The Hammonton Gazette 04/09/14 Edition | Page 6

Page 6 • Wednesday, April 9, 2014 • The Hammonton Gazette The Hammonton Gazette “The Paper of Record” Gabriel J. Donio, Publisher Gina rullo, Editor-in-Chief Dan russoman, Sports Editor Benny Mendez, Staff Artist Marysusan hoffman, Paul J. Macrie iv, Michael hozik, Donna Brown, Joseph Bruno, l auren Bucci, lauren crescenzo, Brian Morris, Staff The Hammonton Gazette is located at 233 Bellevue ave. to reach a staff member, call 704-1940 or fax at 704-1938. the mailing address is P.o. Box 1228, hammonton, NJ 08037. eDitorials The Hammonton Gazette is published Wednesdays, by The Hammonton Gazette, Inc. Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved. ISSN 1093-6181 Uptown, upward With this week’s confirmation from the New Jersey Pinelands Commission that about a year ago, Walmart filed a major expansion plan – a 55,000-square-foot addition to their existing store – with the commission, there is again cause for optimism about the uptown district. Consider the developments in recent months: • A beautiful new Hammonton mural honoring the town’s past created by art students at Hammonton High School under the direction of art teacher John Toothman. • The installation of $170,000 in new windows at Kessler Memorial Hospital, and the announcement of a $60-70,000 new elevator for the building. • The announcement of plans for a major addition to the AtlantiCare Health Park’s Satellite Emergency Department: a 9,000-square-foot urgent care center, along with a 12,000-square-foot medical office building. • Walmart’s proposed 55,000-square-foot expansion. • The Al & Rich’s Gulf project moving toward completion. • The Greater Hammonton Chamber of Commerce’s Uptown Committee, which is now meeting on a regular basis. Working on a parallel track with the ongoing downtown revitalization effort, the uptown revitalization effort is forging ahead with plans to help renovate buildings, fill them with tenants, create promotions, beautify the district and work with the government to renew infrastructure where needed. The entire town seems buzzing with energy and spurred on by success stories of renewal. Downtown, uptown and the school district are leading the way, with similar efforts gaining ground for Hammonton Lake Park and the Hammonton Business Park. Add in the personal pride people take in their homes and neighborhoods, and the entire town is in an excellent position for growth and increased strength. We can’t wait to see what the coming years will bring. a great sign The billboard-sized sign for Ricca Brothers Brick Oven Pizza that stretches across the rooftop of a prominent two-story building on Railroad Avenue has become an instant landmark. The vivid, colorful new billboard includes an arrow pointing the direction to the Ricca Family’s new restaurant in their family’s former bakery at the corner of Fairview Avenue and Egg Harbor Road. In addition, the billboard includes an area of about 20 percent of its space dedicated to promoting downtown Hammonton. MainStreet Hammonton and designer Cindy Williams lent their assistance to the project, working with Michael Ricca and his family to create a billboard that not only promotes the restaurant, but both promotes and enhances the downtown. Billboards can be landmarks. Think of the huge billboards in Times Square in New York City, the Citgo Sign that can be seen behind the famous Green Monster in Fenway Park in Boston, or the billboards that once graced Steel Pier in Atlantic City. Now Hammonton has a similar landmark billboard to call its own: the Ricca Brothers Brick Oven Pizza Sign, greeting people from its prominent location above one of the busiest intersections in the town, if not the entire county: where Bellevue Avenue meets Egg Harbor Road and the New Jersey Transit Railroad Tracks. For many years, the Premium Oil Company Sign with its signature clock and thermometer — both manual — was the landmark sign on the billboard. Today, the Ricca Brothers Brick Oven Pizza Sign has taken that sign’s place, literally and figuratively. With this new landmark, the Ricca Family and MainStreet Hammonton have created another example of the good that can be achieved when everyone works together. It’s a great sign, and it’s also a great sign — a great sign of the continuing revitalization of downtown Hammonton. PersPective/school District The teachers in the Hammonton School District are preparing their students for the skills to be successful in the 21st Century. Part of this is meeting the Core Curriculum State Standards. They are doing a remarkable job. Since the 1800s schools have tried to standardize what students were learning. They wondered how an English course in Massachusetts could be the same as an English course in Georgia. In the late 19th century, both a contact-hour standard for secondary education, and the original credit-hour collegiate post-secondary standard were proposed. In 1894, the National Education Association endorsed the standardization of secondary education. Widespread use of this 120hour secondary standard occurred when the Carnegie Foundation began to offer pensions to universities that adopted the 120 hour standard. The belief was that if all students received 120 hours of English, they must be learning about the same thing. The New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards were created by the New Jersey State Board of Education in 1996 to define a “thorough and efficient education.” All teachers and students would clearly know what to accomplish at the end of 13 years of public education. Each subject is broken down for each of the grade levels. These subjects include visual and performing arts, comprehensive health and physical education, language arts literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, world languages, technological literacy, and career education and consumer, family, and life skills. The standards were updated a few years later. In 2010, 45 states adopted the Common Core State Standards – including New Jersey. These standards include the following: • Alignment with college and work expectations • Clear, understandable and consistent skills • Rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills The Common Core State Standards are truly beneficial to the students. If you analyze them on a grade level and then as they progress, you can see how valuable they are. For example , one of the third grade standards for non-fiction reading is: (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.3) Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect. Any third grade student that has accomplished this is well on his way to developing reading skills that will help him through his whole life. The above third grade standard also progresses smoothly to this fifth grade standard: (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3) Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text. The Common Core Standards are vastly better than previous standards and attempts to standardize scholastic content. The teaching of the Common Core necessities teaching methods and techniques focus heavily on critical thinking skills. The students read, write, speak, and listen to solve “real world” problems. Teachers no longer ask “Google-able” questions. I was in one classroom and in a period of six minutes the teacher told the students eight times that she was not going to answer their questions – the students needed to figure it out themselves. All through the Hammonton classrooms you can see teachers using technology, providing rigorous content, and using innovative methodology to help our students succeed in a more complex world. Dr. c. Dan Blachford superintendent of schools hammonton The Hammonton Gazette welcomes letters to the editor that are no more than 800 words long. All letters must include the name of the author and an address and telephone number for verification. Letters should be mailed to The Hammonton Gazette, Editorial Page, P.O. Box 1228, Hammonton, NJ 08037. Letters also will be accepted via fax. The fax number is 704-1938.  Or by e-mail to [email protected]. Deadline for all submissions is 2 p.m. Monday. The Hammonton Gazette reserves the right to edit any submissions. The opinions expressed in letters, perspectives or in guest columns do not necessarily reflect those of The Hammonton Gazette.  The Gazette is not responsible for factual errors in letters, perspectives or in guest columns. The Gazette retains the right to refuse any submission or advertisement.