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Earth Day Resources

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Earth Day is an annual event held on April 22nd to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, Earth Day now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org and countless other organizations in engaging 1 billion people in more than 193 countries.  The theme of Earth Day 2023 is Invest in Our Planet , focused on engaging governments, institutions, businesses, and individuals to do their part. New Jersey has a multi-faceted plan to address and mitigate the impacts of climate change, which includes the implementation of educational initiatives.  CHS students were the first students to ever commemorate Earth Day in the entire country and I am sure many of our students today would be interested in this topic today.  New Jersey became the first state in the nation to incorporate climate change education across its K-12 learning standards in June 2020. Climate change will have the greatest impact on the youngest generat...
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April (2023) is National Poetry Appreciation Month!

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  For over 20 years, libraries, schools, and poets have celebrated April as  National Poetry Month . This post will provide you with great resources that you can use in your classes. We hope they can help instill the love of poetry in our students! Poets.org  This is one of the best sites. There you can download  this year’s poster , participate in  Poem in Your Pocket Day  (April 27), explore how the  Dear Poet project  appeals to students, sign up to read a  Poem-a-Day  and check out  30 more ways to celebrate . PBS NewsHour & Poetry . The Newshour has a great  Poetry Series  which creates modern poets for students with lessons and videos.  NCTE Poetry Page . The NCTE's  Read.Think.Write.  website has many resources for teachers and connections to additional resources. NYT Learning Blog's  " 28 Ways to Teach and Learn About Poetry With The New York Times ."   Try a Golden Shove...
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Ramadan Resources

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Thank you Central Office for the following resources! This month Muslims from around the world are celebrating Ramadan.  Ramadan is the month that marks when the first verses of the Quran were revealed to Prophet Muhammad. During this month, Muslims take part in many activities such as nightly prayer, charity, community and fasting.  Observance of Ramadan is one of the 5 Pillars of Islam.  We wish all of our students, staff and community a Ramadan Mubarak.  On April 21, Muslims will celebrate Eid al Fitr.  Eid al Fitr translates into “ the festival of the breaking of the fast” (when the new moon is sighted) where families and friends celebrate the end of Ramadan.   During the time of Ramadan Muslim students and staff may be fasting.  Younger students may be fasting for part or all of the day due to their age.   The fasting time begins at dawn and ends at sunset.  Please be sure to offer accommodations for students during this time. ...
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Students & their Phones

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In the next few weeks, we will have completed our STEM Department's cell phone pilot with students. The students had to put their phones in a plastic sleeve and I can't wait to look through the student survey results to see what they thought about the pilot and whether it helped lessen their need to check their phones every minute or so.  We will provide an update with those results. In the meantime, check out this thoughtful piece by Common Sense Media contributor, Ms. Christine Elgersma Every generation faces its own challenges—and the ones left behind by those before it. Because the challenges are always different, it's impossible to parse out which group of young people has had it "the hardest." But it's undeniable that the students sitting at desks right now face a fractured, global political landscape as well as the fallout from a pandemic. That's not to mention climate change, soaring costs of college tuition, a mental health crisis, impossibly high...
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Sexual Assault Awareness Month

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April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month . This has been an important focus for us at Columbia. Last summer our District taskforce updated the BOE policy and collected important resources for staff and administrators (see the list below).  In addition, we made sure to highlight our Title IX process in this year's Student/Family Handbook (page 8). Today, we also will showcase the great work of Learning for Justice in this field.  Center Survivors: A Resource for Families and Educators in Responding to Sexual Violence When a young person experiences sexual assault, a survivor-centered approach—from parents, caregivers, educators and everyone involved in the survivor’s life—is essential. Effective communication is critical to the well-being of young survivors, but because of restrictive laws and policies, many K-12 students are not receiving sex education that includes important lessons on consent, personal boundaries and sexual violence. This  new Learning for Justice arti...
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