Lake Riviera Middle School Fall Features
On October 11, Lake Riviera Middle School celebrated New Jersey’s Week of Respect with school-wide activities that
included an anti-bullying oath, classroom lessons, team building activities in PE, and the final lesson in the 6 week
bullying curriculum. Under the direction of Ron Heitmann, over one hundred 8th grade students in the Character
Education Troupe performed the song “Outcast” by Glee. The performance included bullying scenarios which depicted
bystanders helping victims support and overcome harassment, intimidation, and bullying.
On October 24, Mrs. Deconde and Ms. Gruber hosted the annual Monster Art Show at Lake Riviera Middle School. It was a
phenomenal celebration of STEAM- Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Music. The 1 dimensional, 2 dimensional and 3
dimensional exhibits were creative, artistic, and interesting. The black light display in the foyer connected to the seasonal
theme by welcoming visitors with Grateful Dead tunes. The hundreds of visitors enjoyed trying to piece together clues to
find out who zombified the Forensic Science bears in
a special murder mystery. Students from Science
Technology class created and raced CO2 cars. Voices
from the Lake entertained visitors with their vocal
and instrumental talents. Communication Arts
students created frightening movie trailers that were
so authentic visitors asked when the movies would
be released. The grade 8 Zombie Apocalypse was
equally disturbing along with the Zombie portraits
and short stories made by students in computer
class. The cross-curricular connections: scary stories,
descriptive pumpkin stories, Halloween board game,
math haunted houses, BS- eye exhibits were
amazing! The Dia de los muertos masks and sugar
skulls brought a multi-cultural flavor to the evening.
Speaking of flavor, the sweet cookie treats from our
own consumer science class were delicious. This was
truly a community celebration with Mrs. Lawrence selling water to benefit the Challenger Cheerleaders and Mrs.
Schwendel creating and selling balloon swords, wands, and centerpieces for the Technology Student Association. The
PTA book fair family buying night was held on the same night bringing in over $5000 in sales to benefit the school’s
library collection. Pictured are Glorymar Riviera, Paige Campana, Lillian Lau, Haley Sattler, Brielle Dutka, Shelby Wood
and GianCarlo Daoey.
Tuesday, October 29th marked the one year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy. Students at Lake Riviera Middle School who
were affected by the storm worked with the school social worker, Mrs. Jacobus, on several special projects to
commemorate this event. Despite the fact that over 100 families in Brick were directly impacted by the storm and many
are still dealing with recovering from the aftermath, the students’ outlook was positive. They focused on optimism,
volunteerism, and community. To commemorate the event and represent students’ perspective, LRMS students
designed fabric squares that were made into a quilt sewn by Nancy Veltre, eighth grade Guidance Counselor.
Students created a banner to emphasize that our community is now “One Year Stronger”. The banner displayed the
dates of the storm and the anniversary with the quote “One Year Stronger” in the center. Hundreds of LRMS students
signed the banner to show their ongoing support for their peers. LRMS students continue to show amazing compassion,
support, and have a sense of connectedness for those still affected by the storm.
“One Year Stronger” was also the theme
of the Harvey Lynch Fun Run. Nearly 200
students participated in this annual event
on Wednesday, October 30. Christina
Mascolo, a Health and Physical Education
teacher, coordinated the event which
raised money to combat childhood
obesity. Ms. Mascolo challenged the
community to come together and
celebrate being "One Year Stronger” with
a 2-mile walk/run around the LRMS
campus. Prizes were awarded to top
runners in several categories. The event
was named in honor of Harvey Lynch who
was the first principal of Lake Riviera
Middle School when it opened in 1966.
He was devoted to fitness and served the
community until 1990.
On November 13, Lake Riviera Middle School staff hosted a Parent Night. The evening began with a PTA meeting in the
MPR and included a parent presentation by Dr. Anderson. The presentation focused on the Common Core Standards and
the increased rigor that students will be expected to demonstrate on the PARCC assessment. Parents were given
information about Achieve 3000, an online program with text that matches their child’s lexile level, to help students
increase their reading fluency and comprehension. This program is designed to help students increase their reading
fluency and comprehension of informational text, which is a primary focus of the PARCC assessment. Achieve 3000
addresses the Common Core Anchor standards in science and social studies and is a primary resource in the Title I
funded after school program. As part of the presentation, parents were invited to give feedback by expressing
comments, concerns, or questions on index cards. After the presentation, the National Junior Honor Society and LRMS
staff served the
parent community in
our cafeteria. Parents
also celebrated
American Education
Week with staff as
they broke bread and
discussed school
related issues. A
special thanks to Mrs.
Ditzig and Mrs.
Cooper who
coordinated this
wonderful community
event.
In October, over 200 students participated in the first of five Sigma Math Contests. The contest is a rigorous assessment
of mathematical reasoning and problem solving. Ms. Prince, Math Club advisor, announced the high scorers for each
grade level. Students pictured above from left to right are: Steven Samuel 8-1, Jamie Fogarty 8-5, Zachary Koziol 6-4,
Patrick Salamone 6-2, Alicia Herrera-Perez 6-7, & Patrick Donnelly 7-11
Mrs. Gialanella’s 6th grade students Christian Alino and Jake Labouseur are pictured above during a laboratory
experiment in which they dissected a Perch. This lab experience is just one of the many science experiments that are
part of the 6th grade science curriculum.