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Getting jazzed up for Italy
BRHS jazz ensemble earns prestigious trip to Europe By LOis LeViNe The Bordentown High School Jazz Ensemble is used to being on the road. After all, the band has played around Bordentown, as well as Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. But performing overseas is a whole other thing. Come June 30, the ensemble and its director will be taking a 10-day trip, flying across the Atlantic and spending seven days attending workshops and performing at the Assisi Performing Arts Summer Music Festival in Italy. Assisi, a hillside town, located in Italy’s Umbria region, is regarded as the birthplace of St. Francis and St. Clare. It boasts several medieval castles and, most importantly, has
become known for showcasing and mentoring young musicians at its annual summer music festival. The jazz ensemble performs throughout the year for military groups that come through Bordentown and at a number of local “Music in the Park” events, said Michael Montalto, director of bands for the Bordentown Regional School District. Every year, the ensemble also plays at Essential Ellington at Temple University in Philadelphia, which is co-sponsored by Jazz at Lincoln Center and includes post-performance workshops. This year, the band won Best Rhythm Section, and vibe player Nicholas Demkowicz won the Outstanding Soloist scholarship. And, in January, the ensemble, whose repertoire consists of mostly traditional, big-band style music, and includes trum-
pet, trombone, woodwind and rhythm sections, along with two altos, a tenor and a baritone vocalist, traveled to New England to play at the Berklee High School Jazz Festival. The Berklee College of Music hosts the festival at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. The annual event is the largest of its kind in the United States, with 150-plus high school bands from 15 states. The ensembles are judged by a panel of Berklee’s top faculty members and given written critiques of their work. This year, Bordentown finished second overall in the competition. Two of the musicians—trumpeter Samantha MacFarlane and lead alto Nik Romano—won outstanding soloist awards. The Assisi festival offers noncompetitive solo opportunities in opera, musical theater, classical, jazz, sacred music and See JAZZ, Page 8
BRHS updates semester schedule By sAMANThA sciARROTTA
ssciarrotta@communitynews.org
Sean Gerike stands behind his display at Bordentown City’s annual train show, held last month at Old City Hall. The show runs through Jan. 5, 2020. For more photos, turn to Page 12. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)
After months of deliberation, the Bordentown Regional School District decided on minimal changes to the high school’s current 4x4 block schedule. A scheduling committee consisting of Bordentown Regional High School staff and administration, board of education members and parents ultimately decided to allow incoming freshmen who did not take Algebra I in middle school to take the class for a full block, or the entire year, rather than one semester. BRHS currently operates on a 4x4 block schedule. Each
semester, students typically take four classes. Each class is 80 minutes, and they meet for 90 school days. Final grades are issued at the end of each semester, similar to a traditional college schedule. Students have the option to forgo lunch or study hall to take a fi fth class. They are also able to take courses like Spanish I and Spanish II in the same year, and BRHS principal Rob Walder said the schedule allows for more class sections, which gives students more opportunities to take different electives. The schedule has been in place for nearly 25 years, and it has been successful for the school. “Longer classes means fewer
change of classes, which means the kids spend less time in the halls,” Walder said. “Teachers have a chance to delve deeply into content. PE classes have more time to get out to the fields, instruct and then play. Art can take more time, and wood shop, too. Science labs are the biggest proponents—they don’t have to rush through.” Walder added that students only have to focus on four or five classes at once, as opposed to the traditional seven or eight, and they get to swap teachers once a year. The high school has used the 4x4 block schedule since 1995. The goal of the scheduling comSee BRHS, Page 7
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