from counties outside of Middlesex County.

All ESCNJ Board members serve a minimum one-year term, and must be a superintendent or board of education member in their district. The phase in of the first five representatives outside of Middlesex County began in September of the 2016-2017 school year, and included: Bergen County Technical Schools/Special Services Superintendent Howard Lerner; Pemberton Township (Burlington County) Chief School Administrator Tony Trongone; Voorhees Township (Camden County) Superintendent Raymond Brosel; Cape May County Special Services Superintendent Barbara Makoski, and Somerset  Hills Regional (Somerset County) Superintendent Frances Wood.

The ESCNJ Board Vice President Bill Petscavage, also appearing on Better Together, noted the monthly board meetings are now broadcast via webinar so participation is more convenient for representatives outside of Middlesex County.

All board members may serve more than one year if desired.  When an out-of-county board member decides to leave the board, a new district from an alternate county outside of Middlesex may be identified and asked to participate.

The ESCNJ operates six schools offering services for student’s ages 3 to 21 with autism, multiple disabilities, and at-risk behaviors, including two schools with on-site clinical support services. The ESCNJ also provides shared services statewide to special needs students. Established in 1977, the ESCNJ is the largest Educational Services Commission in New Jersey, and coordinates transportation services for nearly 14,000 students throughout the state. The ESCNJ also manages the state’s largest cooperative buying program through its Co-op Pricing System, which has more than 1,000 members.

Grove City College

The following Central Jersey residents at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania, were named to the fall dean's list: Sarah Smythe of Rahway and John Anastasio of New Brunswick.

Hofstra University

The following Central Jersey residents at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, were named to the fall dean's list: Nailah Andre of Piscataway, Ashley Batista of Monroe, Emilie Beck of Dayton, Amelia Beckerman of Princeton, Connor Burkert of Cranford, Marisa Campione,Richard Corbet of Edison, Montana Cushmeyer of Kenilworth, Nicholas Guerrino of North Brunswick, Rachel Hirsch of Metuchen, Michael Leon, Nicole Martinez of East Brunswick, Tori-Rae Matisoff of Monroe, Sylvia Mei of Monroe Township,
Elizabeth Murphy of East Brunswick, Daniel Paul of Edison, Moises Philippsborn Rosenbach of Cranford, Kelsey Picciano of Sayerville, Geraldine Plinio of East Brunswick, Rachel Rea of Piscataway, Christopher Wasieczko of Clark. Student must have a grade-point average of 3.5.

Kean University

A Kean University student group, the Association for Computing Machinery Women (ACM-W), has received a $3,000 grant to encourage women in computer science on the campus in Union.

Kean's ACM-W is one of the Fall 2016 award recipients of the NCWIT & ACM-W Student Seed Fund, sponsored by the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) and Google.org. The grant, which supports the growth of women in computing groups at different stages of development and varied institutional sizes, will help launch the ACM-W chapter on Kean’s campus.

Juan Li, assistant professor in the Kean Department of Computer Science, worked with her undergraduate students to prepare the proposal.

With the start-up funding, Kean University ACM-W will provide student membership fees for founding members. Funds will also be used to organize career fairs, guest speakers and an information session to help members achieve success in computer science and information technology fields. Another objective of the funding is to create a platform in which underrepresented female computer science and information technology students could gather together to share ideas, experiences, support one another and network.

In the U.S. in 2014, women earned 57 percent of all undergraduate degrees. However, women earned less than one-fifth of all computer and information sciences undergraduate degrees and engineering degrees, according to NCWIT.

Linden School No.1

Students in Jennifer Bartolomeo’s class at Linden School  No. 1 celebrated the 100th day of school on Feb.15. In the morning, the students colored a crown that stated, “I am 100 days smarter!” according to a school news release. Students also read the story "Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten" by Joseph Slate. Students then wrote a sentence using a picture prompt of students celebrating the 100th day.

According to the news release, in the afternoon, students created objects out of 100 plastic cups, 100 pattern blocks, 100 snap cubes and recorded their structures. Students also raced to 100 tallies with a partner using dice. At the end of the day, students brought home the number 100 made of cookies to share with a family member while discussing their fun activities.

Linden School No. 5

In honor of Black History Month, Marissa Scorese's fourth-grade class at School No. 5 learned about the Under Ground Railroad quilts patterns that were used by conductors to signal to others what was going on, according to a school news release. Each pattern represented a specific sign for them to use and direct slaves to freedom. Scorese shared an experience from her childhood where she was able to see a real area made for the Underground Railroad in the north, which her aunt had underneath her kitchen when she was their age.

Students are also reading aloud for the "Night at the Apollo" assembly, about African American inventors. They researched and made posters of each person and what they invented. Linden School No. 5 hosted " Showtime At The Apollo" on Feb. 28.

Linden:Soehl Middle School

The Soehl Middle School students of the month for February were: sixth grade, Aaliyah Mathis and Marisol Ramos-Rodriguez; seventh grade: Marwin Clavijo and Richard Gyan; eighthgGrade: Nylah Hughes Green, Felicia McKnight, and Millena Silva.

Miami University

Craig Sanvee Byll of Plainsboro received a bachelor's degree in political science from Miami University in Oxford. Ohio on Dec. 13.

Middlesex County College

“Pink Night,” a program in which the Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College basketball teams supported cancer awareness, was conducted at Middlesex on Feb. 21. The men’s and women’s teams from both schools wore special warm-up T-shirts, and members of the MCC women’s team organized a bake sale and collected donations for a cancer charity.

Middlesex High School

Middlesex High School senior, Kelly Zierdt has had her ceramics work selected for the National K-12 Ceramics Exhibition being conducted in Portland, Oregon, from March 22 to 24. This year 1,413 students submitted work and of those, 1,046 were in the Junior/Senior division; in this division, 150 were selected for exhibition. The gallery is set up to coincide with the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts annual convention.

Thousands of artists will be in Portland for the event and Zierdt’s four part sculpture of a popsicle melting will be on display. The artist as been a member of the Middlesex High School Ceramic department for two years and is an active leader in the Visual Arts Club, according to Kellly Clark, a ceramic teacher at the school. Zierdt is considering a career in art education.

Milltown: Joyce Killmer School

The Milltown Public School district honored former Joyce Kilmer School alumni for their contributions as student athletes during the Feb. 27 Board of Education meeting at the "Knights of Fame" induction ceremony.

Former alumni honored included Lauren DeFalco and KateLynn Figueroa of the 17-0 2000 undefeated girls basketball team, Jim Barton, coach, and Quinn McCarthy of the 16-0 undefeated 2005-06 boys basketball team, and Amy Hellerich of the 17 -0 1984-85 girls basketball team.

The ceremony included the unveiling of the upgraded school trophy case where the various accomplishments of the honorees are housed, and now prominently highlighted.

"These individuals truly embody the characteristics associated with the term "student athlete," and their example to current students as role models in the areas of academics, citizenship, and athletics is  why we are honoring them today" said Joyce Kilmer Principal Bill Veit in his address during the ceremony.

The ceremony concluded with a walk down memory lane as the inductees and their families perused the upgraded trophy case reliving their fond memories from the past accomplishments as student athletes that have ultimately led them to their current successes as adults.

"Athletics is rarely about becoming a professional athlete," Veit said, "but more about becoming a professional in life, and calling on the experiences, hardships, struggles, and perseverance necessary to overcome obstacles in athletics, and applying them to real life situations."

North Brunswick Township High School

Melanie Fosko who was recognized as “Student of the Week” recently by News 12 Scholar Athlete Program. Fosko, who is a honor student and athlete swimmer, is only the second student athlete to receive this award in the high school's history.

Senior Anum Kazmi was selected for the “Caring Award” sponsored by the Middlesex County Guidance Counselors Association. She will be will be honored along with her counselor, Stephen Bitalla and Guidance Director Kevin Farrell.

Alex Tapia, a senior, and Keren Barrientos, a junior, were selected to receive the “Unsung Heroes” Award sponsored by the Middlesex County School Boards a Recognition Evening at Old Bridge High School this month.

Scholastic Art has announced that senior Cynthia Liang has won one Gold Key, two Silver Keys, and one Honorable Mention in the Writing Category for the 2017 Scho-lastic Art and Writing Awards.

Swathi Vasudevan has been selected to sing the mixed choir for the N.J. Regions II Choir through Central Jersey Music Education Association. IN addition, Alex Zhao was accepted into the Symphonic Band and Elizabeth Sun who was accepted into Symphonic Bad Percussion Ensemble by Central Jersey Music Education Association.

Students of the month for January: Dania Bayoumi, Oscar Castanos, Sarah Clarke, Julia Davies, Kayla Farmer, Mariah Jarvis, Paul Kuchler, Kevin Marquez, Robby Plaha, Kaina Ruiz, Naseem Sanchez, Erika Sinche Sinchi, Joseph Camlet, Stephen Grant, Maquaddus Jarral, Tara Jennings, Akilah Glover, Angelo Hernandez, Emily Moffitt, Yasa Spoorthi, Tyasia Armour, Christos Drosos, Adil Kazmi, Asaad Maiden.

Students of the month for December: Ashley Baez, Arelen Barrera, Brian Buckley, Luis Bonilla, Angela Colandrea, Clara Gimenez,
Keyara Hill, Keyon Hill, Sydnee Hopson, Chigozie Ibe, Kiyomi Korodan, Aya Ghannom, Rafael Mesa, Emil Montero, Samantha Persaud, Lennys Quintano-Osorto, Leslie  Rivas-Rodriguez, Tre-Nea Roberts-Johnson, Monica Samy.

Raritan Valley Community College

Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg has earned the 2017 Military Friendly® School designation by Victory Media, publisher of G.I. Jobs®, STEM JobsSM and Military Spouse.

First published in 2009, the list of Military Friendly® Schools is provided to service members and their families, helping them select the best college, university or trade school to receive the education and training needed to pursue a civilian career.

Approximately 100 military and veteran students currently receive benefits at RVCC. The College offers military members and veterans a streamlined admissions process with an on-site dedicated veteran advisor available throughout the admissions, testing and registration processes. The college also offers an orientation program for new students with an additional orientation to discuss veteran benefits and resources. RVCC participates in TA, MYCAA, NJ National Guard Waiver, and GI Bill educational benefit programs.

Institutions earning the Military Friendly® School designation were evaluated using public data sources and responses from Victory Media’s proprietary survey. More than 1,700 schools participated in the 2017 survey; 1,273 were awarded with the designation. 

RVCC will be showcased along with other 2017 Military Friendly® Schools in the annual Guide to Military Friendly® Schools, a special education issues of G.I. Jobs® and Military Spouse magazine, and on www.militaryfriendly.com.

Seton Hall University

The following Central Jersey residents at Seton Hall University in South Orange were named to the fall dean's list: Cynthia Zhang, Vikita Patel of Avenel; Ellen Bacon of Middlesex; Cassidy Donelan, Danielle Patulot. Irina Acha of Carteret; Christina Mendes, Daniel Sheldon, Marysonia Ugokwe, Magdalena Wozniak, Kristen Adamowitz, Maria Annicchiaric, Konrad Kosiek, Michael Pimpinelli, Jeffrey Pinkham,Claudia Skiba of Clark; Shannon Harmer, Gianna Cuzzola, Michael Novak, Victoria Parnes, Melissa Alves, Matthew Cunha, Olivia Neiman, Michal Szawinski of Colonia; Leah Scalzadonna, Nicholas Durant, Andrew Smedberg, Allison Van Hook, Ryan Drew, Sara Matlosz, Randall Muckenthaler, Julia Stirpe, Savanna Gerlitz, Brendan Kane, Siobhan McGovern, Carley Quirin, Keara Reilly of Cranford; Julia Kauffman, Mark Skrzyniarz of Dunellen; Aliasger Mithaiwala, Kristen Berezniak, Matthew Parmar, Priya Bhave, Michael Solimini, Anthony Woodard, Karen Barretto, Lauren Berman, Javairia Burton, Kristine London of East Brunswick; Williams Amankwaah, Jose Lopez of East Windsor; Karen Cherian, Julianna Cianfano, Lauren Galamay, Ellie Hautz, Glen Kelly, Sherilyn Morse, Heemali Patel, Rima Patel, Ciara Scanlon, Deanna Schnitzer, Ravi Shah, Cali Clarke, Patrick Cleaver, Shina Patel, Kaitlyn Tierney, Victoria Yackubovich, Melaney Zranchev, Ian Galamay, Jamie Gibson, Nadia Huapaya, Ronald Koval, Nia Patel, John Phillips, Beata Piasecki, Joseph Scialabba, Varundeep Singh, Colm Sullivan, Divina Tanamal of Edison; Wasib Malik, Morgan Kadash, Kaylin-Jacelle Malinit, Aleksandra Wlodyka, Cona Biswas, Amro Saber of Fords; Cierille Boco of Franklin Park; Dylan Gordeuk of Highland Park; Edney Uy, Merrielle Velasquez, Michelle Harkins, Jolie Tang, Wyatt Emme, Marya Mahmood, Mansi Shah of Iselin; Ashley Turner of Jamesburg; Kaitlynn Bunch, Kaitlin Swierczek, Engy Beskal, Zachary Case, Maxwell Rowe, Gabriella Scimemi of Kendall Park; Jessica Lopes, Katelyn McCarthy, Christina Petruzzella, Shannon Ryan, Jessica Dobrowolski, Joseph Locorriere, Stephanie Hernandez, Monica Pellino, Melissa Ryan of Kenilworth; Leah Carton, Isabella Hansen, Kimberley Rothacker, Brenda Ferrer of Keyport; Michael De Andrade, Rafael Gabrieli,  rystyna Maciejak, Elizabeth Swinton, Monica Tarnawski, Kathryn Bricki, Carolina Holguin, Patrick Milan, Taylor Salomon, Julia Wlodarczyk of Linden;  Kevin Kattiandagho, Gerald Harrington of Metuchen; Daniel Chemey, Erin Hendrzak, Ragen Reddick, Karly Sarnowski, Gurpreet Singh, Samantha Todd, Eliza Marie De Guzman, Catherine Esposito, Zuleima Montesinos, Steven Sarnowski, Danielle Tomore of Middlesex; Maurice Beaino, Amanda Tompkins of Milltown; Sheetal Swaminathan, Spoorthi Datla, Alexander Borowick, Andre Bakhos, Lauren MacHalany of Monmouth Junction; Hyrie Cosaj, Spencer Mann, Pooja Mistry, Deanna Brizak, Victoria Porpora, Brooke Bussiere, Lennard Dave Custuna, Olivia Grant, Ryan Codilla, Michael Pascal, Jair Davis of Monroe Twp;Jose Sanchez of New Brunswick; Gregory Doyle, Valerie Machalany, Catalina Oropeza of North Brunswick; Brianna Bernath, Austin Burnett, Lauren Magnus, Vanessa Mondesir, Hardik Patel, Sunny Patel, Rachel Zakhary, Stephen Bartlett, Nicole Castagne, John Dufresne, Cameron Gustavson, Joseph Indelicato, Vladimir Olivares, Melissa Verdesco of Old Bridge; Allyson Bloodgood, Emily Bloodgood, Antony Nganga, Ali Ben Saad, Jessica Donohue, Jason Inganamorte, Narmeen Khan, Michelle Pazdur, Michael Perino, Shannon Tietchen of Parlin; Monica Benedicto, Geraldine Burga, Luis Dejesus, Brenda Delgadillo, Isaac Guevara, Macarena Solis of Perth Amboy; Tam Quach, Lisa Rodriguez, Amber Ingram, Rebecca Marcinko of Piscataway; Katina Vosinas, Thomas Kwan, Stephanie De Ravel, Laurel Murray, Jillian Szczepanski of Princeton; Christie Bianco, William George, Darren Lesinski, Erin Burkert, Stephanie Camacho, Matthew Flanagan, Arnold Lopez-Majano, Alexa Miranda, Kelsea Van Vliet of Rahway; Kerlanta Antoine, Megan Damus, Katia Elisias, Joseph Lafleur of Roselle; Frank Buscaino, Diana Montero, William Fahoury, Jonathan Petiote, Cassilyn Scott of Roselle Park; Zil Modi, Mark Turon of Sayreville; Payal Patel, Sabri Patel, Ryan Lenczewski, Ibukunoluwa Adedeji, Jasmine Igwegbe, Ian Murphy, Nicole Peterkin of Somerset; Michelle Colombo, Brianna Kaminsky, Victoria Pecoraino of South Amboy; Kevin Belanger, Kaitlyn Faustini, Brooke Barry of South Plainfield; Amanda Baszak of South River; Alexandera Urbanski of Spotswood; Erica Bradshaw, Thomas Duffy, Deana Kotsianas, Faye Kotsianas, Hadeka Rasul, Jonathan Valsechi-Diaz, Kevin Giron, Mary Ciccarelli, David Mudrak, Rhea Oza of Woodbridge. Students must have a grade-point average of 3.4.

Stevenson University

The following Central Jersey residents at Stevenson University in Owings Mills, Maryland, were named to the fall dean's list: Nicole Amato of Dayton, Michael Elia, Anthony Raspa of Kendall Park; Sonny Gilroy of Middlesex; Brittany Schultz of Laurence Harbor. Students must have a grade-point average of 3.5.

The College of New Jersey

The following Central Jersey residents at The College of New Jersey were named to the fall dean's list: Aditi Mahapatra of East Brunswick; Karthik Sunkesula of Edison; Engy Aly of Kendall Park; Michael Ruggiero of Old Bridge; Kenneth Estrada of Perth Amboy. Students must have a grade-point average of 3.5. These student were omitted from a previously published list.

The Wardlaw-Hartridge School

Students at The Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison thrilled weekend audiences during a  three-day run of Cinderella, the spring musical, from March 3-5.

Hannah Yates of Piscataway starred in the title role of Cinderella, with Thomas Borner du Cane of Plainfield playing the male lead as the Prince. Other leading players included Steven Bessette of Scotch Plains as the King, Aanandi Murlidharan of Edison as the Queen, CarlinSchildge of Westfield as the Godmother, Aaliah Burney of Sewaren as the Stepmother and Priya Golding of North Plainfield and Jaden Dugenio of Branchburg as the wicked stepsisters.

ALSO: The Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison conducted its fourth annual INDIE Film Festival on Feb. 22 at the South Orange Performing Arts Center in South Orange. This year's films explored thought-provoking topics, including racism, mental illness, insecurity and depression.

The student filmmakers were escorted to the venue in limousines and entered SOPAC on a red carpet prior to the film showcase. They posed for pictures on the red carpet as the event took on the aura of a night at the Oscars. 

This year's judging panel included four alumni judges, many of which work in the television and film industry: Ben Chalfin, Mike Clay and Lamar Mackson, along with Astitva Soni, an award winner from last year's INDIE who is taking film courses at Rice University. The other judges were Andrew Harrison, Peter Hoopes and Tricia Anderson Rosenthal.

Awards were presented to the students in the following categories:

Best Screenplay - Insecurity, by Aanandi Murlidharan of Edison

Best Non-Narrative – Xenophobia, by Victoria Georgiou of Warren and Alyaa Abdelaal of Iselin

Best Narrative – Hope, by Emilia Tobey of Scotch Plains

Best Cinematography – A Letter to You, by Cathy Bi of Edison

Best Director – Aanandi Murlidharan, for Insecurity

Best Editing – Jordan Borst-Ortiz of Colonia and Kaeli Montague of West Orange, for IRL

Best Picture – A Letter to You, by Cathy Bi 

Best Commercial (Open to fifth graders) - Maxim Golubev and Vineel Bandla of Edison

There were 11 films in the festival, which was open to students in grades 5-12. Nearly 300 spectators filled SOPAC for the event, which was sponsored by the Wardlaw-Hartridge Parents’ Association.

Thomas Edison State University

Thomas Edison State University in Trenton is part of a new pilot program designed to provide guidance for students who are preparing for a College-Level Examination Program (CLEP®) exam. CLEP, which is produced by the College Board, allows students from a wide range of ages and education levels, to demonstrate their proficiency of introductory college-level material through credit-by-examinations and, in turn, earn college credit at more than 2,900 institutions, including Thomas Edison State University.

The University has partnered with Modern States Education Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding access to affordable, high-quality college education, to offer free, eight-week prep courses for two CLEP® examinations that can be transferred to degree programs offered by the University. These courses are: Principles of Macroeconomics, and Introductory Business Law.

The pilot program is open to students and applicants at the university as well as the general public. Once the eight-week course is complete, participants will be able to register for their CLEP® examination. The test registration fee will be waived for the first 60 participants who complete the course.  

To register, contact the Center for the Assessment of Learning at the University via email at CAL@tesu.edu or visit http://www.tesu.edu/academics/cal/Clep-Prep-Pilot-Program.cfm for more information.

University of Alabama

The following Central Jersey residents at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, were named to the fall president's and dean's list: Travis Winston Britt of Cranbury (dean); Lily Nicole Stadler of Dayton (president), Jacqueline Anna Giancola of East Brunswick(dean); Shana Cameron Oshinskie of Highland Park(president); Anthony Joseph Certo of Monmouth Jct.(dean); Jessica Rose Rosen of North Brunswick(dean); Gina Giovanna Cummings, Dana Kristen Tokarzewski of South Plainfield(dean). Students must have a grade-point average for the president's list 4.0 and dean's list 3.5.

University of Rhode Island

Jerrell Coleman of Roselle recently completed a fall 2016 internship with the University of Rhode Island's men basketball team.

University of the Sciences

The following Central Jersey residents at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were named to the fall dean's list: Andrew Aitken of Fords,Sameer Akhtar of Princeton, Mai Aly of Parlin, Ashley Cai of East Brunswick, Maria Cavallo of Keyport, Conner Chee of Kendall Park,Jodie D'Ermilio of Old Bridge, Mariam Dar of North Brunswick, Heather deGuzman of Matawan, Aimee Estrellado of Piscataway, Caitlin Finnegan of Edison, Marc Gaballa of East Brunswick, Nessreen Ghanem of Dayton, Lyle Guillen of Old Bridge, Abhinav Illendula of Monmouth Junction, Nkiru Izzuka of Monmouth Junction, Kanika Jethani of Dayton, Princy John of Fords, Namarta Kalia of Franklin Park, Shulinder Kaur of Edison, Sylvia Kerolus of East Brunswick, Rasagnya Kota of Plainsboro, Divya Lal of Edison, Jessica Lapczynski of Metuchen, Grant Lee of Plainsboro, Christopher Makosiej,Nicholas Makosiej of Clark, Amanda Marczak of East Brunswick, Madhav Mehta of Kenilworth, Peter Ng of Kendall Park, Jennifer O'Laughlin of Dayton, Taylor Parajon of South Plainfield, Deep Parikh of Iselin, Shraddha Patel of Princeton, Hemali Patel of Princeton, Ami Patel, Naiya Patel,Aishani Patel of Edison, Krina Patel of Franklin Park, Trisha Patel of Monmouth Junction, Roma Patel, Jay Patel of Piscataway, Parth Patel, Dhara Patel, Pooja Patel of Somerset, Nehi Patel, Krish Patel of North Brunswick,Nihar Patel of Edison, Bianca Patel of Monroe, Shivam Patel of Monmouth Junction, Radha Patel of Old Bridge, Michael Perez of Metuchen, Monisha Prakash of North Brunswick, Anna Rebisz of Colonia, Jonathan Rhee of Edison, Gabrielle Rooke of Keyport, Naomey Sarkis of Matawan, Jessica Sesma of Kendall Park, Neil Shah of Plainsboro, Henika Shah of Edison, Arav Shah of Kendall Park, Anokhi Shah of Somerset, Aditi Shah of Edison, Prachetas Singh of Monroe, Disha Soni of Edison, Ayush Sood of Metuchen, Dominique Sulit of East Brunswick, Chandni Vazirani of North Brunswick, Anu Verma of Edison, Katharine Wilchek of Monroe Township, Vinita Yadav, Melissa Yang of Plainsboro, Avani Yenamandra,  Kyle Yetsko of Edison. Students must have a grade-point average of 3.4.

West Windsor-Plainsboro South High School

A team of students from West Windsor-Plainsboro South High School in West Windsor, won their regional competition for the 2017 National Science Bowl® (NSB) last month and will advance to compete in the NSB National Finals this spring in Washington, D.C.

The NSB brings together thousands of middle and high school students from across the country to compete in a fast-paced question-and-answer format where they solve technical problems and answer questions on a range of science disciplines including biology, chemistry, Earth and space science, physics and math.

The National Science Bowl® will be conducted from April 27 to May 1 in Washington, D.C., for the final middle school and high school competitions.

The top 16 high school teams and the top 16 middle school teams in the National Finals will win $1,000 for their schools’ science departments. Prizes for the top two high school teams for the 2017 NSB will be announced at a later date.

Approximately 265,000 students have participated in the National Science Bowl® in its 26-year history, and it is one of the nation’s largest science competitions. More than 14,000 students compete in the NSB each year.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science manages the NSB Finals competition. Visit http://www.science.energy.gov/wdts/nsb/.

Wilkes University

Somerset resident Andrea Circelli, a student at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, is completing a student teaching assignment this semester. Student teaching is one of the requirements for earning teacher certification in Pennsylvania. Circelli is student teaching at Lake Lehman district.

Students and School news appears on Fridays. Email:hntmetro@mycentraljersey.com