Memorializing Dr. Grieco

For those who wish to memorialize Dr. Grieco, donations in his name may be made to the American Heart Association, 2550 Route 1, North Brunswick, NJ 08902, to the Christian Brothers Academy, 850 Newman Spring Road, Lincroft, NJ 07738, or to the John Grieco Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o 327 East Ridgewood Avenue, Paramus, NJ 07652.

Focus on the Faculty

When it comes to directing theater productions, there's nobody better than Dr. Rebecca Strum. Over the past seven years, she has taken a leadership role in performing arts at the Academy and bringing theater opportunities to the community at large. She has made excellent use of the Expert Series program to help bring to the Academies prestigious, professional dancers, choreographers, actors and even an Emmy award winning lighting/set designer. In addition to her directing skills, Dr. Strum is a well respected faculty member who teachers Theater History, Acting and Non-Musical Theater. We are very fortunate to have such a consummate professional on our staff. Dr. Strum always goes above and beyond the call of duty and inspires her students to reach for the stars. Her nurturing personality has won the hearts of her students and their parents. Come experience for yourself the talent and dedication of our Academy students at our numerous productions throughout the school year.

  Pat Cosgrove

College Corner

The New College Center 
Students and parents are invited to visit the Academy College Center, Room 110, which was beautifully renovated over the summer break. Seven new Del Computers, two scanners and software have replaced the outdated typewriters and computers. This new equipment enables students to complete applications and scholarships accurately and in a timely fashion.

Many thanks to Mrs. Shiaoling Paxson and Mrs. Carol Massiah for so graciously volunteering during the summer so that the College Center would be open when the students started in September.

A special thank you to Mr. George Gonzales for facilitating the completion of the Center.

The Governor's School of the Arts  
A letter was sent to Junior parents explaining the application process and due dates.

Guidance.net
This is a resource for students to access the Guidance link of the Bergen.org website. It is located under College Help, and is free for our Academy students.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Terry Brockett, Guidance Counselor/College Coordinator, at extension 3313, or email thebro@bergen.org.

Next PPO Meeting November 9, 7:30PM

At the Tuesday, November 9, PPO Meeting, Sophomore and Junior parents will meet with Guidance, and Freshmen and Senior parents will meet with Class Advisors.  Join us at 7:30PM.


Log on to www.academyppo.com to review all PPO meeting minutes at your convenience.

Asset of the Month

The Youth Resiliency Goal Team of The Bergen County Partnership for Community Health seeks to inspire, educate, and empower individuals, families, schools, congregations, communities and other groups to support young people's ability to successfully navigate life's challenges. With this in mind they have developed the Asset of the Month Project, based on the 40  Developmental Assets featured in "What Kids Need to Succeed" by Peter L. Benson, Ph.D., Judy Galbraith, M.A. and Pamela Espeland.  Research strongly supports the fact that the more of the 40 Developmental Assets young people have, the less likely they are to engage in high-risk behaviors.

The asset that we will focus on for the month of November is  Equality and Social Justice.  Successful young persons place high value on promoting equality and reducing poverty and hunger. Students and family members can volunteer at a homeless shelter or food pantry.  Contributions can be made to charitable organizations or a worthy cause chosen by the family.  Make an effort to work in cooperation with a school district, scouts, or other youth organizations on a food or clothing drive or other project that promotes equality and social justice. For more information, contact Victor Truscelli in the Guidance Office at 201-343-6000 extension 3318 or victru@bergen.org.

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Class News

Class of 2005   *Open House Senior Class Bake Sale - Sunday, November 14.

Class of 2006  *The September 13 PPO Meeting allowed us to meet as a class to discuss the upcoming year. Some notable upcoming student events: Ring Ceremony - TBA (during the school day), HSPA Test - March 1, Senior Experience Meeting - March 21, College Fair May 5, Junior Prom - May 13  *Some important dates for parents: Back-to-school-night -Wednesday, October 27; PPO/Guidance Meeting - Tuesday, November 9; Open House Junior Class Bake Sale - Sunday, November 21; College Fair- Thursday, May 5  
*Week Without Violence - October 18 -22 Class Wide Community Service Project: please have your Juniors bring in any new toys or new clothes to be distributed to AIDS victims and their families through AIDS Action. Please bring donations to Mrs. Leonardi in Rm. 243C before October 29.  *Volunteer Opportunities: Chaperone List for Junior Class Social Activities; Bakers for November 21 Open House; May 5 College Fair Dinner -Bakers and  Set-up/Servers, Senior Awards, Graduation; BCA Fashion Show-scheduled for February/March 2005.  *As an effort towards keeping us all informed, we are also seeking parent emails for announcements, reminders and calendar updates. If you would like to receive updates via email, please send your email address to Janet Nemec at jnemec2@optonline.net.   *If you wish to volunteer for any of the above activities or have any suggestions, questions or comments; please contact Class Parent Liaisons:Eileen Rodda: 201-670-1045/ eileenr919@att.net, and Janet Nemec: 201-670-1871/ jnemec2@optonline.net

Class of 2007  *Semi-formal will be in April or May, details to follow. Anyone interested in signing up for the Auction committee should contact Bonnie Obojkovits ASAP at bonobo@bergen.org, 201-343-6000 extension 2312. *October 27 "Pennies to Dollars" fundraiser will be coming home. Money and cards will be due by November 29

Class of 2008  *By all reports, the Frost Valley Trip was a great success.  Our thanks to all the teachers who went along with the students.  * Elections for Freshman Class student council officers were held at Frost Valley.  The officers held their first meeting with class advisors, Ms.  Hubbard, Ms. Anderson, and Mr. Djedji on October 8.
Again, as Class 2008 Parent Liaisons, we are looking forward to working with you in the coming years.  We will try to keep you informed about upcoming class activities and special events at school.  If you haven't given us your e-mail address yet, please send an e-mail with your contact information to Shiaoling Paxson at wpsling@aol.com  so we can include you on our distribution list.  Anna Lisica at anna.lisica@medipromotions.com; Mary Wright at malarky@optonline.net; Shiaoling Paxson at wpsling@aol.com.

ATTENTION A.E.D.T. PARENTS:
Your child's Academy will once again observe National Engineering Week 2005 (EWeek) with career and academic events, as well as an all-AEDT Academy luncheon and T-Shirts. Plans are proceeding with positive support from administration and the help of a small group of parent volunteers, but we need your assistance!

#1: If you have not yet done so, send a $10-15 suggested donation made payable to: "Student Activity Fund - EWeek," to Grazia Svokos (633 White Pine Road, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417). Include: child's name, grade, family email, phone. Donors will be listed as sponsors of the events

#2: Volunteer to help organize, prepare and be part of the events! Email Grazia Svokos at: grsvokos@optonline.net to be put on an EParent Network list. Emails will keep you up-to-date on the events and allow you to participate as much or as little as desired.

ATTENTION VISUAL PARENTS:

We're in the middle of the fall open house and portfolio day season for art colleges in the area. Senior year applications usually require submission of a portfolio, and this process has become quite competitive.  At Open Houses, you visit a particular school, learn about its programs, and sometimes have your portfolio reviewed. A Portfolio Day is like our College Fair, with the addition of portfolio review sessions. You meet representatives and collect materials from many schools, and may have your portfolio reviewed by reps of several schools. The main National Portfolio Day in our area is at Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn, on November 20 - not to be missed!. Last year there were reps there from as far away as Vancouver.  A Regional Portfolio Day is coming up soon at Rockland Community College, from 4-8PM on October 26.

Seniors should definitely go to one or more of these events with portfolio in hand. Juniors, and even Sophomores, shopping for colleges will find them interesting and informative.

A few of the many local open houses in the coming weeks are: October 30 - Fashion Institute of Technology; October 23, and November 6, and 13 - School of Visual Arts (which also gave an excellent financial aid presentation last year); November 12 and 19, December 3 - Cooper Union School of Art.  Parsons even has free portfolio review workshops, scheduled through their admissions office.  Check college websites under admissions for the latest information.

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Cultural Connections...

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MATH BOOSTERS

The new math competition season began in October. We have many new freshman students and a strong group of returning students. Our website at academyppo.com/math has been updated and includes the schedule of this year's events. Please check back to it periodically for any changes. If your son or daughter has any questions, please have them check with Mr. Holbrook.

Math Boosters will be holding our first meeting of the new school year on Saturday, November 13, at 1:15PM in one of the math team practice rooms.  This is a great way to learn about what your children will be doing throughout the year.   Our BCA Math Competition for 4th through 8th graders has been rescheduled to next fall. If you can help out, please contact either David Drucker, ddrucker@stratag.com or Fay Sharit, faydave@optonline.net. 

To join Math Boosters and get regular email updates, contact Fay Sharit at faydave@optonline.net.

Mark your Calendars:

The next monthly meeting of the Booster Club will be on Wednesday, November 10, at 7:15PM in the Hackensack BCA Common Area.


The JV Sports Awards Dinner will take place in the Upstairs Cafeteria on November 11.

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