Paulsen donated the rights to name a character in Crush at a fundraising auction for Gilda’s Club of New York City. The winner was Betsy Buell, a volunteer who serves as librarian at St. Philip’s Academy in Newark, a school that raises money to subsidize the tuition for urban students. Betsy chose the last name Tucker to honor her mother and left the first name up to her students at the school. Unanimously, they chose “JC” to memorialize St. Philip’s beloved chef who was killed the year before by a hit-and-run driver as he crossed the street.

Moved by Betsy’s and her students’ tributes, Paulsen ended up creating two characters. One is Betsy Putnam (her maiden name) and the other is JC Tucker. Paulsen went further, dedicating the entire book to the Students of St. Philip’s Academy, Betsy Buell and Gilda’s Club of New York City.

Paulsen’s editor Wendy Lamb had the signed dedication page sent over as a surprise to St. Philip’s Academy, where it now hangs in the library.

Crush (Wendy Lamb Books) is on sale starting May 8th 2012.

Fudge Brownies

Health benefits: anti-cancer, heart healthy, boosts metabolism, improves mood

Makes 16 two-inch brownies

Ingredients
Olive oil spray for pan
2/3 cup mild honey, such as clover or orange blossom
1/3 cup natural, unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup white whole-wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large egg, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-inch square pan with olive oil. Set aside.

2. Place honey in a large glass measuring cup. Microwave on high until honey is runny and just bubbling, 45-60 seconds. Add cocoa and stir with a fork until combined. Let cool to room temperature.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, place flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk until combined.

4. In a large bowl, combine applesauce, oil, egg and vanilla. Whisk together until blended. Add honey-cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture to the liquid mixture and stir until no traces of flour remain. Scrape batter into the prepared pan.

5. Bake until surface looks dry around the edges of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, about 25 minutes. Do not overbake.

6. Place pan on a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing into 16 squares. (Store brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

Calories: 86.2
Fat: 2.2 g
Protein: 1.3 g
Carbohydrates: 16.0 g
Sodium: 63.6 mg

You may have heard that we are making our own coral reef at St. Philip’s! As a few of our grades learn more about the ocean and coral reefs in their science classes, we are coming together as a community to bring that learning to life and crochet our own coral reef.

Coral Reef Intro

There are three easy ways you can participate:

·         Donate your abandoned yarn We have “A Call to Yarn” out on our Facebook page, we are seeking donations of yarn (old and new) that we can convert into beautiful coral

·         Start crocheting To crochet a piece of coral, you start with a chain of about 10 stitches and then build on it with a single crochet. Every 4 stitches you want to increase by one stitch. Our students created an instructional video to explain the process, you can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOAVug1qG8w

If you would like more support, additional instructions for beginner crocheters can be found here: http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Crochet

Tips for left-handed crocheters can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDM6xF0kSeM

And here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7bB2-2k7wk

·         Attend our virtual scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef at the end of January More information about how to register will be available after Winter Break

Some of the things we’re learning about coral include:

In addition to adding beauty to our planet, coral reefs are the home of 25% of all marine life. They have been used to create bone grafts and treat cancer, ulcers and cardiovascular diseases.

Coral reefs are in crisis. If the current rate of destruction continues, 70% of all coral reefs will be destroyed by 2050.

Dear Parents and Friends of St. Philip’s,

I am delighted to announce that work was begun to install a traffic light in front of the school.  We are both thrilled and deeply thankful for the remarkable responsiveness of the County of Essex and for the leadership of our County Executive, Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr., in obtaining a remarkably swift approval of the light and in the expedition and execution of the project. The speed in which human capital and resources were marshaled on our behalf is almost unheard of in any such undertaking, either public or private. I want to publicly thank County Executive DiVincenzo for the undivided attention he gave us, for his ability to organize and lead the various public organizations that were required to move the project forward and for his commitment to the citizens of Essex County.

In the midst of what has been a difficult episode in the life of our community, the County of Essex has clearly demonstrated that government can put the interest of the people first and that it’s overriding concern is the safety and welfare of the citizens. I will remain forever grateful to the County Executive’s Office

I will be sure to keep you abreast of the project as it continues to develop. Our community has just received a truly important and transforming holiday gift. Let us be thankful.

Sincerely,

Miguel J. Brito

Head of School

The growing structure in our science lab

the seeds “planted” on the fabric

in just hours, they were already starting to grow!

Dear Friends,

As we return to St. Philip’s, I find myself reflecting on my own time as a young student. In the midst of a project to build a mammoth addition to its grammar school, my hometown made a decision to preserve one of the classrooms from the original nineteenth century structure known as “Center School”. It turned out to be my first grade classroom. Visiting the room for the first time as an adult, I was stunned how quickly I returned to September, 1954. The smell of mahogany still permeated the air and I immediately recognized my desk. This was not difficult, because both the chairs and the desks remained bolted to the floor with shiny brass screws. My desk was the second one in the first row. This was easy to determine because we sat in alphabetical order, mine being in back of Beverly Andrews and in front of Alicia Crabbe. Mrs. Morgan’s formidable desk remained centered in front of the blackboard and the table which supported a cage for our class pet, a monkey, was still in place.

As I saw the desks and inkwells we used for penmanship lessons, I was struck by the complete absence of technology. Still, I immediately recalled what a strong experiential learning environment Mrs. Morgan had created for us. I vividly remember churning butter in class and spreading it on Saltine crackers. I remember sharing the room with different creatures, “Pollywogs” which ended up as frogs, and a dizzying variety of lizards, snakes, birds, and butterflies.  I also remember how much Mrs. Morgan encouraged us to learn.  She would constantly remind us that we would ”never get anywhere in the modern world without the three R’s – reading, writing, and arithmetic!”. With great pride we developed our vocabulary, our paragraph skills, and our mathematical expertise.  She motivated us to work with dignity and delight as citizens and students of the greatest society known to man. It was always clear that our personal effort was a most important contribution to an astonishing, fascinating world replete with buttered Saltines, pollywogs, and pet monkeys

America is at the beginning of a real revolution in how its’ schools teach and how children learn. As I think of my role in this revolution, I return to two questions. The first: How do you preserve what is good and vital about the past, while incorporating all that is new and appropriate? In a school filled with motivating and creative teachers like Mrs. Morgan, how do we support them to build on their own skills and the lessons of the past, while preparing a new generation for different challenges and pathways to success. Exploring this question becomes particularly difficult in a society where you are either right or wrong and one in which everyone takes sides. I am therefore brought to my second question: How do you make real change in institutions that are famous for resisting change? I have been struck in conversations with educators this summer by the great divide that exists between us on a plethora of issues.  Instead of having constructive, moderate, and productive conversations, we seem clutch emotionally to what is “comfortable” for us. I guess some of us like paper books, while some of us believe we can move towards a paperless society. It is not about personal preferences though, it is about young people adapting to a new future.

St. Philip’s Academy may have more technology and more experiential learning opportunities available than most schools in the country, but it does not mean we are turning our back on the past. I will never cease to believe that the three R’s are the most important things we can give our children. Yet, I know the experiential learning Mrs. Morgan provided so many years ago, clearly demonstrated the value of and hardened our commitment to the three R’s.   In the 21^st century, we must embrace the technologies and pedagogies of our time to enhance and grow the skillbuilding that is so necessary for our children.

As I return from my summer vacation, I am again returning to a physical plant and an educational program that have been “retooled” for excellence. Without question we have made additional gains in technology, an area where we were already advanced. For the 2010-2011 school year, we will have five full classroom technology environments, including one in the media center, two portable systems, and a completely revamped main computer room. I addition, the “Twenty-First Century Learning Center” will offer a sophisticated and fully integrated suite of technologies. Those include two SMART Boards, an Epson Interactive Board, a 42 inch LCD monitor, document cameras, video conferencing, a learner response system, 24 HP Touch Smart Notebooks and Steelcase Node desks designed to instantly switch from one learning mode to another. September will also see every classroom, including the music and art rooms, with a SMART Board. This summer, a faculty team devoted itself to developing content lessons using the new technologies, while another worked on an orientation and professional development plan to ensure all teachers have the skills to best use the new technologies.

While students will continue to be exposed to new technologies they will also use their hands to build and create things, using ancient “technologies”. We have employed a “Special Project Designer” who will help students present their learning and ideas in a variety of ways. Using  endless mediums – Chinese bookbinding and picture books, calligraphy, Kumihimo braiding, narrative embroidery, knitting, weaving, and pop-up story books, to name a few. Judith Symonds, who has been featured in the New York Times and on the CBS Evening News will lead the new programming.  If students have an idea, given the opportunity and a bit of guidance they can create something meaningful around it. In a kinetic virtual world of e-mail, television, and computer games, young people are offered a much needed, tranquil and natural environment, much like that which is offered atop our rooftop gardens.

While St. Philip’s remains as committed to the 3Rs as Mrs. Morgan, we see them in a new relationship which schools did not contend with in the 1950’s. The 4Cs –creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking are how our children will interpret and interact with the world and they must be the end result of mastering the 3Rs. This summer, we have had two committees, one studying our mathematics curriculum and the other our English curriculum. The key questions are: How do we determine if we are meeting every learning objective for each child? What does mastery of these skills look like in today’s world? And how will we know when our students have attained it? I believe the 4 C’s can serve us not just as an end result,  but also as an opportunity to create a varied learning environment in which each child and teacher can achieve the needed objectives, finding the style that suits them best and adapting when needed. Modern technology allows us unprecedented opportunities to collect and analyze data whether it be for an individual student or an entire class. Assessment then becomes ongoing and organic. Every single response or piece of work can be collected and analyzed, rather than relying on benchmark assessments.

Through both old and new technologies we will demonstrate to our students how breathtaking and inspiring their world is and by using these technologies, we will increase our ability to measure and assess student learning. Differentiating instruction, lessons and experiences for our children, will allow each student to learn in a style, a medium, and tempo which bests suits them. Such a personalized education enables each student to take pride in their efforts, witness positive growth in their work and gain affirmative results from their contributions to our “astonishing, fascinating world.” This has always been about children. To provide each student with a customized learning environment is no easy challenge, but if we are to maintain our leadership of the world of nations, it is an American imperative.

Sincerely,

Miguel J. Brito, Head of School

On the rooftop garden at St. Philip’s Academy, a private school in Newark, students tend plots of everything from broccoli and beets to sweet corn and spaghetti squash.

But since August they have also been helping to farm arugula, chervil, fun jen and komatsuna in a machine installed in a fourth-floor science classroom that grows crops without soil or sunshine.

Made by an Ithaca, N.Y., company called AeroFarms, the aeroponic growing system is owned by EcoVeggies, a startup formed by former three Wall Street technology workers who aim to transform Newark’s abandoned and vacant buildings into so-called vertical farms.

“The produce will be sold and used in the areas immediately surrounding Newark to start with, and then we expect to be able to service the immediate tri-state area,” Richard Charles, one of EcoVeggies’ founders, wrote in an e-mail message.

At St. Philip’s Academy, leafy greens are planted in a cloth bed and irrigated with a nutrient-infused mist. Light is provided by LED lamps, which are more energy-efficient than conventional lighting and can be placed closer to the beds. The LED lamps also provide pest control, said AeroFarms’ chief executive, Ed Harwood, because they can be set to emit certain wavelengths that disrupt insects’ breeding.

AeroFarms is leasing the machine, which stands 7 feet tall by 10 feet long, to EcoVeggies for use in the pilot project at St. Philip’s. It can produce about 20 pounds of produce per harvest, Mr. Charles said.

EcoVeggies and AeroFarms are part of the sustainable agriculture movement, sometimes called Agriculture 2.0, which seeks to combine technology and organic farming to grow crops in urban areas that often lack access to fresh food.

In another effort to turn Newark into an agricultural hot spot, Weber Thompson, a Seattle architecture firm, and Dickson Despommier, a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University, this year proposed building a large vertical farm in the city.

AeroFarms’ modular farms are built in stackable containers designed to be housed in a variety of buildings. The company, which is backed by 21Ventures and the green-tech investor David Gelbaum’s Quercus Trust, has built a second machine and has an order for a third, Mr. Harwood said.

“We have a substantial pipeline of prospects and expect to close on a commercial- size growing facility soon,” he wrote in an e-mail message.

Mr. Charles said he expects to sell produce grown in AeroFarms machines to local schools, supermarkets, hospitals and restaurants.

Karen DePodwin, a spokeswoman for St. Philip’s Academy, said that school officials met the EcoVeggies partners at a conference held at Rutgers Business School to address Newark residents’ access to healthy food.

“Our students are excited to see the future of farming in their own science lab,” she said. “Some of the leafy greens grown using the system are being used in our teaching kitchen and healthy lunch program.”

check out the article online here