On April 23, seventh grade students from St. Mary School, Vineland, came in first place and received a plaque and a trophy in the Seventh Annual War of Wits at Buena Regional High School. Students answered questions on current events, pop culture, current music, sports, art, English, math, science and social studies. The trophy travels from the winning school each year and is returned to Buena for the next competition. St. Mary School was the “keeper” of the trophy for 2012 and brought it home for 2013. The students on the winning team were Paul Biagi, Luke Henry, Danny Kuhar, Juliehan Nguyen, and Jackie O’Rourke. The eighth grade team, Chase Bisignaro, Elizabeth Lam, Mick Kirchman, Amanda Letizia and Saki Mertis placed second overall.
Fifth grade students from St. Mary School, Williamstown, have qualified to participate in the Odyssey of the Mind, a creative problem-solving competition, World Finals Tournament at Michigan State University next month. The six-member girls team is part of St. Mary School’s Higher Order Thinking (H.O.T.) Program. The H.O.T. Program is designed to give practice in critical thinking skills through creative experiences in all academic disciplines. This fifth grade team participated in the Odyssey of the Mind state finals two weeks ago in Ewing, N.J., and placed second, qualifying them to go on to the World Finals. During Odyssey of the Mind competition, team members apply their ingenuity and creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the regional, state and world levels. Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and about 25 other countries from around the world participate in the program. In March, two St. Mary School fifth grade teams in the H.O.T Program placed first in two categories in the Odyssey of the Mind Lighthouse Regional Tournament held in Woodstown, N.J., which qualified them for the state finals. This is the second year St. Mary School has participated in the Odyssey of the Mind Tournament. Giovina DeMarco is the H.O.T. Program teacher for grades kindergarten through fifth grade. The H.O.T. Program is also offered to St. Mary School students in grades 6-8.
The Gilson brothers returned to St. Rose of Lima School, Haddon Heights, recently to honor the St. Rose Class of 1922 and their parents, Joseph and Veronica (Riegert) Gilson, graduates of the Class of 1922. Joseph ’48, John ’52 and Gerald ’54 Gilson presented a plaque and donation to the School Annual Fund in honor of their parents and the first graduating class of St. Rose of Lima School. The plaque will be placed near the room where their parents attended eighth grade class.
The students of the John Paul II Regional School, Stratford, Health Sciences Exploratory class are learning about the cardiovascular system from Kathleen Higgins, a cardiac care nurse with the Penn Cardiovascular Institute. The students have met weekly in the elective health sciences class. Presentations included heart pump machines, PowerPoint and model displays of a heart attack, a live cardio-vascular map, the impact of exercise, food and power drinks on the heart, as well as a heart sound station and heart facts. “Our students are taking their learning to a new level as they master this information and begin to teach others. We are grateful to the Heart Institute of Southern New Jersey for their $10,000 grant to support our Middle School Exploratories Health Science program,” said principal Helen Persing.
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”