Hillcrest Academy South Campus

Happy New Year to one and all! This time of the year marks the end of our second marking period and first semester. We say goodbye to our semester Ar teacher, Ms. Picciano, and welcome back to our Spanish teacher, Ms. Flores. This month the Westlake Sunshine Cafe has offered the HAS students an opportunity to visit the cafe during student lunches. This provides additional training, social interactions, as well as delicious snacks.

• January 1 - Happy New Year

• January 2 - 2 year anniversary of Mrs. Demilio and Mr. DiOrio

• January 15 - Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day

• January 16-17 - Delayed Openings

• January 18 - Snow Day

• February 1 - End of 2nd marking period/1st semester

Congratulations to our Student of the Month for December, Lazaro! When asked about his work ethic, his teachers replied;

• He is a good conversationalist, very polite, and a hard worker
• He is extremely bright, creative, and energetic
• Very dedicated, kind, and respectful

Mrs. Demilio is our Administrative Assistant and has been with HAS for 2 years this month! Before being a part of UCESC, Mrs. Demilio was a Customer Service Manager of a Printing company for 25 years (so she was able to fit into her role at HAS smoothly). Outside of work, she has been married to her husband for almost 26 years. Aside from being a loving wife, she is the proud mother of 2 daughters and a 4 year old half pit/half chocolate lab, and is a doting aunt and great-aunt to 7 and 6 respectively! After her family, Mrs. Demilio has a great love for country music.

For the month of January students have been working hard in the Badminton Unit. We have been covering all aspects of the game including serving, striking the birdie underhand/overhand, gameplay (singles and doubles), and game strategy. During the unit we have also been covering good sportsmanship, teamwork, communication, and hard work. We are very proud of how our students have been performing during this unit.

This month, our focus revolves around blood typing and forensic entomology. In the blood typing segment, participants delve into the various blood groups and the scientific principles underlying blood transfusions, universal donors, and recipients. A hands-on laboratory session involved testing different blood groups within the classroom.

In the realm of entomology, the aim is to comprehend how insects contribute to determining the Post Mortem Interval. Additionally, there is an ongoing project exploring the succession of insects on a deceased body. In the field of biology, attention is directed towards biomolecules, the fundamental components of life. This includes an exploration of large macromolecules like proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids, along with small molecules such as vitamins and hormones. The focus extends to understanding the optimal quantity of each nutrient and its significance for our well-being. A virtual lab is also being conducted to assess the presence of various nutrients in food.

Students began 2024 focusing on the future. In Ms Ferrari's Math classes, students wrote down New Year's resolutions on how they can grow in character. Some of those resolutions include "to be nicer to myself", "self care", and "get good grades to graduate". Ms V's English classes, students created vision boards on what they would like to accomplish in their life. A lot of these visions included graduation, being successful, and of course to live their best life. And of course, what is a New Year's resolution and vision board display without an Affirmation Station encouraging students to go after their dreams!

Leadership: the action of leading a group of people or an organization

Courage: the ability to do something that frightens one

Since this month's theme is Leadership and Courage, students were asked to write how they could be leaders. A lot of the qualities our students wrote down are qualities that a future leader would have; respect, setting good examples, helping those in need. Our students come to HAS to emerge from the ashes and take charge of their education by seizing the opportunities to make up courses. This is the first step into becoming the leaders they have the capability of being. It may be scary at first, but it is all worth it!

On January 15th, all schools were closed in honor of Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day. In Ms W's History classes, students learned all about Dr King and the importance of why we have the day off. One of the assignments that the students worked on for this lesson begins with a question; "What dream do you have to make the world a better place?" The second page focuses on if the students got to meet Dr Martin Luther King himself and wrote what they would thank him for, what they would ask him, and what they would tell him. This assignments really got the students to think about current events by learning from the past and how to make the future better instead of repeating the worst.

The end of this month marks the end of the second marking period as well as the end of our first semester in the 23-24 school year. With the end of the first semester comes the end of the Art course for this school year at HAS. Our Art teacher, Ms Picciano will now switch over to Hillcrest Academy North where she will share her artistic expertise for the second semester. Thank you Ms Picciano for the beautiful artwork that our students created through your teaching and guidance.

When Julian’s grandmother came to the United States from Cuba, her main thought was to give her family a better life. Eventually that dream would lead to her opening up a restaurant right here in NJ where her family, including Julian, helps out. Julian is a waiter at the restaurant and has been since it opened 6 months ago. As an added bonus, Julian has been learning how to cook using his grandmother’s recipes brought directly from Cuba. When asked how working in his grandmother’s restaurant makes him feel, Julian answered “It makes me feel good making these memories with my grandmother and making her proud. She made a lot of sacrifices to make a better life for us and for her to see it happening makes her happy knowing it was all worth it!”

Hillcrest Academy South is an alternative high school for students from the Elizabeth Public School District. Students are referred to HAS by their Elizabeth Academy guidance counselor and administration for an interview at HAS. We provide a small educational learning setting with opportunities to make up courses through our Credit Retrieval Program in a caring environment in order to meet Elizabeth’s graduation requirements.

Website: www.ucesc.org

Instagram: ucesc_has

Facebook: Hillcrest Academy South
Location: 1571 Lamberts Mill Road, Westfield, NJ, USA-Door 3B
Phone: 908-233-9317