The Alternative Press

VERNON TOWNSHIP, NJ --- Members of the Board of Education met at Rolling Hills Primary School on October 18 to discuss several topics.

Rolling Hills fulfills the needs of students in second to fourth grade, and those with special needs as well.

A presentation was held by Principal Philip Schmidt to show parents and the public how well the students are being taught their mathematical skills.

The school had shown off their SMART Board technology, which is a giant touch screen board that has access to a computer, and is widely used for learning activities.

Four different teachers showed different learning scenarios with six second grade students, who currently attend the school.

The first teacher showed three different dice on the SMART Board, which students were able to lightly tap the single dice, and they rotated around until landing on a random number.

The children were then able to pick up an electronic marker,write the number shown on a line underneath, and develop the number by using building blocks.

The children illustrated that they knew very well what the hundreds, tens, and ones place of a number was.

The second teacher showed a dice, which was the number four. Since the four was in the hundreds place, a child approached the board, and wrote “400” on the line underneath.

“You might noticed they don’t say ‘and’ in between numbers because when they get to decimals they will do that,” said Schmidt.

The third teacher had the students build a number using learning blocks on the SMART Board, while the fourth teacher showed the place values of numbers.

The presentation showed that math can be fun, and easier through an educational program.

When asked if math is fun, all the students enthusiastically answered, “Yes!”

“It might have seen simple but they covered over 20 segments in 15 minutes,” said John Alfieri, Superintendent,.“They touch, they see and they make connections. In the United States, it is hard for students to make connections so that is the idea we are implementing here.”

Alfieri said that he will be delivering ice cream to the six students who participated "for doing such a great job."

All of the activities are available online, so the students can logon and practice their skills.

President Douglas Castellana next read from his report.

“We have done some energy cost savings,” stated Castellana.“Such as turning off the lights when no one is present had made us save tons of thousands of dollars already. I want to thank the faculty and staff for recognizing this problem and helping us save money.”

Castellana also acknowledged Senior football player, Ryan Ward, who has been selected as the September Athlete of the Month and Senior cross country runner, Emily Bushey, who has committed to the University of Louisville for a full athletic scholarship.

The Board of Education previously met at Walnut Ridge Primary School last month, and met at Rolling Hills Primary School this month, in order to meet all the different teachers and parents. They will be meeting at different primary schools for the upcoming meetings.