As we turn the page on the year that was and prepare ourselves for a fresh calendar, we peak ahead at what there is to look forward to in the township of Tabernacle.
The 2015 holiday season was a festive one for Tabernacle. The town hosted its annual tree lighting on Dec. 4 on the grounds of Town Hall and had a great turnout considering it was only the second time it has held this event.
However, township committee is already looking at potential adjustments to make the 2016 tree lighting even better.
It plans to hold a meeting this month to dissect the past event and then again in August to begin to put new ideas into play.
“We’re happy with the turnout, but we’re looking forward to doing something a little better,” Deputy Mayor Richard Franzen said.
The free event is jointly sponsored by the Tabernacle Historical Society, The Tabernacle Woman’s Association and the Tabernacle PTA.
There are also many special guests who drop in such as Santa, Mrs. Claus, the Tabernacle Cub Scouts and numerous musical groups from within the township.
Franzen also expressed the committee’s excitement for this year’s Touch a Truck event at Seneca High School for the Cub Scouts and the annual Memorial Day Parade that many residents come out to each year.
The committee additionally plans on moving forward this year with a project that has been in the works for about two years. The possible redesign of the town hall area has been discussed during several meetings with community leaders over the past couple years.
“We’re looking at turning it into a more park-like setting,” Franzen said.
This change may involve moving public works to a different location and possible alterations to the landscape.
The potential creation of one joint emergency services organization will also be a large topic of discussion moving into the new year. There has been a subcommittee formed to handle matters pertaining to this topic that consists of Committeeman Stephen Lee and the man who proposed the idea, Committeeman Joseph Yates.
“I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I do truly believe that this is a way we can save the taxpayers some money,” Yates said.
The sub-committee plans to meet in February to create a report and again in March to discuss what the report shows.
Tabernacle Township School District
After Kenneth Olson Middle School achieved certification as a “Sustainable School” from the Sustainable Jersey for Schools program in October, Tabernacle School District Superintendent George Rafferty wasted no time making his new year’s resolution to get Tabernacle Elementary School involved as well.
According to Rafferty, TES Principal Gerald Patterson has been working diligently to have his school meet the rigorous standards the program provides.
Patterson and his green team will have an opportunity to submit projects to earn points toward certification during January’s open enrollment period.
Rafferty wants to continue to build on what the middle school has begun by enduring the responsibilities the program bestowed upon the district.
“We were accredited the bronze award for the next three years, so we will be looking to shoot for silver,” Rafferty said.
Rafferty additionally referenced a project he was happy to announce will be budgeted for in the new year. The district plans to implement an emergency generator project in the elementary school. This has been a problem for years, as the elementary school has been without backup energy.
Forty percent of the project will be funded through a ROD grant, and the board of education plans to go out to bid for the installation of the power source in the summer.
The adoption of new technology throughout district will also be underway in 2016. The board of education formulated a technology leadership committee composed of various stakeholders’ such as teachers, tech personnel and students. After examining a proposal implemented in September, this new platform will focus specifically on more technology for staff and students K-8 geared toward developmental and learning needs.
“The younger kids’ technology will look different,” Rafferty said. “It’s not a one size fits all.”
The district is looking to go completely wireless with this new technology.
“That’s huge for us. We are looking to wow the community by refreshing our technology and making it more up to date,” he said.
The group also emphasized the utilization of Google applications such as Google Classroom and Google Docs, as Rafferty believes they are much more pervasive platforms for students.
Along with the new technology, there has been discussions of exploring the potential integration of a STEM center at the middle school in 2016.
The board has met with the modern initiative learning department and district architect to go over some possible blueprints.
Rafferty was particularly excited about this idea because the school has the space available, and it will create a setting for enhanced science, technology, engineering and math education learning. The creation of the STEM center would aid the focus on the expansion of the ISTEM curriculum in the district.
The district also plans to implement the next generation science standards and concentrate on language arts literacy.
In 2016, the school district will be taking its second crack at the PARCC assessment for grades three through eight, so language arts, literacy and math will be a main focus in all classrooms.
“Our challenge for next year will not have to do with technology, so we can concentrate specifically on matters dealing with making sure the children are ready from a mental standpoint,” Rafferty said.
Rafferty also alluded to the fact that the district follows state guidelines as much as possible when it comes to state testing, but it will look to make it much shorter than last year, as reducing the time was a common critique from parents.
The board is very fond of how the district’s staff has been working in the past year, so much so it will be forming a committee in January to select a teacher and an educational professional of the year.
For each school, there will be one teacher and one educational services professional recognized for the award.
While the girls and boys basketball seasons heat up when students return to school from winter break, the teachers will also look to get in on the hoops. The staff will square off against the Harlem Wizards at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 24 to raise money for the PTA.
“The game will be at Seneca, so we’re hoping to get as many people as we can to come out and see our ego’s get handed back to us!” Rafferty said.
Lenape Regional High School District
Although it may be a new year, Seneca High School will still be focusing on the same values in 2016.
High school students always have their typical ceremonial events such as prom and graduation to look forward to in the second half of the school year, but Seneca students also have their big drug/alcohol free events.
The student council is already busy putting together its annual Prom House 110 Carranza event, which will take place after prom at the high school. All students in good standing are invited to bring their dates to take part in a laundry list of activities that will run until 5 a.m.
It is all made possible through the teachers who donate their time and the local business who donate money and prizes.
“Medford Ford has been huge for us,” Principal Jeffrey Spector said. “They’ve donated a car the last two years.”
According to Spector, 80 percent of kids who go to prom attend the event afterward, and it creates a much more safe environment than the other options students are often faced with such as renting a house down the Shore.
Seneca additionally puts together a send-off event at Camp Inawendiwin from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. This event also give students the option of a variety of activities, though playing laser tag in the Pinelands seems to be the highlight of the night, as Spector pointed out.
This event is put together by the Seneca Parents Group, which serves as a PTA for the high school.
Spector also touched on a number of other events that will be taking place in 2016 that he wanted to extend an invitation to the public and get the community involved with.
Along with a bevy of sports teams getting their season’s started, he also mentioned the jazz band competition, the spring concert/musical and the annual robotic competition.
“The robotics competition usually turns out to be a big one each year,” Spector said. “It’s spread out over an entire weekend, and we typically see about 35–40 teams get involved.”
As far as matters going on inside the school, Spector didn’t mention any major construction projects the students will have to work around. The school will be enhancing its security with some grant-funded upgrades, but they will not be seen by the public.
After receiving the results back from PARCC testing and observing half a school year of the district wide Lunch N Learn schedule, the district plans to continue to evaluate progress and make changes where needed.
“Lunch N Learn has been an overwhelming success thus far,” Spector said. “We plan to continue to revise procedures and monitor updates with that and our PARCC testing as we look toward preparing our students for next year’s test.”
Spector also wanted to recognize two staff members moving forward into 2016 — Maj. Sean Hoggs for his legacy award from the NAACP he was given for his volunteer commitment to help young people in the Burlington County community, and the school’s substance abuse awareness coordinator Erin Lawler for her Volunteer of the Year award she was selected to receive from the New Jersey governor’s council on alcoholism and drug abuse.
“They are both great examples of civic responsibility and leadership in our school,” Spector said.
