The second week of school brought many exciting moments. Many of these moments can be seen on my twitter page, @PrincipalVerona, in both photo and video format.
In the second week of school, it was my pleasure to see Mr. Scott and Mr. Swajkowski demonstrate to students how different flavors of Mentos candy had different reactions when added to Pepsi Cola. Students were asked to make inferences from their observations; this lesson promotes real-world applications of the scientific method.
Mrs. Hou's class was seen to have students out of there seats learning Mandarin by doing calisthenics to different teacher commands. This kinesthetic method of teaching ingrains these words and ideas into the minds of students, so that students may recall them later. If you watch the video, the students are clearly having fun and learning at the same time! Great job Ms. Hou!
Dr. Smith was working with all of her senior classes on how to write high quality college essays. Students were observed to be working with Dr. Smith and their classmates to develop their essay topics. This is new to VHS, our administrative team and Dr. Smith saw a need and they are addressing this need because we have a collective interest in promoting the post-secondary success for our students.
Mr. Lynch was hard at work this week preparing our students for the VHS Football Team's first home game of the season. And yes, they sounded great! Please see the video in my twitter feed. The color guard, band, cheerleaders, and football players all came out to watch our team win their first home game by the score of 55-0 over Eastside Newark. VHS is now 2-0 on the season.
This week I was lucky to be there to watch Verona Girl's Tennis Team win their match over Caldwell 5-0. This was Mr. Thai first win as a varsity tennis coach; congratulations to Mr. Thai! Mr. Thai is also the Student Council Advisor, he is looking to hold elections soon using Google Forms to collect the student votes.
This week started the first week where students were able to visit our Learning Commons Bistro. I observed students enjoying freshly brewed coffee and pastries while they were studying for their classes during the week. Mrs. Benz has done an amazing job on changing the culture of this environment.
These are just snippets of the amazing accomplishments our students in the arts, on the field, and in the classroom. I thank and congratulate everyone for their contributions this week.
I have to share with you my most proud moment of the week. This moment occurred after the football game where our team won 55-0 over their opponent. After we had won the football game, everyone left the field except the opposing team. All of us knows what it feels like to lose a game after a week of putting in the hard work to be successful. The Verona High School Cheerleader's waited for every player from the opposing team to leave the field. As the players from Eastside walked off the field, they were met with by our cheerleaders clapping and wishing them well. As the Principal, I could not be more proud of this sportsmanship. Once everyone was off the field, the 5th Downers hosted a BBQ in the parking lot for the players and families. It was truly wonderful!
This week we honored September 11th by observing a moment of silence at the exact time the first plane struck the World Trade Center. In addition to this moment of silence, our teachers took time to incorporate 9/11 into their lesson plans. I personally observed Mr. White sharing newspapers from September 12, 2001 in his Journalism class. My thoughts and the thoughts of everyone at VHS was with the victims, families, service men and women impacted as a result of 9/11 this week. You will alway be remembered.
Please join me and the rest of the VHS staff for Back-to-School Night on September 17th at 7:00 PM. I look forward to meeting you, sharing with you the great things we are doing at VHS, and where we are going next!
Let's have another great week!
In the second week of school, it was my pleasure to see Mr. Scott and Mr. Swajkowski demonstrate to students how different flavors of Mentos candy had different reactions when added to Pepsi Cola. Students were asked to make inferences from their observations; this lesson promotes real-world applications of the scientific method.
Mrs. Hou's class was seen to have students out of there seats learning Mandarin by doing calisthenics to different teacher commands. This kinesthetic method of teaching ingrains these words and ideas into the minds of students, so that students may recall them later. If you watch the video, the students are clearly having fun and learning at the same time! Great job Ms. Hou!
Dr. Smith was working with all of her senior classes on how to write high quality college essays. Students were observed to be working with Dr. Smith and their classmates to develop their essay topics. This is new to VHS, our administrative team and Dr. Smith saw a need and they are addressing this need because we have a collective interest in promoting the post-secondary success for our students.
Mr. Lynch was hard at work this week preparing our students for the VHS Football Team's first home game of the season. And yes, they sounded great! Please see the video in my twitter feed. The color guard, band, cheerleaders, and football players all came out to watch our team win their first home game by the score of 55-0 over Eastside Newark. VHS is now 2-0 on the season.
This week I was lucky to be there to watch Verona Girl's Tennis Team win their match over Caldwell 5-0. This was Mr. Thai first win as a varsity tennis coach; congratulations to Mr. Thai! Mr. Thai is also the Student Council Advisor, he is looking to hold elections soon using Google Forms to collect the student votes.
This week started the first week where students were able to visit our Learning Commons Bistro. I observed students enjoying freshly brewed coffee and pastries while they were studying for their classes during the week. Mrs. Benz has done an amazing job on changing the culture of this environment.
These are just snippets of the amazing accomplishments our students in the arts, on the field, and in the classroom. I thank and congratulate everyone for their contributions this week.
I have to share with you my most proud moment of the week. This moment occurred after the football game where our team won 55-0 over their opponent. After we had won the football game, everyone left the field except the opposing team. All of us knows what it feels like to lose a game after a week of putting in the hard work to be successful. The Verona High School Cheerleader's waited for every player from the opposing team to leave the field. As the players from Eastside walked off the field, they were met with by our cheerleaders clapping and wishing them well. As the Principal, I could not be more proud of this sportsmanship. Once everyone was off the field, the 5th Downers hosted a BBQ in the parking lot for the players and families. It was truly wonderful!
This week we honored September 11th by observing a moment of silence at the exact time the first plane struck the World Trade Center. In addition to this moment of silence, our teachers took time to incorporate 9/11 into their lesson plans. I personally observed Mr. White sharing newspapers from September 12, 2001 in his Journalism class. My thoughts and the thoughts of everyone at VHS was with the victims, families, service men and women impacted as a result of 9/11 this week. You will alway be remembered.
Please join me and the rest of the VHS staff for Back-to-School Night on September 17th at 7:00 PM. I look forward to meeting you, sharing with you the great things we are doing at VHS, and where we are going next!
Let's have another great week!