June 2016

Greetings from BMS – The halls are now quiet and we are feeling a little lonely without all of your wonderful children. We hope they are enjoying the early days of summer! Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday our sixth graders were learning a new building, seventh graders were adjusting to not being the young ones and our eighth graders were learning what it was like to be the leaders of a school. Our students made tremendous strides this year and grew up right before our eyes. We wish nothing but the best to our 8th graders moving to Par Hills and welcome in the families of our incoming 6th graders. Wishing everyone an enjoyable, peaceful and safe summer! - BMS Administration

Congratulations to the class of 2016

 

BMS  Moving  Up  Ceremony    

On  Wednesday,  June  22nd  at  6:30  pm  Brooklawn  Middle  School  held  our  annual  moving  up  ceremony  in  the  auditorium  at  Parsippany  Hills  High  School.    Graduates,  BMS  staff,  parents  and  friends  packed  the  auditorium  and  café  to  see  our  302  students  graduate.  We  wish  the  Class  of  2016  all  the  best  in  their  future  journey  at  Parsippany  Hills  High  School!  

                                           

           

Mrs. Susan Sorrentino, Guidance Secretary

Sue Sorrentino began her career at Parsippany Hills High School in 1994 as the guidance secretary. In 1997, Mrs. Sorrentino came to Brooklawn and has been here ever since. She is not only an amazing secretary, but also friend to her colleagues. Caring, hardworking, good listener and wonderful multi-tasker are just a few characteristics to describe Mrs. Sorrentino. She will be missed greatly by the students, Guidance and Child Study Team departments and all of her many friends at Brooklawn. Sending Sue loving wishes for a truly amazing retirement.

Mr.  William  Cleary,  BMS  Assistant  Principal    

Mr. Cleary began his 44-year career in education at Cardinal Spellman High School (Bronx, NY) as a teacher and administrator. In 1989 Mr. Cleary left Cardinal Spellman for the position of Assistant Principal at Parsippany Hills High School. Mr. Cleary immediately earned the reputation as a tough disciplinarian and respected administrator. During his time at Parsippany Hills, Brooklawn was experiencing great turnover in the assistant principal position; having five different assistant principals in the past five years. In an effort to stop the turnover Mr. Cleary was moved to Brooklawn Middle School. He accomplished that goal as he would go on to serve as the assistant principal of Brooklawn for the next 24 years. Mr. Cleary is deeply respected by both his colleagues and students. He has made a tremendous impact on the students of Parsippany and will be greatly missed around the halls of Brooklawn.

BMS Says Farewell to three beloved staff members

 

Mr.  Cleary,  Parsippany  Hills  Circa  1989  

Mrs. Joyce Weronick, English/Language Arts

Joyce Weronick has spent 30 years in the Parsippany School District, 21 of them as a 6th grade Reading and Writing teacher. One of her favorite stories is when during one of her observations by the principal, a student who was demonstrating an expository essay used a blender. There was a mishap with the blender and its contents sprayed all over her classroom. Joyce's memories include the many friends she has made here at Brooklawn, and the wonderful students she has taught along the way. Joyce has no definite plans for her retirement, however I'm sure she will continue with one of her favorite pastimes: "shopping". Good luck Joyce, on your retirement. You will be truly missed.

Mrs.  Weronick  Circa  1995  

Mrs.  Sorrentino  Circa  1995  

                                                                         

Math at the Mall Sixth graders took a field trip to the Rockaway Mall to complete math investigations involving the 6th grade math curriculum. Some activities included: finding discounts, finding area, perimeter, surface area and volume of 2D and 3D figures, finding central tendencies using their lunch totals, gathering information to solve problems at Godiva, and locating items in stores to evaluate expressions.

Engineering in Math

The sixth grade math students worked cooperatively in groups to demonstrate their understanding of surface area and volume by planning, designing and constructing 3D solids using art straws.

BMS at the Morris Catholic Science Expo  On April 16, 2016, four dedicated BMS students participated in the Morris Catholic Middle School Science Expo. At the science fair, Suchit Bapatla and Yuvanshu Agarwal (7th graders) won an award for “Most Creative Project” by demonstrating their understanding of tidal energy and how it is harvested. Ten other schools participated in the science fair. Brooklawn Middle School was the only public middle school to enter the event. Mohammad Ali and Karthik Kundurthy also participated in the event by presenting a slideshow on the Doppler effect. The projects were judged by students from the National Honors Science Association. We are very proud of our young scientists.

Suchit Bapatla & Yuvanshu Agarwal

“Most Creative Project” Tidal energy and how it is harvested  

 

                                             

                         

     

                     

CHOICES  2016    -­‐  Lehigh  University  Charting  Horizons  and  Opportunities  in  Careers  in  

Engineering  &  Science    

Five  lucky  students  from  BMS  and  five  students  from  CMS  were  selected  to  attend  an  amazing  science/engineering  opportunity  at  Lehigh  University.    In  an  effort  to  get  more  girls  interested  in  careers  in  science  and  engineering,  Lehigh  invites  young  ladies  to  spend  a  day  immersed  in  hands  on  STEAM  based  activities.  They  were  able  to  collaborate  and  complete  projects  with  girls  from  other  schools  across  NJ  &  PA,  interact  with  female  college  students  pursuing  majors  in  engineering,  and  experience  a  real  college  campus.    The  students  were  selected  based  on  teacher  and  guidance  counselor  recommendation.  Congratulations  to  the  following  students:    

7th  graders:    Sonakshi  Aggarwal,  Shaleen  Bordawekar,  Aarushi  Deo  and  

8th  graders:    Ishani  Dave  and  Courtney  Hospes    

BMS  &  CMS  participants  

Courtney  testing  out  her  roller  coaster  

6th  Grade  Cultural  Journey    

6th graders on Team 6-1 enjoyed a presentation from Jan Ren, mother of Daniel Cao. As a representative of Shen Yun, she took the students on a cultural journey through ancient China. Shen You seeks to highlight the culture of ancient China through music and dance. This presentation reinforced what was taught in their social studies class as well as provided a unique perspective. The team thanks Ms. Ren for sharing her knowledge and experience with our students.

 

Eighth grade Spanish students celebrated Cinco de Mayo by making paper flowers, a popular

Mexican craft that is used as a festive decoration for various holidays and "fiestas."

 

                                 

               

Spring  Musical  -­‐  Grease    

The BMS spring musical GREASE was a big success! The students involved with the production spent many hours during the month of April rehearsing, creating the sets and costumes, designing the lighting and developing their

characters. The three sold out shows on April 28, 29 and 30 were all great performances and the students celebrated with a cast party at TGIF’s on Saturday evening. Congratulations to the talented students involved in the production and a BIG thank you to the parents for donating countless hours of time and talent to bring GREASE to life for the

BMS community. GO GREASE LIGHTNING!  

Digital Summer Reading Alternative From your Media Center

The Media Center has an extensive collection of eBooks with

Fiction and Non-Fiction books. There are many “general interest books [sports, hobbies, animals, etc.] titles included in this

collection. Our digital books can be accessed by going to the Media Center webpage on the Brooklawn Website and pulling

down to Digital Books. http://parsippanybms.ss9.sharpschool.com/media_center

The eBooks can also be searched by using the Digital Library link on the Media Center Symbaloo. Or by clicking on any of the individual eBook collections also located on the right hand side of the Symbaloo.

http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/mediacentersymbaloo Usernames and passwords for the eBook collections can be found on Mrs. Smay’s IMC Moodle page under Passcodes 101.

http://moodle.pthsd.k12.nj.us/mod/page/view.php?id=13150

Our eBooks can be read from any digital device that can access the Internet. Happy Reading!

Dog  Days  of  Summer  –    Art  Competition    

 "Congratulations to Laaiba Asghar, Madison Ballesteros Shreeya Faldu, Ethan Geddes, Michael Jobst, Kaitlyn Lin, Kate Poehner, Anna Terhune and Alana Valle. These 6th graders were chosen from all of Morris County to participate in the Boonton Dog Days of Summer. Their designs were picked to be created on full size plaster puppies that will be on display throughout the town of Boonton from June 3rd through the end of August. Be sure to stop by to see the dogs this summer!"

 

Slime  Design  Challenge    

All 7th grade students completed the "Slime Mold Design Challenge" in their science class. They had to design a maze in which they would try to coax a slime mold into growing to a final destination. They tried to bait the slime mold by placing oats half way through the maze and at the final destination. The students had to hypothesize whether they thought the slime mold would follow the maze or whether it would disregard the "abiotic" factor in the environment and either climb over or find a way around/through the barrier to get to the food. Most students saw growth after 24 hours. They made observations and compared their results to classmates each day for up to 5 days. It was amazing for the students to witness the growth and behavior of such an important organism which plays a role of decomposition in our environment.

 The  Gum  Saga  

By  Ms.  Dunleavy  &  Mrs.  Hernandez    

What  do  you  get  when  an  8th  grade  Reading  and  Writing  teacher,  the  ultimate  anti-­‐gum  teacher,  and  creative  geniuses  come  together?  You  get  the  birth  of  the  Gum  Saga.  For  the  last  month,  anonymous  writers  have  been  leaving  stories  in  Mrs.  Hernandez’s  Reading  and  Writing  classroom.  Every  other  day,  students  read  parts  of  what  is  intended  to  be  the  real  reason  Ms.  Dunleavy  hates  gum.  The  stories  follow  the  main  character,  Aiden  Lavenudy  (aka  Ms.  Dunleavy’s  first  and  last  name  mixed  up),  as  a  middle  school  student  encountering  day-­‐to-­‐day  obstacles  like  lost  assignments,  angry  teachers  and  treacherous  gum  attacks.  What  is  mysterious  about  these  stories  is  that  no  one  knows,  for  sure,  the  authors’  identities.  And  what  is  admirable  about  these  entries  is  that  the  students  involved  use  10  different  SAT  vocabulary  words  for  each  story.  Recently,  the  writers  have  also  started  leaving  clues,  in  addition  to  the  parts,  for  their  classmates  and  teachers  to  help  figure  out  their  identities.  We  anxiously  await  the  final  addition  to  the  gum  saga  to  finally  answer  the  8th  grade  age-­‐old  question,  why  does  Ms.  Dunleavy  hate  gum  so  much?      Check  out  a  part  of  the  Gum  Saga  story  and  stay  tuned  for  what  we  hope  to  be  an  epic  

reveal!  J  

Literacy in the Community

On March 23, our Reading Specialist Mrs. Migliaccio visited Lake Parsippany Elementary School, along with three 6th graders, to promote the importance of literacy within the community. Ciarra Launzinger, Radha Dhaduk, and Anna Terhune read several colorful and entertaining books to the kindergarten and first grade classes. Some of the topics covered in these books were superheroes, weather and seasons since the elementary students just completed units on these exciting topics. After their readings, the three girls shared poster projects that several of the 6th grade BMS students designed in their reading/writing classes that explored the power of reading with different mottos and illustrations. Overall, this was a meaningful and enjoyable experience, and Mrs. Migliaccio can’t wait to visit more elementary schools next year!

6th Grade Olympics

Brooklawn’s 6th graders took part in the 8th annual BMS Olympics on Friday, May 17th. This BMS tradition incorporates aspects of the Olympics of the ancient Greeks as well as modern times. Students plan all parts of the day from the opening ceremonies to the events. The events are created by the students. Some of the other activities for the day included the performance of the play, Demeter and Persephone, a fashion show, band performance and music by the chorus. A great day was had by all!

Bergen Science Challenge

We are so proud of our Seventh graders Yuvanshu Agarwal and Suchit Bapatla who competed in the Bergen Science Challenge which was hosted in the Bergen County vocational high school on June 4, 2016. They submitted a project called Wipple Technology that was about a new tidal and wave turbine design that could capture more of the water's force coming in from all directions. This was a completely new design which they had created. At the science fair 7 judges questioned and judged their project and scored it based off of a rubric. They received the award for third place in the eco science division. Had Yuvanshu and Suchit gotten a higher score they might have been eligible for the Broadcom Masters science fair held in Washington DC and would have gotten a 300 dollar scholarship. Both students really enjoyed learning more about different science projects kids in middle schools from across the state had come up with and hope to participate again next year!

Life Skills Trip

On June 2nd, the Life Skills class visited America’s Grow-A-Row. While there they participated in a lesson on the importance of eating healthy and learned about the disparity of others who are unable to have access to fresh produce. AGAR is an organization that grows and harvest food solely for the purpose of donation. Since the inception of AGAR, with the help of over 4,000 volunteers a year, they have donated over 4 million pounds of fresh produce. The students learned about all this information and more during their visit. If you are interested in further information or opportunities to get involved, please contact Jeffrey Butterfield at jeff@americasgrowarow.org.

 

7th Grade Voting On June 7th New Jersey took to the polls to decide who they wanted to nominate for President, and though they couldn't cast a ballot directly themselves, many Brooklawn students turned out as well. Mr. Weinstein, as part of his "Selfies for Citizenship" initiative, encouraged kids to go with their parents and older siblings to see democracy in action. Over 50 students turned out to the various polling places in Parsippany and many remarked just how little time it took to vote and that it was surprisingly easy. One 7th grader who wished to remain anonymous said, "I probably should have voted for my Mom, because I knew more about the candidates than she did." Naturally, a class debate was then held with the central question being: Should we lower the voting age? Most classes were split on the issue." (students pictured are 7th graders Joe Meyer and Marissa Baker)

PTHSD  Safety  Team  –    BMS  SRO  Det.  McCarthy  pictures  second  from  left.    

Parsippany Police Now in Middle Schools On June 20th the courtyard of the Board of Ed. Serves as the venue for the much anticipated (School Resource Officer) SRO kick-off. This unique shared services agreement will have specially trained SRO’s in all schools. Brooklawn is fortune to have Det. Pat McCarthy as our new SRO. Det. McCarthy, a BMS graduate, has been a Parsippany Police Officer for the past 18 years. Since starting in April Det. McCarthy has made it his mission to get to know as many students as possible. He can constantly be found in the cafeteria or in the hallways talking with students. His positive impact has already been seen in his short time at our school.

BMS Teachers selected as Grand Marshals of Disney Parade

Recently, four BMS Teachers received the prestigious honor of being named Grand Marshals for the Disney World Parade in Orlando, Florida.

Congratulations to Ms. Gerber, Ms. Dzuback, Ms. Lambert and Ms. Coari. Great job representing

Brooklawn!