Press Release for February 2007


Go Fish Monday, February 5, 2007 the Mary Bray School Students in grades 2, 3, and 4 will be performing "Go Fish". This is a musical play for Young Singers. The play is under the direction of Mrs. Beth Egan, music instructor for the Mount Ephraim School District. The musical play is about a school of fish and explores the unique qualities each fish possesses. The many different types of fish discover how differences make them each special - just like us! The performance will be held at the R. W. Kershaw School in the multi-purpose room at 7:30PM. The snow date is February 12. Admission is free.	Project Astro Nova The sixth grade students at the R. W. Kershaw school are currently involved in the "Project Astro Nova" program. This program teams up amateur astronomers and teachers. Mr. Black, and adjunct astronomy teacher at Rowan University has visited Mrs. O'Donnell's science students on a number of occasions. The students have "walked through the Solar System" during lab, made comets with dry ice and complete various reports and presentations.

Jump Rope for Heart The third through eighth grade students, from the Mary Bray School and the R. W. Kershaw School will be holding their 13th Annual Jump Rope for Heart Event. Participating students solicit donations and then jump rope for two hours. This year, as well as last year, the event will take place at both the Mary Bray School and the R. W. Kershaw School. Festivities will begin at 1:00 and conclude at 3:00 on February 15th.	Blue Zones Sixth grade language is not only working on the novel, Hatchet, they are studying and reviewing research daily on "Blue Zones", areas in the world where people live longer and are healthy. This year there is a three-week interactive online study that started on January 29th. We will be checking the site, www.bluezones.com almost daily to study the research, see images form the Nicoya peninsula in Costa Rica, and to even vote on where the research team could investigate next. This is a free site where you can even try the survey for your personal longevity compass. Feel free to go online and check this site out. We all may live longer, be healthy, and learn about a new place.

Battle of the Books Over 30 students from the RW Kershaw School in grades 5 through 8 are competing again this year in Battle of the Books. This is the fifth year that the Mt. Ephraim district has completed. There will be two fifth/sixth grade teams and two seventh/eighth grade teams, each consisting of six students. Each student has to complete as many books as they can out of the 15 titles that are required this year. Also, as part of the team eligibility, students must attend meetings after school. Last year, the fifth/sixth grade team won first place in the competition.	Read Across America The Mary Bray School will be celebrating Read Across America Day on Friday, March 2nd. We will also be having a birthday celebration for the Cat in the Hat’s 50th birthday. The children will be having buddy reading, guest readers, and DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time in the media center. Some of our classes will be making class book floats to be judged. The winning class will win 4 books for their classroom library and a pizza party.

Mushing Alaska We are pleased to announce that the Kershaw School has once again been awarded a grant from the “Garden State Distance Learning Consortium”. This grant gives us the unique opportunity to connect with Kigluait Educational Adventures in Talkeetna, Alaska! We will be connecting with Alaska via videoconferencing technology on Wednesday, February 28th at 7:00pm in the Media Center. This year’s theme will be “Mushing Alaska”! Both 6th and 7th grades will participate by completing activities in Language Arts, Social Studies and Science. Students will focus on preparing exhibits that will be displayed the evening of the videoconference. ----------------------------------------- During the one hour long conference the students from 6th and 7th grades were able to ask questions of the Mushers; Charlie, a Jr. Iditarod Race participant and Richard an Iditarod Race participant. Students also participated by preparing exhibits that were completed in their Language Arts, Social Studies and Science classes. On display were Power Point presentations; models of sleeping bags, dog shoes, sleds; maps; collages and pictures. One of the biggest hits of the evening were the refreshments. The students could choose from Scooby Snacks, Reindeer Crunch, Chex Mushing Mix, Oatmeal Bone Cookies, Dog Paws, Snow Caps, Chocolate Taffies (shaped like dogs and dog paws) and Beef Jerky. The students pretended that they were dogs listening to commands while running and they were on a dog sled team. The evening was enjoyed by all of those in attendance.	8^th Grade Dialogue Program The Camden County School Boards Association held the first "8th Grade Dialogue" program on Thursday, February 8, 2007 at the Mansion in Voorhees, NJ. Sierra Chambers, Student Council President, represented R W Kershaw School in Mt. Ephraim, NJ. Sierra, as well as other students selected, had the opportunity to share her middle school experiences, aspirations, and recommendations. Some of the ideas discussed were technology in education, state testing, school safety, and stress in the life of a middle school student. According to Chambers, technology has had a real positive impact on our learning environment. State testing was also discussed. Many students thought it was important to have the testing to help students decide what courses to take in high school. A major concern of middle school students was time management and stress. Too many students worry about grades and fear of failing. Chambers went on to say that most students do feel safe in school due to the many safety systems now in place such as a buzzer system to gain entry to her school, and lock-down drills. Students were glad for the opportunity to meet and discuss first-hand with the County School Boards Association as well as middle school students from all over Camden County. Sierra reflected the opinion of many when she said, "It seemed that our opinion mattered". Submitted by: Ann Conley Student Council Monitor 2/9/07

Jump Rope for Heart The Mount Ephraim School District held it’s 13th annual Jump Rope for Heart Day on February 15. 180 students in grades fourth through eighth and in the Mary Bray and Kershaw Schools participated. The students raised $12, 305 with the top class being Mrs. Helms’ third grade. The top fundraiser was Sam Keating in Mrs. Helms’ class. The students jumped rope for two hours.	Game Show Students in grades 5th through 8th, at R.W. Kershaw will be conducting a game show with Unique Entertainment. All students will get to participate in questions ranging from Language, Math, Science, Music, Social Studies, Trivia, etc. The students will be broken down into 4 groups and will compete against each other. The event is being sponsored by the National Junior Honor Society and with the support of the Mt. Ephraim PTO.