Post by admin on Jun 5, 2008 17:17:36 GMT -5
newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2008/0604/front_page/023.html
Friends, alumni will mark school's 50th anniversary
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
FREEHOLD - Whether you listened to Elvis, the Beatles, Kiss, Springsteen or Nirvana in middle school, come to the Freehold Intermediate School, Park Avenue, on June 13 to celebrate the school's 50th birthday and take a trip back to where you started.
To commemorate the event, Freehold Borough School District administrators and the Freehold Borough Board of Education have planned a special event they are calling "50 Years of Borough Pride."
The event will bring former classmates and teachers together to share their memories of the intermediate school's history. As part of the evening's festivities, a group of people who have had a notable connection with the school as graduates, administrators, teachers or community members will be honored.
The honorees are:
• Keith Brown, vice president of the News Division of Black Entertainment Television.
• Leslie Daley, former Freehold Intermediate School art teacher.
• Frank Gibson, president of the Board of Education in 1958, the year the school opened.
• Bunny Hammer, former Freehold Borough Board of Education member.
• Jim Higgins, former Freehold Borough Board of Education member who served for 30 years.
• Janet Kalafat, retired superintendent of the Freehold Borough School District.
• The Rev. Malcolm Steele and Mrs. Nora Steele, teacher and active community member.
• Ronnie Steppat, a graduate of the intermediate school who is now the Freehold Borough Police Department's Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer.
• Jaye Sims, a graduate of the intermediate school who is now a Freehold Borough councilman and a volunteer firefighter.
The committee that is organizing the event includes Superintendent of Schools Elizabeth O'Connell; Freehold Intermediate School Principal Nelson Ribon; Board of Education members Adam Reich, Dr. Eileen McGough and Audrey Evans; Board of Education President Jim Keelan; MikeWilliams, who is the school district's former business administrator; and Tammy Ciok administrative assistant.
The event will run from 7-10 p.m. in the school gymnasium.
Freehold Borough historian Kevin Coyne will present a history of the community and the school.
O'Connell will welcome the guests and plaques will be presented to the honorees by master of ceremonies Ron Reich and by Kason Jackson, a graduate of the intermediate school who now attends Freehold High School.
"Decade tables" throughout the gym will contain yearbooks, photos and memorabilia from days gone by.
Eighth-grade students are working with teacher Paul Desch to develop a video documentary about the school.
Music will be provided by Ed Gattsek, a graduate of the intermediate school who is now a music instructor at Freehold Township High School. He will be joined by other alumni in an ensemble.
"This event is simply a celebration of a community that has been offering an excellent education in the middle school for 50 years. We are very proud of our age and are honored to continue to educate the children of Freehold Borough," O'Connell said. "This community has much to celebrate and I hope that residents and past graduates join us in this historical event."
Keelan said the event will celebrate "our history, our achievements and our future.We have so much to be proud of and we hope the community will come celebrate and share our success in the district."
O'Connell said she has reached out to local restaurants to enlist their help in providing light refreshments for the party. The Cheesecake Factory, Freehold Township, and the ParkAvenue Seafood Bistro, Freehold Borough, have responded, she said.
Representatives of the Freehold Borough Educational Foundation, Freehold Beautiful Inc. and the Freehold Borough School District PTOs are also offering assistance to help make the event a success.
Terry-Ann Zander, of Zander Consulting, and Jill Nicholas, project consultant, are helping to orchestrate the event.
"We are here to keep everything on track. This is a huge undertaking and the administrators have to run the district," Zander said.
O'Connell said Zander, who has worked on projects for the school district in the past, is providing her firm's services for free to help plan the intermediate school's celebration.
Friends, alumni will mark school's 50th anniversary
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
FREEHOLD - Whether you listened to Elvis, the Beatles, Kiss, Springsteen or Nirvana in middle school, come to the Freehold Intermediate School, Park Avenue, on June 13 to celebrate the school's 50th birthday and take a trip back to where you started.
To commemorate the event, Freehold Borough School District administrators and the Freehold Borough Board of Education have planned a special event they are calling "50 Years of Borough Pride."
The event will bring former classmates and teachers together to share their memories of the intermediate school's history. As part of the evening's festivities, a group of people who have had a notable connection with the school as graduates, administrators, teachers or community members will be honored.
The honorees are:
• Keith Brown, vice president of the News Division of Black Entertainment Television.
• Leslie Daley, former Freehold Intermediate School art teacher.
• Frank Gibson, president of the Board of Education in 1958, the year the school opened.
• Bunny Hammer, former Freehold Borough Board of Education member.
• Jim Higgins, former Freehold Borough Board of Education member who served for 30 years.
• Janet Kalafat, retired superintendent of the Freehold Borough School District.
• The Rev. Malcolm Steele and Mrs. Nora Steele, teacher and active community member.
• Ronnie Steppat, a graduate of the intermediate school who is now the Freehold Borough Police Department's Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer.
• Jaye Sims, a graduate of the intermediate school who is now a Freehold Borough councilman and a volunteer firefighter.
The committee that is organizing the event includes Superintendent of Schools Elizabeth O'Connell; Freehold Intermediate School Principal Nelson Ribon; Board of Education members Adam Reich, Dr. Eileen McGough and Audrey Evans; Board of Education President Jim Keelan; MikeWilliams, who is the school district's former business administrator; and Tammy Ciok administrative assistant.
The event will run from 7-10 p.m. in the school gymnasium.
Freehold Borough historian Kevin Coyne will present a history of the community and the school.
O'Connell will welcome the guests and plaques will be presented to the honorees by master of ceremonies Ron Reich and by Kason Jackson, a graduate of the intermediate school who now attends Freehold High School.
"Decade tables" throughout the gym will contain yearbooks, photos and memorabilia from days gone by.
Eighth-grade students are working with teacher Paul Desch to develop a video documentary about the school.
Music will be provided by Ed Gattsek, a graduate of the intermediate school who is now a music instructor at Freehold Township High School. He will be joined by other alumni in an ensemble.
"This event is simply a celebration of a community that has been offering an excellent education in the middle school for 50 years. We are very proud of our age and are honored to continue to educate the children of Freehold Borough," O'Connell said. "This community has much to celebrate and I hope that residents and past graduates join us in this historical event."
Keelan said the event will celebrate "our history, our achievements and our future.We have so much to be proud of and we hope the community will come celebrate and share our success in the district."
O'Connell said she has reached out to local restaurants to enlist their help in providing light refreshments for the party. The Cheesecake Factory, Freehold Township, and the ParkAvenue Seafood Bistro, Freehold Borough, have responded, she said.
Representatives of the Freehold Borough Educational Foundation, Freehold Beautiful Inc. and the Freehold Borough School District PTOs are also offering assistance to help make the event a success.
Terry-Ann Zander, of Zander Consulting, and Jill Nicholas, project consultant, are helping to orchestrate the event.
"We are here to keep everything on track. This is a huge undertaking and the administrators have to run the district," Zander said.
O'Connell said Zander, who has worked on projects for the school district in the past, is providing her firm's services for free to help plan the intermediate school's celebration.
