Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The Fair Lawn Sunrise Rotary will honor volunteer fireman Jack Hoitsma, special education teacher Doreen Yates and Columbia Bank for their service to the borough at an awards ceremony on Friday.
The Fair Lawn Sunrise Rotary has selected two individuals and one institution to be the inaugural recipients of an award that honors local citizens who have gone above and beyond in their service to the Fair Lawn community. Jack Hoitsma, Doreen Yates and Columbia Bank will all receive the Rotary's new "Service above Self" award Friday at the Knights of Columbus Hall on Maple Avenue. Hoitsma, a 54-year member of the Fair Lawn Volunteer Fire Department, is its longest running fire chief and the father of ex-chief Chris Hoitsma. Yates, a Fair Lawn special education teacher, developed the district's acclaimed Bridges program for students with cognitive disabilities currently in place at Memorial Middle School and Fair Lawn High School. …
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Students in the high school's Bridges II program will work once a week at the recycling center to gain functional life skills
The high school's Bridges II students, by now well-accustomed to YouTube superstardom following the release last week of their second hit music video in six months, aren't letting the glamor and glitz get in the way of putting in an honest day's work. This fall, the students will ditch the stylists and makeup artists, roll up their sleeves and get dirty once a week working at the borough's recycling center. "We felt that it would be a change of pace," said Bridges II teacher Doreen Yates, who also has arranged for the cohort of cognitively impaired 16-to-21-year-olds to work weekly at Giovanni's Deli and Goodwill. "We do teach about the environment and recycling and why it’s so important and how it helps our future, so this was just the …
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The latest Bridges music video, "Who I Am," premiered on Monday at the high school.
Ten of the district’s Bridges students, by now bona fide on-screen veterans, premiered their second music video of the year this Monday in front of an intimate crowd of friends, family and school personnel. Titled “Who I Am,” the 11-minute video was conceived of and directed by high school music teacher John Giresi, who also wrote the song’s music and lyrics. A more dramatic and introspective take than their December debut, “Who I Am,” opens with a documentary-style question-and-answer segment during which each of the students from the Bridges program – which serves teens with cognitive disabilities -- answers questions about themselves. Giresi said he wanted to not only give glimpses into each student’s likes and interests, but also to …
MC61249
12:53 pm on Thursday, June 21, 2012
Nice Job to all. Gives me hope for Fair Lawn! more ›