JANUARY 2019 FREE
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Wildlife lessons
Home cooking
Alley cats
Environmental habitat at Villa Victoria Academy gets certified
Student chef from Ewing helps set up externship at The College of New Jersey
By Justin Feil Mary Zsolway’s boots stood out. They drew strange looks from Villa Victoria Academy teachers when worn in combination with her school uniform, but Zsolway would explain: “I’m going to environmental science class.” Zsolway was one of the first Villa Victoria students to take the class, which was offered for the first time as an elective last year. Environmental science class gave juniors and seniors at the all-girls, private Catholic school in Ewing a hands-on opportunity to study the stream, soil, plants and wildlife found within an acre of its 41-acre campus. Their efforts ultimately resulted an area of the campus being named a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation, the country’s largest wildlife conservation and education organization. Every Certified Wildlife Habitat provides natural sources of food, water, cover and places to raise young, and is kept in a sustainable way that incorporates native plants, conserves water and doesn’t rely on pesticides. A sign on the Villa Victoria campus now recognizes the class’s work, a reflection of the See HABITAT, Page 6
By scOtt MORGan
Ewing High boys’ varsity bowlers won 4-0 against Pennsauken at Slocum’s Bowling Center on Dec. 13, 2018. Pictured are Jim McSweeney (left), Kyle Delutis, Nick Canavera, Aiden Reid and Mike Franks. For more on the team, turn to Page 12.
Running around the world Physical fitness enthusiast raising funds to run World Marathon Challenge By scOtt MORGan Keri Mandell is planning to run seven marathons on all seven continents in seven days. That’s not a typo. She’s really gearing up to run 183.4 miles in a week, including in Australia, Africa and Antarctica. Something only 103 people have ever
done. For comparison, 536 people have been to outer space. And yet the only thing that scares her about any of this is the airplane. “I don’t really like to fly,” she said. But while that might be true, this 36-year-old yogi, CrossFit coach, marathoner, Ironman triathlete and businesswoman is not really the type to not do what she sets her mind to. Mandell, owner of emPower Yoga in Capus Town, is in the process of raising funds so she can participate in the 2020 World
Marathon Challenge—a grueling contest that calls for running in seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. When the specifics aren’t yet known for the 2020 event, locations for the 2019 challenge are: Novo, Antarctica; Cape Town, South Africa; Perth, Australia; Dubai in the UAE; Madrid, Spain; Santiago, Chile; and ending in Miami. Self described as “wicked competitive” when she wants something and “so Type-A” all See MANDELL, Page 8
In most cases, college students seeking to do externship programs are looking for programs that already exist. When young chef Jurnee Samuels went looking for a food preparation externship program near her home, she found none that suited her. But rather than accept this, the Ewing resident decided to create her own—at The College of New Jersey. Samuels, who goes by her middle name (her first name is Chanel), is a student at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, one of the most prestigious cooking schools in the country. Part of the CIA curriculum is a 14-week externship at one of many places on a pre-approved list. Not on the list, though, was TCNJ—nor Sodexo, which is the food prep and service company at the college’s dining establishments. Samuels, however, wanted to be close to home and her family while she served her weeks outside of CIA. So, at 19, she set about getting TCNJ and Sodexo on the approved list. “I honestly didn’t know that they had a restaurant with See SAMUELS, Page 10
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