Board of ed gets student representative

BYRAM — This past Tuesday’s Lenape Valley High School Board of Education meeting saw for the first time the addition of a Student Representative on the board. High School senior, Kirby Smith, heard about the new position the first week of school. “As soon as I heard about it, I knew I wanted it.” He immediately wrote the required two essays and submitted his application for the job. Smith has applied for early decision to the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Business. Though he hasn’t heard back yet, he is excited to start his post-secondary education. In the meantime, he reported to the board about the events at school for the coming month: another college fair; the English departments choices for Student of the Month; a walk-a-thon to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital; the school’s fall play, Get Smart; and spirit week. Smith told the board, “This time my report is a little on the brief side, but next month, I promise, there’ll be more.” The board also had two announcements to make. They presented the 2007 Award for Teacher of the Year to history teacher, John Hapes. Principal Doug deMarrais introduced Hapes to the board singing his praises as a teacher “who is loved by all students and respected by his colleagues.” Hapes was presented with a plaque and thanked the board, his colleagues and students for the honor. DeMarrias also announced the winner for the 2007 Governor’s Teacher Recognition Award as well. Mary Hyziak, Family and Consumer Science teacher, was given a large bouquet of flowers and congratulated by the board for her achievement. DeMarrias presented a report to the board about standardized testing scores, which were mostly above the state’s average. Within the report was the announcement of three National Merit Scholars. Two of three, Erica Cooper and Melissa Retkwa, happened to be present at the meeting to support Smith, and were surprised to hear the announcement as they had not yet been notified. National Merit Scholars are picked by National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) - an independent, not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. Scholars are chosen based on PSAT scores and are then eligible for scholarships. Luke Mueller was also awarded National Merit Scholar status. The next board meeting will be November 21.