Board of Education News & Notes

Lisa Coster, RFIS Teacher, secured grants used for Student Council Earth Day activities, opened a Pollinator Garden and created a certified wildlife habitat. She was named an “I CAN STEM” role model and was featured in the NJ Science Teacher Association's Spotlight publication. She is a multi-grant award winner, securing nearly $30,000 in grants for her school.

Kristen Wolff, Math/Science Supervisor, secured a grant that will be used for field trips in younger grades to create opportunities to learn about the environment.

Kathy Mikalsen, Barley Sheaf Kindergarten Teacher, received a NJ STEM Innovation Emeritus Fellowship.

Morgan Schrum and Chris Truncale, Barley Sheaf Teachers, both received PSEG & More Sustainable Jersey Grants.

Hanan Attiyah, Barley Sheaf and Francis A. Desmares Teacher, opened the Francis A. Desmares School STEM Lab. She was selected as a state-level finalist for a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. She is a recipient of a 2023 Collins-Skinner Award for excellence in K-5 Social Studies education. She is also a multi-grant award winner.

Kristin DeLorenzo, a Francis A. Desmares Teacher, was selected to publish work as a contributing author in the Teacher Toolbox book, a project in partnership with the College of New Jersey.

Viviana Moncada, a School Counselor at Francis A. Desmares School, was named the Hunterdon County School Counselor of the Year!

The J.P. Case Middle School wrestlers were recognized for their successful season, including clinching top spots in Varsity and JV tournament matches: Ryan Chen, Arth Chopra, Elon Cohn, Oscar Colpas, Gage Higgins-Burry, Mohid Hussain, Bryson Lennard, Jaxon McCann, Lucas Moleta, Kaelinne Morales, Dominic Selvaggi, James Tucker, Jayden Chirichillo, Alexander Nabozny, Jackson Sabo, Isaias Aron Sandoval, Aidan Thompson, and Edward Winey.

Emily Damon, an 8th grader at JP Case, received a Hunterdon County Unsung Hero Award, for her outstanding contributions. She was nominated by her school counselor.

Reading-Fleming students Artha Rangineni, Charlotte Blackford, Connie Huang, and Niyam Patel will be presenting at the 2024 Northeast/Mid-Atlantic US Regional Student Research Symposium for anti-idling and air quality research with NASA GLOBE. The event will be held in Reading, PA, May 3 and 4.

Reading-Fleming students Charlotte Whitley, Oliver Mery and Joaquin Nunez were instrumental in the building and creation of the RFIS School Pollinator Garden, which has been deemed a Homegrown National Park.

The following Reading-Fleming Intermediate School music students were selected to the NJ All State Honor Choir: Elena Samarasinghe, Melody DeLeo, Alanna Leung, Trey Pieper, Claire Soudah and Charlotte Whitley.

The following J.P. Case Middle School music students were selected to select state honor music ensembles:

• All State Choir: Lakshmi Abin Sayak, Sophie Cain, Gary Carter, Keira Farley, Avni Kakkar, Julia Muccilli, Devon Reed, Natsuki Seto, Akshay Shankara, Rose Weitz, and Jocelyn Willis
• CJMEA Region Wind Ensemble: Samuel Levins
• CJMEA Region Symphonic Band: Nolan Stevens and Matthew Geraci
• CJMEA Region Orchestra: Mia Brown, Sophie Cain, Autumn Hayes, Riley Leung, Abhigna Nalluri, Angie Rosas, and Diana Ziganshina;

The SSA All State Choir was conducted by Rose Nagy, J.P Case Middle School Music Teacher.

Reading-Fleming Intermediate School 6th-grade pre-algebra students scored 17th out of 85 schools in New Jersey and 4th in the region in this year's NJ Math League Competition. Students who received top scores in the contest are: Sai Patange, MJ Alligier, Calleigh Kareivis, Brandon Bajohr, Ryan Smith, Niyam Patel and Gabby Philips.

Bobby Jankay, a 6th-grader at Reading-Fleming Intermediate School, won 1st place in the Stock Market Game’s Fall Competitive Session among 1,500 other middle school teams from NY and NJ. He grew his stock portfolio by over $30,000.

Abigail Hilke, a 5th-grader at RFIS, was selected as this year’s district artist representative. Her artwork, “Ocean City New Jersey at Sunset," was selected for a postcard gift for all staff & faculty members.

The Hunterdon County Education Association selected two Flemington-Raritan esteemed volunteers as recipients of the 2024 Friends of Education Award. They are Ariej Dawood, Francis A.

Desmares School PTO President, and Julie Bell, Flemington-Raritan Education Foundation President.

The J.P. Case Robotics Team took 1st and 2nd place at the 2024 Middle School Technology Design Challenge: 9 students competed using 7 different robots in all four challenges; 4 robots finished in 1st place, 3 robots took 2nd place behind their teammates. Congrats to: Nick Winey, Rogelio Vega, Liam Byne, Ethan Dettra, Leo Han, Ryan Hui, Jett Rivera, Filippo Vasconi, Akshaj Nambalat and Riley Leung.