It has been a tremendous month at PHS and throughout the district with a variety of events taking place. We held a Tribute to those that lost their lives and the survivors of the Parkland, Florida tragedy on March 14th. This student-led event honored those that were lost with seventeen chairs across the stage with orange balloons tied to those chairs and candles on each chair. During the tribute each student and teacher named was called a white rose was placed in their chair by either a student or Piscataway Police Officer. Our students did a FANTASTIC job of planning and organizing this event. The event was featured in the news article below.

On a more upbeat we held our 4th annual TRICKY TRAY which was a SOLD OUT event. It did mark the return of North America’s Largest Leprechaun to pull the first number winning ticket. I want to personally thank each and every one that donated baskets, gifts and other items as well as those of you that came out for a GREAT time. SPECIAL THANK YOU to my PTSO your hard work and dedication to ALL students at PHS is remarkable! Please read on to find out more about PHS.

Please make sure that you read the important PARCC information posted in the virtual backpack it is critical to our success. You can find the Virtual Backpack at the following link: http://phs.piscatawayschools.org/virtual_backpack

Mr. Jason Lester

Does your student have after school obligations that may keep them from accessing after school tutoring here at the high school?

At PHS we strive to continually develop our educational services to best meet the needs of all of our students. As part of our desire to meet the needs of all of the members of our school community we are exploring possible Online Tutoring Services.

Please take a few minutes to complete the short survey below to provide us with important feedback about the possible development of live Online Tutoring Services.

Please access the survey for Online Tutoring here: https://goo.gl/forms/cELLDnXXrb6j6bwq2

If you have any questions or comments about these potential programs, please contact Carrie A. Thomas, Department Chair of Special Projects at cathomas@pway.org

In March, we recognized Youth Art Month, Music in Our Schools Month, and Arts in our Schools Month – celebrating Dance, Music, Theater, and Visual Arts! We are so proud of the active, creative learning that is taking place in our classrooms and will be sharing student work in our schools, in a display at the admin. building, and in our own classrooms. All members of our school community will be given an opportunity to share the ways various art forms and mediums impact their lives, feelings, and personal meaning-making. The arts have the capacity to change everything!

Six PHS art students had work displayed in the Middlesex County Youth Art Month exhibit this year. Savannah Cook, Santiago Rodriguez, Avia Hurley, Gabriella Ortiz, and Sara Venturi had pieces selected for display at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick from March 11-22. There was a closing reception on March 22, from 7-8:30. In addition, PHS art students Krisha Chavda and Sara Venturi had their work selected to be a part of the NJ State Youth Art Month exhibition and were honored at the NJ State House on March 9th.

The Piscataway vocal music, dance, and theater teachers have teamed up to produce a Broadway Cabaret on Friday, March 23, 2018, 7PM in the PAC which will benefit the PHS Choir – featuring PHS students performing Broadway’s biggest hits! Tickets are $10 in advance, $20 for the premiere package with VIP seating/favors, and $12 at the door.

This year, to celebrate Youth Art Month, PHS art students created miniature artworks to be displayed starting in March (and beyond). Then, they picked someone in our Piscataway School community for the artwork to be delivered to, so it could be displayed. This is such a valuable experience for our students and they are excited to share their artwork with teachers. It truly builds a sense of community in our schools and celebrates the visual arts! This project was made possible through the support of the PTSO.

This spring, the VPA department has a wide variety of productions taking place on the stages of our middle schools and high school! This month, PHS performed Damn Yankees on March 1st-3rd at 7PM and on March 3rd at 2PM in the PAC. The students did an amazing job. The energy and presence of the cast and crew was so inspiring - and translated to the audience throughout the show!

Piscataway High School celebrated a night of International cuisine on Thursday, March 22, from 5:30-7:30 pm. Our Sodexo Chefs planned a menu fit for Olympic Champions, and along with PHS Chef-Assistants, will vie for the most inventive and tasty meals.

Five stations featured favorite foods (appetizers, entrees, desserts) from five countries:

• India
• South Korea
• Germany
• Greece
• USA
  

Does your student have an interest that they just can't squeeze into their action-packed schedule? Maybe your student would like to "try out" an area of interest without having credits or grades attached to their endeavors. Are you interested in engaging, enrichment opportunities being conducted here at the high school?

At PHS we strive to continually develop our educational services to best meet the needs of all of our students. As part of our desire to meet the needs of all of the members of our school community we are exploring possible After School Enrichment Classes to expand our offerings to students.

Please take a few minutes to complete the short survey below to provide us with feedback about possibly developing some After School Enrichment Classes here at the high school.

Please access the survey for Enrichment Activities here: https://goo.gl/forms/huADpVI0VyQkPu8e2

If you have any questions or comments about these potential programs, please contact Carrie A. Thomas, Department Chair of Special Projects at cathomas@pway.org

Students Come Join Us for Our

Piscataway READS

April 11, 2018 at Piscataway High School

5:30 pm In Patton Cafe.

Prepare for a night of dramatic readings, discussions and PRIZES!!

Get Your Copy Now at the Media Center/Library!

The theme for this year's PiscatawayREADS is "Imagine"!

PiscatawayREADS is a community-based initiative to promote reading and the enhancement of literacy among all of its members. Literacy, the ability to read, write and communicate clearly, facilitates success in school and in life, and guides.

Maryanne Thein and Jill Fraticelli, went to Washington DC on Saturday, March 24, 2018 to march for safer schools in our future.

PHS Television Broadcasting & Digital Filmaking students recently made the top 10 USA finalists in the Panasonic Kid Witness News competition. With 553 schools worldwide in 19 countries competing, our students were asked to explore “The World Through Their Eyes”. KWN is a hands on, team-centered video education program that encourages students to seek new experiences and examine themselves in different roles. Using our state-of-the-art, high definition equipment, and our students earned two spots by producing one Public Service Announcement, “D.A.B. Destroy All Bacteria” and one Human Interest story entitled “Snap Judgment”.

Viewed by a panel of judges from the City University of New York, Bronx Community College, Media and Digital Film Production Program, the top 10 videos from each video category - Eco PSA and Human Interest – were selected and will go on to be judged by a select group of VIP judges that work within the industry. The top video finalist in each category will then represent the USA in the international competition.

Students who produced and directed “D.A.B.” are, Rimsha Chughtai, Aaliyah Danzy, Javean Payne, Marco Pinto and Dhrumi Raval. The students who produced “Snap Judgment” are Eduardo Alcantara, Mustafa Ali, Joshua Chedda, Cheyanne Johnson and Liliana Truong. When you see them please say congratulations as they attempt to represent PWay worldwide!

The FBLA 2018 Leadership Conference was a success despite the wicked weather they had to deal with. Time was not wasted on Tuesday, March 6th, as the State Office quickly put together workshops for attendees. Wednesday featured the new TRACKS program where members attended workshops on Finance, Marketing, Supply Chain Management, and Entrepreneurship. On Thursday and Friday competitions were completed and awards distributed, as followed.

RESULTS:

Officers

Joanne Plaras ran for State VP of Membership and Sanjna Khanna ran for State VP of Community Service.

Joanne won her election and will serve 54 weeks (through next year’s SLC).

Events

BANKING & FINANCIAL SYSTEMS – 2nd place – Shreyas Bhise, Adam Nathoo, Prayag Patel

SCRAPBOOK – 2nd Place – Darin Mak, Britney Do

HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT – 4th Place – Nicholas Chen, Shaan Patel, Mini Sinha

SALES PRESENTATION – 4th Place – Ali Imran

BUSINESS ETHICS – 4th Place – Kajal Patel, Krupa Patel, Ronak Patel

NATIONAL CONFERENCE:

At this point, over a dozen members have expressed interest in attending this year’s National Conference, which is in Baltimore from June 28th – July 1st. Those who didn’t place at the State Conference will compete in Open Events and attend workshops.
We know PHS competitors will go all-out to bring home some trophies!

Piscataway High School sent 12 young ladies on Friday, March 16th to the Junior Achievement Women's Conference in Edison, New Jersey where they had a very inspiring day.

The students were greeted at the door and quickly hand-shakes were exchanged. They quickly began networking with other bright like-minded students as well as successful women in business, during a light breakfast. Everyone was asked to have a seat next to a mentor (business women, student alternating) in the panel discussion area. The panel consisted of a group of women each successful in their field ranging from finance to pharmacy. The panel answered questions dealing with how they began, the struggles they faced, and how they overcame them. The panel was led by a successful News Anchor women. As soon as the panel discussion had ended, the students were paired up with the mentor sitting next to them. The mentor and the mentee discussed various interview questions and scenarios, then created an elevator pitch to be delivered later in the program. Some of the mentors were from AmeriHealth, Coca Cola, KPMG, and more. These pairs merged with groups to take part in a team challenge, which was to build a park out of the given materials, such as note cards, popsicle sticks, paperclips, and more. The groups then pitched why their park was the best. Throughout this event, the students developed critical leadership and networking skills that are vital in the career world.

Ella Posada is a student in Mrs. Leacy’s Cooperative Education class. She not only completes hours as work experience, but completes volunteer hours, and job shadow hours so she can learn as much about her career path as possible.

Ella is very involved with Special Olympics. This is where she discussed her desire to work with students with special needs a few years ago. She was asked to help out a special needs teacher (Mrs. Strafer) during her gym class. Ella began going to her classroom every day and she enjoyed helping the students. Mrs. Strafer noticed Ella’s ability to lead and manage the coffee cart. She has been learning so much being in this class. Ella also volunteers and job shadows at Eisenhower and Conackamack observing the Physical Therapist and Occupational Therapist. As a result of Cooperative Education, Ella says she has learned new things, met new people, and discovery of her future careers.

On February 27, one of Mrs. Leacy’s Marketing students, Anusha Ramesh, had the opportunity to job shadow at L’Oreal right here in Piscataway. Anusha reported to security and was greeted by Plant Manager’s assistant, Katherine Sloan. From there she was “dressed up” with proper protective gear, such as lab coat, shoes, hair net, and goggles. Ray, manager of the Preweigh/Processing Department and Anusha proceeded to observe how the products are made from start to finish. She was informed how all shampoos, and skin care are made into a homogeneous mixture. From the first unit (the heart of the company), they moved to the packaging department. This is where all the products are packed and shipped to the consumers. She observed many new state-of-the-art robots, just like in the movies.

This whole experience was beneficial to Anusha, since for her marketing project she wants to create a make-up line. Here she was able to observe how to mix the ingredients which was fascinating. Also in marketing, the class has discussed packaging, and Anusha was able to obtain ideas on how to make revisions to her project as well.

Mrs. Leacy also arranged for Alexis Labrada to job shadow at an Oral Surgeon’s office on February 26. After reading 100 career research papers, Alexis was selected for this experience. She had the opportunity to observe two surgeries where teeth were removed, as well as consultations with the patients. She was able to gain some knowledge on medical terms and test her knowledge. Alexis met several people in the office, from nurses, to doctors, to front desk staff. She observed the interpersonal relationships within the office and realized the benefits of a small department. Alexis is interested in the medical field, and didn’t realize as an oral surgeon the amount of schooling for this career choice. She was thankful for this opportunity and looks forward to other job shadow experiences in the future.

Our PHS teacher of Print Production, Mr. Lee and Ms. Lee from our Math Department announced the birth of their healthy baby boy. Baby Carter James and his Mom are home resting and doing well. Congratulations!

Lincoln Tech – South Plainfield and Iselin campuses

The Road to Success presentation is Fun, Interactive & Educational! The workshop paints a picture of options after high school. The presentation encouraged students to start critically thinking about their future – and turn their passions into a paycheck!

The workshop is all about getting students to believe in themselves as a first step to being a success. As millennial in this digital age, students have everything right at their fingertips, and they learned that research is key to discovering their options after high school. The presentation encouraged students to dream big. As the familiar saying goes, “Shoot for the moon, and even if you miss you will land among the stars.”

Congratulations Nathan Borges for his school-record smashing time of 4:38.84 in the 500 Freestyle at the Meet of Champions! Nathan finished 10th place overall at the meet, and previously earned 2nd in both the 200 Free and 500 Free at the GMC Championship.

We would like to congratulate Piscataway wrestlers Michael Petite and Joseph Hatcher for competing at the NJSIAA state championship. Hatcher finished in the top 16 in at the 152 pound weight class and reached the 100 career win mark this season. Petite placed in the state tournament for the third year in a row finishing with a 6th place at the 160 pound weight class. Petite then went on to place in the high school wrestling national tournament in Virginia for the fourth year in a row also finishing with a 6th place. He will be departing PHS with the school record of 143 career wins to wrestle at the Division 1 level at the University of Buffalo!

The PTSO's (Parent, Teacher, Student Organization) mission statement is to encourage family and community involvement to develop in-school and extracurricular activities for the growth and development of students and community as a whole. This was our 4th Annual Tricky Tray and with all our donations, corporate sponsors, and student volunteers it was a huge success.

With the hardwork and dedication of the PTSO, set another record at our annual Tricky Tray raising over $17,000. We captured some of those moments from this Great Event!

Middlesex County Food Bank food drive ran from March 5-March 16th. The food bank helps feed families, children and people with disabilities in our own community. Thank you to Ms. Ippolito's students for their large donation of over 700 items.

Attention Seniors: Just prior to Spring Break, we will be posting information and forms regarding this year's Prom on our website. You will go to the PHS website where you will find the Prom letter and Contracts. Be sure to have the Contracts completed and signed prior to purchasing your Prom bids.

April 2-4th Spring Break

April 5 & 6th School in Session 1/2 day (Makeup Snow Days)

April 11 Piscataway Reads 5:30 pm in Patton Cafe.

April 13 End of the 3rd Marking Period

April 17 PARCC Testing Begins

April 19 AFJROTC Awards Night 6:00-9:00 pm Anthony Dining Room

April 24 PHS Tri-M Music Honor Society Induction 6:00-9:00 pm in PAC

April 25 WLHS Induction Ceremony 6:00-9:00 pm in PAC

April 29 PWAY 5K 7:00 am PHS

April 30 PTSO Meeting 7:00-9:00 pm Anthony Commons