County Prep Theater Arts Performs the Musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

In just its sixth year, the after school Theater Arts class has brought a new performance opportunity to County Prep students, who are learning both performance and rehearsal practices, and are encountering first hand all of the aspects of professional theater. Once again, the show had complete live accompaniment, by renowned pianist Craig Ketter, under the direction of our wonderful Musical Director, Valerie Gonzalez. The show was designed by our professional lighting designer, Mr. Lance Michel, and was directed by Ms. Shields.

This year, the students focused on rehearsing and performing the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, a satire of the world of big business, a topic quite relevant now as it was at the time when the musical was conceived. The story centers around J. Pierrepont Finch, a young window washer, who is looking for the fastest way to rise to the top, with the help of a simple Self-Help book. Finch is an opportunist, will pull any deceptions, and strings he figures would help his cause. Along his journey, Finch discovers friends, stirs up enemies and finds true love.

County Prep’s rendition of the musical was very well received. The response of the audience was amazing, with lots of audience members sharing their favorite moments. Some of the comments the performers received were: “Hilarious!”, “The actors were phenomenal!”, “The acting was so believable”. A few even said that, “it felt like we were watching a movie that kept us to the edge of the seat”, other raved about the strength of the singing numbers.

Directed by Ms. Shields, this piece was chosen to showcase our performers this year. Kyle Velazquez starred as Finch, Sirena Morales starred as Rosemary. The cast also included Senior Delana Ramos who also choreographed the majority of the songs, Senior Solimar Colombani, Juniors Ivory Torres and Bertha Solis, Sophomores Dynajah Smith and Yvelisse Vargas, Freshmen Ariel Rivera, Kayla Velazquez, Ariana Young and Debora Melendez . This production was overall an ensemble piece, where each performer was involved at all times, either on stage in numerous group numbers and scenes, or backstage preparing the set, props, costumes, and program. Special recognition also goes to stage manager lighting technician Senior Alexis Medel, sound technicians Senior Cindy Ramos and her Assistant Senior Justin Cuevas as well as make-up artist extraordinaire Senior Karissa Cruz. Last but not least, our Stage Hands Senior Terrell Wehner and Freshmen Kaine Malachi and Joseph Marto helped make the show possible.

Ms. Shields and Ms.Gonzalez are very proud of all of the cast and crew whose work has developed through our premiere rendition of this Broadway classic.

The Fantasticks is presented through arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI)

All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.MTIShows.com.com

County Prep's National Honor Society Holds Its Induction Ceremony

County Prep's National Honor Society (NHS), held its Induction Ceremony on January 31st, 2018 in the ITV room of the Jersey City Center of Hudson County Schools of Technology.  29 students were inducted during the ceremony. 

 Vidhi Patel, President, along with NHS officers and inductees conducted the ceremony for their parents and staff.  During the ceremony, they explained the importance of the National Honor Society and how leadership, scholarship, character and service plays a vital role for them.  

Ms. Mendolla and the entire staff are truly proud of these students and would like to recognize and congratulate them on their acceptance into the National Honor Society.

County Prep Theatre Arts Students Attend 3rd Annual Theatre Day in Hudson County

A large group of the County Prep Theatre Arts students participated this year in the 3rd Annual Theatre Day organized by Hudson County Alliance of Teen Artists in partnership with Hoboken High School on Friday January 19, 2018. The students took part in a full day of theatre activities taught by professionals who are leading the field in theatre education. They each chose two hands-on workshops. Among the choices were: Improvisation with Ryan Huban, founder of NJ based Improv group Howdy Stranger, Playwriting with published playwright George Cameron Grant, Script Analysis with Matthew Lawler, Broadway, TV and film actor, and Audition Techniques Workshop with Douglas Taurel, a professional actor.

This has been an amazing opportunity for our students, who had a chance to work alongside other Hudson County performing arts students and take workshops with theater professionals. They all found the workshops insightful and challenging, and are looking forward to more next year.

The Hudson County Alliance of Teen Artists is funded by the Hudson County Division of Cultural & Heritage Affairs/Tourist Development, Thomas A. DeGise, County Executive and Board of Chosen Freeholders, New Jersey Dept. of Education Interim Executive County Superintendent, Monica M. Tone, and the Hudson County Superintendents Round Table; North Bergen Board of Education, Secaucus Board of Education and Bayonne Board of Education; and New Jersey City University.

High Tech National Honor Society Holds Its 2017-2018 Induction Ceremony

(North Bergen, NJ—January 10, 2018) The High Tech National Honor Society (NHS), moderated by veteran Language Arts teacher and Department Liaison Joan Marie Bellotti and veteran History teacher David Polito, recently held its Induction Ceremony in the Resource Center of the North Hudson Center of Hudson County Schools of Technology, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech High School.

Once more, Polito had served as Master of Ceremonies.  Recognition of scholarship, leadership, service, and character went to Bayonne resident Dmitry Shlyapnikov, Shelina Chotrani of Secaucus, Harrison resident Danny Mota, and Alyssa Mojica of North Bergen, respectively.

In addition to those four scholars, 54 other scholars made the NHS: Daylen Ala, Tyra Almonte, Tige Anderson, Katherine Aczon, Alex Becerril, Memphis Chen, Sharan Chotrani, Gabriella Davila, Jose DeJesus, Jonathan Fam, Nicholas Franciso, Rohan Gajera, Anne Gao, Emily Gocon, Jonas Gomes, Karen Guaman, Ivanna Guerrero, Brianna Guido, Ghenwa Hassan, Yingxue Hu, Duaa Jaafar, Ina Jang, Rachel Kim, Jeremy Lewan, Maryvit Luna, Isha Mahat, Brianna Martino, Kaylynn Montgomery, Amir Mustafa, Katrina Origenes, Andrea Ortiz, Hena Pardasani, Tanisha Pardasani, Jahnav Patel, Amolak Plaha, Martha Reyes, Anna Rezk, Camille Romano, Alicia Romero, Jaclyn Rosa, Angelica Salgado, Hailee Scarafile, Jeel Shah, Soham Shah, Tanushri Shah, Vanshika Sharma, Andrew Shenoda, Sumyya Tahch, Bhavika Teli, Joan Marie Tubungbanua, Muhammad Umar, Melissa Velasco, Nia Washington, and Eleanor Woodruff.    

History teacher David Polito, Dmitry Shlyapnikov, Shelina Chotrani, Alyssa Mojica, and Danny Mota

High Tech Language Arts Instructor Brian Mooney Interviewed by Education Drive

Bringing the beat: Spoken word, debate and role-playing enhance ELA curriculum

By Lauren Barack   PUBLISHED Jan. 31, 2018

Educators are using a variety of engaging, outside-the-box formats to build research, literacy and critical thinking skills

Brian Mooney has no doubts about the effectiveness of using hip-hop and slam poetry in his English classes at High Tech High School in North Bergen, NJ. Students are now excited about class — they bring in samples from artists even Mooney doesn’t know.

But beyond sparking a light in the 9th, 10th and 11th graders he teaches — Mooney is helping them walk away with research, literacy and critical thinking skills he knows they’ll take with them on to their next chosen path.

“One student wrote a spoken word piece about gentrification that included specifics and statistics,” says Mooney, who is also pursuing his Ph.D. at Teachers College at Columbia. “The amount of learning embodied in some of these performance pieces is just as much as you can see and measure as in a research paper.”

To administrators or curriculum specialists, rap may appear to be an unconventional teaching method, but lifting words from books and paper, and letting students speak them aloud, may have a solid educational boon. Whether that’s using original poetry that doubles as a research assignment, or encouraging students to debate their work out loud, educators find there are positive effects from letting kids talk through their thinking, and present audible, rather than written, projects.

Listening and speaking skills are crucial today — and emphasized as part of the Common Core Standards. Students in the 11th and 12th grade are expected to deliver information in such a way that their peers can, among other requirements, understand the speaker’s logic and point.

Kathy Sholtys, a former elementary and middle school teacher, believes role-playing is one of the ways students can develop these skills. With this method, students take on different perspectives, while having another avenue to present their learning.

Currently a consultant based in Ithaca, NY, Sholtys says role-playing can be something as simple as students giving each other feedback on their work, or something more elaborate where they voice different opinions on a topic out loud.

Even before they open their mouths to speak, children have to design — in their head — a central idea and supporting points. Students build speaking ability — while those hearing their presentations strengthen listening competency as well.

“They can see if their opinions have merit even before they write them down,” she says. “And then you can have them switch opinions. This not only strengthens their language skills, but also their contextual understanding.”

Mooney, who holds a popular after-school club for hip-hop music and slam poetry at school, says students are also building critical literacy skills when writing their own music and poetry. He knows students must learn how to analyze, evaluate and discern the relevance of what they read. But those skills are also tested as they make choices when they write and create their own pieces.

“We’re looking at young people not just as consumers of media and text, but also as producers of new texts,” he says.

Putting these methods into play takes work, notes Sholtys. Students sometimes don’t know how to begin to express their thoughts aloud and may need some help learning how to express their thoughts critically out loud. This means teachers should plan on investing time before launching a role-playing or spoken word assignment — so they know what they hope students can learn and accomplish from the start.

“This requires more intention from the teacher,” she says. “Teachers need to think this through.”

County Prep's Med-Sci Students Win at HOSA's Regional Competition

The County Prep Medical Science students competed on January 27^th at the HOSA Regional competition at Passaic County Institute of Technology. Eight of our students brought home medals including:

Riddhi Patel – 8^th place – Job Seeking Skills

Jennifer Avila-Bravo – 5^th place – Job Seeking Skills

Carla Rubino – 4^th place – Job Seeking Skills

Kareem Fakry – 4^th place – Prepared Speaking

Salma Abedullah – 3^rd place – Prepared Speaking

Chaimaa Aknouche – 8^th place – Researched Persuasive Speaking

Sandy Habashi – 6^th place – CPR/First Aid

Subrina Suchona – 6^th place – CPR/First Aid

Congratulations to all!

County Prep Senior Gianella Brignoni Places as Semifinalist for Scholars Program

Gianella Brignoni, a Senior at County Prep High School, has been selected as a Semifinalist for the 2018 Coca-Cola Scholars Program. She was chosen among nearly 150,000 applicants for her "outstanding leadership, academic achievements, and dedication to...community." The County Prep community wishes her luck on the next stage.