TOMS RIVER – School is no longer just sitting and listening to lectures. There might be hundreds of unique lessons and projects going on throughout any given week, and a recent event gave the public a chance to experience it all.
Did you want to learn about coding? There was a place for that. Did you want to look at some art? There were multiple displays. Are you curious about what an interactive history lesson is? Step inside.
Hundreds of visitors circled the course through the RWJBarnabas Arena on the campus of High School North on one recent night for the Excellence Expo. There were at least 50 tables inside the main arena. But that doesn’t count the art displays and other interactive exhibits. It also doesn’t include the tables lining the outside. Another large room off to the side had crafting projects and physical education.
There were performances on a stage in the main room. There was a chorus, jazz band, and orchestra. A rock band closed it out with
“Bullet With Butterfly Wings,” by Smashing Pumpkins (that’s the one that goes “In spite of my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage.”)
Remote controlled robots rolled around the floor, doing tasks they were programmed to do. This booth was run by students in the three high schools and also Intermediate North.
There were obstacles on the floor that the robots could be guided through. This mimics the challenges that the robots do in competitions, said Erica Midili, advisor for the Robotics Club at High School North. In these competitions, the children are told in advance what tasks the robots will have to complete, and then they must figure out how to build a robot that can accomplish them.
Nicole Tischio, biology teacher at High School North, said that the kids build and code the robots. It serves as a source of pride to have their creation working and completing tasks. It also serves as a source of pride to share their accomplishment with others at an event like this.
Children got to show off their big brains with their science projects, like “the effects of salt in fruits and vegetables on electrical conductivity.”
Luke Comstock, a 10-year-old 5th grader at Beachwood Elementary, sat with a laptop facing passersby to display what he learned about ocean pollution.
He studied it as part of his Genius Hour. This is a student-guided research project where the pupil chooses what they want to study and the teacher serves as a facilitator to guide them in their interests. He chose that topic because ocean pollution “can kill all the fish in the ocean and lots of other things.”
So, what’s the solution to ocean pollution? Luke said one thing that can be done is a state can pass a bottle bill. This makes it cost an extra 5 cents to buy anything in a bottle, like a soda. Then, when the person recycles it, they get 10 cents back.
With 19 schools in the district, this was only a sample of what was going on in classrooms.
Assistant Superintendents Cara DiMeo and Richard Fastnacht said that this event is a way to highlight wonderful things that are occurring daily – not just on special events.
“Coming out of COVID, this is a showcase of all the amazing things that are happening in the district,” DiMeo said.
“It truly captures what we really do every day,” Fastnacht said. From academics to extra-curricular, to social-emotional learning, education is a whole-person approach.
Social-emotional learning is one of the pillars of education, although it’s not something you can put on a test. It’s about providing an environment where students feel comfortable and safe, so that they can put their minds at ease and use their brain to their fullest. Some displays were up about behavioral supports in the home and preschool education tips.
Some tables were run by community partners like the Ocean County Library, Cattus Island, and Fulfill. There were also a few vendors selling their wares.
The event was the brainchild of Curriculum Directors Rachel Cicala and Adrienne Gold. They saw the way that the community was able to interact with the students at the Makerfest held from 2015-2019 and wanted to bring back that energy.
