Two local second graders have won $100 to put their good ideas to work through the Littlest Volunteers Contest, sponsored by the Junior League of the Oranges and Short Hills (JLOSH).  Carlos Osco, from Washington Elementary School in West Orange, and Lila Price, from Seth Boyden Elementary School, each won a grand prize of $100 for their inspiring ideas to help others in their community.  The youngsters were chosen from 30 participants who entered the contest.  The contest is part of a larger program organized by JLOSH that introduces elementary school age children to the concept of …

South Mountain School fourth grade student Ryan Saurborn was declared a winner in the “My Essex County” fourth grade poster contest. The contest is open to fourth graders throughout Essex County and is sponsored by the Essex County Clerk’s Office to commemorate County Government week. Students are asked to express the history, beauty and people of Essex County through art.  There were 687 posters submitted by fourth grade students from 42 grade schools throughout Essex County. County Clerk Christopher Durkin hosted the top 15 winners at a reception last week at the Hall of Records in Newark. 

Columbia High School Senior Jacob Silberg has been selected as a 2011 U.S. Presidential Scholar, as announced by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Silberg is one of 141 U.S. Presidential Scholars, which include one young man and one young woman from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and from U.S. families living abroad, as well as 15 chosen at-large and 20 Presidential Scholars in the Arts. The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars appointed by the President selected the scholars based on their academic success, artistic excellence, essays, school …

Clinton School is known for its annual Earth Day parade featuring festive hats fashioned from recycled materials. But this year, fourth graders at Clinton School added a new component to Earth Day celebrations on Friday, April 29. They had a plant fair — the school’s first. Students in Mr. Ferriero and Ms. Fleming’s class were asked to create a science experiment about plants. They had two weeks to complete it. It was amazing to see what they came up with and what can grow in just two weeks. “It was fun telling people how I did my experiment,” said Miranda Lipetz (full disclosure: daughter of…

Know the difference between “triclinium” and “cubiculum?” If so, you’re on par with four students at St. Rose of Lima Academy, one from South Orange, who recently earned certificates for outstanding achievement on the National Latin Exam. One of the students, seventh grader Emily Goncalves of Elizabeth, earned a perfect score on the Introduction to Latin exam – a first in the eight years that St. Rose students have been taking the national exam. The annual exam, given each March in several versions based on experience level, has developed an international following, with students in 14 …

The much-lauded Columbia High School fencing program enjoyed yet more accolades on Wednesday night, April 13, as the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders honored the CHS Boys Fencing Team and State Epee Champion Haley Hart at South Orange Village Hall. The Columbia H.S. Boys Fencing Team was honored for having won the 2011 New Jersey Boys Fencing Team Championship for the second year in a row. The boys had a 15-0 record for 2010-2011, extending their win streak to 33 games stretching back to 2009. They were also recognized by The Star-Ledger as the “2011 Boys Fencing Team of the Year.” …

For every eighth grader wondering what’s next, especially after visiting CHS in Action Night, senior Akira Davis has ten pieces of advice, ten tips for high school success. Davis and classmates in the Montrose Alternative High School program developed a pamphlet for distribution to rising ninth graders as a months-long project that combined writing, art, graphics, and numerous conversations about what high students need to know. Since November, Davis and classmates had help with the project from members of the Community Coalition on Race (CCR). The project grew out of the CCR’s “Aim High …

Sixth grade middle school student Claira Schwartz is doing her part to help those in need. This past weekend, she decided to hold a garage sale to benefit people displaced by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. A resident of South Orange, Claira is a member of the local chapter of O Ambassadors, a project created by Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network and Free the Children. The South Orange Middle School chapter is one of many that assist people in South and East Asia, West and East Africa, and Latin America. Claira joined the O Ambassadors club in November of last year. “Our club had been helping…

Four teens from Congregation Beth El in South Orange went on a trip to DC on April 1-3, 2011 to further their studies of social action/justice. While there they lent a helping hand to the Neighborhood Farm Initiative, a non-profit project of America the Beautiful Fund. NFI aims to improve underutilized public green spaces by creating demonstration gardens for hands-on community-wide gardening education, thereby increasing access to fresh vegetables for all members of our community, regardless of income. Aaron Rakib, Daniel Gerstein, Gavi Shandler & Molly Sklar, all Maplewood residents, …

South Mountain student Ruth Finkleman fostered her love of poetry in an interesting way. On a recent field trip to South Mountain Reservation, she and other fifth grade students were asked to create sculptures based on nature sculptures by artist Andy Goldsworthy. The students made the trip with Enrichment teacher Denise King and classroom teacher Robin Gutkin, who had introduced them to Goldworthy’s work in the classroom. Following the trip, the students created poetry about his sculptures. Ruth enjoyed writing her poem so much that her parents asked Ms. Gutkin if she knew of any poetry …

Elijah Glantz, Ari Brown, Max Goldstein and Hannah Gross, fourth graders at South Mountain Elementary school, held several lemonade stands over the past week and weekend to raise money for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Many neighborhood children joined in to help. As of today, they have raised $250, reports a parent, all of which will be donated to a charity. Congratulations!

At Christmas, 10-year-old Lisa Sandoli started thinking about how lucky she was to receive so many gifts and new clothes. Then she started thinking about the homeless and others so much less fortunate. So she went to her mom with a plan. “At the time, it was very cold outside, so she thought she could collect blankets for the homeless,” said Lisa’s mom, Sandy Sandoli. Her mom thought it was a great idea, and Lisa asked her friend and fellow South Mountain 4th grader Katherine Besom to help her out. The two went to Principal Tina Lehn, who approved of the drive and let the girls put up posters…

An apple for the teacher? How about an issue of AppleSeeds magazine for the teacher — and for the whole class? Suzanne Ryan's fifth grade class at Jefferson School appears in the March 2011 AppleSeeds, in words and pictures. The issue's big question, "If you could create a virtual world, what would it be?" is inside the front cover. Answers from the class, along with photos, appear on nearly every page of the magazine. And not only that, Conor Buckley, pictured with his teacher, writes about technology in a two-page spread in the center of the issue. So what would 5R's virtual world include? …

Columbia High School Track Star Kayann Richards has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend University of Miami. The school also offered her a full scholarship. The Columbia senior was overwhelmed with the offer. “I’m just so excited to attend such a great school,” she said. Columbia track coach Lisa Morgan was so pleased for Richards. “This is a very special moment for me. Kayann has been on my team since she was a freshman, the same year I started coaching at Columbia,” said Morgan. “It’s moments like this that remind me why I do this job. To get results like this at the end of the day…

The Columbia High School Robotics Club won the State Championship FIRST Tech Challenge Tournament in only its second competition since forming earlier this school year. The team now qualifies for the world championship tournament in St. Louis, MO, in April. With physics teacher Allan Tumolillo as its advisor, the 12-member team designed, built and programmed a robot, entered the NJ Inaugural Qualifier tournament at Moorestown High School, its first competition, and received the "Innovate Award." According to the Qualifier tournament description, this award "celebrates a team that not only …

Talk about your hyperlocal news. The "Boyden Buzz" is a newspaper that covers a very special territory — Seth Boyden Elementary School on Boyden Avenue in Maplewood. But the ideas and topics that fill its pages show that students have a worldview that extends far beyond the schools walls, playgrounds and Strawberry Fields garden. (The students themselves hail from both Maplewood and South Orange.) The fall 2010 edition of the Buzz saw Sylvia Osner and Kaydi Zembow writing about giant pandas, Sasha Aronson penning a piece on Chilean miners, and Amelia Cintron-Burch effusively recommending the …

Imagination and creativity helped make seventh grader Idris Pickett a winner in the Scholastic Scope magazine writing contest. A student at Maplewood Middle School, Pickett’s winning paragraph was selected as one of the 10 best in the nation. The task was to write a paragraph that offered an answer to the problem: Pythons are invading the Everglades. “I was very surprised,” Pickett said of his win, “because anyone from across the whole country could have won, and I was chosen as just one of ten.” A student in Charles Schneekloth’s English Language Arts class, Pickett was asked along with his …