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

Trenton, NJ – Throughout this holiday season, Classroom Close-up, NJ continues to bring compelling stories about the students, teachers, and community members who develop and participate in successful and creative school programs statewide. This December Classroom Close-Up, NJ features a visit to Hasbrouck Heights High School to observe student journalism in action; a look at the Parent Academy in Mercer County’s Washington Township School District where teachers offer workshops for parents on topics as varied as ADD to the history of the township; a trip to Regional Day School in Jackson to see how special education students develop new skills while mounting a production of Beauty and the Beast; a glimpse inside the NJEA Convention; and much more.

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 at njn.net and 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, December 4 at 6:30 pm and Saturday, December 9 at 9:00 am

• Pilot’s Log – Known for its deft reporting and thoughtful analysis, the Hasbrouck Heights High School newspaper is “the voice of the students.” These journalism students aren’t afraid to tackle often provocative issues while learning skills that are useful across the curriculum and in many career choices.
• Latina Pride – Because of an increase in teen pregnancy and the drop-out rate of girls entering high school, teachers Joan Wheeler and Cheryl Berek have started a new group called Latina Pride for eighth grade girls at Frelinghuysen Middle School in Morristown. Through group discussions and guest speakers, the girls work on creating a sense of self esteem. The group also focuses on community service, so the girls volunteer at a local day care.
• Beauty and the Beast – Special education students from Regional Day School in Jackson learn all kinds of skills by putting on the play Beauty and the Beast. They use arts and crafts to produce the props and scenery. The speech therapist works with the students on their language skills while the occupational therapist uses stage theatrics to enhance their movement skills.
• Make a Splash – About 200 students from Rush Intermediate School in Cinnaminson attend the fifth annual Make a Splash Water Festival at Palmyra Cove Nature Park. Children and adults learn about the characteristics, the uses, and abuses of water. This project involves the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and is part of an international effort called Project WET (Water Education for Teachers). For more info go to www.projectwet.org.

Classroom Close-up, NJ, Monday, December 11 at 6:30 pm and Saturday, December 16 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.
• Parent Academy – Teachers at Mercer County’s Washington Township Public School District develop and offer workshops for parents in the district. The topics range from dealing with ADD to the history of the township.
• School Bus Security – Homeland Security is working closely with New Jersey public school bus drivers to make sure all children are safe from terrorist threats while traveling to and from school. Homeland Security will present a program during the NJEA Convention, with support from the Gloucester Township Public Schools Transportation Department, police, and other emergency personnel.
• NJEA Convention – Touted as one of the leading educational professional development opportunities in the nation, NJEA hosts over 300 workshops during its two-day convention. The list of topics is endless – from instructional strategies in all content areas, to research-based programs for enhancing the classroom.

Classroom Close-up, NJ, Monday, December 18 at 6:30 pm and Saturday, December 23 at 9:00 am

• Environmental Ethics – New Jersey teachers play a leading role in the development of the 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 and how it links to the butterflies. Like the Monarch Butterfly, the teacher network is transforming as it reaches out to include more states and provinces, and encourage students to not only take care of each other, but to take care of the environment too.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 receive Euros and grades based on how well they interact using their target language.

Classroom Close-up, NJ, Monday, December 25 at 6:30 pm and Saturday, December 30 at 9:00 am

• Poetry Festival – Nearly 20,000 people attend the 11th biennial Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival at Waterloo Village in Stanhope. Many of the attendees are New Jersey teachers and students. The festival takes place among the restored 19th-century canal-lock and riverside village.
• Floating Classroom – Students from Explore 2000 Middle School in North Bergen catch, identify, tag and release various marine species in the Hackensack and Hudson River watersheds. The fish tagging program called Hooked on Knowledge has been incorporated into the school curriculum. The information is recorded by the children then sent to the American Littoral Society in Sandy Hook, and finally, forwarded to the Woods Hole Oceanic Research Center in Mass. Explore 2000 is part of the Hudson County Schools of Technology.
• Project EGG – Everything Grows through Growing is a multi-curriculum project designed by teachers at Old Farmers Road Elementary School in Washington Township. The project expands learning beyond the classroom and into a working farm environment. Children learn how language, math, and science are used on a farm. This program is funded through the NJEA Frederick L. Hipp Foundation for Excellence in Education.
• Physics Institute – Borislaw Bilash II, a teacher from Pascack Valley Regional High School, presents at the Liberty Science Center’s Summer Physics Teachers Institute with a program consisting of Essential Demonstrations, Physics on the Cheap, and Make and Take. Participants in his program receive materials to take back into the classroom.