Highlights since our last board meeting:

·      Please mark your calendars. The Holmdel Alliance to Prevent Alcoholism & Drug Abuse and the Holmdel School District is sponsoring its “Family Awareness Night 2009” on Thursday, April 23, 2009. The event will take place at Holmdel High School. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and workshops start promptly at 7:00 p.m. This evening will offer “one-stop shopping for information.” On-line registration is available on the district’s website. Everyone will be able to attend two different workshops free of charge – 7 pm and 8 pm.
 

·      On Saturday, March 21^st, a group of Holmdel teachers attended the Columbia University Teachers’ College Reading and Writing Project “Saturday Reunion.” It was a wonderful opportunity to identify new strategies in English/Language Arts. Everyone who attended the “Reunion” commented on the value of the sessions.
 

·      Teams from the fifth and sixth grades competed in the Knowledge Masters Open Spring ’09 competition and we are very happy to report that both the fifth and the sixth grade teams placed first in the state and 13^th in the nation! Congratulations to all team members!
 

·      This past fall, two 8^th grade students participated in the Creative Communications Contest for young poets. These two students were in the top ten recognized poets from their grade level. Out of the several thousand poems that are received, only ten poets in each grade division are recognized. These students also received a $50 savings bond and a complimentary copy of the anthology book.
 

·      Continental Math League final scores for 2009 are in at Satz. Three Satz students will receive an award for achieving the recognition of National Student Winners in the Pythagorean Division for earning perfect scores at all five meets.
 

·      The 2009 National Chemistry Olympiad opened on March 25^th with the first round of exams. For Monmouth County, the 110 minute exam was held at Brookdale Community College. We had seven students compete, and among the best and brightest in Monmouth County, we took first place, second place and fifth place. Our first place student won with a perfect score, which was more than impressive! The top five finishers won cash prizes and a chance to compete in a four-hour written and practical exam for one of the twenty spots in the National Chemistry Olympiad. This year, the four top students will represent the US in the International Chemistry Olympiad in Cambridge, England. Congratulations to all!
 

·      Our senior team has advanced to the second round of the prestigious Moody’s Mega Math Challenge. Congratulations and good luck to the team.
 

·      Holmdel High School won first place in Bio I and II, Chem I and II, and Physics I and II at the March meet of the NJ Science League.
 

·      Congratulations to the Jazz Band, which received an “Outstanding” rating at the Princeton Jazz Band Festival this past Saturday. The group also earned recognition for “Best Sight Reading” and “Top Trombone Section” – one member also received a soloist award for performance on the saxophone.
 

·      Congratulations also to the nine members of our Symphonic Band, who played in Sunday’s All-Shore symphonic Band Concert at Neptune High School. At the concert, Holmdel’s original Band Director, Mr. John Carr, was inducted posthumously into the inaugural class of the Band Director’s Hall of Fame.
 

·      Holmdel’s Politics Club conducted a mobile voter registration drive in Senior English classes, and registered 55 new voters!
 

·      The Holmdel Figure Skating team competed on March 15^th in their first state-wide competition of 2008-09. Our skaters did very well, placing in the top three of every event entered. Overall, Holmdel finished second in the state. Congratulations to all the team members.
 

·      Congratulations to the cast and crew of the Holmdel Theater Guild’s production of Grease. The students did an absolutely wonderful job –singing, dancing, and acting .The sets were beautiful and even included a motorized car on the stage!

Activities towards meeting district goals:

Technology

·      S. Corriveau’s second graders created PowerPoint presentations on animals, which they presented to their parents on March 20^th.

·      Mr. Bell’s and Mr. Tetreault’s classes have been working on Techsteps.

·      Mr. Ferraro’s English class recently helped produce a YouTube video on prepositions.

·      Science students in Mrs. Barth’s, Mrs. Flynn’s and Ms. Sneddon’s classes are working on PowerPoint presentations to go along with their unit on the solar system.

·      Mrs. Imbro’s classes recently finished a project where they researched different careers, made PowerPoint presentations and advertising posters to go along with a presentation they made to the class about their career.

·      Ms. Burns’s class completed a unit of study on China, where they researched information and created projects they designed with the help of the wireless notebook carts.

·      Mr. Weisfeld reports that the Holmdel Intro and Dynamic Web Design class is open for business. The students are looking for work and willing to create free websites. First round will be just for teacher websites. Round two will include clubs, activities, and other miscellaneous sites.