STATEWIDE – Classroom Close-up, NJ is an original monthly NJN program that features students, teachers and community members who develop and participate in creative and successful school programs. Classroom Close-up, NJ is a co-production of NJN and the New Jersey Education Association. Additional funding for the show is provided by NJEA, PSE&G, Bristol-Myers Squibb and NJ FamilyCare. Classroom Close-up, NJ can also be seen on NJN’s digital channel; please check the web site at njn.net for dates and times.

Monday, November 29, at 6:30 pm; Saturday, December 4, at 7 am

• Monarch Mania – Memorial School students from Pitman participate in a school-wide celebration of the Monarch Butterfly Migration. The students will parade through town ending with a butterfly release for the entire community to witness.
• Project Adventure – West Orange High School students participate in Project Adventure, an outdoor ropes course designed to improve students’ self-confidence and team-building skills while enhancing their physical abilities.
• Lion’s Den – Freehold Borough School District students in grades 6 through 8 participate in a physical challenge course. They learn how to deal with social barriers such as race, gender, socioeconomic status and how to take advantage of personal strengths. This program is funded through the NJEA Frederick L. Hipp Foundation for Excellence in Education.
• Envirothon – High school students visit Liberty Science Center where they participate in a statewide competition on environmental issues. Classroom Close-up, NJ will follow two teams from Kittatinny Regional High School in Newton and Highland Region High School in Blackwood.

Monday, December 6, at 6:30 pm; Saturday, December 11, at 7 am

• Passport – Second graders from Union Township Elementary in Hampton will travel around the world within the confines of their own school. The students will obtain a passport and travel from room to room as parents help present cultures from other countries.
• Traveling Teacher – Many teachers take advantage of their summer break by taking courses or traveling, hoping to attain their goal of becoming better teachers. Meet Peggy Campbell Rush, a teacher from Hampton, as she shares stories about her trip to South Africa and how her kindergarten students can learn from her experience.
• Cybliography – Library Media Specialist Laurie Murrell works with the eighth-grade expressive art class to create the word “cybliography”, a combination of the word cyber, from the computer world, and the word bibliography, which indicates a list of works referred to in a text. Confused? The students of Fieldstone Middle School in Montvale can explain.
• Japanese – Kearny High School was the first New Jersey school to offer Japanese as a credit course. Today the award-winning program has grown into a four-year sequence of courses. Many of the students have won scholarships to go to Japan.

Monday, December 13, at 6:30 pm; Saturday, December 18, at 7 am

• NJEA Convention – What does it take each year to put on the world’s largest educational gathering? From professional development opportunities to marketing the latest in educational technology and materials, this convention has something for everyone involved with New Jersey public schools. This year the 150th convention will be held in November with 50,000 educators expected to attend.
• Outstanding Graduate – Meet baseball player Eric Young (graduate of New Brunswick High School) who will be honored as an outstanding graduate from New Jersey public schools.
• Teacher of the Year – Also meet New Jersey Teacher of the Year for 2004-2005 Peggy Stewart. Stewart teaches at Vernon Township High School.
• NJPAC – See how the New Jersey Performing Arts Center helps public schools enhance their art curricula through programs like Artists-in-Residence.

Monday, December 20, at 6:30 pm; Saturday, December 25, at 7 am

• Disney Teacher – Dan Moran from East Brunswick High School shows why so many teachers love their profession. Moran was one of 32 honorees out of 185,000 nominees for the 2003 Disney’s American Teacher Awards. Moran’s enthusiasm for teaching certainly is contagious.
• Alice in Writer’s Land – Imagine Alice with writer’s block. She meets characters that only hurt her quest to write, such as “run-on sentence,” “fragment” and “double negative.” But other characters such as “noun,” “verb” and “adjective” help her find her way back home. This creative play written by Jim Marchesiani is performed by the talented fifth graders from West Deptford Middle School.
• Cybliography – Library Media Specialist Laurie Murrell works with the eighth-grade expressive art class to create the word “cybliography”, a combination of the word cyber, from the computer world, and the word bibliography, which indicates a list of works referred to in a text. Confused? The students of Fieldstone Middle School in Montvale can explain.
• French the Musical – Brian Lewis, a French teacher from Haddon Township High School, directs a student musical based on the French novel Le Petit Prince. The students will perform in both French and, literally rewinding on stage to replay the action, in English. The students write the script and perform to middle school students in the district.

Monday, December 27, at 6:30 pm; Saturday, January 1, at 7 am

• Art Symposium – Students at Holdrum Middle School in River Vale are exposed to the arts through an Arts Symposium. Professional artists conduct assemblies and workshops ranging in topics from acting and singing, to sculpting and origami.
• French the Musical – Brian Lewis, a French teacher from Haddon Township High School, directs a student musical based on the French novel Le Petit Prince. The students will perform in both French, and literally rewinding on stage to replay the action, in English. The students write the script and perform to middle school students in the district.
• Anne Sullivan – Li’l Miss Spitfire: The Musical – the story of Annie Sullivan was written, produced and directed by three NJEA members – Bob Talmage of Fair Haven, Samantha Talmage of Atlantic Highlands and Eva Szakal of Toms River. The story chronicles the young life of Annie as she overcomes blindness, the death of her mother and brother, and her own illiteracy to become the Miracle Worker and teacher of Helen Keller.
• Artists in Residence – The New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Artist-in-Residence Program allows New Jersey students to experience the performing arts through close interaction with professional artists in their schools. Arthur Wilson explains what is available in the field of theater as Sharon Rauber discusses the field of dance