Monday, November 5, 2018
Saturday, October 27, 2018
Weehawken fencer brings home a 3rd national title
The Jersey Journal, 20-Jul-18
By Adrienne Romero
At just 13 years old, Lola Possick already knows what it's like to be the nation's best.
The Weehawken teenager won her third national fencing championship earlier this summer when she bested a field of 115 fencers from around the country at USA Fencing's 2018 National Championships and July Challenge in St. Louis.
"You're in the moment," she said. "It's really fun and you're just in the moment and there's so much adrenaline that you don't wanna think about anything else."
Lola secured her championship by placing first in the Youth 12 category (for fencers born between 2005 and 2008) at the tournament, but also competed in the Youth 14 and Cadet categories. She took home fifth place out of 163 fencers and third out of 151 fencers, in the Youth 12 and 14 categories, respectively, earning an "A" ranking in the process.
Fencers are given one of six letter classifications (A, B, C, D, E, U) with A being the highest and U (unclassified) being the lowest. Reaching "A" classification has been Lola's greatest accomplishment so far, she said.
"That was a really big deal," Lola said. "'A' is the best you can get so I'm really, really happy about that."
Along with earning the highest letter rating, she also walked away with the No. 1 spot out of the Youth 12 Woman's Saber. Saber is one of the three types of fencing; foil and epee being the other two.
However, it wasn't Lola who first picked up the sword in the family – it was her older brother, Owen.
"He was looking for a sport and he just tried everything. He tried swimming, he tried basketball, and then the fencing camp at my club in Jersey City, and he really liked it," she said. "Every Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday I had to go there. I'd watch him fence for like two hours."
When she was 7, she followed her in then-12-year-old brother's footsteps into the fencing world at Cobra Fencing Club in Downtown Jersey City. She brought home her first national championship in 2015 at just 10 years old under former Olympian Steve Kaplan.
Lola recalled how "unexpected" capturing her first national title was because she had just turned 10 and was a year younger than the oldest fencers at the competition.
"I was aiming to get third and then I just happened to make it to the finals," she said. "I actually had to compete against my teammate and then I (won) 10-9. So that was very, very close. That was really fun."
She then successfully defended her trophy at the Summer National Championships in Dallas in 2016.
The Hudson County native now trains at the Advance Fencing and Fitness Academy in Garwood under Jerome Guth, who is a French national sabre champion as well as a former Penn State University and Olympic qualifiers coach.
During the summer, the 13-year-old dedicates much of her time to training camps, preparing for her next challenge. However, it's not the training or winning that captures Lola's heart the most – it's traveling and making new friends that she enjoys most about fencing.
"You get to travel so much and you meet lots of new people, you just kind of get connected...," she said. "Now, I just kind of know everyone, so we all kind of know each other."
She now has her sights set on cracking the Top 20 rankings in the 16-and-under division, which would qualify her to participate in international competition. She's currently ranked No. 22.
"That would be really exciting because I've never gone outside the country for a tournament," she said. "I've gone outside the country for a training camp – I've gone to Italy and Spain and that was really, really fun."
Monday, June 11, 2018
Weehawken High School Prom Cut Short After Yacht Collision in Hoboken
The Jersey Journal, 24-May-18
No serious injuries were reported after a dinner cruise yacht with dozens of promgoers aboard bumped a smaller unoccupied boat from behind Thursday night at a Hudson River pier in Hoboken, according to officials and witnesses at the scene.
Weehawken Superintendent of Schools Robert Zywicki posted on Twitter that the high school's senior prom was taking place on the Cornucopia Destiny, a 111-foot yacht, which he says was still docked before the crash into the smaller yacht, the Cornucopia Sundancer, a 95-foot yacht.
He said staff and administrators were on board with the students, and they were being bused to the Weehawken Elks Lodge following the crash. All were checked by EMS and there were no injuries, he said.
No word on if their prom will be rescheduled.
A video posted on Twitter shows the larger yacht slamming into the back of the other yacht docked at the 14th Street Pier. The smaller yacht then slams into the pier, knocking down a lamppost.
The Hoboken Fire Department said on Twitter that no injuries were reported, but Hoboken police, Hoboken EMS, and New Jersey State Police were on the scene.
Saturday, June 9, 2018
Thursday, June 7, 2018
Weehawken Schools Superintendent Earns 'Thought Leader' Honor
The Jersey Journal, 23-May-18
By Ron Zeitlinger
Weehawken schools superintendent Robert R. Zywicki has been named a "District Thought Leader" by Future Ready Schools (FRS), the first superintendent from New Jersey to earn the distinction.
The honor, which installs Zywicki as a member of the FRS Advisory Team, is conferred on educators who have demonstrated expertise and proven track record of implementing digital learning practices in their school districts.
"A recognition like this is indicative of the forward progress the Weehawken Township School District is making," Weehawken Board of Education President Richard Barsa said in a statement.
Zywicki is just one of 16 superintendents across the country to earn the recognition.
Future Ready Schools is a non-profit organization dedicated to maximizing student-centered learning opportunities and helping school districts leverage technology to prepare students for college and career.
As a member of the FRS Advisory Team, Zywicki said he "hopes to help promote the adoption of the Future Ready Framework in other districts, so they too can leverage technology to meet the needs of all learners."
The Weehawken school district has also been named an "Innovative District" by the International Center for Leadership in Education for the second year in a row, one of only 10 districts nationwide so named this year. The International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE) is an educational research center that studies the nation's most rapidly improving schools and districts.
In November 2017, Weehawken was one of only three districts in New Jersey to have all their schools certified as Future Ready by NJIT and the New Jersey School Board's Association.
In November 2017, Weehawken was one of only three districts in New Jersey to have all their schools certified as Future Ready by NJIT and the New Jersey School Board's Association.
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Who's running for school board in Weehawken?
Three incumbents battle for seats against two challengers
Hudson Reporter, 1-Apr-18
by Hannington Dia
The Weehawken Board of Education will hold its annual elections on April 17. Three incumbents are running to keep their three-year spots on the nine-person board. They are up against two challengers this year.
The incumbents include Board President Richard Barsa and board members Jennifer Bolcar and Meg Carson. Their challengers are Monika Sikand and Elizabeth Chan.
Mayor Richard Turner is supporting the three incumbents, he said. "They’ve done a fantastic job, the whole board.”
Richard Barsa
Board President Richard Barsa is running for his 10th term. A Weehawken High School graduate, as is his son, Barsa is running again because he wants to help the district continue its upward trends.
“Our kids have coding and computer science in every school,” Barsa said. “We have made tremendous progress.” Though he is happy with the district's technological advancements, Barsa also feels it could still do better in giving students skills to become contenders in the digital age.
“Our children need to master 'hard and soft skills' so that they can connect and compete in a dynamic global economy,” Barsa said. “The days of memorizing facts and 'doing school' to just pass a test are over.”
To that end, the district has introduced career academies where graduates work on a career-focused set of courses, he said.
Jennifer Bolcar
Jennifer Bolcar will be running for her first official term this year. She was appointed to a vacancy on the board last year. She has children in the Daniel Webster and Theodore Roosevelt schools.
“I am excited about the direction our schools are taking,” Bolcar said. “I want to be a part of the continued growth and transformation.”
Bolcar was also enthusiastic about the district's blended learning program and student strides. “Our AP participation is skyrocketing and our children are becoming more engaged,” she said. “I think it is important to keep this momentum going.”
Bolcar does see a few issues.
“Adjusting to the increased use of technology has been a learning curve for some of our students and parents,” she said. Today, “as a parent, reviewing your child's progress might mean sitting down at your laptop or smartphone now, as opposed to reviewing paper worksheets.”
But though some students and parents aren't entirely tech savvy yet, Bolcar believes their growing pains are necessary.
Meg Carson
Like Bolcar, Carson was also appointed to the board through a vacancy, so this will be her first time running. She has a son in the sixth grade and a daughter in third grade at the Roosevelt School.
She has been heavily involved with the PTA and helped run activities with students such as gardening. Carson is an educator at New York's Museum of Natural History and a science and music teacher at Kaplan Co-Operative Preschool in Hoboken.
“Most of my adult life has been spent working with children so it made sense for me to work with my local school board,” Carson said.
As her colleagues did, Carson lauded the schools' improvements, and just feels that there's more room for further improvements.
Monika Sikand
A Weehawken resident since 2005, Monika Sikand is confident in the district. “If the district had irreconcilable weaknesses I would not be sending my kids to Weehawken schools,” she said.
So why is Sikand running to replace one of the three incumbents? She, like them, wants to improve the schools by bringing her “strengths, skills, and our community’s voice” to the board. And while she applauds what the district has done, she has some ideas of how to build on that, if elected.
“Perhaps, we need to take a look at the guidelines for class size and current student–teacher ratio in the classrooms,” she said.
She also wants to see expanded summer internship opportunities and strengthened career and college guidance counseling for high school students.
Sikand also feels that the evaluation system for programs, events and teachers' professional development could be strengthened.
As Weehawken High School has seventh and eighth grade students, she would like to evaluate this setup to see if it is optimal for those students.
Sikand is an assistant professor at the City University of New York (CUNY), as well as an adjunct faculty at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken.
“My own experiences in education and service to my college in CUNY can help me better understand the insider challenges in administration and make improvements utilizing our strengths,” she said.
A mother to a Pre-K student and second grade kids in the district, Sikand also volunteers much of her time to after school activities at Daniel Webster School.
She is a native of India and immigrated to this country in 2005, the same year she moved to Weehawken.
Elizabeth Chan
Local designer Elizabeth Chan—the second challenger to the incumbents—would like to see better communication between students, teachers, and parents.
Chan, who has one daughter at Daniel Webster, and another seven-month old daughter, said she would push for a student mentorship program if elected.
“Some of these kids don't know what they want to do with their lives moving forward,” she said. Chan would also be interested in a food education program to bring awareness about healthy eating. “I'm a big advocate for healthy, clean living,” she said. “It would be great to see about making our own food.” The high school is working to place a greenhouse atop its roof, which helps, she said.
Weehawken schools today
The district has three schools. Daniel Webster serves pre-K to second grade; the Theodore Roosevelt School serves grades 3-6; and Weehawken High School serves grades 7-12. It is also working to acquire the Woodrow Wilson School, which was recently returned to Weehawken after a 19-year shared services agreement with Union City.
Since 2016, the Weehawken School District has become a 1:1 district, meaning every student has access to a Google Chromebook and blended learning programs, mixing traditional teaching with educational apps.
With this in place, Future Ready Schools-New Jersey designated the district as “future ready” last October.
Last year, the district was also named an “Innovative District” by the International Center for Leadership in Education.
That same year, data site Niche ranked Weehawken schools the best in Hudson County, 79th in the state, and in the top 14 percent nationally.
The improvements have shown in student performances. In 2017, the district achieved a 98 percent graduation rate, a 15 percent increase since 2015, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Zywicki.
The district's achievements were accomplished on a tight school budget-$26.5 million for the 2016-17 school year. The total budget is $28 million for the 2017-18 year.
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