Springfield Board of Ed Meeting Recognizes Student Achievements

The June 7 meeting of the Springfield Board of Education was quiet. Board President Irwin Sablosky noted that "it's a great thing when the longest part of a Board of Ed meeting is student recognition. We're proud of the quality of our Springfield students and staff."

Indeed, a good part of the meeting was devoted to Superintendent Davino's list of the various successes of Springfield students in the arts and in sports: 

Dayton students were recognized by the Paper Mill playhouse, with nominations in the theater's "Rising Star" awards program (called the New Jersey Tony Awards for students.) Among those nominated from the March 2010 Dayton production of "Little Shop of Horrors" are Matt Rottenberg, who received an honorable mention as Best Actor in a Leading Role and Michael Grey, nominated as Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The award ceremony takes place June 8. Musicians from the Dayton Band  under the direction of Ronald Slate were recognized for their performances during the Springfield Memorial Day commemorations.

Spring sports teams with major achievements included  Track for both the boys and girls teams. Notable male runners are Ben Castor, Andre Battle and John Hoehn and notable females include Jasmyn Congery, Alexa Williams, Kate Gallino, Blair Godfrey and Mai-Linh Nguyen. Also congratulated were the Dayton Girls Softball team under the direction of Coach Wendy Saladino; Boys Baseball coached by Mike Abate; and the Tennis and Golf teams, which also made exceptional showings this season.

In addition, Mr Davino reported that the Township HESPA scores news is good. The Math results stayed even with past scores, but there was a 9.6 percent improvement in the English Language Arts scores. Davino noted that this showed the impact of several programs currently in place. He said that the District's work to raise scores has been effective. Awareness among students has also been raised and that has contributed to the program's successes.

Other issues touched on during this short end-of-year meeting included the LED Billboard being donated to Dayton by the PTA, which needs further study and approval by the Township before being erected at the school; and that the new air conditioners installed at Florence M. Gaudineer Middle School are energy efficient and cost saving

A high point of the meeting was when Board President Irwin Sabolsky presented former President Jacqueline Shanes with a engraved crystal award in honor of her dedication to the Springfield Board of Education.

Important upcoming dates: June 21 – Middle School Awards; June 22 – Moving Up Day for Middle School; June 23 – Dayton Graduation

Attending the meeting were: Anthony Delia, Andrew Fekete, Brian Kass, Jacqueline Shanes, Scott Silverstein, Jeff Strumpf, Patricia Venezia, Steven Wolcott. District Superintendent Michael Davino, Assistant Superintendent Hillary Corburn, Business Administrator Matthew Clarke.