“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Spring Musical Season Brings
Mischief & Mayhem to Center Stage
It’s been an exciting few weeks for musical theatre across Fair Lawn Schools, with three shows channeling a little dark humor and energy into each song and dance number. Memorial Middle School kicked things off Feb 27-28 highlighting everyone’s favorite creepy family and their hijinks in The Addams Family Musical. Last week, Thomas Jefferson’s cast and crew took a trip to the underworld with Beetlejuice, Jr., showing us what happens when you dare to utter the name of the eponymous character three times in a row.
Be sure to head to FLHS tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday for Chicago (Teen Edition). Our students will razzle-dazzle you with the stellar vocals and snappy choreography that make this musical about crime, betrayal, fame, and love a beloved classic. Tickets are still available for all three remaining shows. If you don’t go… you’ll only have yourself to blame!
Students Survive TEEEM “Shark Tank,”
Walk Away with Seed Funding
You know what they say… Teamwork makes the dream work!
A group of FLHS students in Ms. Melissa Healey and Ms. Mary Slender’s “Women and Gender in Visual Arts and Literature” class recently attended The Empathy Equality Entrepreneurship Mission’s mid-year workshop with a mission in mind: dive head-first into its Shark Tank-style competition with their “Threads of Peru” website pitch and hopefully come up for air. Their hard work paid off, our students left victorious with a first place prize and $800 in seed funding to boot.
Ms. Healy & Slender have worked with North Jersey-based TEEEM for the last three years. The nonprofit links up American youth with their peers and communities across the globe. For the 25-26 school year, FLHS partnered with Peruvian digital marketplace Awamaki, which supports a group of artisan weavers through fair trade principles. Students are now working on a story-driven website and marketing plan that will hopefully drive more orders for Awamaki and its artists.
Books Come to Life During
Read Across America Week
“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” – Oscar Wilde
Read Across America week was one for the books (pun intended) this year! Here are a few highlights from across the district:
Westmoreland leaned into Revolution 250, inviting the Fair Lawn town crier and set up a patriotic reading picnic in the gym while Radburn welcomed back retired PE teacher Mr. Egan for a read-aloud with an enthusiastic group of first graders.
Forrest & Warren Point continued their tradition of inviting VIP readers to share some of their favorite books. Over at Edison, former students and parents stopped by to “drop everything and read.”
Lyncrest brought biographies to life with their Living Wax Museum and Milnes’ annual Mystery Reader Day wrapped out the week with district supervisors, parents, and community leaders swinging through for surprise reading sessions
Bergen County Unsung Hero Mia Rohme
Leads with Kind Heart & Empathy
Wise, mature, and caring beyond her years … just some of the words used to describe FLHS senior and newly minted Bergen County Unsung Hero, Mia. Mia and fellow seniors across our area were honored last week at the Bergen County School Boards Association’s fourth annual awards ceremony at Becton Regional High School.
Mia not only leads as Color Guard captain, but she’s also become a familiar face in our Bridges classes, offering support and ensuring her peers have access to the larger school community. Vice Principal Ms. Nicole Mattina stated in her ceremony speech that Mia is committed to being “a wonderful friend and incredible partner to our Bridges students. FLHS is lucky to have Mia as a student.” She hopes to study and pursue a career in occupational therapy post-graduation. Congratulations again, Mia!
Bridges Teacher Earns FLASE Starfish Award
The Fair Lawn Association for Special Education (FLASE) recently honored Fair Lawn High School Bridges teacher Mrs. Michele Gaffney with its prestigious Starfish Award! We’re told Mrs. Gaffney fiercely supports students with multiple disabilities, ensuring they are engaged in our school community whilst fostering personal growth & life skills.
The individual who nominated her writes, “[Michele’s] classroom is a joyful space where learning is meaningful and fun. She is supportive, caring, enthusiastic, and deeply nurturing … she holds her students to high expectations because she sees their potential and wants them to feel proud of their accomplishments!”
Fair Lawn Schools Celebrates Districtwide Musical Honors
The winter months have allowed Fair Lawn students to flex their singing and playing skills in auditions and concerts with honors groups at the county, region, and state level. We’ve had quite a number of our middle and high schoolers accepted into these groups and are proud to share their accomplishments with the community.
