2020-2021 MOMS News Archives
Designing the perfect society
In English classes, seventh-graders recently defined their own versions of utopia, with honesty, peace, and equality three of the most often listed bedrock values. But more than anything, the students’ visions of an idyllic civilization provided insight into their unique personalities. The assignment provided an opportunity for students to proclaim the qualities and values they hold dear, and imagine a world in which mankind’s greatest problems were no more.
Nanki Kaur’s perfect world is filled with honest citizens who respect the environment and each other.
Lauren Marone’s is peaceful and inhabited by people who are determined to meet their goals and be their best.
Irene Reichl’s utopia is founded on kindness and equality; it’s a place where intelligence is valued and its residents have intellectual curiosity and a sense of adventure.
“This was one of my favorites assignments,” said Irene. “You get to create your own world. In a lot of ways, the [actual] world is really messed up so this was a chance to fix it on paper.”
With an emphasis on knowledge, adventure, and learning, Irene’s utopia reveals just who she is inside.
“I love to travel,” she said. “My family traveled to places like Maine and Hawaii before COVID. I love to learn different things about the world and all the different cultures. It’s so important to me. I think everyone should learn as much as they can.”
The exercise served as a prelude to the reading of “The Giver,” a 1994 Newbery-winning novel (and 2018 film). “The Giver” explores a seemingly perfect community without war, pain, or suffering. However, as the story develops and the lack of individuality and choice is seen, the dystopian foundation becomes evident. Portrayed are the extreme qualities of some of the features many students defined as essential. Peace/lack of conflict has become sedation, equality has devolved into conformity.
“Conformity is an important topic to discuss with students since this is the age when they’re trying to define their own identity and individuality,” said teacher Susan Zaremba. “Readers of ‘The Giver’ seem to question why everything has to be the same. Is it control or a way to make life easier so that people can focus on more important issues? As we move further into the novel, students are out loud questioning this and come to realize this isn't the utopia they thought it was initially. It’s great to watch their critical thinking skills evolve in asking these types of questions and connecting the dots.”
Further activities are planned that will allow the students to show their understanding of the book. For example, each student will develop a Spotify playlist for a specific character to demonstrate insight into that character. The students will also complete a dream sharing activity which will mimic the family discussions that the novel's main character is expected to participate in every morning.
Students find inspiration in pandemic
Eighth-graders in Innovation & Design classes have been tasked this year to design products that would make pandemic life a little easier. Working individually and in teams, the students applied their ingenuity and their knowledge of the engineering design process to develop products that have real-world uses in the COVID era. Some of the products were even able to be prototyped using the 3D printers in the school’s makerspace.
The students designed items such as mask hangers, hands-free door openers, phone cases that can hold cleaning wipes, an app that will alert the user if someone is within six feet, and a temperature sensor that can be attached to a smart phone for easy readings and tracking.
The COVID design project is a twist on assignments traditionally done in I&D classes. Students are typically challenged to develop products that would solve problems experienced by specific demographic groups such as toddlers or senior citizens. This year, the students happen to be in the target demographic.
The personal experience of living in a world in which health concerns profoundly impact daily existence has provided students with a first-hand perspective. They were being asked to identify and solve problems that they were experiencing themselves. The project not only empowered them to ease the disruption in their own lives but also consider the larger population affected by the pandemic.
“The students are living through an unprecedented time and can truly feel the impact of social distancing, mask-wearing, and a hybrid learning environment,” said teacher Rebecca Kreider, Ed.D. "They can see the need for new products and are far more in touch with the design process.”
The joy of Java
Math lovers enjoy the challenge of solving problems by using their knowledge and creativity; they relish the thrill of those magical “aha” moments when it all comes together.
But for seventh-grader Evan Matyskiel, there was a greater challenge than just arriving at the correct answers in his Dynamic Math class: Could he build a better mousetrap? Could he use his new Java skills to code the various equations needed to solve his math problems and then use his Chromebook to crunch the numbers?
This winter, Evan participated in a series of Java workshops that were remotely run by students in the high school’s robotics club. The training sessions, held once per week for five weeks, provided Evan and the other interested MOMS students with a functional foundation to the popular programming language, and gave them hands-on practice. In Dynamic Math, when he was learning to calculate the area of polygons, the idea came to him to use his nascent Java skills
to solve the problems faster and easier than by hand. He coded the formula to do the heavy lifting for him.
“All I wanted to do was enter the numbers and press enter,” Evan said. “I got the correct answers faster than using my calculator.”
After that, he was hooked. He coded the functions and processes for everything he was learning in Dynamic Math. How to find the hypotenuse of a right triangle? Easy. How to calculate loan payments with compounded interest over a period of time? Done. Figuring out net income after federal and state taxes? Depressing, but done. In total, Evan coded more than a dozen formulas for class.
When students harness the information and skills they’ve learned in one subject and apply it in another, teachers ring bells and set off academic fireworks. That’s the type of higher-order thinking they try to cultivate in all their students. Add in the fact that Evan’s Java forays were self-directed, then you truly have something to write home about – or call home about as math teacher Steve Leonard did.
“I spoke with his mom and told her I thought it was amazing that Evan was taking his Java knowledge and building code to replicate the math he was learning in class,” said Leonard. “Prior to my career as a teacher, I spent 17 years in the IT industry as both a computer programmer and an IT systems manager, so I was excited to see his coding work. Evan really enjoyed walking me through how he coded the different formulas.”
The second trimester Dynamic Math course recently wrapped; however, the young programmer isn’t stopping. In fact, the end of the course has given him cause to broaden his vision and use his coding skills in other ways. Tasked with developing a game in his gifted & talented class, Evan used Java to create a digital vocabulary game that would help students learn new words. In social studies after learning the cost of a first-class ticket aboard the Titanic, Evan wanted to know the price tag in today’s dollars. Yup, he coded the formula for that too.
“It worked out to be about $100,000,” he said. “I was just curious. I like figuring things out. That’s who I am.”
Meet our New Vice Principal
When Agatha Wilke joined the district as MOMS’ new vice principal, a rare education quartet was completed. She added “school administrator” to her experience, which also includes serving on a board of education, parenting two school-age children, and teaching for two decades. That multi-tiered level of experience – parent, teacher, administrator, board member – provides her with a unique understanding of education and the delivery of instruction.
“I have a holistic view of how a district functions,” Wilke said. “I think when I speak with students, I am genuinely able to say to them that I understand them and what they’re experiencing because of raising my own kids. I can empathize with teachers because I know the trials and tribulations of the classroom from my 20 years teaching, including teaching synchronously which I did last year for three months. All this gives me the insight to help and support everyone as best I can.”
Before coming to Mount Olive, Wilke spent all of her educational career teaching seventh and eighth grade social studies at Randolph Middle School. She also served as eighth grade faculty leader and led professional development presentations on such topics as classroom management, co-teaching models, and writing in the humanities. She has also been a presenter at Montclair University’s summer conference and the annual workshop of the New Jersey Council for Social Studies.
The veteran educator hit the job running when she began in August. Taking on a new position in a new district is normally difficult on its own, but learning new faces and procedures while in the midst of planning for the post-pandemic reentry of students provided unique challenges.
“That’s the tough part,” said Wilke. “I joke with the other administrators that I’ve been thrown into the deep end of the pool without any floaties. Everyone here, though, has been so wonderful and receptive. Through all our planning, we’ve created a supportive instructional environment for kids.”
Wilke is the building’s third vice principal, joining Chris Reagan and Nick Cutro. Each VP now supervises a different grade level and will stay with his or her students as they advance through their middle school years. The house plan is designed to create meaningful connections between administrators and kids.
Wilke holds a bachelor’s in political science from Rutgers, a master’s in the art of teaching from Marygrove University in Detroit, and a master’s in education leadership from Centenary University. She was born in Poland and immigrated to the U.S. when she was 9. In addition to spending time with her family (an eighth-grader, a sophomore, and a Wayne math teacher husband) and three dogs, she enjoys reading, traveling, and baking.
CSI: Italy, 3300 B.C.
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| Otzi the Iceman looks spry considering he's 5300 years old |
Sixth-graders were recently challenged to solve a cold case. Ice cold.
The mummified body of a 5,300-year old man was found 30 years ago, literally in the middle of nowhere: in the snowy Northern Alps along the border of Austria and Italy. Named Otzi the Iceman by scientists, he initially was thought to have frozen to death, a logical thought given the climate and terrain; Otzi was later found to have an arrowhead lodged in his shoulder, as well as wounds to his hands. Who was this Copper Age man? Was the arrow wound severe enough to cause his death, and if not, how did he die? And why was he on this snowy ridge, 10,000 feet up?
The students worked in teams to research Otzi, the oldest human mummy ever found. They examined the four prevailing theories on Otzi’s cause of death by using a variety of text and video resources, including the information on a website that the sixth-grade social studies teachers put together. The research teams then were asked to form their own evidenced-based conclusions.
Did Otzi freeze to death?
Was he killed by his own people?
Was he the victim of a ritual killing, perhaps sacrificed to the deities who were thought to live in the mountains?
Was he killed in self-defense?
With no witnesses to question, the students had to solve the mystery using forensic reports, photos of the artifacts found in Otzi’s possession such as his copper axe and arrows, and photos of his clothes. The evidence all had stories to tell, often contradictory.
“This project challenged students to think like archaeologists,” said social studies teacher Jennie Merklin. “They had to analyze primary and secondary sources, and examine evidence to form their own inferences on how Otzi may have died as well as what his life may have been like in prehistoric times.”
The teams presented their theories to their classmates, citing the evidence that supported their conclusions.
In addition to Merklin, teachers Nick Gonzalez, Ashley Lopez, Fran Ridge, and Stephanie Tarnowski worked on the project.