Marshall School is sponsoring a great event for Martin Luther King Day, a screening of the movie “Our Friend, Martin” at 10:30 am on Monday, January 16th at SOPAC.

Please click the flyer for more information.

Clinton teachers awarded Achieve grants!

The 2012 Teacher Grants have been announced. This year’s recipients are:

• Jennifer Zalinski – “Tutto su Italia in Primo Grado-All About Italy in First Grade”
• Kathy Shelffo & Maria Muscarella – “Elmo…Reaching All Learners”
• Natasha Pomares, Marlene Cutrufello, Yolande Fleming & Paula Ortiz – “Technology Innovation iPad/iTouch Proposal”*
• Zobeida Lozada-Perez – “A Comer – Let’s Eat”

Congratulations Teachers and Students!

*Achieve was not able to completely fund all the approved grants. The “Technology Innovation iPad/iTouch Proposal” grant was not fully funded and is open for direct funding until January 31st.

In addition, there is a multi-school grant available for direct funding which will benefit Clinton: Robotics by CHS teacher Allan Tumolillo. To fund these grants and see the complete list of approved grants, visit achievefoundation.org. All donations are tax deductible.

The Achieve Foundation is an independent, volunteer-based non-profit organization that raises funds from private sources to enhance educational programs and facilities in the School District of South Orange and Maplewood. Achieve’s mission is to promote innovation and support the delivery of excellent public education to all students and educators in our community. As part of the mission, this year Achieve is awarding nearly $48,000 to teacher grants. Teachers from all nine schools within the district were invited to submit grant applications this fall. The applications approved reflect the commitment teachers in our district have to providing an exceptional educational experience to all our children.

The January 2012 issue of the Clinton Courier is now online! Many exciting things are happening at Clinton. Please click here to read now.

Paper forms will go home in backpacks early this week but you don’t have to wait to make your Tricky Tray reservation. Click here for the flyer and form.

As always, we will reserve a table for you if you send reservations and payment for ten people. Otherwise there will be plenty of tables with open seating. We do need you to reserve in advance, however, so we know how many tables and chairs we’ll need etc.

This is our 9th Annual Tricky Tray and Auction and it will be held on Saturday, February 11th from 6 pm to 10:30 pm at St. Joseph’s Church in Maplewood.

It is our biggest fundraiser of the year, by far, and it’s also great fun. Please join us.

If you have questions about reservations, please contact Karen Betheil at kbetheil@verizon.net

All details on flyer.

We are getting very close to our 9th Annual Tricky Tray and Auction. Reservation forms will be going home early this week and will also be posted on our website.

Please keep the prizes coming. We have many great ones, but need more!

We are also in the process of putting together our very popular Live Auction Dinner Party prizes. Would you be interested in hosting one this year? These dinners raise a good deal of money for Clinton School and they are always incredibly fun.

Here is how it works: You come up with a dinner idea, tell us the number of guests you can have, choose a date, and write up a description. We will then auction off seats to your dinner party during our Live Auction.

If you are willing to host a dinner, please contact Cecelia Cancellaro at ccancellaro@verizon.net as soon as possible. We are pasting in some descriptions of past years’ dinners below to give you a sense of what they entail.

We would like to have our list of dinners finalized by January 17th, so please get in touch soon.

Here is a list of last year’s amazing dinner parties:

Dinner Party #1: A Fabulous Italian Feast on Saturday. Hosted by Jackie LaFalce Lahey and Scott Lahey, this authentic Old-World dinner featuring a menu based on Grandma’s mouthwatering recipes, will include an antipasto platter, meatballs and sausage, pasta, and Italian pastries, with accompanying wines. Salud! 10 guests (must be at least 21 years old). Opening bid: $25 per seat

Dinner Party #2: North Carolina Style Barbecue Feast Hosted by the Janay family, Owners of “Woody’s Pig Roasts”, this North Carolina style barbecue feast will celebrate the great culinary offerings of the Old North State. Menu items include pulled pork, baby back ribs, beef brisket, and chicken, along with traditional barbecue sides. Come hungry and be ready to take home leftovers. 8 guests (adults only). Opening bid: $25 per seat

Dinner Party #3: An Elegant Cocktail Party, Saturday, hosted by Principal Patty O’Neill and Leah Gomberg. Wear cocktail attire to this elegant affair which will take place at the home of Leah and David Gomberg. Gourmet hors d’oeuvres and delectable desserts will be paired with wines chosen by Clinton parent and sommelier Scott Lahey. Tunes will be spun by Clinton parent and DJ Jeremy Moss. 10 guests (adults only). Opening bid: $25 per seat

Dinner Party #4: Traditional Seven-Fish Italian Christmas Eve-Style Dinner. Join Liz and Don Salituri at their home for an amazing menu of Italian holiday dishes, including cold seafood salad, mussels in garlic white wine sauce, clams oreganata, shrimp scampi, cod mariechara, and grilled salmon. And wine of course. 10 Guests (adults only). Opening Bid: $25 per seat

Dinner Party #5: Traditional Puerto Rican Dinner, hosted by Rose Rios and Bob Leto. Puerto Rican cuisine is similar to both Spanish, Cuban and Mexican cuisine, but with a unique tasty blend of Spanish, African, Taíno, and American influences. Come enjoy the labors of a true “cocina criolla” in Maplewood. Menu includes tasty appetizers of empanadas made of garlic and lime infused chicken as well as seared tuna on plantains with a micro cilantro salad and chipotle vinaigrette. Main course will consist of seafood paella and a traditional “lechon” (whole pig). Side dishes will include sweet plantains, and white rice with home grown pigeon peas straight from my uncle’s back yard in Puerto Rico. Avocado and “yuatia” salad with olive oil and caper dressing will also be served. Dessert will be a real island delight of caramel flan and guava bread pudding. We’ll also have a sangria fountain. (My white passion fruit sangria recipe is four generations old and is only handed down from mother to daughter!) Buen Provecho! 10 guests (adults only) Opening bid: $25 per seat

Dinner Party #6: A Belizean Dinner. Bring your appetite to the home of Rosanna and Dermal McCrear and enjoy the delicious cuisine of Belize. Menu items include panades, garanaces, relleno, ducunu, potato pone, coconut tart and Belikin Beer directly from Belize. 8 guests (adults only) Opening bid: $25 per seat

Dear Families,

January will be a busy month, so these are some dates you may wish to keep in mind. More information about the events will be available after the break.

Jan. 2 – ALL SCHOOLS CLOSED

Jan. 6, 4:30pm – Rally to Oppose Hua Mei Charter School and Urge Charter Reform @ DeHart Community Center, 120 Burnett Ave., Maplewood.

Jan. 11, 7:00pm – State of the District followed by Public Meeting about Middle School Restructuring@ CHS, 17 Parker Ave., Maplewood

Jan. 16 – ALL SCHOOLS CLOSED

Jan. 16, 10:30am – My Friend Martin @ SOPAC, One SOPAC Way, South Orange. Presented by Marshall School PTA

Jan. 17, 7:30pm – Screening of “American Teacher” @ Seth Boyden, 274 Boyden Ave., Maplewood.  Presented by the Elementary School PTAs and The Parenting Center

Jan. 18, 7:30pm – BOE Meeting, including proposal for changes to Columbia High School @ Board Office, 525 Academy Street, Maplewood

Jan. 26, 7:30pm – Helping Your Child Succeed in Math in Grades 3-5 @ Seth Boyden, 274 Boyden Ave., Maplewood. Presented by the Math Department and the LEAP to Success Committee of The Parenting Center.

Jan. 26 – Storytelling Night in Clinton School auditorium

Jan. 31, 7:30pm – Helping Your Child Succeed in Math in Grades K-2 @ Clinton, 27 Berkshire Road, Maplewood. Presented by the Math Department and the LEAP to Success Committee of The Parenting Center

We hope each of you has a wonderful break and a very joyous holiday season.