Jackson students will attend conference, parade

By Michael Benavides
Staff Writer

JACKSON – Students from Jackson Liberty and Jackson Memorial high schools have received permission to attend a special event in Atlantic City.

At their Jan. 17 meeting, Jackson School District Board of Education members Barbara Fiero, Scott Sargent, Thomas Colucci, Vicki Grasso, Michael Hanlon and Michael Walsh approved an overnight trip for the Jackson Liberty High School and Jackson Memorial High School DECA/Jackson Academy of Business students to participate in the 56th annual New Jersey High School Division of DECA 2017 State Career Development Conference, Feb. 21-23 at Harrah’s, Atlantic City.

The board will pay for the students’ transportation, registration and housing fees.

Allison Erwin, coordinator of communications and technology for the Jackson School District, said, “The purpose of this trip is to compete against other New Jersey high school chapters in tests and role plays that depict typical scenarios in business disciplines, such as marketing, finance, accounting, entrepreneurship, economics and law.
“Students will also compete in categories of prepared promotional plans, business operations research papers and entrepreneurial activities. Jackson Memorial High School DECA will also have one student campaigning for state-level office during this conference,” Erwin said.

Erwin said five students from Jackson Liberty and 28 students from Jackson Memorial will attend the event in Atlantic City.

The board members also approved a trip for the Jackson Liberty High School Marching Band to New York City on March 17 to participate in the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. The meeting agenda indicated there is no cost to the board for the band’s trip to Manhattan.

In other business, Superintendent of Schools Stephen Genco thanked the Jackson Police Department as well as staff members and school security personnel at the Rosenauer School for properly handling an anonymous threat that was made by telephone on Jan. 4.

“Since the new year it has been an interesting couple of weeks. I hope everybody is aware of what occurred at the Rosenauer School. During that first week back, we received a phone threat after which we went into a shelter in place (school security drill). We need to commend the police and certainly the staff, and our security staff as well, for responding. The school did not miss a beat,” Genco said.

At 10:43 a.m. Jan. 4, a call was received at the Rosenauer School from a person who indicated that an individual armed with a weapon was en route to the school and would be there shortly, according to police.

Police said administrators immediately placed the school in a shelter in place situation and contacted police. Officers were dispatched to the school. No person with a weapon turned up at the school. Police said although no threats were made to any other schools, the district’s other facilities were placed in a modified shelter in place situation out of an abundance of caution.