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Smoke Signals Newsletter
Kawameeh
Middle School
2014-2015
Hairspray Jr. proves to be another amazing
Kawameeh Middle School success!
By: Michael Valentin
On March 6 and 7th,
The musical was a
Kawameeh
Middle
School collaboration of students, alumni,
students and staff performed the and teachers. Some of the main
incredible musical HairSpray Jr. characters
included
Kelly
The audience was taken back to Higgins
(Penny),
Gabriel
the 60’s, during a time of Anurum (Seaweed), Abby Hagen
segregation and stereotypes. (Amber), Itati Gomez (Velma),
Tracy Turnblad, played by Matthews Possidonio (Corny
Sophia Silva, was a girl with big Collins), Ashley Phillips (Little
hair and an even bigger heart. Inez),
Kayla
Miller-People
She was determined to pursue her (Motormouth Mabel), and last
dream of dancing on a national but definitely not least, Ms.
TV show. When her dream came Maxwell (Edna),
Mrs. Hall
true, she not only fell in love (Prudy), and Mr. Leone (Wilbur).
with Link Larkin, portrayed by The cast also included many
Zachary Goncalves, but also other talented students and an
integrated an entire TV show. amazing pit orchestra. The
Hairspray Jr. was filled with success of this show was due to
energetic dance numbers and the dedication and hard work of
exceptional
music.
The everyone involved. I had the
auditorium was packed for both pleasure of being part of this
performances and the audience exceptional production. “YOU
was not disappointed!
CAN’T STOP THE BEAT!”
th
KAWAMEEH MIDDLE SCHOOL - 490 DAVID TERRACE UNION, NJ 07083 – (908) 851-6570 - www.twpunionschools.org/kawameeh
Smoke Signals
LOVE 146: This Year’s March Madness Charity
In February, Mr. Rob Morris,
who works for the charity
organization Love 146 gave a
presentation at KMS regarding
the worldwide problem of
human trafficking. Mr. Morris
told our student body that
trafficking can happen close
by, and mentioned a situation
that had just occurred in New
York City. This presentation
was the kick off to our March
Madness fundraisers, with all
funds going to support the
work
of
Love
146.
Mrs. Blanchet helped to design
a tee shirt that was made
available for sale to our
students and staff. Eighty tee
shirts were sold, at a profit of
$400 - our first initiative was a
big success! Next we had 3
bake sales, bringing in an
additional $170 and our Penny
War brought in an additional
$150. Next up is our water
balloon
challenge
and
culminating event, Dancing
with the Staff. For the water
balloon challenge, students will
have the chance to purchase a
water balloon for a $1 donation,
and will then get to toss the
balloon at Mr. Shaw and Mr.
Malanda. Did I mention that our
Principal and VP must stay
within a 4 foot square while the
students are trying to douse
them with water? On May 1st,
at 7PM, our first Dancing with
the Staff event will take place in
the gym. Seven teams of brave
faculty members and students
will be dancing their hearts out
to the music of Bruno Mars,
Michael Jackson, Maroon 5,
and Bon Jovi all to raise money
for our charity. Tickets are $5 you do NOT want to miss this!
National Junior Honors Society
By: Christina Moran
Throughout the duration of the
2014-2015 school year, the
National Junior Honors Society, or
NJHS, is always hard at work. As a
club, we contribute to our school
and community through various
activities. The NJHS club is only
for 8th grade students who meet the
required provisions, and is led by
Ms. Fasano. Starting in September,
the members for the 2014-2015
NJHS ran and voted for the
positions of the executive board.
From there, one of our first
activities as a club was volunteering
at the Caldwell Parsonage as guides
for the Four Centuries in a
Weekend event. In addition, every
Tuesday and Thursday morning the
NJHS holds peer tutoring sessions
for anyone who needs it.
When Thanksgiving time
rolled around, the NJHS was
already hard at work bringing in
food and monetary donations for
less
fortunate
families’
Thanksgiving dinners. Then, the
Tuesday before Thanksgiving
members of the club waited after
school to personally deliver the
donations to a few of the families.
A month later, the NJHS members
were donating toys for the Union
police department’s Santa in Blue;
collecting many toys for the great
cause. The club also held various
fundraisers which will continue in
the spring. As the school year
continues, so will all of the great
activities National Junior Honors
Society proudly accomplishes!
KAWAMEEH MIDDLE SCHOOL - 490 DAVID TERRACE UNION, NJ 07083 – (908) 851-6570 - www.twpunionschools.org/kawameeh
Smoke Signals
The 2015 Kawameeh Middle School Talent Show!
Page 2 of 4
The 2015 Talent Show was
held on Thursday, April
2nd. It was so exciting to
see all of the talent KMS has
and was such a fun day for
both teachers and students!
The show would not have
been what it was without the
following:
Performances were varied
from Irish dancing to comedy
to singing. The performers in
this year’s talent show were
our very own DJ MAV923
Michael Valentin, Bilal
Womack dancing to "Billie
Jean," Julia Pelesz playing the
piano and singing "Young and
Beautiful," Bethany Tamayo
dubstepping, The Three
Musketeers - Emily Pereira,
Emma Radler, and Marah
Inocencio, Jenna Ortiz singing
"Just a Little Bit of Your
Heart," Kayleigh Maloney
doing some Irish dancing,
Shanayah Sarabo singing
acoustic "On My Own,"
Julianna Gore and Isabel Pena
Emcees were Paige
Scheidemann and Meghan
Gelcius
Lights were James Langan,
Vincent Langan, Tiffany
Wilson, Brianna Pinto, and
Tommy Finnerty
Stage crew included Emma
Stedronsky, Sydnie Bogan,
and Jeanice Cenescar
singing "Everything has Changed,"
Alyssa Merritt singing "English
Love Affair," KTJK - the Step Team
including Kimora White, Tamia
Howell, Jessica Robinson, and
Kayla Miller-People, Charles
McCloud doing "Redemption Song,"
Nya Mitchell aka Laughing Nya
cracking us up with her jokes, Marah
Inocencio on the piano, Katya
Subbotina doing an interpretive
water dance, Klovesa Celestin
singing "Blank Space," Tori Vergel
dancing to "All of Me," Kayla
Miller-People singing "At Last,"
Emily Solana playing the ukulele
and singing "Thinking out Loud,"
Maria Barmina playing the piano
and singing "Hurt," and the band
Red Avenue performing "Hall of
Fame," the band members are Jenel
Garcia, Isabel Castro, Donovan
Samuels, Jordan Crowe and Jordan
Campbell. Congratulations to all of
you, you did a truly amazing job!!
Smoke Signals
Page 4 of 4
Club Crusaders: An overview of KMS Clubs &Activities
By: Toni Adesina
When I first got to Kawameeh, I wasn’t
really interested in any clubs. Then, after
enjoying French first cycle, I decided to
join French Club with a friend. The
advisor for French Club is Ms. Detjen.
We learned about the French culture
through food and other things. We
celebrated Mardi Gras with cupcakes that
had purple, green, and gold icing (Mardi
Gras colors). We had a cheese tasting
and other fun things. So if you want to
immerse yourself in the French culture,
join French club! Now, in seventh grade,
I am currently in five clubs: Math Club,
Chess Club, Art Club, Science Club, and
Debate Club.
The advisor for Math Club is
Mrs. Grillias in Room 122. Math Club
meets every other Monday from after
school to about 3:30. We have been
working on the Rubik’s Cube and having
competitions to see who was the fastest.
The advisor for Chess Club is also Mrs.
Grillias in Room 122. Chess club meets
every other Monday from after school to
about 3:30. You don’t need to know how
to play chess to join. In fact, when I first
got there, I played checkers! I’m sure
anyone in the club would be glad to teach
newcomers the fundamentals of chess. If
not, there’s always checkers!
The advisor for Art Club is Ms.
Kleiner in Room 101. Art Club meets
every Tuesday from 2:45 - 4:00.Was art
cycle not enough for you to explore your
creative side? Do you want a relaxing
Inside the TeePee:
PTA News
As we move along to the
second half of the 2014-2015 school
year KMS PTA is looking to you to help
us reach our goal of meeting our
budget. The PTA has been selling
snacks at the end of the school day on
Fridays and collects Box Tops
throughout the year to raise funds. We
held a 50/50 at each of the Holiday
Concerts as well as, the Kawameeh
Sportswear and Magnet Sale.
We have been able to sponsor
the 6th Grade Ice Cream Social and
we have hosted the KMS Staff Holiday
environment to paint your heart out, no
matter how much or little skill you have? If
yes, come join art club! You can paint,
draw, and color as you please without the
distractions from irksome students. It’s like
art class, but without a grade!
The advisor for Science Club is
Mrs. Stabler in Room 205. Science Club
meets every Thursday from 2:45 to around
3:30. We’ve done interesting things such as
magnets, a science version of monopoly,
and watching interesting and thoughtprovoking videos. So if you love science
and learning new things, you will love
Science Club!
The advisor for Debate Club is Ms.
DeBlasi in Room 13. Debate Club meets
from 2:45 to about 3:15. It is a newer club
that was formed by two of my seventh
grade peers. Do you often argue with
people? Do your rebuttals leave people
speechless? Whether yes or no, you should
join Debate Club. Each week a new topic is
chosen and everyone is asked to do a little
research to prepare. Do you like watching
debates more than being in them? No
problem! Just ask if you can be a judge!
I know being in five clubs is a lot,
but it is really fun! If you don’t want to go
overboard like me and join five clubs, just
join one! Kawameeh has a great variety of
clubs that are offered. Everyone has
something that they can enjoy. Because of
the wide selection, you would have a good
chance of finding some that you love! So go
on, club crusaders! Go find which clubs you
belong in!
Luncheon. We have an Ice Cream Social
planned for the 7th grade class in March.
We will soon be making a $1200.00
Scholarship Donation to the High School
PTA for two graduating seniors that
attended Kawameeh. We support our
Township schools Performing Arts Clubs
by purchasing Playbill advertisements.
Our largest expense each year goes to our
own 8th Graders, by providing graduation
portfolios for each 8th Grade Student,
donate to the yearbook committee and
purchase the prestigious Kawameeh Chief
Awards.
At this time, the Kawameeh PTA
Executive Board would like to offer two
fundraising options to each of our families.
Option 1) Make a monetary
donation of $20.00 OR Option 2)
Purchase a box of 48 Gertrude
Hawk Chocolate Candy Bars.
(Please contact the main office for
details or email Pamela Tullis at
pam_tullis@yahoo.com).
If you choose to make a
monetary donation, please fill out
the form available in the main office
and return with cash or a check
made payable to KMS PTA, place in
a sealed envelope marked: "KMS
PTA Donation" and return to your
child's homeroom teacher.
KAWAMEEH MIDDLE SCHOOL - 490 DAVID TERRACE UNION, NJ 07083 – (908) 851-6570 - www.twpunionschools.org/kawameeh