Classroom Close-up, NJ on NJN Public Television
Mondays at 6:30 pm and Saturdays at 9:00 am

Trenton, NJ – School is underway and Classroom Close-up, NJ is busier than ever, bringing interesting stories about the students, teachers, and community members who develop and participate in successful and creative school programs around the state. Some of October’s show highlights include a look at students in Union City trying to make sound travel in outer space with their own sonic boom; a new character-building program for elementary school children in Jobstown called DYNAMIC CIRCLE; and a story about special needs and at-risk students sharing an intergenerational experience in Tuckerton.

An original weekly program, Classroom Close-up, NJ airs on NJN Public Television Mondays at 6:30 pm and is rebroadcast Saturdays at 9:00 am. Classroom Close-up, NJ is a co-production of NJN and the New Jersey Education Association. Additional funding for the show is provided by PSE&G and BNY Mortgage, a Bank of New York Company. Classroom Close-up, NJ is web streamed on the NJN web site at www.njn.net. The program can be seen on cable stations throughout New Jersey, on NJN’s JerseyVision and on Time Warner Cable on channel 750 in New York.

Classroom Close-up, NJ, Monday, October 2 at 6:30 pm and Saturday, October 7 at 9:00 am
• Getting to Know You – Special needs and at-risk students from Pinelands Regional Junior High School in Tuckerton share an intergenerational experience with residents of Sea Crest Nursing Home in Little Egg Harbor. The students adopt a senior citizen who shares their life story. At the end of the year, each student presents a gift of an original biography highlighting the life and times of their adoptive senior. This program is funded through the NJEA Frederick L. Hipp Foundation for Excellence in Education.
• Science of Sound – Find out if students at Jose Marti Middle School in Union City can make sounds travel in outer space as they create a sonic boom in their auditorium. The Liberty Science Center, which operates an electronic field trip program at the school, presents a program on “Science of Sounds…. Shaking it.” This program helps students explore how sound is produced and transmitted.
• DYNAMIC CIRCLE – Springfield Township Elementary School in Jobstown participates in a DYNAMIC CIRCLE, which stands for Developing Youth – Nurturing Attitudes, Managing Individual Conduct – Citizens Integrating Responsibility, Cooperation, Learning, and Empowerment. The goal of this district-wide, multi-faceted character education program is to improve communications and interaction skills while advancing peace and eradicating bullying, harassment, and violence. This program is funded through the NJEA Frederick L. Hipp Foundation for Excellence in Education.
• SOS – Support on Site is a program for teachers in Gloucester Township. Teachers from James W. Lilley School in Erial and Loring Fleming School in Blackwood meet on a regular basis to talk about the joys and pitfalls of a new career in education. The goal is to retain teachers in the district and give the new teachers a good start on their careers.

Classroom Close-up, NJ, Monday, October 9 at 6:30 pm and Saturday, October 14 at 9:00 am
• Keshishian Scholarship – Scholarships help thousands of New Jersey students pay for college. Meet New Milford High School student Jamilee Morgan, recipient of the 2006 Keshishian Scholarship. This scholarship is named for Barbara Keshishian, who taught math in New Milford for 29 years before becoming the Vice President of NJEA and host of Classroom Close-up.
• Teen Arts – A dancer from Lambertville and a jazz professor from Princeton are just two of the many professionals who participate each year in the New Jersey State Teen Arts Festival. Nearly 7,000 New Jersey teens attend this two-day event, which features critiques by professional artists, exhibitions and workshops. Dancer Mark Roxey and Professor Anthony Branker return each year because they get as much as they give in the form of inspiration and encouragement.
• Comic Book – The Comic Book Project at Woodbridge Vo-Tech High School in Woodbridge helps students plan, write, design, and publish original comic books. Some of the comic book manuscripts evolve into bilingual comic books (Spanish and English) about the importance of community and civic engagement. At the end of the process, the comic books are posted on www.ComicBookProject.org, featured at a community-based exhibit, and celebrated in a nationally distributed publication.
• Barnegat Art Show – A local business in Toms River supports art students from Barnegat High School by hosting a show featuring their art work. Parents and the community visit Accents by Narcissus at the Seacourt Pavilion to view the student work.

Classroom Close-up, NJ, Monday, October 16 at 6:30 pm and Saturday, October 21 at 9:00 am
• Archaeological Dig – How can an urban school recreate an archaeological dig? Science teacher Shelly Witham designs and builds a dig inside the science lab at High Tech High School in North Bergen. This is a self-created, hands-on investigation modeled after the teacher’s own archaeology field work experiences.
• Good Morning Durand – Fourth graders from Durand Elementary School in Vineland are involved in a daily morning television show called “Good Morning Durand.” The students learn how to produce, edit, host and do the camera work. Hearing impaired students play an integral role on the show as well. They interpret the broadcast and work with computer graphics.
• Elementary Health Fair – Medical experts participate in a PTA-sponsored Health Fair at Heywood Avenue School in Orange. St. Barnabas Hospital is one of many medical facilities offering free screenings, displays and educational speakers. This event educates not only the child, but the entire family.
• Bus Safety – Have you ever seen a car pass a school bus that has its yellow flashing lights on? This is illegal and often has fatal consequences. Bus driver Bonnie Chalfant from Gloucester Township is working with the local police to educate the public about the hazards of not paying attention to yellow lights on school buses.

Classroom Close-up, NJ, Monday, October 23 at 6:30 pm and Saturday, October 28 at 9:00 am
• World Village – Each year upperclassmen studying World Languages at Kittatinny Regional High School in Newton create a World Languages Village. The village has a bank, ethnic restaurants, gift shops and tourist attractions so the underclassmen can practice their French, Spanish and German in a fun yet challenging atmosphere. Students are awarded Euros and grades based on how well they interact using their target language.
• Falcon’s Lounge – While focusing on the educational needs of students, Manchester Regional High School in Passaic County also addresses their social, emotional, physical and mental needs. A lounge located inside the school offers access to primary health care, employment services, learning support services, and counseling services ranging from substance abuse to violence prevention. The school also conducts a yearly health fair which includes a blood drive and a variety of health-related educational exhibits.
• Oh the Places – Teachers at Oxford Central School in Warren County enrich their writing programs by implementing web logging, or blogging, as a writing tool. The students and their families not only benefit from greater access to technology, they also learn about the Six Traits writing method, which is a way for kids to organize and improve their writing. This program is funded through the NJEA Frederick L. Hipp Foundation for Excellence in Education.
• Building Bridges – Benjamin Franklin School in Teaneck is building bridges with a fourth annual Unity Day. The purpose of Unity Day is to explore and celebrate Teaneck’s diversity and multiculturalism, build relationships between students and families, and create a culture of community, understanding and mutual respect.

Classroom Close-up, NJ, Monday, October 30 at 6:30 pm and Saturday, November 4 at 9:00 am
• Environmental Ethics – New Jersey teachers play a leading role in the development of Monarch Teacher Network, which links Mexico, Canada and the United States through the migration of the Monarch Butterflies. Teachers from several states, including New Jersey, attend a workshop on environmental ethics. Like the Monarch Butterfly, the teacher network is transforming as it reaches out to include more states and provinces, and encourages students to not only take care of each other, but take care of the environment.
• Aquaculture – Chuck Gehman's high school horticulture class at Middle Township High School located in Cape May County learns how to farm tilapia. The interdisciplinary project involves biology, chemistry, physics, horticulture and ecology. The horticulture students also develop methods that allow vegetable crops to be produced using fish waste. This combined approach of hydroponics and aquaculture is termed aquaponics. The program is funded through the NJEA Frederick L. Hipp Foundation for Excellence in Education.
• Storytelling – Four-year-olds at Keyport Central School are involved in a storytelling project which includes interacting with children at Red Bank Primary School through the magic of video conferencing. They act out stories for each other and share their enthusiasm and excitement for their stories. This project is part of a High Scope Curriculum – which involves active learning. Abbott districts are mandated to fund a preschool program, but in Keyport, the school district funds a full-day, pre-kindergarten program because they understand the value of starting early.
• Everyday Math – Preschool through first grade students at Winfield School learn how to incorporate math into their lives while parents learn to incorporate math at home. Research shows that math is more meaningful when it is rooted in real life situations, especially when children are given the opportunity to become actively involved in learning.