Ocean City High School Principal’s Report

May/June, 2012

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations to the Class of 2012! Graduation was held on the football field under cloudy skies. Graduation speakers were Kirsten Rabb, Matthew Caulfield─Salutatorian, and Sarah Ford─Valedictorian. Please see the coverage in the Ocean City Patch for pictures http://tinyurl.com/6mxn4cb The Guidance Department is proud to announce that Patrick Birk was selected to attend the New Jersey Scholars program held at the Lawrenceville School this summer. Patrick will be participating in their program titled Human Rights: Past, Present, Future. He is one of 39 selected scholars from a large group of nominees from all over New Jersey. Megan Devlin was named as a 2012 US Lacrosse Academic All American. This is a first for our girl‟s lacrosse program.

ACADEMIC AWARDS NIGHT On May 17, the 40th Annual Academic Awards Program was held in the Auditorium. Students are honored for having a GPA over 3.3 for consecutive marking periods. There were 201 students honored for one year of honors. They each received a certificate. The 121 two-year award winners received an engraved key chain. Engraved pens and cases were given to 82 three year award winners. Each of the 69 four-year award winners were presented with a plaque and a description of their school activities, their future goals and college plans were read.

PROM & AFTER PROM The Junior Senior Prom was held May 19th at the Flander‟s Hotel. This event was attended by 575 students. Students were announced at red carpet arrival before proceeding into the hotel for the event. Students and chaperones were treated to food and entertainment until 11:00 pm before being transported to the

High School for the After Prom. The theme of the After Prom was “Colliding Continents”. Food was donated by many local restaurants and boardwalk merchants. There were many huge blowup games for the kids to play and compete on. Valerie Woodland won the $1,000 senior prize and Victoria Braun won the $500 junior prize. Many other prizes, including yearbooks, kayaks and surfboards were given out that night. Many thanks to the Class of 2013 advisors Mrs. Shannon Palumbo and Mr. Keith Zammit for the work they did planning the prom. Pictured are Prom Queen, Makeda Kerr and Prom King, Justin Healy.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES AND VISITORS On Friday, May 25th an OCHS alumni Emily DuBruille came in to the ASL classes. Emily is currently pursuing a degree in ASL Interpreting at Bloomsburg University. She has just completed her sophomore year. Emily was required to take the ASL Proficiency Interview in order to remain in the interpreting program and earn a passing score of 2 out of 5. Emily was one of only 7 students out of 30 to pass the exam and one of only two students to earn an impressive 3 out of 5!!! Emily came in to talk with our students about Deaf-Blind and the use of tactile signing. She shared her personal experiences and had students participate in an activity where they could experience both using tactile signing and trying to understand it as a partner signed to them.

Students were engaged and definitely came away from the class period having learned something new! Emily is also quite talented in translating and

signing songs and showed students how beautiful conceptually accurate signing can be! Finally, she succeeded in making her “old ASL teacher” extremely proud!!! Mr. Eric Grimley visited classes in his civil war uniform with his rucksack containing articles such as sewing kit, bible, and dice. Even his moustache was fashioned in civil war style. He also taught his own USI classes in his alternative persona.

MISS NORTON’S FINANCIAL LITERACY GUEST

SPEAKER -- On May 21st, Patty Ferry, Ocean City Home Bank Vice President of Security and Facilities,

spoke to Miss Norton‟s Financial Literacy classes regarding Identity Theft.

Everyone can be a victim of Identity Theft no matter what your age, sex, or credit history. Everyone needs to

safeguard themselves and do everything in their power to prevent Identity Theft from happening to them. Do you have a cross-cut shredder at home? You

should! Materials that include your name, address, birth date, and social security number needs to be shredded and not placed in your recycling bin!! Having sensitive material laying about your house, your desk, your workplace, your wallet/purse/backpack or in your car is just an Identity Theft waiting to happen. Keep important information under lock and key and not available to people to have access. Have you seen the aluminum wallets? Prevent people from skimming your credit card information by placing your credit cards in an aluminum wallet. Do you keep your computer on when you are not home? Shut it down! If you don‟t have a great computer security system, you might fall victim to keystroke logging! How many credit cards and debit cards do you carry in your wallet? Do you know how to contact the companies if your wallet is stolen or you lost your credit cards? Do you like to travel? Well, don‟t forget putting contacting your credit card company on your “to do list” to let them know where you will be going and using your credit card so they don‟t see your purchases as a possible Identity Theft situation. When was the last time you looked at your bank and credit card statements? Pay close attention to every transaction and report any suspicious transactions! Do you know how to obtain a credit report?! The one true web site to use is www.annualcreditreport.com You can receive a free credit report from the three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Each report should be 4 months apart….so begin with one (ex. Equifax) and four months later from Experian, then four months later from TransUnion. You can either apply for the credit report online OR via mail. It is SO IMPORTANT to continually check your credit report! Valuable Identity Theft websites include: www.ftc.gov; www.socialsecurity.gov; www.state.nj.us; and www.identitytheftcenter.org

DECA Students Compete at

National Competition in Salt Lake City On April 27th, four Ocean City High School students along with their DECA advisor, Mr. Brent Earl and chaperone Debra Cathcart, traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). DECA‟s (Distributive Educational Clubs of America), mission is to enhance students‟ interest in marketing, management, and entrepreneurship. The design of DECA is to allow students with an academic interest in business to compete in these areas. These four students competed in the South Jersey

Regional‟s, then the State Career Development Conference and placed either first or second in order to advance to the ICDC in Utah. Ocean City High School‟s DECA chapter started with 30 sophomores, juniors and seniors all enrolled in various business classes. Eleven chapter members then became finalist in the regional competition, allowing all eleven to compete in the state competition, hoping to qualify for the ICDC.

Lindsay Vetter, a senior, has been actively involved in DECA since her sophomore

year at OCHS. She competed in the Learn and Earn project where she created a business, Super Bagels, offering fresh bagels to the students and staff at the Ocean City High School every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Lindsay, who is attending University of South Carolina in the fall, describes her DECA experience as “a great learning experience”, and plans on continuing DECA in the collegiate branch. She believes that Super Bagels was a wonderful opportunity and she was able to gain insight into running a small business.

Lauren Freas, a senior attending East Carolina University next year, and Emily Johnson, a junior, decided to compete in the Community Service Project. Lauren and Emily picked the local organization CARA (Coalition Against Rape and Abuse), a woman‟s shelter located in Cape May County. Lauren stated, “We knew we wanted to support a local organization, and make a difference in our community.” Certain goals for the year were to provide Halloween costumes for the children of CARA, redesign the children‟s room there by buying updated goods and painting the entire room, and to raise money through weekly pretzel sales at OCHS. Emily states, “To see the appreciation of the shelter residents has made everything we‟ve done throughout the year worthwhile.”

Matthew Caulfield, a senior at OCHS, made it to the ICDC with his outstanding performance in his competitive event, marketing management. At the state competition, Matt finished 1st overall becoming the first OCHS student to achieve those honors. His performance advanced him to the International Career Development Conference. Matt, who is attending Georgetown next year, stated “I was upset I didn‟t get to attend the ICDC last year and really pushed myself to make it this year.” He not only made it but also received a medal for having one of the highest exam scores in the competition, again becoming the first OCHS student to achieve this. The students all had a wonderful trip, and all four would return to the ICDC if granted the opportunity. Over 15,000 DECA members attended this conference from all 50 states, and a variety of countries. These four students represented Ocean City proudly at ICDC. Brent Earl advisor

stated, “It‟s very exciting to see the accomplishments these four students have made over the year, we are very sad to see Lindsay, Lauren and Matt leave DECA but look forward to bringing even more chapter members to next year‟s ICDC in Anaheim, California.”

Student Environmental Association - S.E.A.

On Friday April 20th the SEA took 2 hours after school to help the continued OC Dune Stabilization Experiment. The USDA in cooperation with NRCS, Rutgers, the OC Environmental Commission and SEA planted more Prunus Maritima (Beach Plums) on our 4th street dune system. At maturity the species will reach heights of 4 to 7 feet and cover up to 20 feet of horizontal sand. The group planted 50 more beach plums that were divided into two groups. 25 control plantings were established using a normal sand/soil mix. The other 25 experimental shrubs were planted with a new Rutgers root polymer that wards off desiccation. As most people know dunes are an arid and nutrient poor ecosystem that greatly restricts vegetative habitation, thus validating the need for this great research. The species is still being monitored and data collected to determine the best methodology for establishing dune plants. Beach Plums besides offering secondary dune stabilization produce an amazing edible fruit.

The science club would like to thank the students and district staff members for their help with yesterday‟s successful transit of Venus activities on the boardwalk. Over 120 students, district staff members, parents, community members, and numerous Ocean City

visitors observed and photographed the transit of Venus through Ocean City High School filtered binoculars and telescopes. Photographs of the transit and activities will be made available. . As soon as the OCHS astronomical observatory is completed, we will offer year-round observational events to the school, the community and to our many visitors.

Music Competition Students from Atlantic County and Cape May County had the opportunity to compete in the

Ester C. Weil Student Music Competition at the music pier. Students participating from Ocean City High School were

Amanda Leonetti - 1st Place Vocalist

“O mio babbino caro” Puccini

Carly DelSordo - 2nd Place Vocalist

“Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man of Mine” Kern

Matt Caulfield - 3rd Place Vocalist

“This Nearly Was Mine” Rodgers & Hammerstein

Kameron Ghanavati - Fabulous performance

“Che gelida manina” Puccini

AJ Klein - Fabulous performance

“Di Provenza il mar” verdi

GILDA’S CLUB Our OCHS Gilda‟s Teen Club meeting was held on May 14th. Beth Wray, Teen Program Manager of Gilda‟s Club South Jersey, announced that JoHannah

Newman, a Class of 2015 OCHS Gilda‟s Teen Club member, was named the 2012 FIRST PLACE WINNER in the Gilda‟s Club South Jersey “It‟s Always Something Writing Contest.” Her winning essay was selected from numerous teen entries and her prize was an Apple iPad !

Our year ended with students being honored for their participation and dedication to our OCHS Gilda‟s Teen Club. Each student was awarded a special Gilda‟s Club South Jersey memento. Throughout the year, our OCHS Gilda‟s Teen Club have been fundraising to raise money for Gilda‟s Club South Jersey. We are happy to announce that, through our Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon Sales and OC Raiders Car Magnet Sales, our club raised $463 which was presented to Mrs. Wray to be used for the Gilda‟s Club South Jersey Teen Program in Linwood. To celebrate the upcoming Summer season, our OCHS Gilda‟s Teen Club members collected items to put in a summer fun container. This container was given to Annie, a 12 –year old young lady who is living with cancer. We thought that bright colors and fun things to do during the summer would bring a smile to Annie‟s face and get her excited about the summer days ahead! Remember that the Gilda‟s Club South Jersey location is at 700 New Road in Linwood, New Jersey. Their phone number is (609) 926-2699. Their clubhouse hours are MONDAY-THURSDAY (9 am-8 pm) and FRIDAY (9 am-5 pm) and their website address is www.gildasclubsouthjersey.org. “Gilda‟s Club South Jersey is a free education and support community of children, adults, families and friends who have been impacted by cancer. People gather here to learn, share their experiences and, true to our namesake, Gilda Radner, have a few laughs along the way.” Our OCHS Gilda‟s Teen Club advisors, Mrs. Tobi Oves and Miss Sharon Norton, would like to thank ALL of our students who participated in our club and all of the staff and community members who have helped us with our fundraising. We would also like to say a special “Thank You” to Mrs. Beth Wray, Gilda‟s Club South Jersey Teen Program Manager, for her guidance, dedication and for the resources she has provided us throughout the year.

Student Council For the month of May, the Student Council of Ocean City High School had two events. The annual Kiss a Senior Goodbye is an event that gives the students an opportunity to send seniors a message with a Hershey Kiss as a farewell. However, this year, the Student Council opened this event up to everyone and changed the name to „Kiss a Friend Goodbye‟. Sales were from May 21st until June 1st. The second event was a Beacon Rescue Bake Sale that was held on May 24th, which was also another very successful event.

ASL SHOW On Friday, June 1st, the ASL Performers of Ocean City High School hosted well-known actor and comedian, Keith Wann. As a hearing Child of Deaf Adults (CODA), Wann is an original

breakthrough performing ASL artist, and one of the most highly regarded interpreters across the nation. Wann‟s reputation has opened doors of opportunity for enhanced Coda and deaf representation in mainstream entertainment. In 2006, Law and Order cast Wann as the only Coda

extra to participate in a show segment featuring an all deaf group, and he was later offered a contract with Pepsi to act alongside deaf performer Justin Callaway, for the company‟s first deaf Super Bowl commercial in 2008.

An audience of over 400 included interpreters, Deaf community members and college ASL students from Philadelphia, Sicklerville, Collingswood, and Jackson. The show included song performances by our ASL students, comedy acts by Keith Wann and his interpreter, Wink and the evening ended with a reception in the cafeteria allowing students to use their ASL in an authentic situation with Deaf and hearing signers. Some students even earned their “name sign”, a rite of passage into the Deaf Community. The night was truly wonderful. I can‟t remember the last time I laughed so hard!

Our ASL students performed the opening song, “Born This Way” and the closing “World‟s Greatest” which featured our graduating seniors. As always, I was extremely proud of them,

with their expressive signing they just sparkled! The evening was completely facilitated by the students from the program creation and t-shirt design to the opening speech and interpreting, they did it all! I was also truly proud of how they conducted themselves as respectful ladies and gentleman, making a true effort to interact with the Deaf Community during the social. They are my inspiration.

As we all know, putting together something like this is not a “solo” endeavor. Gratitude goes out to Margo Corcoran, Joan Vicari, Mary Maguire, Steve Trauger, Debbie Cathcart, Gail Pendleton, Christine Geseking, and our amazing custodial staff! We made another memory last

week!

STUDENT OF THE MONTH Each student was chosen to be Student of the Month because of exemplary behavior, character and performance. We appreciate the support of each of the community organizations. There is a critical connection between a successful public high school and a strong relationship with its community.

Keely Barrett was the Rotary Club Student of the Month. Nicolette Naticchione was the Exchange Club Student of the Month.