Dr. Kevin F. Gilbert, Acting Superintendent of the South Orange & Maplewood School District, has announced his upcoming listening tour, which is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, January 31st, at 6 p.m. at Clinton Elementary School.

“The purpose of this Listening Tour is to give you – our District’s families – a chance to voice your concerns, perspectives, and ideas about the South Orange and Maplewood School District,” Gilbert said in a video message promoting the tour. “If you come to a listening tour stop, I’ll say a few words. But what I really want to do is hear from you.”

To that end, Dr. Gilbert is hoping to hear answers from the District’s families to a few questions:

1. What do you think is working well in the District?

2. What are some of the challenges families face in the District, and how could the District do better in supporting families?

3. What is something that you wish we knew?

Written answers will be asked from the audience in response to a fourth question:

4. What ideas do you have to help us improve the District?

In planning the Listening Tour, Dr. Gilbert has been working with an ad hoc committee comprised of members of the District’s Senior Leadership Team, and representatives of SOMEA, ASCA, SEPAC SOMA, The President’s Council, The Black Parents Workshop, The South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race, and multilingual families.

The dates and locations of the Listening Tour are:

Wednesday, January 31, 6 to 8 p.m.

Clinton Elementary School

27 Berkshire Road, Maplewood

Monday, February 5, 6 to 8 p.m.

Seth Boyden Elementary School

274 Boyden Avenue, Maplewood

Saturday, February 24, 10a-12p

South Orange Middle School

70 North Ridgewood Ave., South Orange

Click on the photo above to see Dr. Gilbert's Video Message

Sophia Halm

On the day when the nation honors a man who spoke the immortal words, “I have a dream,” one Columbia High School (CHS) student has been honored as an exceptional dreamer.

Sophia Halm, 16, a Columbia High School junior who aspires to be an engineer working for NASA, has been admitted to the Disney Dreamers Academy. The announcement was made on Jan. 15th, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, on the ABC network’s morning news program Good Morning America.

CLICK HERE to see the Good Morning America segment.

“On behalf of everyone in the South Orange and Maplewood School District, I want to congratulate Sophia and tell her how proud we are of her,” said Dr. Kevin F. Gilbert, Acting Superintendent of the South Orange and Maplewood School District. “Sophia is a shining example of how much a person can achieve with hard work and perseverance, and we wish her all the best as she prepares to participate in this very special opportunity.”

Halm is one of 100 high school students from throughout the nation to be selected for the Disney Dreamers Academy, a 4-day immersive mentoring program at Disney World to help young people realize their dreams. She follows in the footsteps of her older sister Alexis, who previously was admitted to and participated in the Disney Dreamers Academy in 2022. Alexis Halm is a CHS graduate who is now a freshman at Northwestern University studying engineering.

The Good Morning America profile of Halm highlighted her many accomplishments as a District student including playing on the lacrosse team, performing with the orchestra, serving as a Girl Scout, cheerleading, and volunteering as an Achieve Foundation tutor. The story connected Halm’s work as a tutor as her way of keeping Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy by helping other students succeed in higher-level classes that usually do not have many students of color enrolled in them.

Halm is also on the math and debate teams, and she is on the Principal’s List at Columbia High School and in the National Honors Society.

“She just does a lot. I’m not always sure about how she manages to do it,” said Cynthia Halm, Sophia’s mother, in the television profile.

“She’s got this quiet confidence,” said Anna Crane, speaking about what it was like to teach Sophia when she attended the South Orange Middle School. “She’s ready to get down to work. She’s ready to contribute. She’s ready to do what she came to do.”

Halm’s father, Rodney Halm, said it was the story of Katherine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson – the three Black women whose experiences as NASA mathematicians inspired the film, Hidden Figures – that sparked Halm’s dream to study aerospace engineering or mechanical engineering with the hope of working for NASA herself one day.

During the in-studio interview, Cynthia Halm was asked what she and her husband were doing as parents to have two children admitted into the Disney Dreamers Academy.

“We always encouraged them to dream big,” she said. “We’ve always exposed them to a lot of different activities. And just let them know that they can do anything if they try hard and they work hard.”

The television segment ended with a video-recorded message from the three actors who play the Schuyler Sisters in the hit musical Hamilton, which Sophia Halm has always wanted to see. The actors congratulated Halm and invited her and her family to an upcoming performance.

Students, staff, and faculty throughout the District kept the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with music, art, spoken word, dance, and other ways. Maplewood Middle School kept its tradition of holding a Silent Walk in honor of Dr. King. A special assembly was held at South Orange Middle School to commemorate Dr.King's legacy. The two videos that follow feature highlights from these two very special events.

Molly Bigelow

Columbia High School Senior, Molly Bigelow, has been honored as her high school’s recipient of the 2023-2024 Women in Sports Award. Bigelow joined recipients from across the state on January 14th, National Women in Sports Day, in a special ceremony at the Rutgers Women’s' Basketball game against Penn State.

For all four years at Columbia, Bigelow played striker on Girls Soccer and defender on Girls Lacrosse. She was selected as a lacrosse team captain for her senior year.

“I feel so proud that my coaches nominated me to be Columbia High School’s representative for National Women In Sports Day,” said Bigelow. She thanked all of her coaches for their support, and in particular, acknowledged Lacrosse Coach, Steven Ramos, for his advocacy.

Bigelow has been accepted to the University of Virginia and intends to major in cognitive science.

Mr. Grayson, center, and his students who contributed pieces to the "Empathy For The Bull" art exhibit.

It started as a project in Art Teacher Curtis Grayson, III’s classes about Spain – its culture, its architecture, and its artists. And then, Ricardo The Bull.

The more than 600-pound steer who is believed to have escaped a fate at a slaughterhouse by taking to Newark streets in mid-December captured the hearts and imaginations of Grayson and his students and inspired their art exhibit, “Empathy For The Bull.”

“Originally, the bull was one of many aspects of Spanish culture the students could draw inspiration from to create their pieces,” said Grayson. “But when we heard the news about the runaway bull in Newark, the bull became the focus of most of the students. It’s understandable when you think about it. The bull is formidable and strong, but the bull is also vulnerable. I think that is how the students started feeling empathy, rather than fear, toward the animal.”

That empathy shows in many of the students’ pieces. Sophomore Sofia Rumbolo has a piece with a border that repeats “35,000,” the number of bulls killed during bullfights in Spain every year, according to one source she consulted. Noah Closeil’s painting depicts a bullfighting scene with the roles reversed. The bull is dressed as a matador, wielding a sword and a red cape, standing ready to fight a man. Katelyn Chan’s acrylic painting includes Ferdinand, the animated character who prefers smelling flowers to bullfighting.

Grayson said that the exhibit has been produced in cooperation with the World Languages Department, which advised the classes on Spanish culture.

The collaboration with the World Languages Department is also manifested in the collection’s works that celebrate icons of Spanish culture, including a detailed pencil drawing of La Giralda, the bell tower of the Seville Cathedral. Senior Jessica Daniel created an oil pastel painting of a woman Flamenco dancer in a red dress that was vibrant with the artist’s choice of materials.

At the show’s opening on Wednesday, Grayson encouraged the students to consider putting their pieces up for sale, and investing the proceeds into their art.

It was a new consideration for many of the students, including Daniel.

“I would have given this for free,” she said, standing near her work. “I’m glad that he sees potential in this piece that I didn’t see.”

An evening reception held on Jan. 22nd drew many of the students artists' friends and family as well as Dr. Gilbert and members of the media.

CLICK HERE to see WABC TV's story on the exhibit.

CLICK HERE to see Fox 5 NY TV's story on the exhibit.

MPD Sgt. Scott Reeves high fives Clinton Student Safety Patrol members.

Members of the Maplewood Police Department (MPD) visited Clinton Elementary School on Jan. 9th where they got a warm welcome on National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. “When I call them they are here in 10 seconds,” said Principal Melissa Butler at a special gathering of the school’s Student Safety Patrol members. Among those present were District Safety and Emergency Preparedness Director Stanley Valles, Assistant Principal LaVonne Wallace, Physical Education Teacher Jeffrey Lehman, MPD Detective Steve Gyimoty, MPD Sargent Scott Reeves, MPD Police Officer Diana Gil, and Officer Alfonso Sutton.

Omar Ortega starts new career as a paraprofessional

Ortega on his last day as a SOMS security guard.

For the past year, students and staff at South Orange Middle School (SOMS) have been greeted at the front door by Omar Ortega’s bright smile. Now, they’ll have to go further into the building to see that smile.

That’s because Ortega, who has worked the past year as a security guard, is now a teaching paraprofessional at SOMS.

“When I saw they were looking for help, I decided to give it a try,” said Ortega, a 2014 graduate of Newark’s American History High School. “Everybody’s excited about it. I guess I made a good choice.”

Currently, Ortega is working one-on-one with a student who has autism in Teacher Ashley Saraceno’s self-contained classroom for students with autism who are in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.

Like all new paraprofessionals, Ortega is receiving training from the District and the paraprofessional agency that is commensurate with the role he is fulfilling.

“I know the students really miss seeing him at the security desk, but we are very lucky to have him in our classroom!” said Saraceno. “He has a great rapport with the students and is very patient and flexible. He has only been with us for a few days but we are extremely happy to have him.”

Ortega, who previously worked as an inspector of petroleum ships for three years before starting as a security guard, is currently learning how to collect data and modify work for his student outside the classroom, Saraceno said.

Dr. Kevin F. Gilbert, Acting Superintendent of the South Orange and Maplewood School District, congratulated Ortega on his career change.

“Working in service of the education of young people is a real vocation, and I’m so glad that Mr. Ortega has received that calling. Many of us in the District have come to know Mr. Ortega’s warmth and friendliness. I know he has the heart to encourage our students to do their best and keep them moving forward on the road to academic success.”

Lynn Irby Hill, Principal of South Orange Middle School, said she was proud to have Ortega as one of the school’s paraprofessionals.

“Mr. Ortega has become a pillar of the SOMS community through his work ethic and dedication to doing everything he could to keep everyone safe,” Irby Hill said. “ I have no doubt that Mr. Ortega will be successful in the classroom, and I am so glad to have him among our paraprofessional staff.”

Three CHS students – Carlos Sanchez, Mehlman Jules, and Saanvi Rohatgi – are student photographers whose work has been selected to be a part of the annual Drexel University High School Photography Contest Exhibition. There will be an opening reception for the student photographers at Drexel on Saturday, February 17th and their work will be on display at Drexel’s Photography Center in Philadelphia through March 9th. Thanks to CHS Photography Teacher Richard Cutrona for supporting these students and engaging this opportunity.

Columbia High School Junior Asa Glassman was one of 25 winners of The New York Times’ “What High School Is Like in 2023” contest. His photograph collage of students and their phones brilliantly demonstrates what it is like to be a high schooler today. “This is how we communicate. This is how we connect. This is how we catalog our achievements as well as our failures and show our peers that we are not alone,” Glassman wrote in his NYT piece.

CLICK HERE to see Glassman's piece in The New York Times' feature, “What High School Is Like in 2023.”

CHS’ Emerging Artists Z Hunt, left, and Ciara Navan. Hunt’s “Exoskeleton” is at the far left. Navan’s “Give, Give, Give” is at the right. Photo credit: Chad Hunt

A “tree person” inspired during the pandemic shutdown and a cicada freshly emerged from its shell were the works of art created by two Columbia High School student-artists displayed at the 36th annual Emerging Artists exhibit at Kean University on Sunday.

Senior Ciara Navan and Sophomore Z Hunt were among the 37 artists from throughout the state featured in the show in the special exhibit presented by the Art Administrators of New Jersey (AANJ).

“We are extremely proud of our student artists Ciara and Z, who have both represented their high school and the District so well in this statewide exhibition of student art,” said Dr. Kevin F. Gilbert, Acting Superintendent of the South Orange and Maplewood School District. “I want to congratulate them both on their thoughtful expressiveness and their artistic talent. I also want to thank their parents for supporting their artistic pursuits, and the administrators and teachers who helped our student achieve their best.”

“It’s all about encouraging students to achieve their full artistic potential,” said James Manno, the Fine and Performing Arts Supervisor for the South Orange & Maplewood School District. “AANJ’s Emerging Artists exhibition not only provides students the opportunity to have professional exhibition experience and receive recognition but allows them to network with peers statewide and admire their work. Students who receive either an Emerging Artists Merit or Honorable Mention Award are eligible to compete for the AANJ Achievement Award and ultimately receive a New Jersey Governor’s Award in the spring.”

Gilbert and Manno expressed their gratitude to Alexandra Cappucci, Navan’s art teacher, and Kandice Stewart, Hunt’s art teacher, for guiding their students through the exhibit’s entry process.

“This is a tree person,” Navan said, as she explained the piece she calls, “Give, Give, Give,” – a nod to Shel Silverstein’s story, “The Giving Tree.”

Navan created her predominantly green acrylic paint and colored pencil artwork as the pandemic shutdown was ending. Her picture was inspired by her experiences communing with nature through long walks she took at the South Mountain Reservation during the time that was marked by social distancing, remote learning, mandatory mask-wearing, and isolation.

“It definitely was a solace and a safe place when the world wasn’t feeling so safe,” Navan said.

Hunt drew from memories of seeing lots of cicada shells to create “Exoskeleton,” using acrylic paint, wire, pins, marker, and pastels. The insects emerged from the ground while Hunt was a Tuscan Elementary School student.

“They were everywhere,” Hunt said, “in my backyard and around school.”

To Hunt, a cicada shedding its shell is a more authentic metaphor than, say, a caterpillar turning into a butterfly to support the theme of their piece, the act of transformation.

“Transformation is not always pristine and beautiful,” Hunt said. “The process can be painful and raw.”

But transformation is also growth, which is why Hunt’s triumphant cicada is risen on a background of outwardly-reaching spindles, kind of like the roots of a tree or veins in a human body.

“As we grow, everything new has a new branch,” Hunt said.

The District has scheduled a Family Learning Night for families of students in kindergarten through the second grades on Thursday, Feb. 1. See the flyers below for more information.

Please note that the Family Learning Night for families of students in the third through fifth grades has been canceled.

The Columbia High School Model UN Delegation did well at Yale University's 2024 Model UN Conference.

The team brought home five awards after competing against 140 schools and more than 2,000 students from around the world. Senior Rowan Wechsler, junior Sam Hanger, and junior Hudson Ebright all won Best Delegate in their committees, which is the highest award a delegate can receive.

Senior Sabrina Mannion won the Outstanding Delegate award, and sophomore Ren Crawford received an Honorable Mention. Model UN Faculty Advisor Stephanie Rivera said it was a very competitive conference and these awards truly reflect how hard the student delegates worked all year. She added that the entire delegation did a remarkable job and represented Columbia High School incredibly well.

The Columbia High School Girls Basketball team held their Senior Night on Jan. 25th. In addition to the team's families, friends, and fans were the many young members of the SOMA HOOPS recreational basketball league who were a big part of the rally for the Cougars' starting lineup.

Click on the photo above to watch video.

Columbia High School Wrestling Coach Mike Freedman who won his 200th career victory as a head coach at Montclair High School and now at Columbia High School on Jan. 5th.

The Columbia Boys Varsity Swim Team placed third at recent SEC conference championship on Jan. 15th. The 200 Medley Relay comprised of Junior Yael Ben-Adi, Junior Luke Robinson, Sophomore Hamish Wilson-Webb, and Sophomore Mason Keith, who broke the school record.

Maplewood Middle School Health Teacher Carey Guido was elected vice-president for health on the Executive Board for the N.J. Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (NJAHPERD). This statewide organization is dedicated to providing inspiration, professional development and leadership opportunities for health and physical educators, higher education professionals and future professionals.

Guildscript, Columbia High School’s student-led art and literary magazine, has won two prestigious awards in recognition of its 2023 edition.

The annual student publication won first place in the American Scholastic Press Association’s contest for yearbooks, magazines, and newspapers, among high schools with enrollments between 1,701 and 2,500.

Guildscript was also one of eight high school literary magazines in New Jersey to earn the distinction of “Superior” by the National Council of Teachers of English in the organization’s Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines contest. Among the criteria entries are evaluated upon are literary quality, variety of genre, and variety of voice.

“We were super happy,” said Guildscript Editor-In-Chief Ajuni Zubieta about the students’ reaction to the two awards. “There was a lot of pressure to make sure we continued Guildscript’s award-winning track record.” As Zubieta and her student colleagues began planning the 2022-2023 issue, Guildscript had won the American Scholastic Press Association’s first-place award for six out of the previous 10 years.

Two former editors who are now attending college were a critical part of Guildscript’s success. Pilar Uhl, who was the art editor, is attending Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts; and Andrew Teitelbaum, who was the design editor goes to San Diego State University.

Guildscript, which describes itself as a cross-section of Columbia students who share a passion for creative expression, is really two student clubs working together under the umbrella of a single magazine.

Some of the written works are poignantly personal, like Zubieta’s poem, “Pretty.”

“My mom always said I look pretty when I cry/so I must be the most beautiful girl in the world.”

Others are close-ups of ordinary moments, like Noa Gidal’s “Vulgar Cavity,” her take on a dentist appointment.

“Run your fingers across my tingling gums...and now I want to brush my teeth.”

The visual artworks cover a broad spectrum that ranges from the realistic to the abstract. Anastasia Patti-Aquino’s “Soul” is such a skillful charcoal pencil rendition of a human eye that looks like a photograph. On the other hand, “Face In Space” by Susanna Knutsen has less definition, but leaves as deep of an impression with Monet-like brush strokes.

Guildscript’s literary side is led by Zubieta, a senior and aspiring comparative literature major, Gidal, a senior who intends to major in film studies, and Sara Spangler, who will attend Smith College next year intending to major in English.

The visual arts side is also led by three seniors – two who are working as co-arts editors, Jordan Kinley, who intends to major in fine arts and painting, and Ciara Navan, who will major in visual design; and Stella Joyce who will major in forensic science, is the magazine’s design editor.

Molly Donahue, a senior heading to Penn State, takes care of the promotional duties by managing the Guildscript Instagram account (@Guildscriptmagchs). Donahue intends to study marketing, history and the classics in college.

Both sides of the magazine take on the task of curating the selections chosen for publication from the dozens of submissions they receive. The 18 literary works were selected for the latest award-winning issue from more than 60 submissions. More than 75 art submissions are reduced to 15 works mindful to include a diverse selection of drawings, paintings, and photography.

The paring-down process involves the two groups meeting weekly with their respective co-advisors, Carly Buckholtz (English Department) in A207 and Cindy Malhotra (Fine Arts Dept) in classroom D109.

The editors and the rest of the magazine’s student-staff members review each submission on a smartboard. Every submitted poem, short story, drawing, photograph, collage, and other work gets reviewed, critiqued, and ultimately categorized as a “Yes,” “No”, or “Maybe” for publication in the next issue. It’s the “maybes” that take up the bulk of the Guildscript’s time.

“We’ve gotten photos with fingers in them,” said Navan, one of the arts editors, as she described the wide range in the quality of artworks they have reviewed.

Submissions with bad lighting, poor cropping, and other problems were so frequent that Kinley, the other arts co-editor, produced a video ­– complete with his own voiceover ­– to help students make their submissions more effectively.

For as long as anyone can remember, Guidescript has been a black-and-white publication. There are no plans for a color publication, which would add to the production costs. The current writers and artists say that the choice is as much an aesthetic one as an economic one.

“It adds a unity to it,” said Noa Gidal, one of the literary managing editors.

To have a huge pop of color, in the midst of printed prose and artworks done in charcoal or pencil, would almost be a disruption for the Guildscript reader, she said.

Columbia High School Teacher Chasity Tedeschi studied in the Galapagos Islands last summer with the help of a Riecke Fellowship

All SOMSD teachers are invited to apply now for a Michelle T. Riecke Teaching Fellowship for summer professional development programs.

Achieve's Riecke Fellowship is an exciting opportunity for District teachers to pursue their professional passions and explore new educational opportunities.

Last summer, Riecke Fellowships were awarded for:

• Elemental Music and Dance Pedagogy in Orff Schulwerk at the Orff Institute of Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria (A Grutta, Marshall School)
• Evolution of a Teacher Ecology Project International (EPI) in the Galapagos Islands (C Tedeschi, Columbia High School)
  
• Model School Conference in Orlando, Florida (Y Hart, K-5 Instructional Coach)

The application and more examples of programs funded by recent Riecke Fellowships can be found on the Achieve website.

This year, the deadline for application is Friday, February 23, 2024. Awardees will be notified by March 22, 2024. Some details to keep in mind:

• Requests can be for up to $3000 for one teacher or $5000 for two or more faculty members
• Applicants must be current members of the SOMSD teaching staff (this includes school counselors, media specialists, nurses, etc.)
• Applicants must intend to work in the SOMSD in school the year following the fellowship
• Proposals must include a plan for sharing acquired information with District colleagues. (NB: Attendance at presentations qualifies toward professional development hours, both for Riecke Fellows who make the presentations and for teacher participants.)
• Fellowship funds may not be used toward tuition for an advanced degree
• Applications must be signed by the applicant(s) and their principal or department supervisor
• The application deadline is 11:59pm on Friday, February 23, 2024
• Recipients will be required to submit receipts for approved expenses and a project evaluation form upon completion of the program
• Fellowship funds not used must be returned to Achieve, unless otherwise specified in writing by the Achieve Foundation

Any questions? Email rieckefellowship@achievefoundation.org.

We look forward to reading your proposals!

As students and staff returned to Columbia High School (CHS) on January 2nd, they learned of the District’s plan to fight the rise of biased speech and graffiti among some students.

“We’re going to renew our commitment to our core values and principles that define us,” said Assistant Principal Luisa Iuliano-Cabrera to an assembly of juniors and seniors in the auditorium. “The graffiti on the walls has to stop. We know that there is too much hate in the world. We want to be mutually supportive of each other. Be kind to each other and be kind to yourselves.” Iuliano-Cabrera delivered similar remarks earlier in the day to an assembly of ninth and tenth-graders.

The point of the “Renewal & Reset 2024” initiative, as it is called, is to sharpen students’ focus on the values of celebrating their diversity and fostering inclusivity among everyone in the District’s schools.

The plan was outlined in a Dec. 21 memo from Dr. Kevin F. Gilbert, Acting Superintendent of Schools, to all District teachers. Different strategies have been provided for high school, middle school, and elementary school with the idea of implementing them throughout January.

CHS social studies teachers will be teaching lessons on civil discourse and the importance of discussing controversial issues effectively. During the winter break, students in the high school’s Minority Achievement Community (MAC) and the National Honor Society (NHS) made posters raising awareness of the dangers of using harmful words and promoting a sense of belonging. The posters will be displayed in the District’s elementary and middle schools, where activities are being planned for the upcoming months, including during “No Name Calling Week” during the week of Jan. 15th.

“The idea is to get our students connecting in ways that will make them more empathetic toward each other,” said Gilbert. “Every one of us is susceptible to falling into ways of thinking that cloud our ability to see the humanity in others. We hope this initiative will help our students avoid that trap by teaching them ways to exchange ideas and foster understanding to make sure everyone feels like they belong in the school that they attend.”

Gilbert thanked Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Ann Bodnar, Assistant Superintendent of Special Services Susie Budine, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Zoila Correa, Director of Access and Equity Kerri Waibel, and the team of teachers they worked with for their work in developing the initiative’s strategies for the different grade levels.

Last month, antisemitic graffiti was found in a restroom at the high school. Gilbert and Board President Kaitlin Wittleder issued a joint letter condemning antisemitism, Islamophobia, as well as “sexism, transphobia, xenophobia, anti-Asian hate, and hatred of any kind.”

Seth Boyden fourth graders in action in the stepping assembly. Photo by Alison Poe.

Fourth-graders at Seth Boyden Elementary School awed their fellow students and the entire school community in two African-American stepping shows presented just before the winter break. The performances marked the culmination of the school’s fourth annual artist in residency program in stepping, which was supported by a $12,000 Artists in Education (AIE) grant funded in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Stepping is an art form in which the performers synchronously use their own bodies as percussive instruments, producing complex rhythms and sounds through footsteps, chants, hand claps, and more.

The two events – one held during the day as a student assembly, the other held at night before a packed house of students and family members – showcased everything the students learned from stepping artist Maxine Lyle, founder and director of the internationally renowned Soul Steps troupe. Lyle taught about 80 Seth Boyden fourth-graders through 16 workshops, and also led a professional development day with the school’s fourth-grade faculty and visual arts, music, and physical education teachers.

The two shows opened with each fourth-grade class giving presentations about The Divine Nine, the nine Historically Black Greek-Letter Organizations (HBGLOs) on American college campuses who have contributed enormously to the development of the stepping art form. Then, each class performed long and impressively difficult routines incorporating choreography they had designed themselves.

During the daytime performance, fourth-grade teachers Vanessa Laforest and Danielle Patterson’s class conducted a call-and-response with the audience, bidding them to shout the residency motto that was on their student-designed and PTA-sponsored t-shirts, “See Me. Hear Me. Feel Me. I Have POWER!”

The sound of all of the voices raised together in this proclamation of strength was movingly powerful.

Columbia High School’s Infinite Step Team performed as special guests, carrying on a tradition of cross-school community-building that began with Seth Boyden’s first step show four years ago. Of the roughly two dozen CHS students who performed, several were Seth Boyden alumnae, including one who said that joining the high school step team had helped her overcome shyness.

“I think her statement resonated with a lot of the Seth Boyden steppers,” said Lyle. “I saw kids who were very quiet in the beginning of the residency breaking out of their shells as time went on and asking to be callers or even solo dancers. Stepping is a great way for all kids to gain confidence.” A caller is a stepper who calls out counts or routine names during the show.

The evening show, sponsored and organized by PTA Vice President of Happiness Anna Dunbar, included performances by local alumni chapters of two HBGLOs: Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Amidst the fourth-graders’ rousing cheers, Omega brother Magnus Acheampong-Quaye listed notable alumni of the fraternity, including basketball legend Michael Jordan, astronaut Ronald McNair, and surgeon Dr. Charles Drew, who perfected safe blood transfusion techniques. The Deltas—who attended at the invitation of Seth Boyden parent Kasoundra Clemons, herself a Delta—expressed amazement at the kids’ level of proficiency. In turn, the Seth Boyden steppers jumped up and down with excitement at the stepping of the Omegas and Deltas.

Seth Boyden Principal Shannon Glander proudly introduced both shows, and thanked the faculty members who worked to support the program, including AIE Teacher Liaison Shella Mesidor-Villard and teachers LaForest, Patterson, Stephen Carberry, Julie Anne Curley, Angela Martinez, Illa Dunham, Doreen Bowers, Fred Previlon, Laila Theodule, and Sarah Haldeman.

Documentary filmmaker and Seth Boyden parent Erin Harper returned for her fourth year to capture the steppers in action. Harper’s short film on the residency will be presented at a South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education meeting later this year.

The Artists in Education Grant Program is a co-sponsored project of Young Audiences Arts for Learning New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. It is carried out in partnership with regional partners the Count Basie Center for the Arts and Morris Arts.

Three executives from the residency’s funding organizations attended the shows:

· Michele Russo, President and CEO of Young Audiences New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania

· Michael Roberson Reid, Manager of Artists in Education

· Samantha Giustiniani, Vice President of Education & Outreach at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank.

“I’m still on a high from the performance!” Russo wrote afterward. “Everyone (I mean everyone!) in my life has heard about this!”

“I was very impressed by the level of rigor,” Reid said at the end of the evening show. “The students were excellent. And they combined this discipline in the art form with a whole lot of joy.”

Click the flyer above for more information.

The School District of South Orange & Maplewood

A District that celebrates diversity!

Website: www.somsd.k12.nj.us

Location: 525 Academy Street, Maplewood, NJ, 07040

Phone: 973-762-5600

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