March 13, 2026

Around the School

Ode to Joy: Student Musicians Shine Together

Special thanks to our amazing Orchestra teachers, pictured above from left to right, Janelle King (GWMS), Amanda Zlotkin (BFMS), Alina Lee (Elementary), and Kristi Geronimo (RHS).

On Wednesday evening, March 11th, Ridgewood Public Schools held its first-ever "District Orchestra Concert" at GWMS, bringing together students from 5th through 12th grade for an unforgettable night of music. Nearly 550 students participated, showcasing their talents individually by grade level before joining together in a spectacular finale.

The concert culminated with the “Ode to Joy Festival”, where all students performed as one ensemble, a moving and joyful display of collaboration and dedication. Earlier in the program, different grade levels took the stage, giving the audience a chance to celebrate the growth and achievements of young musicians from 5th grade through high school seniors.

For those who missed the live performance, or who want to share it with friends and family, the full concert is available to re-watch on YouTube: 2026 District Orchestra Concert.

It was a remarkable evening that highlighted the talent, teamwork, and spirit of our district’s young musicians, setting a high bar for future district-wide music events.

Bergen County Unsung Hero

Emilia Kelly was recognized on March 4th as Ridgewood High School’s Unsung Hero by the Bergen County School Boards Association (BCSBA) in partnership with the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA). This recognition honors students whose quiet contributions make a meaningful difference in their school communities.

Emilia was nominated collaboratively by the School Counseling Department and Administration for the compassion, kindness, and steady support she shows to others. She is a consistently positive presence at RHS, always willing to encourage classmates, care for others, and celebrate the successes of those around her. Outside of school, Emilia also serves on the Mount Sinai Hospital Youth Advisory Council, where she meets with hospital staff to share student perspectives and help improve the experiences of patients and families.

In the Classroom

Regeneron Scientist Visits RHS

Dr. Jason Simon, Director of Precision Medicine at Regeneron, visited the students of Mrs. Joseph's Genetics & Biotechnology class in early March. Dr. Simon explained his work in the field of Pharmacogenomics and described the pathway of his education, experience and career, highlighting his research in using genetic profiles to personalize medical treatment and therapies.

AP Environmental Science Students Test Their Cars
for Carbon Dioxide Emissions

AP Environmental Science students have been learning about air pollution and the different pollutants that come out of the exhaust of gas-powered vehicles. Using indicator solutions (and their own cars), they measured the amount of carbon dioxide being released from tailpipes of different cars. Generally, newer, smaller, and more recently-serviced cars released lower amounts of carbon dioxide, contributing less to global climate change. And the students enjoyed getting to park closer to the school building!

Club Happenings

Click Here for the Student Clubs Page!

RHS DECA Excels at State Competition

Last week 135 RHS DECA students competed in the prestigious New Jersey DECA Career Development Conference (NJ CDC) in Atlantic City from March 3rd to March 5th. Students showcased their skills in a wide range of events, from impromptu role plays and prepared selling presentations to extensive projects such as Integrated Marketing Campaign pitch decks, Entrepreneurial pitch decks, and 20-page research papers in areas like Project Management, Operations Research, and Entrepreneurship. The competition structure included a preliminary round, where students were “flighted,” and only the top performers in each flight advanced to the finalist round. In the finalist round, participants either presented their project again or completed a new role play or sales presentation. From there, the top eight students or teams in pitch decks, 20-page papers, and prepared selling events—or the top nine in impromptu role plays—qualify to attend the International Career Development Conference (ICDC), taking place this year in Atlanta, Georgia, from April 24th–29th. At the conclusion of the preliminary rounds, students learned whether they advanced to the finalist round. On Wednesday night, the chapter gathered for the mini-award session, which recognized students for top scores on written exams and judge evaluations, even if they did not advance to finals. (Note: Events without testing, such as 20-page papers and Entrepreneurship pitch decks, did not receive mini awards.)

We are proud to report that RHS DECA had an exceptional week. Beyond awards, every chapter member demonstrated dedication, teamwork, and support for their peers throughout the competition. Some highlights from the trip include:

School Based Enterprise Gold Recertification Awards: Alexa Katsaros, Caroline Kiernan, and Taline Sarajian worked collaboratively to complete two 25-page recertification manuals for the RHS Maroon Mart—one covering food operations, the other retail. These Gold-level manuals qualify the chapter and these students to compete in the School Based Enterprise competition at ICDC.
State Officer Achievement: Alexa Katsaros, current NJ DECA Vice President of Media, ran for Northern Region Vice President and won her campaign! She will transition to her new role in the coming month.

We also want to congratulate all students for their hard work and perseverance. Every participant contributed to RHS DECA’s continued legacy of excellence, whether competing, presenting, or supporting their teammates. RHS DECA’s success this past weekend is a testament to the commitment of our students and advisors—an inspiring example of leadership, creativity, and teamwork in action.

The full list of award winners and qualifiers for ICDC is extensive, reflecting the talent and dedication of our students, and can be found here:

Accounting Applications Series (Impromptu Role Play)

Anoushka Chakraborty, Event Finalist

Automotive Services Marketing (Impromptu Role Play)

Mia Jordon, Mini Award Winner Role Play 2, Event Finalist

Business Finance Series (Impromptu Role Play)

Cheng Ze Liang, Mini Award Winner Role Play 2, Event Finalist *3rd Place Overall*

Buying & Merchandising Operations Research Event (20 Page Paper)

Emily Cho & Katherine Cho, Event Finalists *8th Place*

Anna Dickson & Christina Weispfenning, Event Finalists *4th Place Overall*

Entrepreneurship Business Growth Plan (20 Page Paper)

Zach Lieberman, Event Finalist *7th Place Overall*

Entrepreneurship Franchise Business Plan (20 Page Paper)

Rhea Jain, Deetya Pamuluri, Sanvi Tejwaney, Event Finalists *7th Place Overall*

Entrepreneurship Independent Business Plan (20 Page Paper)

Sophia Oliver, Event Finalist *2nd Place Overall*

Finance Operations Research Event (20 Page Paper)

S M Ainan Haider & Arjun Luthra, Event Finalists *6th Place Overall*

Philus Fan, Cheng Ze Liang, & Kaan Parlak, Event Finalists *4th Place Overall*

Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling (Prepared Selling Event)

Kyra Gerena, Mini Award Winner Presentation

Ava Pasongrica, Event Finalist

Hospitality & Tourism Team Decision Making (Impromptu Role Play)

Anaya Rajput & Sanah Sehgal, Event Finalists *1st Place Overall*

Hospitality & Tourism Operations Research (20 Page Paper)

Raphaella Bravo & Katherine Schmitt, Event Finalists *6th Place Overall*

Hotel and Lodging Management Series (Impromptu Role Play)

Alexa Katsaros, Mini Award Winner Role Play 2, Event Finalist *3rd Place Overall*

Brendan Mason, Event Finalist *9th Place Overall*

Human Resources Management Series (Impromptu Role Play)

Michael Katz, Mini Award Winner Role Play 2

Arohi Koirala, Mini Award Winner Role Play 1

Emily Kalna, Mini Award Winner Role Play 1, Mini Award Winner Role Play 2, Event Finalist *9th Place Overall*

International Business Plan (20 Page Paper)

Aadya Pandita & Radha Patel, Event Finalists

Guari Gupta, Event Finalist *2nd Place Overall*

Integrated Marketing Campaign - Event (Pitch Deck Event)

Avery Goldsmith & Anika Mukkatira, Mini Award Winner Presentation, Event Finalists

Integrated Marketing Campaign- Product (Pitch Deck Event)

Gabrielle Chorba & Francesca Tiziani, Mini Award Winner Presentation, Event Finalists *8th Place Overall*

Integrated Marketing Campaign - Service (Pitch Deck Event)

Liam Alexander, Michael Lindenberg, & Junmo Yang, Event Finalists *2nd Place Overall*

Marketing Communications Series (Impromptu Role Play)

Jamie Yang, Mini Award Winner Role Play 1

Personal Financial Literacy (Impromptu Role Play)

Alexander Guemeryl, Event Finalist *4th Place Overall*

Principles of Finance (Impromptu Role Play)

Siddharth Bompali, Event Finalist *5th Place Overall*

Professional Selling Event (Prepared Selling Event)

Aiden Dunn, Mini Award Winner Presentation, Event Finalist *7th Place Overall*

Elisabeth Winnert, Event Finalist

Project Management Business Solutions (20 Page Paper)

Mason Cho, Event Finalist

Anoushka Chakraborty & Jamie Yang, Event Finalists *2nd Place Overall*

Project Management Community Awareness (20 Page Paper)

Arohi Koirala & Riley Lubkemann, Event Finalists *8th Place Overall*

Amelia Goldberg, Mia Jordon, & Whitney Murrary, Event Finalists *3rd Place Overall*

Project Management Career Development (20 Page Paper)

Logan Kush, Julia Powell & Riley Ragains, Event Finalists

Derek Turso, Event Finalist *6th Place Overall*

Project Management Community Giving (20 Page Paper)

Marcus Flusche & Jonathan Schildkraut, Event Finalists

Project Management Financial Literacy (20 Page Paper)

Emily Kalna, Matias Levani, & Ava Pasongrica, Event Finalists *5th Place Overall*

Project Management Sales Project (20 Page Paper)

Shuo Chen, Grace Lee, Milia Macdonald, Event Finalists *5th Place Overall*

Restaurant and Food Services Management (Impromptu Role Play)

Riley Lubkemann, Mini Award Winner Role Play 1

Retail Merchandising Series (Impromptu Role Play)

Grace Freeborn, Event Finalist *6th Place Overall*

Sports & Entertainment Marketing (Impromptu Role Play)

Shea Letscher, Mini Award Winner Role Play 1, Event Finalist *9th Place Overall*

Sports & Entertainment Marketing Operations Research (20 Page Paper)

Maxwell Park, Svar Patel, Ilhan Rasheed, Event Finalists

Lauren (Sol) Tepper, Event Finalist *6th Place Overall*

Project Management Community Giving (20 Page Paper)

Scarlet Fitzpatrick & Kyra Gerena, Event Finalists *7th Place Overall*

Club Highlights from Super Science Saturday

Green Club

The Green Club continued its streak of presenting at Super Science Saturday! Club members presented on wildflower meadows, invasive and native species of Ridgewood, and hydroponics. They displayed examples of common invasive species, gave away wildflower seeds for visitors to plant on their own, and warded off children trying to steal Jolly Ranchers. They enjoyed having lots of productive discussions with the visiting public.

Applied Engineering Club

Team Speech flow along with Applied Engineering Club Mentor Ms. Lebowski
presenting at Super Science Saturday.

Unified Young Readers: Same but Different

Unified Sports Club members participated in a Unified Young Readers activity where they read the book Same, Same but Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki‑Shaw. After reading, students worked with a peer to create a Venn diagram comparing their hobbies and interests. They discussed what made them different and what they had in common, helping them learn more about each other and build friendships.

RHS High Times New Winter Articles

Here are our winter edition articles! Please make sure to check them out on our website: https://www.rhshightimes.com/ and follow us on instagram at rhshightimes!