001I'd like to call this meeting to order. I'm hoping our students will lead us in the flag salute. If everyone stand, please lead us in the flag salute. Thank you. Excellent. Sunshine law statement. All requirements of the open public meetings act have been met for this meeting of the board of education in the bureau of notice of this meeting was filed with the record and town news and all persons requesting such notice. Mrs. Norian, would you read the mission statement? Certainly. The Oridel Public School District is dedicated to the ongoing pursuit of educational excellence through comprehensive innovative curriculum and instruction. The district is committed to providing opportunities for social, emotional, and academic discovery to foster curiosity, courage, and character. Our goal is to prepare our students to become lifelong learners who are self-directed, resilient, productive,
002responsible citizens. Thank you. Roll call. Mr. Delgrea here. Mr. Darian here. Mrs. Downey here. Mrs. Moran here. Mr. Nutland here. Mrs. Walker here. Mr. Walsh here. Mrs. Noran here. Mrs. Nichols here. At this time, we will open to the public for agenda items only. Not seeing. Well, not seeing any, we will move forward and I will turn the meeting over to our superintendent uh as we have some teams tonight that are going to make some presentations which we're very excited to hear. So, we have two groups of individuals here with us tonight. And the reason we bro brought both of those groups together is because there's a lot of similarity between Odyssey of the Mind and Steam Tank. And I don't know if you know this, but one of the things that's really important to
003me as an educator is engaged learning. When students are so into what they're doing that they don't even notice how much time it is, they're not looking at the clock. And that's what I see when the sixth graders are working on their steam tank projects. I see grit and I see resilience because sometimes their projects don't work. And it's the exact same thing I see when I visit Odyssey of the Mind and I see their projects growing and changing over time. So, we're going to start today and we're going to hear, if I remember correctly, from three steam tank projects. Um, the third group that we are going to um hear from today, we will also recognize for a special accomplishment. So, who's going to go first? Okay. So, right before you go, Mr. planning.
004I'm just going to remind the board that steam tank is an initiative from the New Jersey School Boards Association that asks students to identify problems and create projects and sometimes prototypes and even um selling plans for those products. So, Logan Hello. In 2025, harmful algae blooms are threatening some of your favorite fishing spots, leading to the death of countless fish. In fact, 92% of animals affected by these algae blooms die. This is a growing environmental crisis that needs immediate attention. Additionally, fish are ingesting old fishing bowls from the bottom of lakes which harm them through internal and external bleeding from the hooks. Our product will solve both problems. Our lure will be biodegradable and will help destroy algae blooms. The lure will kill algae blooms by dispersing H2O2 across the lake. H2O2 is one of
005the new cures for harmful algae blooms. The biodegradable properties of the lure will keep the fish from eating it if it falls off. The design of our lure is based on the popular Whopper Flopper, a well-known and affecting fishing lure. We've incorporated a compartment that holds a capsule filled with 3% H2O2, which is one of which is the safe amount for fish. As the lure spins in the water, it will disperse the hydrogen peroxide, helping to eliminate algae blooms. Throughout the design process, we've encountered several challenges. Initially, we created a version that was too small, then one that flawed. The third one was oversized, but the final prototype was good. When we clean the algae blooms from the lakes, then the water will be clean and safer for the fish. When the fish consume and
006live in the algae bloom water, then it can be unsafe for them. Or if we consume the fish, it can be unsafe for us us. Our product is not only environmentally beneficial, but it also has a positive social impact. It helps keep the lakes, rivers, and and ponds clean, providing a safe environment environment for fishing, swimming, and outdoor activities. In the summer, it is reassuring to know you're in a safe and clean environment for your family and friends. Plus, it ensures that the fish population stays healthy and we can confidently enjoy the fish we catch free from the risks risks of harmful algae bloom contamination. There is a significant market opportunity for this product. In 2023, 4.2 million Americans tried fishing for the first time and the sport continues to grow. With more people engaging
007in fishing, our product will attract those who care about keeping their fishing spots clean and protect the environment. Our costs will be affordable and available in bulk. Each capsule costs about 80 cents and 99 cents for a 16 ounces of 3% H2O2. There are also many other options for H2O2. The law will be $24.99 and the hooks and capsules will be sold separately. For our model, we've chosen PLA filament due to its unique ability to dissolve in water over a period of two to three months. In addition to this, PLA is durable and reli and a reliable material for 3D printing, making it perfect for its use in water. It's strong enough to withstand the demands of your fishing trips and outdoor adventures, assuring it holds up well even through tough conditions. We are two
008fish in a big pond trying to make a difference. Any questions? Can we see it? Yeah. [Applause] You can show it that way too. So this is our final prototype. entry into the law. The other one is not. The one that is not is where you will put a hook. The other one, what's his name? Did you 3D print this? Yes, we did. Very nice. So, how much did you say this would cost? We wanted to make it um let me see $24.99. And it's biodegradable. It is. So, after a few months of fish, after two to three months, it will people have to buy a new one. So, that's a good business model. Got to keep buying them. I like that recurring revenue dissolve in two to three months if like completely submerged in
009water. So, you will have plenty of time to fish with it before it biodegrades, right? Well, you'll have a customer for life because they'll just keep buying because they biodegrade. Yeah. And I like the idea of the lures that you use, the colored ones that dissolve. And what was it? Four or five two to three months. That's great because at the beach you often see a lot of these on the This is cool. It looks like a submarine. Very cool. This is We didn't get to that, but we could just One's going to be 5 in and then we can make smaller ones, too. Yes. Oh, absolutely. As you can see, that is a bass without algae. Very sad. The b the bass with algae is smiling. And the other amazing smiling. Uhhuh. Throw it
010back. It's been infected with algae. You got to use this. [Applause] Do I have to look for a smiling fish? Okay. Okay. What's our steam tank group number two? Oh, I haven't I didn't see your presentation. Got to get hand mics. Welcome to our band ties presentation. I'm Nar. This is Blake and this is Vanessa. To start our problem, hair ties are not only bad for the environment, but they can also harm your hair. They take a long time to biodegrade, and tons of hair ties are wasted every day. Standard hair ties can take up to 500 years to break down. Many people experience broken hair ties, especially people with thick hair and curly hair. About 15 million hair ties end up in landfills, oceans, or waterways per day. Did you know many types of
011hair ties can damage your hair? Regular hair ties can be harsh and may pull your hair out. This picture shows some damaged hair ties we found around our house, and we also had some on hand. When we realized this problem, we knew we had to brainstorm right away. We needed to find a way that our hair ties could not only be eco-friendly, but also sustainable. We researched materials that would fit our needs. We discovered bamboo fabric, which is eco-friendly and really sustainable. We also thought about using kelvar thread because it's strong and durable, but it's also biodegradable like the bamboo fabric. We hadn't found an elastic for our hair ties yet, so we decided to test the materials we plan to use and substituted the elastic with a rubber band. We made our first prototype
012using just bamboo material. However, it didn't stretch at all. Something we didn't think about. After doing more research, we we realized that bamboo alone wouldn't work for our hair size. We also found out that cover thread releases harmful toxins and is mainly used for industrial projects. So, it wasn't the best choice for us. We went back to the drawing board and decided we should focus more on making our product friendly and practical. We created a prototype by just using bamboo and a random thread to see how it worked. For our second prototype, we found mater 100% biodegradable and organic cotton fabric. The fabric was stretchy and eco-friendly, making it great for our hair ties. Next, we needed to find a thread. We found one that was organic and biodegradable just like the cotton fabric. This
013was the perfect thread for our project. After creating our hair tie with these two materials, we looked for elastic and found ecoorganic elastic that fit our needs perfectly. After thinking about it, we realized making our vanties sustainable and eco-friendly would be challenging. So, we focused on the environmental aspects. On the other hand, this prototype had a lot of fray and was flimsy. So, there was still ways to improve it. The third prototype worked so much better than the others. It didn't pull hair, was tight enough to hold hair in place, and was made from completely eco-friendly materials. It wrapped around our hair three times, while our first one only wrapped around once and didn't hold at all. Once we had all our materials, we need to find our expert. Our expert for this project is
014Shannon. She runs a successful sewing studio and host sewing camps and birthday party parties in the summer. She knows a lot about sewing. We picked March 12th as a date to meet up for our final prototype. Shannon understood what we needed and helped us out but to cut the fabric pieces and showed us where to sew. After finishing our first prototype, Shannon suggested we use an overlock machine to fix the fray. An overlock machine helps prevent fray by sewing over the edges of the fabric. At first, we used a regular sewing machine and there was a lot of fray, but with the overlock, it looked much better. When we worked on our second prototype, we used all the same materials with the overlock, which helped prevent the fray a lot. Although there was still more
015room to improve, this was our best prototype so far. For our final prototype, we switched out the fabric for 100% cotton organic fabric from Joann's. It was stretchier than the last one and still perfectly good for the environment. We used the same elastic and thread from before since it worked very well. This hair tie is very stretchy. We used a normal sewing machine to make these hair ties. We made a tube out of the fabric and turned it inside out to get rid of any fray. We put in the elastic and sewed the ends together, making a super stretchy hair tie. Our final prototype is eco-friendly, biodegradable, and sustainable. As you can see, it goes around Vanessa's hair three times perfectly. [Applause] After regionals, we got some suggestions from the judges to improve and add
016to our hair tie idea. They said that we can make a headband that wraps around our entire head. For example, something like a sports headband. We wanted to make this headband eco-friendly and hair friendly. We made it using a sewing machine at home. This is our prototype for our headband. Our [Applause] our product has a positive effect on society because we are keeping more junk out of landfills, waterways, and lakes. Because of these products, we hope that people will look out our world as a safer place. So now, we did our part in society to help the world and our earth. Our hair ties are better because they're made of 100% eco-friendly and biodegradable materials. Ours are not like most hair ties which are made of polyester and rubber which are unsafe for the environment.
017They don't break easily so there will be less in landfills to begin with. Our band ties can decompose when they're lost to ensure less pollutions in landfills and waterways. Banties from the garbage. Can we see the final prototype? Are we allowed to You made me feel guilty. Look what's in my pocket. I need these. Do you know how long it takes to um No. To biodegrade. At least Chris doesn't need one. This is good. 50 cents. 50 cents. So, you're going to be selling them after school. This is cool. I love all the different steps it took to make that. Great job. Band ties. Okay, paper people. Each one gets a word. Go. Um, unfortunately, one of our group members wasn't able to join us today, but I'm Bella. I'm also Bella. I'm Charlie. I'm
018Fiona. I'm Mayion. I'm Amaly. And we are the Book Swappers. The world is facing a significant problem that many of us don't often think about. The extreme amount of books that are thrown out each year. A 2012 study on book recycling revealed that an alarming 640,000 tons of books or roughly 320 million books end up in landfills each year. But the problem doesn't stop there. Books are often not recyclable in many areas due to the glue used to bind the pages together. While the paper itself is recyclable, the binding process typically makes the entire book non-recyclable, which only adds to the growing environmental crisis. That's where our team, the Book Swappers, came in. We came up with a simple but effective way to help solve this problem, a book swap. Kids brought in books they
019no longer needed and in return chose from a selection of gently used books donated by others. Many students took part, donating books and picking out new ones to enjoy. Overall, the book swap was a great success. We collected our large number of books which can be now donated or creatively repurposed into ornaments among other things. Ornaments. Our our ornaments are made exclusively from damaged books. So instead of those damaged books being thrown out, they will be crafted into beautiful handmade origami ornaments. Um we have a variety of options for color and design. In addition to that, all of it is eco-friendly. We've got eco-friendly string and we even researched eco-friendly paint for a specific pencil-shaped ornament we made for one of our teachers. Um, as you can see the as you can see these are
020of all of our designs and the process we went through. We're proud of our initiative and the positive impact it will have on the environment. By giving old books a second life, we can reduce landfill waste and help keep our earth clean. This is not only reusing old books, but it also reduces the amount of books bought by children. The bookers can start a change in our environment. Today, a science project, a few kids, and a bucket of books. Tomorrow, a goal, an organization, and a better Earth. Ornament making classes. In order to raise more money for our cause, buying books for nursing homes and senior citizens, we decided that we were going to share our ornaments and teach others how to make them. It would cost $25 for a class and we would teach
021multiple kids at once to to make make as much money as we can in in that time period. All you would have to do is come to the steam room during recess and we would provide the books, glue, string, and feathers or beads, whatever you want to add. To further enhance our solution, we created a Google spreadsheet where we have a record of people who generously donated books. This helps us keep track of how many books each person is allowed to take from the book swap. We also sent out a Google form to parents and teachers. This form was to help reasonably price our ornaments in a way that wouldn't be too pricey or too cheap. In addition to that, we also sent out various forms to teachers asking about how many books they throw
022out throw out each year and why data. We took several sources into account and sent out Google forms to the teachers at OPS. These are the results. We sent out three different surveys. Environmental impact. We'll be providing books for the community during our book swap and donating extra books to teachers who have a use for them. In addition, all of our ornaments profits will go towards buying books for senior citizens. We will also purchase a variety of audio enlarge print books because many because some seniors require little extra jobs to read. Many nursing homes are severely underfunded and therefore can't always buy books for seniors. Together, we make a difference, one book at a time, by inspiring and bringing joy to others. We reached out to several experts to assist us with this project. Catherine
023Schultz, a skilled book crafter, has been major has been a major inspiration for our ornaments. She taught us the basics of transforming books into beautiful art pieces that make perfect decorations. We also received support from Eric Mangle and the Ordo Public Library. Eric Mangle, our school librarian, provided us with books that were either damaged or no longer in use. The Ordo Public Library contributed in the same way. Finally, the students and faculty of OPS were incredibly helpful. Whe whether it was old baby books or worn out ones, they generously shared books from their homes. All these people played a key role in making this project a success. Market potential. This project has great potential for marketing for several reasons. First, it supports a meaningful cause, helping senior citizens get books that suit them. This will
024make people excited to purchase their ornaments, knowing they are contributing to a worthy cause. Additionally, the ornaments are visually appealing and look wonderful on Christmas trees or as decorative accents around the house. Future ideas. To further enhance our product, we have decided that we will make a variety of holiday decorations and also table pieces. In addition to that, we are working on a teacher line with an appleshaped um table piece. And as I previously mentioned, we made a pencil ornament for one of our teachers. In addition to that, we are going to work on future book swaps for the entire community. And a recent addition to our to our project was that we were going to add a website to help bring this to other schools so they would find how to do the book
025swap and be able to contact contact us to learn how to make ornaments themselves, too. All in all, our project will help many people around the world do what they love and learn. We'd like to show you some of our ornaments. Thank you. Those are designs. Yeah. That's so cool. How did you join it together? And that's a that's a book. Wow, that's so cool. And she did it similar, right? Just a different shape. That's cute. Oh, here's a decorative one. That's so pretty. Okay, we're going to keep the book swappers up for one additional moment because the book swappers actually, this is the second year in a row that we did have a team qualify past the regional tournament to the state tournament and the book swappers are that team. They did not place
026in the top four, which means they will not be at New Jersey school boards in October. However, we are getting closer because our steam tank program is definitely improving each year thanks to Mrs. Kataldo and Miss Voyatsis. Can we please thank them before we recognize each of you? Okay. So, now you're going to put your ornaments down for a moment and we're going to do a little pregraduation practice. Mrs. Nichols is going to call your name. You're going to come up. You're going to take your certificate. You're going to shake her hand. You're going to go stand over there on the steps. Take. Shake. Go. Are you ready? Okay. Okay. We're going to go in alphabetical order. So, Mayan Awani stands Amaly Basile. [Applause] Isabella Devito, Charlie Hill, Isabella Ryan. I guess David is not
027here this evening, so I will give you his certificate. I'm actually gonna have Mrs. Katalo Miss Voyatsis go on the stairs and we have Fiona Venice Joe. So we'll take a picture. If they can fold pages, they should be able to come up with something. All right, stay up there. Stay up there. Let's have the rest of the steam tank teams go up there so we can get all our steam people. Let's say [Applause] I think might not be able to We are going to switch over to our Odyssey of the Mind team. So, can we get our Odyssey students up to the microphone, please Fiona does a wardrobe change? Yeah, her sister too in the garden. As our Odyssey team comes to the microphone, I'd like to point out one thing. Um, Vincent over
028there is wearing a gold tuxedo jacket. You will notice that would be from the attic of the Bozius home. Former figure skating costume. I was like, hello again. Um, so we're back. Um, our conclusion to the year, as many of you know already from Miss Bozy's great post, um, we were we competed against 47 teams at world finals this year, international and teams from the United States and we placed fourth place among 47 teams and we stopped listening at the awards at that point because we were done. And every year um Odyssey gives out a Renatra Fuscoa award for exceptional creativity. The award is given out at regionals and if a team even if their solution doesn't work but they've taken excess you know a lot of risk and shown excessive creativity then they're awarded
029a Renatrafusa medal at that point and they automatically advance to the next level of the tournament. They do that at regionals and state finals. They also award the renatrafusa at world finals and they're very rare. I have listened to them every year um in awe of some of the things that they talk about and I always think wow you know it's um sort of the Stanley Cup of Odyssey if you will. It's it's a huge trophy. Um it stays at World Finals and teams that are creative enough to win it um get their a plaque on the trophy. So all of the past winners are on it with the school name, the coach's name, and the team's names, first and last names on the trophy. So it's a really really like bigger than first place
030kind of thing. So this year we were all listening. We were congratulating ourselves for fourth place and they out of 704 teams this year, they awarded four. So judges can nominate as many teams as they like, but they only choose three or four each year. And the fourth one they called with was us. So it just yeah I could cry all over again. I their faces were worth every single second of it. So I will leave them to tell you a little bit about what they did. You know some of it from the last time I was here. Uh we were here at regionals and states. Um oh I'm sorry. Uh sure. Hello. Oh look at that. I like it better than when I pick up. So, you know, some of the project from when
031we were here after state finals, but this is the conclusion, if you will. So, thanks for entertaining us and for having us. It's always an honor, Vincent. Oh, shoot. Sing a song when you don't know what else to do. A no. Oh, hello. Um, so earning the Renatra fusco was really big for us. Um it was super exciting because um really at that point we were kind of droning out like like Miss Sham said we were congratulating ourselves for fourth place. Hey and by that point when that last name got called it was a shock and I personally didn't really know what to think. So at first reaction was, "Am I dreaming?" Then second reaction was, "Let me pinch myself, see if I'm awake." So apparently I was. And um that it was a really
032great feeling. So um thank you all. Evelyn, if you would like. So, one of the biggest parts of our problem was to have a trainer character that explained the trick that a device did, which Julian made. So, for us to make our costume original, we made a bear to go with our Russian circus theme out of completely out of cardboard to fit with the recycled materials theme that we used. And who was behind the bear? And I had to wear it and now it's really big. Yeah. So this is it. This was our live music which is something that we had to use in the perform which so something we have to include in the performance. It has six different fleas and each one made a different sound when you played them using a makey
033makey. We programmed the sounds into com the computer and when you tapped each flea and the I tapped each flea as sequence in a specific sequence to create music [Applause] while Sky is walking around with that Um, one of the challenges is we pay specific attention to the wording of a problem. So, and how we're judged on items that the students need to create to complete the entire problem. And Skies Flea Circus was quite the conundrum for us this year because we were being judged not just on the song itself, but on the create how create how the creative production of sound. And we had many conversations about how if you create a xy if you make a xylophone out of PVC pipes for instance it's a creative instrument but it's not a creative production
034of sound because a xylophone is already used to produce sound. So there were many iterations that we finally landed on this and it became one of the centerpieces of the reason for the renatra fusa. So we're super proud of that and Julian will explain what fleas have to do with it. Uh hello. Uh this is uh Fleet. He's a flea and he's made out of cardboard. He does the first trick by rolling a ball on this tray on top of his back. There's two little plastic circles down here and they go up and down like separately and the ball will like roll like here. You have to explain that he's not all together. Oh yeah, there was a piece under here down at the bottom, but it's not here anymore because we had to leave
035it at world finals. So he's just this now, but he had to do tricks. So they they they're not they don't know everything about Oh, yeah. So, and the engineering piece of it was your specialty. Yeah. And it it was like an automaton. So it was on like one like stick in the center here. And there was like one like piece of plastic that went up and one on the other side that went down. So when the stick rotated it would push one up and then it would go down and then the other one would go up and the ball would roll across the top here. There was two others. Uh but I don't they didn't look as cool as Fleet. So, Fleetird's here. Uh, I'll come around to show you Fleird. [Applause] Um, so
036another part of our solution was that we created a Okay. Yeah. Sorry. Um, so another part of our solution was that we we created a train station sign which was a replica of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, Russia. So it was a 8-ft tall structure that on the top had St. Basil and this is the center tower of it. So there's a lazy Susan on the bottom that would rotate it and it was pointing to a train that we had as a set piece and um Vince will explain the Russian circus theme that we had. Okay then. Um hello again. Um so the our entire problem had restrictions but overall it was based off of it was very open in quotes open-ended where any sort of solution could be used. So what we thought of
037was Russian circus. So, there's this bear named Misha who attacked a circus trainer. She had to be sent back to her home, Siberia. Pun. Um, so me and the trainer behind me go looking for a replacement. Now, I'm really upset about this, okay? To the to the point where I don't even sing anymore when I talk. And that's another thing that So we go and we come back with a flea. I hate this even more. So well that is until the flea does a trick for me which was the ball trick that makes me happy. So the creative element to show that we were happy was for me to sing. So I had to sing a whole bunch of songs while I talked. Yeah. So, one of them was um Defying Gravity. Defying Gravity. One
038of them was Stuck in a Moment. Thank you. Could you sing Could you sing like a minute of one for us? Oh, no. Wait, which one? You don't have to if you don't want to. Oh, shoot. Okay. It's only Yeah, it's only about like 25 seconds, but Uh so yeah so one of the elements that had to let me just this one of the elements that had to be put in is he had to the mech animal the flea had to get lost and be found in an unusual place. So he got lost in a vacuum. So, we played a pun for the song stuck in a moment to sucked in a vacuum. So, what? Oh, no. I got to sing a bigger It was a bigger audience at Worlds. I can't. No, wait. No,
039wrong one. Wrong one. Uh, looks like Oh, right. Look, looks like you got sucked in a vacuum and now you can't get out of it. very out of tune. But that was excellent. Thank you. Yeah. So, Evelyn would like Yes. Wait. Well, um cardboard. Yes. So, our creative element was cardboard here that we used mostly throughout the whole thing. I'm sorry to cut short, but Evelyn will be here to explain more about that. So one of the key details to make it more creative is we try to restrict ourselves to um using less materials and more recycled materials. So we chose cardboard and other cardboard tubes which is seen best in Fiona's tower I think and she was the one who actually had the idea for it but we also used it in my bear
040costume and as much as we could throughout the skit. Good. Can Can we see you in your bear costume? Can we see you how we how you would have it? Oh, since it was kind of You can explain the head piece real fast if you want how you had to do it. And you had to hold it up yourself when you were Is it heavy? Was it heavy? Oh, it's okay. Yeah, just amazing. Thank you. Um, just that overall there's there's pieces you didn't see. I I don't recall because it was busy if I sent the board a copy of the final video, but I will do that so that some of what they just said will make more sense to you. Um, and you know, overall I'm just super super proud of them and
041thank you for your support as always. Um, we couldn't do without you. I thought we would do that and then I would do the other. Is that okay? Cryptocryptic. You know me, I'm always good for the element of surprise. So, we are going to recognize our Odyssey team. So, you're going to put your props down somewhere safe and President Nichols will call you up again. Take shake. Go to the stairs. Okay, I believe in alphabetical order again. Uh, first up, Evelyn Ang. Congratulations. Amazing job. Julian Greco. Congratulations, Julia. Sky Mson. Congratulations. Let's go to the stairs. The stairs. Vincent Pecaro. Nice singing. Congratulations. And again, we have Fiona Venice. Joe, congratulations, Fiona. With all this work, Fiona, do you have time to do any homework this year between Steam Tank and Odyssey? That's true. All
042right. Picture. Before um uh we move on in the meeting, I know that Miss Sham has something to say about um our journey as an Odyssey program over the past Mrs. Nichols, what year was it? 2009. There you go. 2009. Um, okay. I'm going to try and do this. And thank you for indulging me. 16 years ago, I signed up for a program that I had researched online while looking for creative problemsolving opportunities for my gifted students. Odyssey of the Mind popped up. I read snippets about it online, and I thought it sounded kind of fun. Little did I know what awaited me. It turned out not only did I need money and a whole lot of ingenuity and coaching experience, but I needed people to be officials for our teams. During my early years
043at OPS, Mr. Walsh, I recognized you as someone on the board who truly cared about programs that gave kids positive experiences and that asked them to stretch and grow. So, I took a chance back then and I asked you if you would be willing to be an official for that first year, 2009. I had no idea what I had asked you to do since those early days each year. I've asked you each time for regionals and state finals if you would continue to support us and act as our official so our teams would not receive penalty points. You happily volunteered and some years you volunteered before I even asked you. Um, I know that over the last 16 years you may have been able to see four or maybe five of these presentations for these
044problems, but most of the years of volunteering, you didn't get to see them and you rarely got to see the good things that were happening with our teams. In addition, you and I have both faced health problems and along the way, but despite all of that, you have continued to show up again, blindly, in some cases, unwittingly, but always with great interest and enthusiasm. You were there for us. I apologize ahead of time. Editing videos clips apparently is not under my ability of mad skills. I did the best I could, but mostly what I hope it imparts to you is the impact that you've had and how much the kids and I over the years have appreciated. So, if everyone would indulge me for a few minutes, I'd like to show the video. And I'm
045glad that speech is over because now I'm really shaking. I just thought I'd say that auditorium. Where is it? 8218. 8218. Okay. Oops. Hold on. Sorry. It's this thing that I have to do every time. because it optimizes to my computer at downstairs. Um, so I'm doing it for Okay, that should do it. Okay, and we're going Mr. Ramy, I'm sorry. Where am I full screen? It'll do it when I hit play. No, top left. All right. Okay, there we are. All right, here we go. Hello, and thank you for all you've done, Mr. Walsh. As you can maybe see, I'm in the middle of Switzerland right now, and I can tell you there's there's no better way to use your Odyssey the mind problem solving skills than figuring out how to navigate Europe on
046a budget. Or uh take yesterday for example. We uh found ourselves 3 hours from uh our Airbnb and had to navigate a complex series of buses and and trains to get back. But uh I can safely say the skills Odyssey the mind uh provided me uh allowed us to safely get back. So thank you again and enjoy retirement. Wow, Ellis, that was a crazy battle. The elevator business does have its ups and downs. Well, anyways, are you up and ready to elevate creativity today? Oh, I don't know, Ollie. I'm feeling a little down today. Sometimes I wish I could fit with the other elevators. Hi, Mr. Walsh. I'm Colleen. I was involved in Odyssey from uh when I was in fifth grade all the way to the start of high school. Uh so your continued
047support uh throughout all these years really really meant a lot to the success of our program. I know personally in my life um Odyssey has empowered me whenever I get really really worried about a problem that I think I can't solve. I kind of have that voice in the back of my head that says that every problem has a solution if you think creatively enough. Um which I wouldn't have without Odyssey and without your support on the board or as an official as well. So thank you Hi Mr. Walsh. Thank you so much for your support in Odyssey. It's really meant a lot to me over the years and it was a great experience to be a part of. Hi Mr. Walsh. Thank you so much for your support. Odyssey's meant so much. I made
048some of my best friends through the program and it's helped me a lot um through creative problem solving. Hi. Um, my name is Zoe. I'm a junior now, but I did Odyssey when I was in fifth or sixth grade. Uh, fifth and sixth grade actually. Sorry. So, it's been a good four or five years. No, five, six years pretty much. Um, and you know, like I think it really helped me grow as a person and I do actually feel that it has made a difference like in how I approach I guess the rest of my life sort of when it comes to like problem solving or you know like even coming up with something witty to say like when I'm talking with my friends or whatever. Um, so yeah, thank you for being our official
049for all of these years. Um, it genuinely has made a difference. Greetings, Earthlings. I was once stuck on the earth just like you. Unfortunately, the earth does not exist anymore. My name is David Sunn and I'm a senior in Riverdale High School going to major in mechanical engineering. In my fifth and sixth grade, I did Odyssey of the Mind, which helped me succeed in high school and discover my love for engineering. Thank you for supporting Miss Sham and Odyssey of the Mind, Mr. Walsh. [Music] Hi, Mr. Walsh. This is AJ Woo. I participated in the Odyssey of the Mind division one team on problem one, Pirates and the Treasure in 2023 when I was in fourth grade and then again in the following year in the division 2 team on problem two AI techno art.
050The experience opened my eyes in ways that I could not have imagined. I learned so many things. There were the creative challenges, the teamwork, how to handle myself under pressure and to believe in myself to name a few. I will forever remain grateful for the opportunity and for your support. Thank you for representing us. I wish you a very happy and relaxing retirement. Maybe with a little tinkering. Bye. Thank you, Mr. Walsh. Odyssey of the Mind has really been one of the most impactful experiences of my life. It helped me break out of my shell, make new friends, and taught me lessons that I continue to use to this day as a college graduate. None of it would have been possible without such a supportive team. And I wish you all the best with whatever
051comes next. Hi, Mr. Walsh. This is Andy Woo. I joined my brother in 2020 for Odyssey the Mine. I was in division 2 in and in fourth grade and I did AI techno art. It was hard work but the outcome was worth the challenging journey endured. The chicken and egg puns, the toaster that judged art, the tournaments, glue guns and power tools. I don't think I can ever forget the amazing experience and lessons learned. Thank you for being our official over and over. You came in and did your thing. Then you left. None of us saw you. You were like Batman. I wish you a happy retirement and thank you for for all the support you had given us. And that team is Oriel public school from Oriel, New Jersey. [Applause] So, as the team
052makes their way down, I'll read why they're receiving the award. This is pretty cool. What do a flea, a bear, a homemade electric piano, a cathedral, and a train have in common with a circus? Pure magic. Thanks to this extraordinary team using only recycled materials, including cardboard, milk cartons, and paper towel tubes, they built a stunning 3D Trans Siberian style train with a plush red velvet interior. Alongside it towered an 8-ft Russian Orthodox cathedral with colorful spires adding to the vibrant Russian circus theme. One member transformed into a circus tent revealing performers inside until a surprise twist turned the entire scene into a flea circus. Even more impressively, the team created a functioning flea piano where each flea triggered a unique sound woven into the show's narrative. It was a dazzling display of imagination, artistry,
053and inventive storytelling. That sounds pretty cool. So, congratulations, New Jersey. [Applause] Thank you, Mr. Walsh. We appreciate all the support you've given to Odyssey. We would many teams would not have been able to make it to world finals without all the help you've been in securing funding for our Odyssey of the Mind team. We'd also like to thank you, Mr. for being an awesome judge in all the tournaments that you've judged. Thank you. Individually, Odyssey of the Mind has taught us so many different things. It's taught me how to take initiative. What's it taught you, Evelyn? Odyssey of the Mind has taught me how to be a leader. What has it taught you, Julian? Odyssey of the Mind has taught me to persevere even when times are hard. What has it taught you, Vince? Honesty
054of the mind is taught me how to think creatively and solve problems like no one else could. It's amazing. What has honesty taught you, Scott? is talking about what's better with a team. And so as a team, we'd like to thank you for all the support you've given to Odyssey. We appreciate everything you've done. And to end, we'd like to say thank you, Mr. Walsh. [Applause] [Music] From the bottom of my heart, thank you both on a professional and a personal level. I think you started the year after me, so I'm not sure he gets retired before me. Um, I just want to wish you a retirement filled with family joy and laughter. You deserve it. To our own personal Batman, please accept this award. looks just like our Odyssey Awards with a different plaque
055recognizing 16 years of dedicated service as our Odyssey of the Mind official. Thank you. J, we have to engineer you a better one. Thank you so much, John. You're welcome. Let's take a picture of you two. I get on the stairs. No, no, no. Don't get on the stairs. You can stand right there. Okay. Thank you. It's good. [Applause] Mr. Walsh, would you like to say anything? Yes. I thought so. I I uh want to thank you for the for the film, for the dedication, for the plaque. Um, I had a stroke this year and I didn't make the quarterfinal and the final, but I did make the judges classes. So, I'm going to go home and get myself ready for next fee, next January. because they tell me you don't have to be a
056board member. No, you don't. You don't. So, if Hey, if you want to volunteer, I we'll we'll re we'll revise the the the plaque next year. I just I don't think I could do your job, but I could be a judge. And from both Sarah and Nick Pankoitz, the New Jersey state directors, they send you good wishes and many, many, many thanks. And Trish and all of the people you've judged with, they're very happy for you. And thank you so much for everything you've done. Thank you very much. Thank you. So, we appreciate all the students and parents coming out this evening. I'm assuming you don't want to stay for our boring meeting. So, we're going to take like a two-minute break. If you want to stay, you're more than welcome, but we'll take a
057two-minute break. So, whoever wants to leave can leave and then we will resume our meeting. So, thank you for coming and congrat congratulations. Okay, that was lovely. Um, I have some correspondence that I wanted to read under my report. We have a thank you note. Dear BOE members, thank you so much for the delicious bagel breakfast last week. Such a nice treat to start the morning from Miss Michelle H. And another one. Dear Ordell Board of Education members, thank you for the delicious bagel spread you provided for us on Wednesday morning. It was wonderful to enjoy a bagel and coffee in the morning. We appreciate your thoughtfulness. Wishing you a good day. the admin team. I'm kind of disappointed it wasn't signed yours in education. I'm a little disappointed at that. Um just a reminder,
058our retreat is coming up on July 9th. Um our this our school board Matt Lee resigned. He's going to be doing something else. We have a new one coming this year. We'll probably set it for around 5 5:30, but we'll send out something about that. And before we go into our resolutions, we will be going into a close session. So, I'll turn it over to the superintendent for her report. It has been a busy um two weeks since our last meeting. The administrative team has been interviewing possible candidates for the upcoming school year. You will see several of those new hires on your agenda this evening. We continue to plan for the summer explorations program and I have also been in contact with the town regarding their usage of the building for their summer recreation
059program. We at this point have 231 students registered for explorations including 53 kinder campers. The program will run some favorites like cheerleading, storytime, storytime model magic, Legos, and Move It Move It. We also have some new classes running including jewelry design, Panther Press, which is a newspaper class, coding with KBO, a chemistry class, and a class entitled Mission to Mars. I had the priv privilege of attending and speaking at Troop 36 Eagle Court of Honor. And yesterday, I received a presentation from Junior Girl Scout Troop 98184 regarding an action project focused on recycling recycling that they would like to do at OPS. So, I did what every good superintendent would do. I told them to go see Mr. Warner. One of the highlights of the week was our sixth grade awards night. Once again, it
060was completely studentrun. Students acted as hosts. They provided the musical entertainment and designed the program. On Friday, we will celebrate Chief for a Day, and I invite the board to join us for a brief parade for this year's Chief, which will happen right outside on Prospect at 9:00 a.m. Finally, as a reminder, commencement is on Wednesday morning. If you could respond to the invitation from my office so we can ensure that we have appropriate number of chairs set up, I would appreciate it. And that concludes my report at this time. Um, I like make a motion to go to close session. Yeah. All right. Can someone make a motion to go into close session? So moved. I'll second. Second by Mr. Delg Greco. Roll call. Mr. Delco. Yes. Mr. Darian. Yes. Mrs. Downey. Mrs. Moran.
061Yes. Mr. Nutland. Yes. Mrs. Walker. Yes. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mrs. Noran. Yes. Mrs. Nichols. Yes. We should not be too long. What are we doing? Can I have a motion to come out of close session? Motion to come out of close session by Mrs. Norian. All in favor? I I opposed. Carried. Uh, okay. Moving forward, we have the review of the May 7th uh minutes. Any issues, please email Mr. Ayapelli. Tonight, we have approval of April 23rd. Do I have a motion? I move that we approve the meeting of April 23rd. Second. Second by Mrs. Norian. Any questions? Call the question. Mr. Delgreco? Yes. Mr. Darian? Yes. Mrs. Downey? Yes. Mrs. Moran? Yes. Mr. Nutland? Yes, Mrs. Walker. Yes, Mr. Walsh. Yes, Mrs. Norian. Yes, Mrs. Nichols. Yes. Administrative items. Mrs. Norian, would you take
062that? Uh, yes. I'd like to present um items A1 and A2. I'll second it. Second by Mr. Walsh. I want you to notice that we had one um HIV envelope in our home packets. There's another one in your packet tonight. Tonight, we are just um accepting them. Next week we will affirm them. We just need we need lines under this section. Miss Bosios. Thank you. Any questions on A1 or A2? Call the question. Mr. Delco? Yes. Mr. Darian? Yes. Mrs. Downey? Yes. Mrs. Moran? Yes. Mr. Nutland? Yes. Mrs. Walker? Yes. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mrs. Norian? Yes. Mrs. Nichols? Yes. Mr. Delg Greco, buildings and grounds. Yes. um like to present B1 use of school facilities and then also just wanted to mention to everybody we did have a buildings and grounds committee meeting. Um we
063went over pardon me I forgot my physical copy so I'm reading off my notes. Um we talked about the basketball court just uh the patching waiting for the ponding you know with the all the rain that we've had just to verify that everything is flat looking at different textures different paints to seal the rest of the top. uh just to make sure that it adheres to the paint that's already down there currently. Talked about cameras, uh talked about uh cops grant and if we were going to leverage the cops grant since we can only leverage it once and different ways to leverage it. Talked about landscaping um you know future seating projects. We talked about the back lawn. Uh we talked about just a plan for care and maintenance and landscaping in general. We'll reach
064uh reaching out to a vendor for treatment plans and then revised quote uh we went over for the uh garden and then just summer projects you know direct install status uh just the status of different things in the building from a security perspective and all the HVAC work and then painting as well. Could you make your motion again? Yes. Uh we'll make a motion to bring B1 use of school facilities. Second it. Second by Mrs. Norian, do we have any questions for Mr. Delgreo? Call the question. Mr. Delg Greco, yes. Mrs. Dreddarian, yes. Mrs. Downey, yes. Mrs. Moran, yes. Mr. Neland, yes. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mr. Walsh, yes. Mrs. Norian, yes. Mrs. Nicholson, yes. Curriculum, Mrs. Norian, uh, have no report at this time. Finance, Mr. Darian. Uh, yes. Um, we did not have a
065finance meeting since our last meeting, so I have no report there. Um, so with that, I'd like to introduce uh for consideration tonight items D1 through D17. I'll second it. Second by Mr. Walsh. Any questions? What's up? Oh, I see it. D. Yes. Okay. All right. Any other questions? Call the question. Mr. Bel? Yes. Mr. Dariion? Yes. Mrs. Downey? Yes. Mrs. Moran? Yes. Mr. Nutell? Yes. Mrs. Walker? Yes. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mrs. Norian? Yes. Mrs. Nichols? Yes. Delegate report. Mr. Walsh. I have not paid the report. Uh, personnel, Mrs. Walker. And before you take it, um, we actually already have F1, two, three, four, five. I'm going to walk on. So you'll you'll present F1 through F6. I'm going to walk on F6. It is hereby moved that the board of education approves the submission
066of the contract for employee number 4713 to the executive county superintendent for review and approval. So you would like to make a motion for F1 to F6? I'd like to um before I do that, we did have a meeting tonight. Um and we discussed a number of things. Um new hires that will be coming onto the board of educ, um also OEA negotiations is in progress and uh a few other things to tidy up housekeeping. And with that, I'd like to present F1 and F2. I'll second F1 through F6 if you can make it F1 through F6. Some of these are from last week that we're bringing forward. So I'll second F1 to F6. Thank you, Mr. Walsh. Any questions? Call the question. Mr. Delg Greco? Yes. Mr. Darian? Yes. Mrs. Downey? Yes. Mrs. Moran?
067Yes. Mr. Nutland? Yes. Mrs. Walker? Yes. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mrs. Norian? Yes. Yes, Mrs. Nichols. Yes. Policy, Mr. Nutland. Uh, we haven't had a meeting, but we will uh we'll get together soon. Uh, public relations, Mrs. Downey, I don't have anything. Any update on the website or the app? How's it is it smooth? Anybody complaining about anything not working? As I shared at the last meeting, I will be sending out a survey to all stakeholders uh by the end of this week um to ask for feedback because I think sometimes something is hard to find and no one's telling me. It just happened in my office. Um, my administrative assistant in charge of all hiring couldn't find employment opportunities. That's a really important spot you need to be able to find on your website. And
068it all happened to do with the fact that the rotating day is covering that spot. And so that's not the one we ever want the rotating day to cover. We would want that to cover something that our school uses so much that they just know it's over there on the right. At this time, we'll open to the public. You could just state your name for the record and then fill out the form. My name is Joshua. What's your last name? My name is Joshua Fr. I don't know if I need to turn this down. Should I put my address and everything? Yeah, just you don't have to state your address. Just put it in the book. Okay. Hi. Um, so again, my name is Joshua FR. My son David is a first grader here at
069the school. And before I make the comments that I was coming to talk to uh you guys about. Um, I did want to uh thank uh Miss Holly and Miss Broncado for helping my son this year. He had a very difficult year with um behavior. Um he's uh dealing with his, you know, some issues that we're we're getting through. And I I want to thank them both for really helping him this year and helping us get through this year because uh it was challenging for a lot of people. So I wanted to say that first. Um but I I'm coming here tonight because um I am a computer science teacher at the middle school in Ramsey School District. Um, and about a few months ago, I came across uh I was in the library with
070one of my sons and a mother was there with a bunch of other kids and she was running her own little like coding club um and teaching things that I had taught in my previous school. I was a K to8 um technology teacher in Munaki uh for eight and a half years. And I was surprised and I said, "Oh, don't they do this in school?" And they like, "No." Um and I I actually went over during your close session and talked to Miss Holly and uh Mr. Neans and uh or sorry, Mr. Warner. Um and uh and I was just saying that um I as someone who teaches the subject and has seen the the power of teaching programming and coding um it would be great um if there was some aspect of the Steam
071curriculum because I was reading through the the curriculum and it's fantastic. It's it really encompasses everything, but the one missing piece is the computer part. uh the part to like get those kids who have like you know um with Steam Tank I I'm involved with Steam Tank I I mentored actually the groups last year um and uh you know the Odyssey the minds those kids do amazing things and the fact that they're using Makey Makeys and they're doing all this stuff and just thinking of what they could do if they learned how to program like thinking of what level they could take things to if they had that power. Um, and it's, you know, it's not for everyone, but just having the exposure to that may, you know, get somebody to have a spark of
072like, you know, this is what I want to do. Like my son is very much into it. Like he loves doing Scratch. He, you know, loves doing anything programming wise. Um, his grandparents got him a little, you know, robot, but it's just it would be great if it was part of the curriculum. Um, and you know, they students have access to Chromebooks, so obviously technology is not an issue. Um, and it's just a matter of, you know, and I I I told uh Miss Holly, like I understand as a teacher, uh, someone who has his administrative certificate, I understand how there's limited time in the day and a limited time in the year to get everything, you know, in there. But if there was a way to sneak it in either, you know, doing the
073hour of code uh, in December or somehow getting that some getting it in there because students re kids in general use technology every day, but they don't know how to manipulate it. They don't know how to use it. They don't understand how it works. And I I see it, you know, in Ramsay all the time. Kids don't know what power they have really in their in their hands. Um, and they don't really respect it in certain ways. It would just I think it would be something that would be beneficial to the school district and I think would be beneficial to the students here. Um, and you know, it's helped me find uh jobs just learning how to use computers uh and learning basic code. Uh, and I think it would just be helpful. uh and
074it's, you know, personal passion of mine. Obviously, I teach it, but I think it would be something that would be great to see uh in the future. Obviously, not next year, maybe not the year after, but something that to be considered to be built into the curriculum uh over the next uh several years as such. So, thank you so much. Thank you. So, Mrs. Norian, I think you should just put that we should put on an agenda for curriculum just to see what we do and what we can do. Absolutely. And I guess since you're a middle school teacher, that you mean you'll volunteer to come here and do a session with our students one day, right? You could do a workshop after school with them. I would be more than happy to talk to
075the same Facebook group and stuff. So there's tons of resources again access realize as a district like this is something we want to really grow because they already have it at home, right? Very valid point. Thank you for bringing it. We will look into it in curriculum. Like you said, we do have time restrictions, but let I I am kind of curious to see if we do any of it and then we'll look from there. Any any other comments from the public? Moving on. Any old or new business? Old or new business? Yes, Mrs. Walker. A new business, I guess. Um, the shirts have been ordered for anyone else. Last call. They should be here in the next couple of days. So, and the guy the the company is great to work with. They remembered
076me from when we ordered ours back. That's quite a few. Nobody ever forgets you, Mrs. Walker. Oh, yeah. Right. Any other old or new business? Mr. Walsh, I have a question. Uh, how come we didn't have the teachers and those retiring come in front of the board? We did that last meeting. Did that? We did it last meeting. Oh, okay. I should keep my mouth shut. We won't tell. Mr. Nutland, just a quick comment. I know that they're all gone, but you know how impressive our Odyssey of the mind um you know, group is and and the the the steam club and it's very very impressive and I'm I'm you know, glad that they have those opportunities. So, um you know, Mr. Walsh, great job at saying yes and um you know, good good on
077you. Um but congrats to those teams. I thought the uh steam tank products were amazing. Biodegradable like the fish one and then the hairband one that's amazing and to understand like fishing that is a major issue is when you lose your lure and now it just sits at the bottom and people can step on it and whatnot. So there's a lot of hazards that can go with it including the fish. So um that that was impressive. Yeah. Any other old or new business? Mr. Delgco, just to add on that, the scrunchie uh the hair tie one. As a girl dad, I find many of them destroyed in my house, so I can relate. But I think it's great that they also um went to a vendor in town, you know, and they provided time and
078insight and they helped them, which I think it's wonderful and it builds a great part of the community. So, guess Shannon at Clay Paper Scissors, that's wonderful that she helped out. Any other old or new business? We do need to go into another close session. So, if someone make a motion, I move we go into another close session. Second. Second by Mrs. Walker. Roll call. Mr. Mr. Delgreco. Yes. Mr. Dariion. Yes. Mrs. Downey. Yes. Mrs. Moran. Yes. Mr. Nutland. Yes. Mrs. Walker. Yes. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mrs. Noran? Yes. Mrs. Nichols? Yes. We will not be taking any action after. So we will not be coming back. Thank you for coming to our meeting. We appreciate it.