You may be aware that last year the Ridgewood High School Alumni Association hosted its inaugural Homecoming/Reunion Weekend. We endeavored to centralize Reunions to allow for more camaraderie between celebratory classes and offered an opportunity to visit your Alma Mater hosted by current ambassadors on a coordinated weekend. We were excited to make our second annual Homecoming weekend that much more special this October when the classes ending in five and zero celebrated their respective reunions. Unfortunately, the Ridgewood High School Alumni Association has made the difficult decision to postpone Homecoming until the fall of 2021.
Ridgewood NJ, Stephen Kalish, former Army Officer and a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, presented the Dwight D. Eisenhower Leadership Award on behalf of the West Point Society of New Jersey, an organization of graduates and friends of West Point who live in New Jersey. Each year, the West Point Society of New Jersey sponsors the Dwight D. Eisenhower Leadership Awarded at approximately 100 high schools throughout New Jersey. The purpose of this award is to recognize an exceptional high school junior who excels in the areas of academics, athletics, community service, good citizenship, and leadership. The awardee is selected by the principal and staff of the school. The award includes a portfolio with a formal certificate of recognition for the student and a display plaque for the school. Mr. Kalish read through the previous awardees before announcing this year’s recipient, Bryan Chan. Bryan has been on the honor roll every semester of his tenure at Ridgewood High School. He is a member of the National Honor Society and the Spanish National Honor Society. He was the class president for both his sophomore and junior years. He was the captain of his freshman and junior varsity soccer team. He is president of the DECA club and is a peer counselor. Outside of school, Bryan volunteers with the Our Lady of Mount Carmel youth group and the YMCA. He has also been a shamrock soccer coach. Congratulations, Bryan.
Ridgewood NJ, Dr. Fishbein gave a presentation on Mercury in Gym 3 Synthetic Flooring – Ridgewood High School. News reports indicated that there were possible concerns about the presence of mercury in rubberized gym floors. Dr. Fishbein, Ms. Kelly, and the facilities manager met proactively and arranged to have our floor tested. The only school with this type of flooring is Ridgewood High School. Dr. Fishbein informed the community about the test results in a letter that was sent on February 14, 2020.
The Ridgewood Board of Education is proposing more artificial turf for Stevens Field,a district owned field, despite mounting evidence that it presents significant health and safety concerns for those using the fields and to the environment. A recent article in the NJEA Review Magazine ,” Use it? Ban it? quotes the following statements from Dr. Philip Landrigan, a Public Health and Pediatrics Professor at Mount Sinai :“ The companies that are marketing the fields don’t talk about the heat hazards, they don’t talk about the chemical hazards, they don’t talk about the costs that are going to be associated with dismantling the fields when they reach the end of their natural life span, when they must be treated as hazardous waste ….. a better solution is to build fields that are properly drained and are planted with tough species of grass that do not require pesticides.”
Ridgewood NJ, Dr. Fishbein presented the Ridgewood High School Stevens Field Synthetic Turf Replacement Proposal. The field is used seven days a week, during the school day for physical education, as well as by RHS athletics, youth sports, and adult community programs. Dr. Fishbein provided background on the field, explaining that Stevens Field was first completed during the 2009 referendum.
Ridgewood NJ, RHS sophomore Ani Martirossian created an essential “nurse purse” for local nurses who are serving on the front lines. Each nurse purse contains crucial health and beauty products that can be used on the go. To date, they have delivered over 500 bags to four local hospitals: The Valley Hospital, Holy Name Medical Center, Englewood Hospital, and Hackensack University Medical Center.
Ridgewood NJ, The National Honor Society is the nation’s oldest, largest, and most prestigious student recognition program. Our chapter is proud to have been inducting new members since 1965, and Ridgewood High School inducted 77 new members this spring. Throughout the year, members of our chapter serve as role models and leaders for their peers. In addition to their strong academic records which established eligibility for membership, our chapter members have been leaders in many student organizations and serve and give back routinely to Ridgewood High School and the community of Ridgewood.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Art Institute is happy to announce two recipients of our Members’ Scholarship this year, Sophia Mchedlishvili and Viancha Antonucci.
Sophia is the recipient of a $1500 scholarship. Sophia is graduating from Ridgewood High School and will attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and majoring in Industrial Design. She has been a student at RAI for 8 years, primarily a student of Joel Popadics but had also taken classes with Laura Paray and Rebecca Leer. She has won many awards at RAI throughout the years and has expressed that RAI has always been an important part of her life and that our classes provided valuable skills that will help her in college as well as beyond. Congratulations to Sophia and best of luck in college and your future art career!
Ridgewood NJ,Senator Kristin Corrado is calling for New Jersey schools to hold in-person graduations on their own schedules. Earlier this week, Governor Phil Murphy announced that the Class the 2020 will be permitted to hold in-person graduations with various restrictions after July 6th.
Ridgewood NJ, The governor announced that in-person graduations can happen in July. Specific guidance regarding graduations has not yet been provided. Dr. Fishbein has a county roundtable meeting for superintendents, and graduation ceremonies are an agenda item to be discussed. With social distancing, we still face significant hurdles, having a graduating class of approximately 440 students. Managing crowds is also something that must be evaluated to determine the best way to hold graduation that is both special for the Class of 2020 and safe. Another concern is in the area of liability, as pandemics are not covered by our insurance policy. All of these factors are being carefully considered.
Ridgewood NJ, The New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) today released guidance regarding commencement ceremonies to honor 2020 graduates during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The guidance outlines three options for K-12 school commencement ceremonies: 1) virtual; 2) drive-through/drive-in; or 3) modified in-person, outdoor ceremonies. Decisions about the most appropriate type of ceremony for each school community will be made locally, in consultation with municipal officials. At this time, only virtual ceremonies are permitted. Beginning July 6, 2020, drive-through/drive-in and modified in-person, outdoor ceremonies will be permitted subject to the requirements set forth in the guidance. These ceremonies must comply with the social distancing protocols and the limitations on in-person gatherings that are in place when the ceremonies are held.
Ridgewood NJ, Kieran Corcoran, a saxophonist from Ridgewood, New Jersey, has been named as the recipient of the 2020 Roland L. Meyer Scholarship Award by the Orpheus Club Men’s Chorus (Orpheus).
Corcoran, a senior at Ridgewood High School, is the woodwind captain of the school’s marching band, and president of the band council. He has played in the concert band, wind ensemble, big band, saxophone ensemble, and pit orchestra at the school. He also has served as a music mentor and district band member.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police Patrol Officer Michael Karcher was dispatched to assist in the rescue of a canine who’d gotten stuck between two (2) parallel fences in the rear of Ridgewood High School on Monday afternoon, 4/27. A bystander kept the pooch occupied with dog treats while Officer Karcher located its owner. The owner and uninjured Labrador were successfully reunited without injury to either. Reportedly, the dog had gotten tired of Governor Murphy’s “stay at home” order and crawled through a hole in one of the fences.
Ridgewood NJ, Each year, the Ridgewood Historical Society invites Ridgewood High School students to write a one-page letter choosing an artifact from our annual exhibit. This year the exhibit was “Here Comes the Bride—Two-hundred years of wedding customs & traditions.” Students were asked to write from the point of view of a fictionalized person to a friend/relative in Ridgewood. Winners were chosen based on their ability to relate common human experiences in the context of a specific historical moment.
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