The “Schools Around the World” presentation was the highlight of the Voorhees Board of Education meeting on Feb. 26. Parents and students gathered to watch a colorful overhead display put together by students in grades third through fifth, with the help of teachers.
In a lesson to teach students how children around the world learn in different ways, Germany, France and other countries were assigned.
“Some countries have more days, but their time frame is different,” E.T. Hamilton principal Andrew H. Moskowitz said while narrating the presentation.
Teachers described that Voorhees children as young as 9 years of age now have the technological ability to put together QR codes, as well as movies and PowerPoint slideshows, after completing the diversified project about schools around the globe.
“There is a movie-maker component to this…the students did some moving making using technology…the students and staff did a great job together,” Moskowitz said.
In addition to research, classroom computers and iPads aided the students in completing their projects. The students also created a blog about what they learned.
Another highlight of the meeting was the board discussion about snow days. The end date for all Voorhees Township public schools was set as June 26.
However, more possible snow days could cause that date to change. If needed, the board will take away extended spring break days to equate for the number of snow days totaling more than initially expected, before the school year began. In association with snow days, the board touched on the subject of delayed school openings.
“For those of you who have noticed, we have had a lot of snow this year, and we’re getting really proficient at delayed openings,” board member Raymond Brosel said.
Brosel described that Voorhees schools must open 90 minutes late as opposed to 60 minutes in times of inclement delayed weather openings, due to state laws.
“I’d also like to indicate that last year we do indicate that on the calendar, if we needed to make snow days up we would add to the end of the year…That is the calendar we are now operating under,” Brosel said.
As part of the board secretary report, a preliminary calendar for school board budget meetings was set. At the next meeting on March 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the administration building, the board will describe its plan for the preliminary budget amounts for next school year.
On March 20, the board must submit the same preliminary budget discussed at the meeting to the county office. Once reviewed, a public hearing for the budget will take place on April 29, followed by a second public hearing and final budget adoption on May 7.
In other news:
• Motions to approve the retirement of a many teachers were approved without questioning from the public. Judy Kille, Mary Maiatico and Trudith Lockspeiser were among the list of retiring teachers and staff.
• Several field trips were approved for this year, including a trip for the Voorhees Middle School chorus to attend a vocal production at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia on March 20. Kresson school first graders will be taking a field trip to the Philadelphia Zoo on May 29. Eleven field trips total were approved.
• For next school year, the board announced that it should soon begin accepting bids for certain pre-approved projects, such as the replacement of the HVAC system at Osage Elementary School. No specific details are known at this time regarding a timeline for this project.
