September Newsletter - Asbury Park School District / Homepage

June 2014
Volume 5, Issue 3
The Spot Newsletter
The SPOT “Said-itorial”
The SPOT at
By Tom Hansen
Asbury Park High School
School Based Youth
Services Program
1003 Sunset Avenue
Asbury Park, NJ 07712
Phone 732-776-2638 ext.
2675
VNAHG - Spot Staff
Colleen Nelson, Grants
Manager
Phyllis Ledbetter, Manager
Lourdes Drayton, Secretary
Catherine Donohue, NP
Tom Hansen, LCSW
LaWanda Pipkin, Program
Assistant
Rodney Salomon, YDS
Individual
Highlights:
It’s in the air. As the weather
starts to hit the 60s and 70s our
thoughts roam to summer days,
the prom and graduation (not
necessarily in that order). For
some of us, this is the year
we’ve waited and worked for;
your senior graduation day.
The dream has become a
reality. In mid-June you will walk
proudly with your peers toward
the podium and accept your
diploma with a myriad of
emotions.
This journey at APHS is the
closing of a chapter and what is
to come, is the first page of a
new journey. So what’s your
next chapter? Some already
know. Others are considering
many options. No matter what
your next chapter represents,
we at the SBYSP—The SPOT
consider it a privilege to have
crossed paths with most of you
and wish you the very best
going forward and onward with
your dreams and plans for the
future.
Sincerely,
Tom Hansen on behalf of the
entire SPOT staff
Meet our Dream Team Challenge Scholar
SPOT Student
Standouts
2
In the
SPOTlight
3
Business
Ambassadors
4
Year in Theater
Works
5
TOP
Happenings 6, 7
By LaWanda Pipkin
The Dream Team Challenge is an
incentive based program to help
motivate our students to achieve
academically and mature socially
during their high school years.
Dream Team supports this goal by
allowing challengers to earn points
for participating in activities that
help them achieve this goal, that
include attendance to homework
and tutoring lab, career and
business explorations, and for
participation in SPOT clubs &
workshops specially designed and
chosen to support their civic, social
and emotional development. During
each year, 5 scholastic champions
are chosen based on number of
points earned and fulfillment of all
DTC requirements. At the end of
each quarter, the challenger who
has earned the highest number of
points for the quarter is Scholastic
Champion.
This quarter’s (3rd) Dream Team
Scholastic Champion is Talmaijah
Pipkin. Talmaijah is a 14 year old
freshman at APHS. She is a
member in great standing at The
SPOT. She is a participant in
Theater Works, Teen Outreach
Program, attends homework lab
regularly and attends the required
Dream Team Mandatory quarterly
meetings. She enjoys reading,
writing and shopping. She is a
movie fanatic and loves listening to
music. Talmaijah plans to attend
the Fashion Institute of Technology
after high school to pursue a
degree in Fashion Design. She is
very enthusiastic about her future
and looks forward to her
sophomore year.
Please help us congratulate Miss
Talmaijah Pipkin, our third quarter
Dream Team Scholastic Champion!
The Spot Newsletter
Page 2 of 9
Ask Pat
Dear Pat,
I have made what I thought were many friends
since freshman year but now, in retrospect, all
but a handful either “fell by the wayside” or flat
out betrayed my confidence in them and went
on to antagonize me. The question that I
posed to my best friends and now you is: How
do you know that someone is trustworthy
enough so that you can “let your guard down”
and share the real you with them?
Signed, Skeptical
Dear Skeptical,
What a powerfully relevant question you ask.
This is, as they say, a “question for the ages” as
the world can be a cold and untrustworthy
mistress.
In my humble opinion, the trust quotient is
measured by us being able to determine a
person’s honesty and integrity in day to day
interactions with others. In order to be deemed
trustworthy several criteria should exist, however
it can be boiled down to a peer portraying a
genuinely truthful and sincere character in all
aspects of relational communication.
Just as one can earn a reputation for being “a
player,” one can also earn a reputation for
being a man or woman of integrity, honesty and
good moral character. When you or others
display this persona, people will be drawn to
you because in today’s world there is a void of
these characteristics.
Signed, Pat
Do you have an issue and would like another
point of view? Submit your story to The SPOT
suggestion box for our next issue.
Integrity essentially means the consistent ability to
be reliable and forthright in ones actions. In other
words; a person who says that they love you will
show it by their deeds and interactions with you.
SPOT Student Standouts
By Tom Hansen
ISAIAH CHURCH - for consistency,
reliability, perseverance and integrity from
day one to graduation.
KHAILA JOHNSON - for her passion as it
pertains to reading and writing new authentic
works of short stories all throughout the year.
Her latest works are very relevant to portray
relevant social and environmental challenges
in the community and high school.
DAVON BYERS - for maintaining best
possible grades within all his challenging
honor classes. He is also the captain of the
APHS Debate Team and one of the most
friendly and polite young men here at the
SPOT.
readily and is knowledgeable of the subject
at hand.
JULIO GONZALEZ - for sharing his creations
of short stories and his latest (co-authored with
Khaila Johnson) new up-and-coming novel with
the SPOT. He also competes on the Debate
Team and wants to attend Monmouth
University.
DESSIAH MOORE - has been the
Ambassador of the Year. She is ready and
quite able to represent our program and
Asbury Park High School with grace and
intellect. She has been the model for all that
is expected of a good high school student.
Dessiah received The Manager’s Choice
Award for all she contributed to advancing a
good reputation for our school and The
SPOT, a NJ School Based Youth Services
Program.
AMIRA ADAMS- for dependability and
commitment. Amira is almost always where
she should be and can be counted on to
represent The SPOT in whatever project she
joins. When in the company of other schools,
Amira has been a real delight. She interacts
Page 3 of 9
The Spot Newsletter
Staff Highlight ~ “In the SPOTlight”
By Phyllis Ledbetter
The good that people do lives long after they are gone. Often, however, the person did not get to enjoy the praise or even sometimes
receive thanks for their constant and steady work to help better someone else’s station in life. For that reason, I don’t want to pass up an
opportunity to highlight the work of Tom Hansen, our mental health counselor. Tom has been accessible and supportive of all students who
sought his help even through personal sacrifice. Silent and random acts of kindness flow from Tom’s heart and his deeds. Surely the pure in
heart are often not understood because they don’t sing their own praises and in helping another person they move unaware of contemporary
rhetoric and trendy language. In short, they dance to the beat of a different drummer. That is Tom and as program manager, I get to see
each staff members from an aerial view. I appreciate Tom’s dedication, his approach and his care for the students who enter through the
doors of The SPOT - Room 122 in Asbury Park High School.
I congratulate Tom for being chosen The Visiting Nurse Association Health Group’s “Social Worker of the Year”.
Ms. Lourdes is the best of the best. I have been fortunate to have worked with a professional with such focus and attention to the job as
she. Ms. Lourdes is efficient, smart and handles a great deal of work without a great need for constant reminding. As well as being a
superior administrative support to our program, she is also quite capable of teaching any workshop needed and tutoring especially when
Spanish tutoring is required. She has been a real help to the entire program and I commend her yet again for being a true professional.
Rodney Salomon is facilitator of the TOP program. In this capacity, he has faithfully delivered the TOP curriculum to at least 60 students
every year for the past 4 years. Rodney takes his role seriously. He has arranged many community service projects for the students and
continued our collaboration with New Jersey Junior Achievers allowing students to learn about and teach financial literacy to elementary
school students at Thurgood Marshall and Bradley elementary schools here in the city. NJ Junior Achievers also provides job readiness
workshops and job shadowing opportunities with Microsoft and AT&T for every club member. A big thank you to Rodney for fulfilling the
requirements of TOP and doing what we all knew would be a big job and quite a challenge.
Ms. Katherine, our Nurse Practitioner, plays a most important role in services delivery of The SPOT. She is caregiver to so many students
here in the high school and a great asset to the SPOT team. In addition to primary care services, she is also our preventive health educator.
Ms. Catherine provides self-esteem support by teaching our girls and guys about healthy life style choices. She facilitates good discussions
with our students about media images, sexual health and nutrition. Ms. Catherine brought human trafficking awareness to our students by
inviting them to participate in the One Million Rising Campaign which was a flash dance to be executed on the same day worldwide.
Although we had inclement weather here in our city, making it impossible for us to participate the students learned the dance on our cast-it
system and learned about the gross sexual exploitation of young people across the globe. Ms. Catherine only works 9 hours per week. Still,
she is able to provide such extended services which are as much a necessity as physical wellness. She is a real asset to our program and a
great resource for our students.
Ms. LaWanda has held a high work standard and completed the task of oversight of the Dream Team Challenge, the SPOT’s learning
support service. Managing the service is a big job. Students earn points by attending homework/tutoring lab, and all other clubs and
workshops offered in our program. The accounting is major and encouraging the students a part of the whole. She is also responsible for
overseeing the learning lab and giving one on one support to students when they need help with homework or tutoring. Ms. LaWanda is very
well prepared to do the job and her work speaks for itself. Thirty five students were actively involved in the challenge and completed the
year.
Success stories emerge from this work and are too many to include. A big thank you to Ms. LaWanda and many students are in good
.
academic standing because she was here this year.
The Spot Newsletter
Blue Bishops Business Ambassadors at Asbury Park Restaurant Tour
By Kay Harris
Members of the SPOT, Blue Bishop
Business Ambassadors volunteered
their services as ambassadors for
the third annual Asbury Park
Restaurant Tour held Sunday, April
27, 2014. Over 30 restaurants
participated in the Restaurant Tour
which was sponsored by the Asbury
Park Chamber of Commerce under
the direction of Jackie Pappas.
Trolley service was available to
transport the public between the
downtown shopping area and the
boardwalk as well as restaurants
located on Main Street, Asbury
Avenue and Springwood Avenue.
The students helped with the event
by greeting the public upon their
arrival for check in, as well as
providing direction to the guests for
navigating through the Tour
offerings. Tasting Guides and area
Maps were made available.
Members of the Blue Bishop
Ambassadors have participated in
this event for each of the three
years that the tour has been held.
Page 4 of 9
Page 5 of 9
The Spot Newsletter
The Year in Theater Works 2013-2014
This year has been a tremendous and exciting
one for the students who participated in our
Theater Works Project. This project was
funded completely by Two River Theatre in
Red Bank, New Jersey through an education
outreach grant they wrote to provide our
students an opportunity to learn about careers
associated with theatre production. I have to
commend and thank Two River for caring
enough to ask what I, as the manager of The
SPOT would like to have as an education
project. As a person with theatre experience, I
knew the students would benefit from the
practical side of theatre production. They
would learn about the many skills that they
never associate with being a part of the
entertainment industry such as carpentry,
fashion, marketing, research, electrical
engineering, sound engineering and others.
They would also get an opportunity to see the
final production created by all the skillful works
of the individuals who make it all happen and
how once it all comes together it is a unit that
tells the story and all of the separate parts a
magical experience of the onlookers.
This review of our year is a tribute and an expression of gratitude to Two River Education Coordinator
Kate Cordaro who was the conduit through which this project was developed and Heidi
Schoenenberger who, as her assistant, was present with our students both on campus and at the
theatre making sure that all their needs were met and their exposure to the many career opportunities
was realized with hands on explorations. The students were privileged to have workshop presenters
who are among the most talented people in Theatre today. They include Marty Moran – Playwright
and Broadway Star; Karen Perry, Costume Designer for Broadway Dream Girls and many others;
Mandela Scholar and Broadway Choreographer, Warren Adams; and workshops in scenic design and
media case studies with Two River’s own gifted and talented crew. The final design was a show case
of our Theatre Works members who designed a Community Theatre for the Asbury Park Community.
Called Platinum Mountain Theatre and located on the Ocean Front, its mission statement reads: We
at Platinum Mountain Theatre believe that families from all over should be a part of the theater
lifestyle, breaking language barriers by experiencing the different genres we bring to this world. We
are a home away from home.
Heidi Schoenenberger reviewing costume
design Workshop to our students as they
prepare for their final Showcase at Two
River. They also showcased their final
project here at APHS
Above and Below: Group at work creating costume designs for animal
characters based on play Wind in The Willows a production they have
seen on two occasions with different production qualities.
The Spot Newsletter
T.O.P. Happenings
By Rodney Salomon
SIX FLAGS
Teen Outreach Program (T.O.P) graduates
were given a wonderful gift for their hard
work and dedication to the program from the
Central Jersey Family Health Consortium
(CJFHC) who oversee the grant for our
pregnancy prevention program. The CJFHC
presented 30 tickets to Six Flags Great
Adventure for any T.O.P student that
graduated from the program. Asbury Park
High School along with four other high
schools all attended this wonderful day.
The CJFHC planned out an amazing day for
the T.O.P. club graduates. On our arrival
students headed to the theater on campus to
enjoy a presentation on teen pregnancy and
were entertained by spoken word poets with
words that touched our youths’ souls.
Afterwards students enjoyed a fun filled day
of all that Six Flags has to offer.
A special thanks goes out to the CJFHC for
their blessings and providing the T.O.P.
graduates here at the Spot with such a
wonderful event.
ATT JOB SHADOW
Junior Achievement gave the students of Asbury Park High
School’s school based program an excellent opportunity to
experience a professional work environment and understandings of
multiple career fields presented to us by AT&T Labs in Middletown
N.J. The purpose of this event is to provide our youth with the skills
needed to obtain success in their career, identify potential jobs and
learn what is required to earn the position.
On March 25th 43 Students began the day with a presentation on
the history of AT&T, what goes on in the building and what would
take place during their job shadow. We then proceeded with a tour
of the facilities, receiving a behind the scenes look at the individual
labs where all the creating takes place. Students witnessed the
research and development labs of indoor lighting systems and
software applications for computers and tablets. During this process
they were given information pertaining to the areas of study needed
to obtain this position and a typical work day in that career.
The day concluded with a group project on the steps needed to
create a personal application for a cellular device. Students
received valuable insight on topics they were not exposed to prior
to this trip. Overall it was an amazing day at the AT&T Labs. The
seeds of opportunity have been planted in our youth and only time
will tell how much they grow
A special thanks goes out to Bob Hurte of Junior Achievement for
organizing the trip and also to the staff of AT&T for taking the time
out of their day to inspire our youth
Page 6 of 9
Page 7 of 9
The Spot Newsletter
MICROSOFT JOB SHADOW
“The trip was an amazing experience from the very
beginning. We first got their and had a blast playing with
the Kinect outside the store and from there saw all of the
exciting new technology they had to offer. I really enjoyed
learning about the surface tablets and all that they are
capable of doing, playing with their touch screen
computers and the overall design of the store.
They had a great team guiding us throughout the day. I
could really tell that they cared about what they were
doing. Our presenter really took the time to make sure we
understood what she was talking about and kept us
engaged by making the experience fun and interactive.
I never new how many different career fields existed in
Microsoft prior to this trip, seeing that there was more to
Microsoft than just computers opened up my mind
tremendously. From their set design team, to marketing,
product placement and advertising there are so many
opportunities for someone like to work here.
Some of the highlights of my day were playing the Xbox
one with my friends, learning about windows 8, seeing the
3-d printer in action right before my eyes and discovering
all the job possibilities at Microsoft. I give a great thank
you for the time and experience that was given to me.”
Angeles Rios Senior at Asbury Park High School
“Going to Microsoft’s job shadow was a great and
educational trip for me. I saw many interesting and
attractive things of new technology there. I was
impressed to hear how over the years Microsoft
substantially grew. The most attractive thing to me was
the Xbox one because you can sign in to any Xbox one to
see your home screen and play your digital games. Your
digital content, profile and saves go where you go. Seeing
all this new technology made me wonder how amazing
our future will be. I had an amazing time and felt very
much appreciated by all of Microsoft staff.”
Rizwana Khan Junior at Asbury Park High School
The Spot Newsletter
Page 8 of 9
The Benefits of Tutoring! Accomplishment & Satisfaction
We celebrate every accomplishment of all our students
and are very proud of Scott Strickland, State Bowling
Champion in the Special Olympics.
Theater Works Showcase was a huge success. Our students
presented this final work at Two River Theater in June. The
group: Amira Adams, Kadijah Valentine, Isaiah Church,
Dessiah Moore, Shaniya Caldwell, Alixandrea Caldwell,
Alexis Caldwell and Olatunde Amusan.
Shavonna Pearsall and Reginald McNeil made a lot of
little folks happy as they manage their playing in the
“moonwalk” bounce house.
Page 9 of 9
The Spot Newsletter
Upcoming Events
June 26, 2014
6:00 p.m.
The SPOT “Rising Freshman” Parent Night
The Spot at Asbury Park High
School
1003 Sunset Ave
Asbury Park NJ 07712
PHONE:
(732) 776-2638 ext. 2675
FAX:
(732) 776-6895
E-MAIL:
[email protected].
us
A dinner and orientation for incoming freshman and their parents/guardians to introduce all we
offer in the school based youth services program. Please join us!
For more information call 732-776-2638 ext. 2675.
June 30 Youth Time to Shine Meeting at Prevention First
July 7, 2014 – August 7, 2014
Summer Camp at The SPOT
Open to all youth ages 13 through 19. Camp focuses on leadership, creativity and excellence
through fun activities such as knowledge club, Dream Team and academic challenges, lunch time
talks, laugh out loud, fishing, recreation, games and more. Camp is FREE and space is LIMITED
so enroll today to reserve your spot.
About Our Program…
We’re on the Web!
See us at:
www.facebook.com/thespot.asb
urypark
Follow us on twitter
@TheSpotAPHS
Utilizing the five pillar structure
of the New Jersey School
Based Youth Services Program,
The Spot’s mission is to help
students mature emotionally
and socially while remaining
physically safe and drug
(alcohol, tobacco) free. We
strive to help them achieve
The Spot at Asbury Park High School
School Based Youth Services Program
1003 Sunset Avenue
Asbury Park, NJ 07712
To:
academically so that they
graduate on time prepared for
employment and/or college; and
prepared to become
responsible, contributing
citizens after their high school
years.