Congratulations to Ms. Kiernan (Teacher of the Year) and Mrs. Maier (Educational Services Professional of the Year) on being recognized for the extraordinary impacts they have at John Hill School and within the lives of the students they serve! Both were nominated through New Jersey's Governor's Educators of the Year Program, and we could not imagine two better representatives of our school!

Shawn Murray was crowned John Hill School's GeoBee champion, while Kashir Jahid placed second and Austin Hudak took third place. The students were questioned on their knowledge related to geography, cultures, physical features and earth science. Shawn will now move on to compete at the statewide level to see if he can advance to the National GeoBee Finals!

Mrs. Barone's sixth grade classes held a debate between Sparta and Athens. The students were asked to research topics on allies, military strength, values, education and the role of women in their civilizations. The students had opening statements by an individual from each side for two minutes. After the opening statements, members from each team were allowed to argue their points on why their empire was superior over the other.

This week in music class, 5th grade students continued to progress in their study of the ukulele. It has been a fun and engaging challenge as they learn how to tune the strings and place their fingers on the correct frets and strings to create different chords.

In addition, exciting things are happening in 3rd grade music! This week, students received their white belts in "Recorder Karate." Every student has worked diligently on their own and in small groups to accomplish this goal. Since they have completed the requirements for white belt, they are now in full pursuit to attain their yellow belt!