The
SOUTHERN OCEAN Times Vol. 10 - No. 22
In This Week’s Edition
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Community News Pages 8-10
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 14
Inside The Law Page 17
Classifieds Pages 18
–Photo by Judy Smestad-Nunn Mariah Blevins, a Pinelands High School Junior, and Xavion Moore, a senior from Lakewood High School, show off 1,385 meals stacked in packs of five in the walk-in refrigerators. There will be 3,000 prepared. By Judy Smestad-Nunn BRICK – Some 3,000 of the needy in Ocean and Monmouth Counties will have a Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings due to the hard work of culinary arts students at the Brick center of Ocean County Vocational Technical School (OCVTS).
Sheriff ’s Officers Detail Border Crisis By Stephanie Faughnan TOMS RIVER – Two Ocean County Sheriff’s Department officers bringing a fugitive back to New Jersey participated in a unique training exercise on their way to Yuma, Arizona. “Knowing that one of the guys we were sending down speaks Spanish, I figured this was a chance to give them the experience of going to the border,” said Ocean County (Border Crisis - See Page 12)
No one is exactly sure when “Feed the Need” started - the best guess is somewhere around 25 to 30 years ago - but it began when a church group asked if the culinary arts students could prepare 25 meals, said vo-tech teacher, Chef Gary Lesniak. (Students - See Page 4)
Food Drive Fills Truck Samaritans Answer The Call
By Chris Lundy TOMS R I V ER – Lots and lots of groceries were bought on the weekend before Thanksgiving but they didn’t all make it home. If they were purchased at the ShopR ite on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River, some of
it wound up in a huge Pepsi truck parked outside. It was part of the WJRZ Share The Joy collection of food, toys and supplies for Fulfill, formerly the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean counties, as well as Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Jersey
Shore Animal Center. They set up a portable stage and broadcast from that location for two days. Donations were also t a ken i n Neptune for Fulfill and Holiday Express, and at Brave New World in Toms River.
December 3, 2022
Little Egg School Board Hasn’t Passed Sex Ed Curriculum
By Stephanie Faughnan LITTLE EGG HARBOR – While most school districts have decided how they intend to deal with New Jersey’s Comprehensive Health and Physical Education standards, Little Egg Harbor remains the exception. It’s not as if school administrators have been lax in putting together a proposed curriculum. A preview of how the district plans to handle the controversial materials is on the district’s website. The presentation dated August 24, 2022, bears the name of Alisa Palazzi, Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction. “We are being told by the state what we have to do,” shared Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Melissa McCooley. “Our job is to work together to make sure it’s done in a conservative way, and that it’s not over the top. That’s what we did with our teachers.” Stafford Schools has decided to assign some of the lessons to be taught at home. However, McCooley said that the state standards do not propose that home assignments will suffice. The district relies on certified teachers to present the curriculum. Little Egg Harbor school district administrators have come up with a proposal that teaches the curriculum for a total of two hours of instruction over a two-week period in May. Non-compliance could come in the form of reduced state aid to the district or even the possibility of a fine. Either of the two would not only negatively impact taxpayers but could also hurt services available to students if money became a problem. Little Egg Harbor’s school district is currently considered a high-performing district under NJQSAC (New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum) standards – a designation McCooley believes is important. Failure to comply with the state’s curriculum directives might also hurt that standing. School board meetings held on the issue for several months have been contentious with board members holding firm to their opinions. The school board’s long term attorney William S. Donio submitted his resignation (Curriculum - See Page 5)
(Drive - See Page 6)
TO ADVERTISE, CALL 732-657-7344 EXT. 206