The first one more and bouncy, the second one more smooth and gentle. In the last section of the piece, it requires us to listen with the rest of the ensemble to stay together as well as different articulations to play the different styles. [Music] Wow. Happy [Music] Happy birthday. [Music] Good morning. [Music] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. [Music] [Applause] Our second piece is called set of fuse. This is a program piece based on the idea of a spinning device like those used in medicine and physics. It begins with a driving eighth note melody in the violence and continues to build as it moves through the orchestra. Energy and excitement It keeps accumulating even in the 10th piticado in the violence and violas before hitting his peak at every end of the piece. [Music] D la. [Music] Hallelujah. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Our next piece is piece that uses unfamiliar notes.
And needless to say, it has certainly not served us well for belonging and inclusion, priority two. Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. And if that's true, then we would be insane to believe that we are on the right track to your very appropriate goal of true transformation. It is obvious that true transformation will not come through more of the same. Rather, it demands discomfort and honesty. It demands that we correct ourselves when we stray from our goals. In the recent board election, the community elected two new board members to enact admin and bea's stated goal of transformation to not only express support for equity and theory, but implement it in their own decision-making. Let me be very clear, these leaders were not elected to comfort the privileged or uphold the status quo. They were elected to stand up for all staff and all students.
Adolescent well-being and digital media use increasing on a day-to-day basis. our adolescents are just as exposed to social media platforms. You know, sometimes as a parent, um, you know, we can be out and my little guy wants to is is, you know, just a bout of boredom. First thing he does, asks for a phone. So, not only is it our not only is it our teens that have these accounts, but our adolescents are also being exposed to the same type of social media exposure. And if you notice here on this specific slide, ages between the ages of 14 to 16 have increased to about over 5 and 1 half to 6 hours. That's a lot of hours. specifically just using social media where they're they're losing the interaction with their peers. And I know I keep saying interaction with their peers, but I, you know, I think that that's what we're here for today is to talk about how we can give them some alternatives so that they're not so engaged with the phones and the social media accounts where they're more engaged being outdoors and finding things to do, interacting with family, friends, and their peers as well.
As basketball legend Michael Jordan once said, "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships." It's about the spirit of sportsmanship, respect, and integrity in everything we do. It's about representing our community with pride and living the values that make Clifton such a special place. Teamwork isn't just about scoring goals or winning games. It's about the unbreakable bonds forged through sweat, tears, shared victories and defeats. is about lifting each other up when the odds seem insurmountable and celebrating every triumph big or small together. The great Vince Lombardi once said, "Individual commitment to a group effort, that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. Each one of you sitting here today embodies the soul of what it means to be a Clifton Mustang. Sustain your spirit of teamwork, the resilience to overcome challenges, and the courage to chase your dreams with unwavering passion.
continues through the end of the piece only section in the middle that acts as the store. The bas or back into the dark opening [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey, hallelujah. Fore! Fore! [Music] Hallelujah. [Music] Down. Johnny. [Music] [Applause] Our final piece tonight is called finale. It is an arrangement of of the symphony by which the most famous symphony in all of classical music. Although the first movement starts minor, the final movement is well known for it very dramatic or ending section that features all the same. We hope you enjoyed our portion of the concert. [Music] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Thank you. Thank you. [Music] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. [Music] [Applause] So, we're going to take a second. I'm going to let them reset for a sec. So, this next the next piece you're going to hear is called Fuego. Um, this group is the seventh grade quintet.
And that is exactly what they are doing. Their board member comments last week made me proud. It actually was and is the one thing that made me optimistic that true transformation is achievable. Though of course not if we stick to our tried and failed recipe as you're being recommended to do. Uh lastly, I'll say that your strategic plan's vision is that every BPS graduate will be a quote curious, resilient, empathetic, and proactive contributor to society. I believe that is exactly what I am, the very portrait of a graduate you seek. I'd also like to think that my voice additionally should matter to you. As a recent student who faced many systemic oppressions in my time DPS 101, my voice should be one you seek out and center and I'm always willing to share my experience and insight with you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
And at the end of the presentation, I'll leave some time in case anyone wants to ask any questions. And also, I just wanted to add really quickly, I apologize I didn't say this in the beginning of the presentation, but I do have a resource table that has reference to um some of the things that we are talking about today. The US surgeon general advisory states, "We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis, one that we must urgently address. I remember back in back in the day when I was in middle school and high school and elementary school. Um I feel blessed to have actually had the experience to be in school without cell phones. You know, our youth are struggling with some with mental health. They're struggling with lack of social skills to be able to engage with our youth.
On behalf of the Clifton Board of Education, I want to express our deepest pride and admiration for all that you've accomplished. Congratulations to our exceptional athletes. May your future be filled with continued success on and off the field. Congratulations, class of [Applause] 2025. [Applause] President, so I forgot to mention uh earlier that this event is being livereamed. So your your parents are able to watch it, you know, in in live right now or they can go visit or you can go visit our YouTube page and go watch that. Let's hear from our live stream team. Our live stream team is literally the best in the business. I challenge you to go anywhere in the state of New Jersey and find a better, more consistent live streaming crew than this. They're here on weekends. They're here on short notice. They're here in the rain and the cold uh over spring break, winter break, it doesn't matter.
This is student formed and student led largely group. Um, so they chose to start a chamber group themselves and just play some music together. Um they practice during their lunch periods mostly and other than that they just practice it at home or in their free time. Um so they come in outside of their honor symphony and other orchestra stuff to learn extra challenging music. Um and as a chamber group they conduct conduct themselves. So, I'm going to step aside and let them take the stage for just [Applause] [Music] We [Music] are glory. [Music] I wonder. [Music] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. [Music] Hallelujah. [Music] Hallelujah. [Music] [Applause] There you go. All right. Well, students are still getting set up behind me. Um, I'm going to give them an extra minute and do a few thank yous uh so that I don't forget about them. Um, so obviously this is my first time having a concert at Fiser.
Any further ones, Holly? That's the end of our public comment. Thank you. All right. Reports. Item 3.1, school improvement plan presentations. Tom. Yeah. So, uh, board, I know we have two members that are new, uh, but, uh, in December, November, all of our schools, uh, for the first time under my time here presented kind of the goals and steps that the buildings had worked on, um, in alignment to our strategic plan. And part of the the call for the plan from the plan is that our buildings will present bianually, then the district also follows. And that was the timing structure we used given the volume of uh discussion that might occur. So we decided as a board team with the administration to go buildings first then the district and that's what we have here tonight. So we're going to have the buildings be presenting now in November the buildings presented at our business regular board meeting.
And this exactly talks about why it's so important to stay on top of the social media platforms that our youth are engaging in because it has a direct correlation to mental health and how um detrimental it can be for their future. What so impacts on youth, right? What are some of the harms that we're seeing? Studies have shown the effects include sleep issues. You know, when they're up at all times of the day or all times of the night and they're just continuing to scroll on their phones, they're losing sleep. It's harder to fall asleep. You know, they have the screen right in front of them, keeping them awake instead of letting them get rest. But sleep issues. And we all know how important it is for to get a a a great night's rest. And not only for our mental health but our physical health as well.
They're they're always here. They do an incredible job and they do an incredible job supporting our cast program as well. So kids are getting um you know outside of the classroom um experiences with true professionals. So thank you to the live stream crew. Also want to thank the coaches. Uh we have we have by far the most dedicated coaching staff that you can ask for. They they they give so much time, so much effort. Um they're so diligent, professional in all that they do. So really appreciate our our coaches. Let's hear from the [Applause] coaches, our athletic trainers. Where are they're in the back? All right. Trainer Tom hasn't missed a free meal in 43 years. So, we're happy that he is uh keeping it keeping it keep keeping it consistent for us tonight. But they do a great job keeping you guys, you know, on the field.
So, I mean, thank you for everybody who's here. for uh thank you also to uh all of the board of ed um for helping make tonight possible and the district admin um also thank you to uh Fisher admin you know Dr. Hannah Mr. Dwire Mr. Shep um all of them also thank you to all of the music teachers from throughout the district that are here tonight uh Mr. who's backstage. Um I believe Miss Sprite is here. Uh you know there's a lot of chaperons also and faculty making this happen backstage helping keep everybody coraled together in the right spot. So thank you to everybody for helping out with that. Um and thank you also to all the vision staff um and faculty for you know letting kids come to lessons, you know, helping keep the room tidy, you know, helping just generally keep everything orderly for me to be able to just come in and teach them.
Um due to the length of that meeting and the conversations that came, the board had requested if we could hold this meeting on a separate night and that's why this is the only a well we have a very brief item after this but um that's why it's on a separate evening just so we're clear on that and then uh and then we'll be doing the same thing with the district presentation in June. So, we'll have our June 24th meeting. That will be our normal regularly scheduled business meeting. And then we will have uh our specially regular scheduled meeting to do the district presentation. All right. So, tonight um we are going to begin with AGS. So, we'll be uh going down the list of our elementary schools and the principles are here tonight to present. Uh the presentations shouldn't uh be too much of a surprise if you were able to see remember or recall or if you reviewed the presentations from November.
Feeling bad about your body. Eating disorders, disordered eating, negative negatively comparing yourself to others. Low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and self harm. Now, these that we just mentioned, they this is important to note that these are especially true for teenage girls. you know, constantly being on social media when you're struggling with any of these with any of these is is extremely hard for an adult. But I can imagine as a as a child, as an adolescent, as a teenager, just trying to fit in and finding their place, this really just compounds the issue. So, always being on that social media platform really um being exposed to videos upon videos, reals upon reals when struggling with these um can really have a really profound effect on our mood. Why so? Because our brain is developing, right? Their brain is developing. The the preffrontal cortex is responsible for decision making, calculating risk, assessing consequences, impulse control, emotional regulation.
When you are injured, they do get you on the on the field very very quickly. So, we're really appreciative for for everything that they do. So, thank you, our athletic trainers. We also have a a very dedicated support staff. you know, the people who keep score, the people who keep time, uh the people who site manage, the people that really keep this department going going uh in the in the right direction. So, we want to thank them as [Applause] well.
Um so greatly appreciate all of that. Um also thank you to all of you parents, guardians, families for reminding them to bring their instruments with them to school, reminding them to practice, uh you know, getting them concert clothes and making sure that they're, you know, here tonight to play. So, thank you all of you for that. Also, now I will turn it over for our last round of student. On stage now is the eighth grade orchestra. Our First piece is called Algro by Joseph Ber. Like Mozart, he was a classical era composer and conductor. He is best known as one of the first black composers to have their music ever published or performed in major. He was born in the Caribbean to an enslaved African mother and French settler father with his father's wealth and went on to successful life. This piece is a rework of the opening of the second symphony.
It's a continuation of what was discussed there. This is the here's how it went this year. All right. Any questions before we begin? Awesome. Then we'll go ahead and invite Miss Stevens and Mr. Wyatt. All right. Well, good evening. Um, as uh Mr. Kim said, I'm Kristen Stevens. I'm the principal at AGS and I do have Jake Wyth here with me. He is a fourth grade teacher, but also a valued member of our school leadership team. So, um, we are here to share exciting news with you. Um, we met both of our ELA goals, both our proficiency goal and our growth goal. So, as you can see, 78% of our students scored above at or above the 50th percentile. And our growth goal, we exceeded by two percentile points. Um, math was not part of our school improvement plan, but I'm too proud to share those exciting numbers as well.
This part of the brain does not fully develop until the age 25. So this preffrontal cortex is really the part of the brain that is really taking um a I would say a hit in the development of our youth because it is affecting their development of really some important life skills that our youth continue to need as they develop all the way up until 25 when their prefrontal cortex is still developing. So with these being affected with with the prefrontal cortex being affected by these um you know by some of these issues, it really slows down the child's progression and development. So, it's important for us to, you know, um, try to keep these on the forefront when we're thinking about what are the things that can affect my child moving forward in the future. And these are some of the things important life skills like decision making um assessing consequences impulse control things that these are skills and tools that they need while in school while building and fostering relationships with their peers with families.
Uh central administration want to thank thank everybody for for all of their work from Dr. Roberts down. Um we get a lot when you see the projects that we're doing. No other district is doing the amount of projects that we're doing. In the 12 years I've been here, I'm amazed at how many projects that we've done, how many improvements have been made, and uh how many we're going to continue to make. Right, Mr. Jiad? All right. Now, you can't do that also without um the support of the board event. So, I want to thank our our board commissioners for all of their support. They're always a yes when it comes time to adding positions, adding programs, um making these facility improvements. So, want to thank our board commissioners. Want to thank Mr. Honda and our VPs for everything that they do. Uh they're extremely supportive, always there to listen, and always there to help us.