TCNJ

11 A MODEL MIDDLE SCHOOL Many experts cite middle school as a pivotal time in the lives of students— they may begin to form their academic interests, or they may potentially lose interest and even drop out of school. TCNJ's School of Education has part- nered with Joyce Kilmer Middle School in Trenton to create a "best practices" school in an effort to improve student performance and help keep them engaged during this critical time in their development. TCNJ faculty and staff worked with their counterparts at Kilmer to develop an interdisciplinary curriculum that will launch in September 2015. "If math is teaching measurement, science could be teaching graphs and the social studies person could be applying that to their content," said School of Education Dean Jeff Passe, in an interview with The Times of Trenton. "It's more efficient, more effective, and what really is the key element of a successful modern middle school." TCNJ hopes to be among the first in the state to build a middle school teaching curriculum for students who are specifically interested in teaching that population. HUMANITARIAN ENGINEERING In May, six students accompanied Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Michael Horst on a nine-day journey to Fort Thompson, South Dakota, where they worked with a Habitat for Humanity organization to assess a flood-prone area on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation. The students gathered topographic information and collected soil samples that they brought back to TCNJ for analysis. The goal of the project is to alleviate the flooding by designing and implementing a stormwater retention basin that will have a secondary function as a recreational pond for fishing and boating. The group will return to South Dakota in spring 2016 to assist in implementing their design solution. STUDENT INITIATIVES From Greek life to the gridiron, TCNJ students are active and engaged, contributing their time and energy to enhance the campus and the greater community. PB&J CHALLENGE Eighty students formed 16 teams for a friendly competition to see who could construct the most peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in this service event benefitting the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK). The challenge was organized by the TCNJ Student United Way. #GOBALD In April, 25 brothers of Phi Alpha Delta fraternity shaved their heads to raise more than $5,600 for the St. Baldrick's Foundation for pediatric cancer—187 percent of their $3,000 goal. THE MATCH GAME TCNJ Lions Football participated in the Be the Match Get in the Game, Save a Life program, a donor registry drive that can help save the lives of patients in desperate need of a marrow transplant. Joyce Kilmer Middle School

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