The Tabernacle Sun
Students and parents were honored last week during the Lenape Regional High School District Board of Education meeting.
Four students Jessica Keller, Matthew O’Rorke, Nick Maricondi and Seneca student Alexa Potts, were awarded the Volunteer Service Award.
Potts was honored for her work with Give Kids the World, a campaign providing children with their wishes, in addition to the school’s character breakfast and other clubs and activities.
Potts was unable to attend the meeting to accept her award. Seneca’s principal Jeff Spector read an excerpt from her entry essay, which helped propel the decision for the honor.
“Volunteering over the years has made me realize I want to dedicate my life to serving others. I know to be truly happy this is what I must do. There’s nothing better than brightening a child’s day and bring joy and laughter,” Spector read. “I know my parents gave me the perfect name: Alexandra, helper of mankind.”
A video commending the students chronicled what they do during their hours volunteering. In addition, teachers spoke of the students’ impact on the community.
“Alexa is always there to help and someone I can count on in terms of the community,” said Lynne Ritter, a teacher at Seneca.
“I’m truly honored to be superintendent of this wonderful school district,” said Carol Birnbohm, LRHSD superintendent of schools. “We have parents who involve themselves in our school district.”
In other news:
• Students from the Heads Up, Eyes Forward! campaign presented their project to members of the board.
This is the third year LDTV entered the U Got Brains competition, hosted by the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey.
“One of the main reasons we entered the U Got Brains Champion School Project three years ago was because the LRHSD already had the Stay Alive! Don’t Text and Drive campaign in place. We thought U Got Brains was a great way to get our message out to a larger audience,” John Donaldson, director of television services at LDTV, told The Sun in January.
The 10-minute video entered in the competition chronicled the team, made up of students from all four schools, doing speaking engagements, getting community members involved through social media, showing a victim’s impact following an accident and providing statistics to drivers.
Students from the campaign blindfolded peers to walk through the hallways, demonstrating the dangers of texting and driving and its full effect of its distraction. Additionally, students from the campaign had their peers text and drive on a simulator, which measured the level of distraction.
The top two campaigns, selected by a panel of judges, will be awarded a driving simulator donated by New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company, according to Jon Kinsella, spokesman for the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey.
The project was submitted on May 15, and according to Donaldson, the team is determined to win.
Judging will be finalized June 7, and the students will find out the results during a banquet.
• Parents from Seneca’s booster clubs and associations were awarded for volunteerism and treated to refreshments following the ceremony.
• Birnbohm announced the One Book One School selections for the upcoming school year. Shawnee High School will be reading “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson, Lenape will be reading “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein, Cherokee will be reading “A Fault in Our Stars” by John Green, the same book Seneca read this year, and Seneca will be reading “Divergent” by Veronica Roth.
The next LRHSD Board of Education meeting will be held June 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the district building at 93 Willow Grove Road in Shamong.
