THE VIKING Connection

SOUTH BRUNSWICK HIGH SCHOOL

newsletter for parents fall 2014

SBHS gives in this ‘Season of Giving’

The ‘Season of Giving’ is upon us and

you can participate in several ways. Many

clubs and organizations have signed up to

‘Adopt’ a needy South Brunswick family for

the holidays. This wonderful program pro-

vides holiday gifts for children in the commu-

nity who otherwise would receive nothing.

This year we have adopted 17 families with

34 children! If your child is not a member of

one of the groups that has ‘adopted’, please

consider participating through our Giving

Trees by contributing gift cards for Stop and

Shop, Target or local gas stations. The trees

will be on display during December, but you

don’t need to wait, just have your student

bring their gift card to Gina Welsh, Activities

Coordinator in the Activities Office room 109

in the Annex. Cards in envelopes clearly

marked ‘Ms. Welsh’ can also be dropped off

at main reception area.

All gift cards will be distributed to qualified

needy South Brunswick families through the

SB Social Services Department.

Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

Happy ‘Season of Giving’ to all!

Pay-to-Participate for Advanced Placement and Clubs

Please be advised that students in Advanced

Placement courses MUST pay a $50.00 fee

per course to meet the Pay to Participate

requirement. An AP Exam will only be

ordered for students who have registered for

AP courses in Pay to Participate and

submitted the $50 fee. (There is a separate fee

for AP exams. For each AP Exam ordered,

there is a separate fee of $89.00. Exam order-

ing will occur in January.) The period for

registration is October 15, 2014 – November 30, 2014. (Click here to read letter that was

distributed in your child's AP class).

To register for an Advanced Placement

course, please click on the following link

“ONLINE PAYMENTS - Click Here to

register for all Pay to Participate and Com-

munity Education Programs.”

(Please click on the following link for

ONLINE PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS)

IMPORTANT: In the event that a student does not pay the

required fee, we will withhold Advanced

Placement weighting and we will not order an

AP Exam for the student. If you have any

questions, please contact April Gonzalez,

Assistant Principal for Academic Leadership.

New Club Pay-to-Participate/Registration

Information

We have a new procedure regarding clubs

and groups -- ALL students must go

through the Pay-to-Participate/Registration

process to be eligible to continue to attend

meetings and activities. Students may

attend two ‘trial’ meetings after which

they must pay/register. The fee is $25 per

club up to a maximum of $250 per family

including payments for sports, AP courses

and other fees.

Although the amount due will be ‘zero’,

students who reach the maximum and

those on free/reduced lunch MUST still go

through the registration/payment process.

For more details and to make payments, go

to the SBHS website and select “Pay to

Participate Registration Information” from

the quick links along the right side of the

page. Students who do not pay/register

will not be allowed to continue to attend

meetings and events.

The Viking Connection Page 2

November/December/January

at a Glance

Dates School will not be in session November 27

November 28

December 24 - January 2

January 19

Early Release Days

November 26

December 23

January 15

Special Events and Programs

Project Graduation Craft Fair

November 29

Winter Concerts

December 9, 10, & 11 - 7:30 p.m.

Fall Varsity Awards

December 16 - 7:00 p.m.

PSAT Night

December 17 - 7:00 p.m.

Winter Play

January 22, 23 & 24 - 7:30 p.m.

8th Grade Parent Night

January 14 - 7:00 p.m.

Quarter 2 ends on January 30.

Check our

online school calendar at

www.sbschools.org

for a complete list of

school events and updates.

Follow the calendar link

at the top of the page.

To view the District School Calendar and

School Closing Information listing dates

school will not be in session, as well as early

release days, please go to

http://www.sbschools.org/our_schools/docs/12

-13_closings_calendar.pdf

Also included in this calendar is

emergency information and the many

methods the School District employs to alert

parents and guardians to

emergency situations.

Congratulations to the following seniors who

have been recognized in the National Merit

Scholarship Program

Semi-Finalists Akanksha Acharya,

Jacqueline L. Aquino

Abhishek Banerjee

Rupesh Chinta

Shweta Dutta

Pooja B. Gadani

Pramodh Janjanam

Shreya Kumar

Pranav Marupudi

Amrita Mojumdar

Radhika Narasimhan

Shruti Narayan

Abraham T. Nirappel

Yash Shah

Irfan Shaik

Brian C. Shi

Matthew A. Tantoy

Kasyap Tenneti

Ram S. Vellanki

Rachael F. Wright

Evan J. Wu

Commended Students Mariamma Abraham, Pranay Adavelly,

Kavya Aggarwal, Ashish Avadhani,

Ragamahathi Ayyagari, Pranav Bachu,

Dhruv Banerjee, Akhilesh Bhandari,

Brandon Botsch, Sakshum Chadha,

Akshay Chiddarwar, Elizabeth Dahl,

Varun Danda, Anushka Desai,

Justin Fu, Jintao Hang,

JooHee Jo, Merin Kalapurackal,

Manoaj Kandiakounder, Bharat Kanwar,

Yoon il Kim, Vandan Kolli,

Sophie Kong, Samuel Liu,

Aditi Master, Matthew McDonald,

Anil Morisetti, Rahul Muchintala,

Sreyoshi Mukherjee, Pooja Narayanan,

Peter Ng, SaiShriya Paritala,

Jaimin Patel, Parth Patel,

Commended Students (continued) Soaptarshi Paul, Ryan Philip,

Anurag Polkampally, Marzia Rahman,

Aravind Ramakrishnan, Nishtha Raval,

Akash Reddy, April Rickle,

Ricardo Rivera, Faryal Rizvi,

Nikita Roy, Saumya Salhotra,

Avni Shah, Nishil Shah,

Jay Srivastav, Bianca Tang,

Kankanit Thanapuasuwan, Mihir Trivedi,

Nish Trivedi, Deepika Venkatesan,

Madhumitha Venkidusamy, Kunal Verma,

Divya Viswanathan, Jessica Wang,

James Wu, Rebecca Yin,

Korede Yoloye

Congratulations to the following seniors who

have been recognized by the

National Achievement Scholarship Program

Outstanding Participants Burhan Abdi, Chelsea R. Anglin,

Kiernan W. Brown, Mohamet Cissokho,

Sciatta R. Padmore

Semifinalists Rachael F. Wright

Korede Yoloye

Congratulations to the following student who

has been recognized in the

National Hispanic Recognition

Program

Scholar Ricardo Rivera

Kudos, Kudos, Kudos...

Page 3 The Viking Connection

SBHS

Peter Varela

Principal

April Gonzalez

Assistant Principal for

Academic Leadership

Jaymee Boehmer

Assistant Principal

Class of 2015

Susana Nikitczuk

Assistant Principal

Class of 2016 &

Guidance

Adalis Alvarez-Craft

Assistant Principal

Class of 2017 &

James Kimple Center

Patricia Abitabilo

Assistant Principal

Class of 2018

Mission Statement: The South Bruns-

wick High School community values aca-

demic excellence, diversity, and a safe

learning environment. The school empow-

ers students to develop skills and charac-

ter as they explore their talents and inter-

ests in order to become informed citizens

and leaders in the global

community.

Help South Brunswick High School earn cash

through

Stop&Shop A+ School Rewards Program

Log on to www.stopandshop.com/aplus to register online

OR Dial 1-877-275-2758 to register your card over the phone

Each shopping trip at Stop&Shop using your Stop&Shop Card earns CASH for our

school!

Each month, the amount of CASH awarded will be updated on the Stop&Shop website.

You can track the amount of points you earn for our school by checking your grocery

receipt and online when you create an account at stopandshop.com. Our school will re-

ceive a check at the end of the program. The money can be used for any of our school’s

educational needs.

Please be sure to register your card to benefit South Brunswick High School using ID

#09268.

Also, don’t forget to encourage your friends and relatives to do the same. It could mean

the world to our children.

The rewards program runs from October 3rd, 2014 to March 19th, 2015 so be sure to

sign up as soon as possible.

Good Things @

the SBHS Library

Our Viking Challenge

reading contest will re-

turn for the third year as,

Viking Challenge:

B.E.T. you can’t read

just one. All Viking

Challenge titles will con-

nect to Business Engineering and Technol-

ogy. We invite our faculty, staff, and stu-

dents to recommend a fiction or non-fiction

book that connects with our theme. Recom-

mended titles will be available for student

check out alongside a brief description of

why the recommender nominated each se-

lection. If you’re looking to expand your

reading list, round out your high school

resume, or just want to foster your competi-

tive spirit, this challenge is for you! Write

and submit a book recommendation today.

For more information, visit our wiki page at

http://sbhslibrarywiki.wikispaces.com/

Viking+Challenge. To kick off the Viking

Challenge with our students, the librarians

served tea to students and staff on Thurs-

day, November 20th

In December, all 9th grade HAP students

will visit the library for a lesson with the

librarians on plagiarism. Using the

Chromebooks, students will examine real

world examples of plagiarism and book-

mark recommended resources to help them

avoid similar violations. Building on the

existing ninth grade plagiarism unit deliv-

ered by our English team, the library lesson

will help students to recognize that ideas

taken from other sources, whether or not

these ideas are expressed in direct quotes,

must be cited. The shared resources are

posted here

http://

sbhslibrary-

wiki.wikispaces.com/9th+Grade+HAP+Les

son+Links.

Students with specific questions on plagia-

rism, in-text citation, or general MLA for-

matting concerns can make an appointment

with a librarian for additional help.

If you have any questions please contact

our librarians, Lisa Manganello and Erin

Chamberlain.

sbEarth, the environmental club of SBHS, has

had a busy start to the year. For the past few

years, the club has helped to maintain and im-

prove the flower beds at the front entrance of the

high school. In October nineteen club members,

aided by advisor Jane Rothfuss and Mr. Peter

Varela, principal of the high school, planted 20

new fall plants including mums and daisies. The

club spent $80 of its own funds to purchase the

plants, and the tools were provided by Mrs.

Rothfuss and the SBHS custodial department.

sbEarth hopes everyone has noticed and enjoyed

the additional color at the front entrances!

Page 4 The Viking Connection

With each new month, Student Council bene-

fits a new charity. September began with

Ovarian and Prostate Cancer Awareness. Stu-

dents wore teal or light blue on September

24th to show their support. Donations were

collected and facts were posted around the

school to raise awareness.

October

was dedi-

cated to

raising

Breast

Cancer

Aware-

ness. Sup-

porters

wore pink

on Octo-

ber 30th,

donated

money,

and

bought

various items such as T-shirts, socks, sun-

glasses and gloves.

Thank you for all of your help!

Target Donates to SBHS

REMEMBER to use your Target credit

card and SBHS students will reap the bene-

fits.

At no cost to the cardholders – designate

South Brunswick High School as the school

you wish to receive funds on your behalf.

There are three ways to do this:

* Internet – Target.com/tcoe

* In-store kiosk

* Call 1-800-316-6142

Shop at your favorite Target store and

charge your purchases on your REDcard.

Target will donate up to 1% of all purchases

made by South Brunswick High School

parents, teachers and community members

to our school twice a year.

Student Council supports a Cause-A-Month

Club Fair a Success

Our Annual Club Fair was held during all

lunches on September 24th and was well at-

tended, especially by our freshmen. Most of

our clubs and organizations were represented

by their officers and it was great to see stu-

dents helping students to get involved.

Clubs are off to a great start this year and

many are still open to new members.

Powder Puff

The 14th Annual Powder Puff Game will be

held on November 22nd at 6:00 p.m. Stu-

dents from each class will decorate the

halls, practice strategies, create cheers, and

prepare for the battle of the classes. Proceeds

will benefit the South Brunswick Food Pan-

try and

select

other

chari-

ties.

Join us

for a

little

competition, good food, and a ton of fun!

Global Studies Acts Globally

While studying about the United Nations,

the students in Mrs. Welsh's Junior Global

Studies Classes got into the Halloween

spirit and voluntarily collected $336 for

UNICEF - the United Nations International

Children's Emergency Fund! Trick-or-

Treat for UNICEF began in 1950 as a way

to help children who need more than

candy. Since then, kids across the USA

have raised more than $170 million for

UNICEF. The organization makes sure that

91.2 cents of every dollar spent goes di-

rectly to help children. According to UNI-

CEF figures, the $336 collect at SBHS will

provide vaccinations for 10,080 children or

clean, safe drinking water for one child for

13,440 days!

The Viking Connection Page 5

Do I have the flu? Is it just a cold? The flu sea-

son is starting, so it’s time to think about what

to do if you develop a cold or the flu.

The flu, or influenza, is a respiratory infection

caused by a virus, and the common cold is an-

other illness also caused by a virus. They both

have some shared symptoms such as runny or

stuffy noses, sore throats, and coughs. So how

can you tell if you have the dreaded flu?

When you have the flu you usually develop a

high fever (unlike with a cold). You will also

have muscle aches, headaches, and body aches

with the flu. Your flu symptoms may last 4-5

days but you may be feeling tired and weak for

two weeks or more.

If you believe you or your child has the flu see

that you are not using

a sanitizer instead of

a disinfectant. Sani-

tizers lower the

amount of germs, but disinfectants actually

kill them.

Preventing the flu may be as simple as

washing your hands well and using an al-

cohol based hand sanitizer. Avoid contact

with sick people and avoid touching your

eyes, nose, or mouth. Do not share drinks

or food. If you sneeze cover your sneeze

with your forearm not your hands. The

most important prevention practice is to

rest at home when experiencing symptoms.

Helping Your Child Cope with Stress

your doctor. You will need to treat the symp-

toms you are experiencing. For example, if you

have a high fever and headache Ibuprofen or

Tylenol may help. Get plenty of rest, increase

your fluids, and yes have some chicken soup! It

may not be just an old folk remedy. Recent

research by the Nebraska Medical Center has

shown chicken soup may shorten a sick persons

symptoms.

One of the concerns with the flu is that it is

very contagious and can spread quickly. Since

the flu is spread by droplets, the virus can

spread around by any uncovered sneeze or

cough resulting in contaminated tables, door

knobs, water fountains, pens, pencils, and yes

the mouse in your house can also carry the vi-

rus. It is essential to disinfect any of these items

to prevent the spread of the virus. Be cautious

Nurses Corner : Getting Ready for Flu Season

Stress does not discriminate. Adults struggle

with it and so do kids. Stress can come from

many sources such as: too many commit-

ments, pressure of more demanding school

work and testing, family and cultural expecta-

tions, social media, family conflict, negative

thoughts and feelings about oneself or peer

relationships. Unlike adults, kids have not yet

had the experience and developed the skills to

manage their stress. Kids can often become

overwhelmed and end up dealing with their

stress in unhealthy ways. Unchecked, stress

can lead to depression, anxiety and substance

abuse, among other things. Parents can help

by monitoring their teen to determine if stress

is affecting him/her.

Here are some tips to assist your child in

managing stress:

Over scheduling These days kid’s schedules are more than full

of activities and commitments and as adults,

we also fall prey to this. Too much on any-

one’s plate is not an effective way to get

things done with any level of quality. . Every-

one needs down time, and kids especially

need time to rejuvenate by resting both their

bodies and minds.

Encourage your kids to pay attention to

their bodies

Kids bodies send messages to them regularly

about when they are stressed out. A pattern of

headaches, stomachaches and trouble sleeping

are signs that the body is overwhelmed and

needs attention. The mind-body connection is

real, and if a kid is very stressed then it is not

unusual to see these signs. Encourage regular

eating and exercise to minimize their stress

levels.

Sleep

Sleep needs to be a priority. It is especially a

important for a developing child. It helps a

child’s immune system, improves a child’s

brain development and correlates to school

performance. Assist your child by helping

him/her reduce commitments and develop a

realistic schedule that includes time for

enough sleep. Remove any distractions from

sleep such as any electronic devices.

Listen to your child

Create an atmosphere where your child feels

he/she can share his/her feelings, Support

your child by communicating that you value

his/her feelings. Events and situations that

seem trivial to adults can be very stressful to a

kid. Take your child’s feelings seriously.

Mistakes

It is important to help your kids take responsi-

bility and accept mistakes. Stress can often

come from a fear of not meeting expectations

and being ‘perfect.’ Making mistakes is a part

of life. Mistakes are a way kids learn and de-

velop skills to make good decisions, problem

solve and grow into adulthood. By encourag-

ing independence and allowing children to

make their own mistakes, they will be better

able to deal with life’s challenges.

Parental stress

Raising your family and providing for them

can cause stress. You also need to pay atten-

tion to your stress level and how you are man-

aging it. You are role models for managing

stress. Kids need to see and feel that you are

handling stress well. In order to help your

child you need to first help yourself.

A calm atmosphere

When home is chaotic, disorganized and con-

flicted, everyone feels the stress. It is impor-

tant whenever possible to set a tone of calm in

order to best limit the stress level and deal

more effectively with it. Help your child learn

to relax and breath.

Play

Play is extremely important for both the mind

and body. Play needs to occur without pres-

sure or competition. It has been shown to be

critical to developing one’s mind and general

well being.

For further information please feel free to

contact Cleo Lowinger, the Student Assis-

tance Counselor at Carol. Low-

inger@sbschools.org or extension 3321.

The Viking Connection Page 6

PTO

The holidays are fast approaching with a

new year right around the corner, it

seems as though time is flying right by!

The PTO at SBHS works to support the

students and staff at the school in several

different ways. We assist the staff dur-

ing conferences by supplying dinner

between afternoon and evening sessions,

provide treats for staff appreciation week

and in any other capacity we can.

For the students, we support the Viking

Closet, where any student can turn, no

questions asked, for apparel items, our

Project Graduation Committee works

hard to provide an alcohol, drug and

tobacco free all night graduation celebra-

tion for our seniors at little or no cost to

students. Please support at least one of

their fundraisers this year. We also work

hard to provide several $500 scholar-

ships to our graduating seniors each

year. We rely mainly on our member-

ships in order to do this, so please be

sure to send in your membership before

the December 31 deadline!

We would love some new fresh ideas for

raising money for the scholarship fund!

If you have an idea you’d like to share

with us, please send us an email at

PTO.SBHS@sbparents.org. In order to

do all of this, WE NEED YOUR SUP-

PORT!

We are a non-profit 501c3 organization

that can only support our students

through your generosity. If you are

looking for a place to make a tax de-

ductible donation, please consider sup-

porting us.

Wishing you all a healthy and happy

New Year!

Thank you,

Chris Resnick,

PTO President

Students participate in Clean Ocean Action’s annual fall Beach Sweep

Nine students from sbEarth, along with teachers

Susan Goldfarb and Jane Rothfuss, traveled to

Island Beach State Park and spent a beautiful

fall day at the beach on October 25.

First, the students participated in Clean Ocean

Action’s annual fall Beach Sweep to help pick

up litter and waste

from the beach and

bay shoreline. Every

fall and spring, beach

sweeps are held all

over New Jersey and

volunteers collect

data about what is

found, to be used to

support policy

changes and to iden-

tify problems. The

SBHS students were

surprised to find a large number of pieces of

plastic on the beach, as well as balloons, lumber,

string, cups, caps and other items left behind by

bathers or washed up on the beach.

After working on the beach sweep and lunch,

the students were led on a beach and bay walk

by a naturalist from the park, who also talked to

the students about her education pathway from

Ocean County Com-

munity College to

Rutgers University,

to a degree in ecol-

ogy. Then the stu-

dents were given the

treat of seining in

the bay. All nine

sbEarth club mem-

bers donned waders

for the first time in

their lives and went

into the bay with a

seining net, which is dragged along the bottom

to capture marine life. The students were ex-

cited to see they caught silversides, pipe fish,

crabs, shrimp, sponges and other life forms,

which were released to return to the bay waters.

Viking Closet News

The Viking Closet is off to a fantastic

start! We received many Back to School

items thanks to our great community,

students and staff. We held our first

ever Viking Closet Club Bake sale on

Thursday, November 20th. It helped

raise much needed funds for the Viking

Closet.

Our 4th Annual Prom Dress drive will be

from January 5th through February

5th. Please bring your donations to the

front main lobby of the high school dur-

ing that time. Please tell your friends, co-

workers and family about the drive. The

event is only as big as the amount of

dresses we receive. During that time we

will be also be collecting any prom re-

lated accessories, i.e. purses, shoes, jew-

elry, makeup, and gift certificates. The

actual Prom Event, “The Sisterhood of

the Traveling Prom Dresses” will be held

on Saturday, February 7th , 2015.

The past three Prom Events brought an

abundance and variety of dresses. At the

close of those events, we were able to

donate the surplus of dresses to other

school districts. With kindness, compas-

sion and heart, this year we will open our

event to other high schools in the ex-

tended Brunswick area. The first two

hours of the event will be open to SBHS

students only, whereas the last four

hours will be open to SBHS students, as

well as these other invited high schools.

Please help make this Prom Event even

more incredible than the past three

years. Your generous donations make it

possible for many students to attend

prom without the financial burden that

comes with it. Please consider asking

your daughters to donate their old prom

dresses for a great cause. Their dresses

have the ability to make brand new

happy memories for others. Thank you

in advance for all your donations!

Lastly, if your child is in need of com-

munity service hours, please have them

see Ms. Webb in Room B310 as the Vi-

king Closet needs daily assistance. Stu-

dents can come during their HAP with a

pass, during their lunch, or afterschool if

there is a staff person present and avail-

able.

The Viking Connection Page 7

Musical Notes: Viking Band State Champions Once Again!

Viking Band State Champions Again!!!

The South Brunswick High School Viking

Band has just completed an undefeated regu-

lar season and a spectacular post season! The

band won Mayor’s trophies for Best Overall

Band at Hillsborough and Piscataway against

a combined field of fifty other bands. On

October 25th they captured the New Jersey

State Championship at Rutgers. On Novem-

ber 15th the band finished second at the US

Bands National Championship held at Met-

Life Stadium. The band was .0378 out of

first place! The guard won Best Colorguard

at the Nationals. Congratulations to the band

and their Drum Majors, Elizabeth Dahl,

Meghan Betz, Aarona Fong and Richard

Daley.

Winter Concerts set at the High School

Come out an enjoy three wonderful evenings

of music as the South Brunswick HS Music

Department presents their Winter Concerts

December 9th, 10th and 11th at 7:30 p.m. in the

auditorium. Each evening will feature differ-

ent ensembles and music. Tuesday night will

feature the Wind Ensemble, the Alpha, Beta

and 21st Century Choruses, the Men’s Vocal

Ensemble and the Freshman Orchestra.

Wednesday will feature the Chamber Orches-

tra, the Symphonic Band and three Percus-

sion Ensembles. Thursday night the Concert

Choir, The Women’s Vocal Ensemble, both

Concert Bands and the String Orchestra will

perform. Admission is free!

Pirandello Players Prepare “Larceny &

Old Lace”

The South Brunswick High School Drama

Club, the Pirandello Players are in rehearsal

for the comedy “Larceny and Old Lace” by

Van Vandagriff. The play will be presented

January 22nd, 23rd, and 24th in the auditorium

beginning at 7:30 p.m. Audiences of all ages

will love this clever and well-crafted spoof of

the community theatre classic! Harold Pea-

body’s sweet aunts, Millie

and Gertie, are gambling

in Las Vegas while Harold stays at their

home to watch over his eccentric Uncle Char-

lie, who thinks he is a pirate and is constantly

’burying treasure’ in the basement. When

Harold hears the local bank has been robbed

and then discovers a bag of money in the

house, he declares that Charlie has buried his

last treasure and decides he must go to a

home for senior citizens. But Aunt Millie

and Aunt Gertie can’t imagine doing such a

thing. After all, Charlie had nothing to do

with the bag of money. How do they

know? They stole it from a casino! Come

out and enjoy the fun! Tickets are available

at the door.

The SBHS Concert Choir to sing at Carne-

gie Hall Again!!

The SBHS Concert Choir has been invited to

sing at Carnegie Hall again this spring. The

choir will be performing Kevin Memley’s

“Magnificate” and the Dvorak “Te Deum” on

Saturday, May 23rd at 8:00 p.m. Congratula-

tions to the choir on this honor and the excel-

lence they continue to achieve!

Athletics News Cross Country

The team had an outstanding meet winning

the sectional Group IV State Sectional Cham-

pion Title since 1973. They will now com-

pete in the Meet of Champions on November

22nd at Holmdel Park.

Gymnastics

Congratulations to Morgan Rybinski,

NJSIAA Sectional Volt Champion

Football

Undefeated, with a record of 9-0. The Vi-

kings defeated East Brunswick last Friday

and will move onto the semi-finals this Fri-

day, November 21st vs. Trenton at South

Brunswick High School at 7 PM.

Girls’ Volleyball

Finished their season 18-3 behind stellar play

from a strong group of senior athletes. The

team overcame adversity and injuries to play

in the GMC finals and State Tournament.

Girls’ Soccer

Record 20-3 and set the school record for

most wins for our boys or girls soccer teams

in school history. The Girls’ Soccer team

participated in the first State Sectional Semi-

final in school history.

Boys’ Soccer

Record 14-5-2 and went on to win the Red

Division for the fourth time in school history.

Competed in the county semi-finals for the

4th consecutive year and qualified for the

state tournament.

Girls’ Tennis

The team got strong play from all positions

to win the programs first ever GMC tourna-

ment title. Both doubles teams won individ-

ual championships. The team advanced to the

quarterfinals in the state team tournament.

Field Hockey

Finished 8-9-1 and made it to the GMC

semi-final round

Cheerleading

GMC Finalist in the Game Day Performance

Category.

Athletic Scholarship Signings

Kristin Krier

Monmouth University

(Track and Field)

Ashley Shor

University of Pittsburgh Johnstown

(Softball)

The Viking Connection Page 8

We are proud to announce that South Bruns-

wick High School is one of 15 schools nation-

wide to receive the Lemelson MIT Inventeam

award. This program is funded by the Lemel-

son Foundation and administered

by MIT's School of Engineering. The Lemel-

son Foundation uses the power of invention to

improve lives, by inspiring and enabling the

next generation of inventors and invention

based enterprises to promote economic

growth in the US and social and economic

progress for the poor in developing countries.

This award is a recognition of the ability and

desire of an educator at the school (Dr. Ra-

jagopal) to encourage youth to invent and

develop hands-on skills in Science, Technol-

ogy, Engineering and Math (STEM), and

to work with young inventors to conceptual-

ize, design and build a working prototype to

solve a real-world problems.

In order to win this award, the educator along

with a team of students sends in an applica-

tion outlining an invention that they want to

build. A prestigious panel of judges composed

of educators and researchers from MIT and

Harvard University, industry representatives,

MIT faculty and alumni, professional inven-

tors and engineers and former Lemelson-MIT

Program Award winners review the applica-

tions and select 15 grant recipients. They are

selected based on ingenuity and demonstrated

potential in creative thinking.

The team of students under the supervision of

Dr. Rajagopal will spend the next seven

months working on their inventions and com-

pleting working prototypes. A final report,

including a working prototype and documen-

tation, is due in June, when the teams go to

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

campus in Cambridge, Mass. to participate in

an invention showcase event, the InvenTeams

Odyssey.

Our project goal is to develop and build a

proximity sensor and alert system for automo-

bile doors. This device will “sense” bicyclists

and pedestrians as an automobile door is

opened and trigger a signal that will prevent

collisions and increase safety.

The following is a press release that an-

nounced our school’s achievement.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201

41015005127/en/High-School-Teams-

Receive-Lemelson-MIT-

InvenTeam%E2%84%A2-

Grant#.VD5vlPldVqU

Lemelson- MIT InvenTeam 2015

The week leading up to homecoming was

celebrated with spirit days by the students.

They included Lazy Day, Patriotic Day, Dis-

ney Day,

Class Color

Day, and

Black and

Gold Day.

The Bonfire

took place

on Thursday,

October 9th

where the

home-

coming

court was

an-

nounced.

This year’s homecoming game took place

on Friday, October 10th and the theme was

Disney. Student and Class councils pa-

raded around the track during halftime

before the homecoming king and queen

were announced. The Freshman Class

represented Finding Nemo, the Sopho-

mores

were Fro-

zen, Jun-

iors were

Cinderella,

and Sen-

iors were

the Little

Mermaid.

Homecoming Week Highlights