Cinderella Comes to LIS!

In just a few weeks Lawrence Intermediate School students, in cooperation with the LIS PTO, will present this year's spring musical, Rogers & Hammerstein's "Cinderella!" Almost 100 children are involved in this year's production. These students and several teachers have been working very hard over the past few months, remembering their lines, hitting the right musical notes, working on choreographed dance moves, painting, hammering, you name it, all in preparation for the big show.

This is the second year we have put on a musical at LIS. Last year's "Willie Wonka Kids" was very well received, selling out on both nights it was performed. It was a great opportunity for our students to participate in a theatrical production and we committed ourselves to bringing the musical back for this school year.

Performances will be held on March 31 and April 1 at 7pm. Adult tickets are $6 while student tickets are $4. A limited number of tickets will be on sale at the door both nights if they do not sell out beforehand.

Please reach out to Ms. Rello (srello@ltps.org) or Ms. Lowden (mlowden@ltps.org) if you have any questions.

Holt Beats IBM Super-computer 'Watson'!!

Since Congressman Rush Holt visited LIS a while back to check out our educational technology program in 6th grade, some of our students have been interested in following him. They recently brought to my attention the fact that he was the lone member of Congress to defeat IBM Super-computer, 'Watson' in a round of Jeopardy! Watson defeated several former Jeopardy! champions as well as a handful of U.S. Representatives from Congress before meeting his match with Congressman Holt. Check out the article by clicking on the link below. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/rep_rush_holt_takes_down_ibm_s.html

LIS named 2011 NJ School of Character!!

Congrats to the staff, students and parents at LIS on being named a New Jersey School of Character for the third straight year. LIS was one of only eleven schools across the state this year to obtain this title. Character Ed. is a core part of our programming at school and we are very appreciative and proud to receive this honor. Special thanks go to Mrs. Budzinski, Mrs. Heller and Ms. Westhead for all their help in putting together the application. Feel free to check out the Character Education Partnership's website at http://www.character.org/.

Mrs. Van Treuren Named Teacher of the Year!!

Congratulations to Mrs. Van Treuren on being named Lawrence Township Public Schools' Teacher of the Year! I am very happy for her and I know that her success is so well-deserved. Mrs. Van Treuren is a great teacher who is so good at understanding children, their needs, and what it will take to get them to reach their potential. Feel free to click on the link below to read the article written about her in the Lawrence Ledger.

http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2011/02/11/the_lawrence_ledger/news/doc4d52e29bdcf56877701996.txt

LIS Student is Whiz-Kid of the Week!!

Congratulations and thank you to Nelle Evans for all of her efforts with the Souper Bowl of Caring! Rightfully so, she has been named by the Lawrenceville Patch as the "Whiz-Kid of the Week!!" Feel free to check out Nelle's work by clicking on the link below.

http://lawrenceville.patch.com/articles/nelle-evans-whiz-kid-of-the-week

U.S. Congressman Rush Holt Visits LIS

A few weeks ago, we received a call from Congressman Rush Holt's office. He said he had heard good things about our Talent 21 laptop initiative and wanted to know if he could stop by and take a look for himself. Well, how could we say no? We were ecstatic that Congressman Holt wanted to visit our school.

Mr. Holt visited a few classrooms in 6th grade to see the infusion of technology. Given his background as a physicist, he felt right at home in Mr. Mielcarek's science class and became somewhat of a guest lecturer. The most interesting and personal part of the Congressman's visit, however, was the round table discussion we put together between him and a small group of students. They spoke to him about all the ways their learning and teachers' instruction has changed with the use of the laptops, Smartboards, etc. this year. Our students also impressed the Congressman with their knowledge of government (special thumbs up to Rithvick for getting the Connecticut Compromise question right)!

We were very happy that Mr. Holt took the time out of his busy schedule to visit our school. It was a great opportunity to share some of the great things that we do at LIS and a nice opportunity for us to learn a little about our Congressman as well. We appreciate his time and support!

LIS Night a Blast for Everyone

On Friday, January 14th, over 250 LIS staff members, students and families joined each other in Alumni Gym to support the Rider Men's Basketball team as they took on the Iona Gaels. It was an amazing game that went all the way to overtime! The home team led for the first 4:30 seconds of the 5 minute overtime period, before falling by a final score of 100-96.

It was great to see so many families at the game! I know a lot of great memories were made for our students that will last for a long time. It was a great time for my family and me as well. This was our son's first basketball game and although he had to leave at halftime due to his 8pm bedtime, I could tell by the look on his face that he enjoyed every minute (so much that he tried to run on the court every chance he got).