Terra Cotta army of soldiers invades TJ
Roy Caratozzolo III/Staff photographer
As part of their study of ancient China, the sixth-grade students of Thomas Jefferson Middle School created replicas of the famous terra cotta soldiers discovered in 1974 at Xian in China. Six thousand life-size terra cotta figures were found when local farmers were digging a well broke into a pit containing the figures. This project was inspired by sixth-grade Social Studies teacher Karen Butler. Butler traveled to China last summer and visited the actual excavation pit where the soldiers were found. The invasion took place on the Teaneck Road Bridge in front of TJ on June 19 at 2 p.m.
(For more photos, check out July 2 issue of Teaneck Suburbanite)
School Progress Forum
Input ignites progress
By Howard Prosnitz
(posted on June 10, 2008)
More than 150 parents, community members and school employees assembled in the Teaneck High School student center on June 3 for the school system’s first "School Progress" meeting, at which the public was invited to provide feedback on the district’s strengths and weaknesses.
The purpose of the three-hour meeting was to gather community input to guide the district in future decision-making, said Superintendent John Czeterko.
Following a keynote address by Dr. Pedro Noguera, a professor at New York University and well-known authority on urban education, the community divided into nine breakout groups, one for each board of education member, at which each group identified three areas that the district was doing well and three where improvement was needed.
Noguera, who had been a consultant to the district since 2006, spoke about the qualities that make up a successful district that produces high achieving students.
Noting that neither of his parents had graduated from high school, Noguera emphasized the importance of a parental support to in a child’s academic success. Children whose parents had not attended college were at a disadvantage in such areas as parental help with homework, he said. [Full Story]
High school students take a vow of silence
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Staff Photo By Roy Caratozzolo III
St. Mark's Church Pastor Randall Day, who is openly gay, spoke at the "break the Silence" about homosexuality vigil at Teaneck High School.
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The Day of Silence (dayofsilence.org/) is sponsored by GLSEN—the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network — and is a day during which students in schools nationwide take a vow of silence in order to acknowledge the long-standing and silent suffering of people who are subject to homophobic hatred in society and schools. The national Day of Silence fell on the Friday of Teaneck Public Schools’ spring break this year, so members of Spectrum (the gay/straight alliance at Teaneck High School) decided to carry it out on Wednesday, April 30.
Spectrum further organized a "Break the Silence Vigil" which took place on the front lawn of Teaneck High at the end of the school day. This vigil was held in dedication to our fallen brother, Lawrence King, a 15-year-old youth who was shot and killed by a homophobic classmate in California this February. Students who had taken a vow of silence for the day were invited to break their silence at this vigil.
Similarly, the entire student body as well as school faculty members, guidance counselors, administrators, school board members, town council members, religious leaders, and other members of the community were invited to assemble at this vigil to acknowledge the ways in which the LGBT community has been silenced for far too long. Noteworthy attendees included Spectrum President, Henry Ha; 15 different Spectrum Club members from Teaneck High School and Benjamin Franklin Middle School; a dozen Teaneck High students (not regular club participants); Teaneck High School alumnus and host of the nationally televised PBS program In the Life, Michael Billy; Teaneck School Board Member, Margot Embree Fisher; Reverend Randall Day of the Episcopalian Church; Dave Bicofsky of Teaneck Public Schools; Town Councilmember and former Teaneck Mayor Jacqueline Kates; THS principal, Angela Davis; THS assistant principal, Dr. Lennox Small; and guidance counselors Tanya Caesar-Waller (TJ) and Lillian Garcia (THS).
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Staff Photo By Roy Caratozzolo III
Camile Martin, left, Tejahne Thompson, center, and Catherine Fisher, right, talk before the vigil about the importance of tolerance.
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The more than 40 student and adult participants at this "Break the Silence Vigil" circled around a podium under a rainbow flag and many took turns at the microphone bearing witness to their experiences and acknowledging their hopes for a more socially just society. Young people and adults—both straight and gay—told personal stories and shared brief slogans for fellow participants and passersby about the dire need for safe spaces in schools and in our community for all people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
| Schools |
 | TJ studies ancient China
07/02/2008
As part of their study of ancient China, the sixth-grade students of Thomas Jefferson Middle School created replicas of the famous terra cotta soldiers discovered in 1974 at Xian in China.
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| | School District
06/10/2008
More than 150 parents, community members and school employees assembled in the Teaneck High School student center on June 3 for the school system’s first "School Progress" meeting, at which the public was invited to provide feedback on the district’s
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