Historical Society donation helps launch student center
VERNON. The Vernon Township Historical Society gives $1,000, which covered the purchase of a 55-gallon aquarium and a stand for Vernon Township High School’s newly established Student Center.
Vernon /
| 17 Mar 2023 | 06:07
Vernon Township High School Principal Lindsay LeDuc, center, holds a check presented to the high school by Vernon Township Historical Society trustee Nancy Adams, right. At left is school board president Kelly Mitchell. (Photo provided)
With a generous donation by the Vernon Township Historical Society, Vernon Township High School’s newly established Student Center has begun to flourish.
The historical society donated $1,000 for the student center. The funds covered the purchase of a 55-gallon aquarium and a stand.
The aquarium greets students as they venture into the space to unwind during the high school’s unit lunch or to catch up on studies throughout the school day.
The donation will allow the high school staff to care for the aquarium for years to come.
“The new aquarium is the home for over 15 fish that swimmingly greet smiling faces each and every day,” Principal Lindsay LeDuc said.
The historical society has had a decades-long tradition of partnering with education and with Vernon Township schools.
For many years, it has given scholarships to graduating seniors and has given to the schools a baby grand piano for the music department, stipends for the high school chamber orchestra, framed posters of historic events for the high school Social Studies Lab. This month, it donated to the Glen Meadow Middle School sixth-grade event.
About a decade ago, the society partnered with Glen Meadow’s eighth-grade class and Principal Rosemary Gebhardt to create a curriculum about New Jersey’s indigenous Indian tribes for district-wide teachers.
The curriculum, called “Bringing the Past to the Present: Teaching About the Lenape Indians through the Black Creek Site,” is in the libraries of all district schools and is available for teacher use.
Creation of the curriculum was made possible through a $10,000 grant that the society won from the History Channel. The society was one of only five organizations nationwide to win the grant in that year.
Students interviewed Lenape Indians and videotaped some of their cultural events at the Black Creek site. The interviews and videotapes are included in the curriculum packet along with information about Lenape Indian history and culture.
Society president Jessi Paladini said, “We are all about educating our students on Vernon’s rich history.”
The society has programs for all ages and has presented many of its programs in district schools. Teachers may contact the society at 973-764-6545 for programs such as “The Revolutionary War Through Vernon Township,” “Vernon’s Historic Sites” or other customized historic presentations.
The society and architect Shawn MaZur, a graduate of Vernon Township High School, also put together an extensive application package nominating Vernon’s Western Highlands Scenic Byway to the federal government for consideration as a federal scenic byway.
The society’s nomination was a success as the federal government announced in February 2021 that Vernon is home to the Western Highlands National Scenic Byway and is eligible for state and federal grants for the township.
The society was founded in 1970 by Highland Lakes resident and past society president Dr. Roswell Coles, dean of Wagner College in Staten Island. Coles was also director of the Public Museum of the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences.