The Hammonton Gazette 06/03/15 Edition | Page 6

Page 6 • Wednesday, June 3, 2015 • 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, Brittany Mauro, lauren Bucci, lauren crescenzo, 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 © 2015. All rights reserved. ISSN 1093-6181 Work in progress During the last 20 years, the downtown area has seen an amazing turnaround, in part due to the attention to the architecture, design, color and materials used in various buildings, streetscape improvements and landscaping. The historic Hammonton Water Works building – which is in the midst of a major renovation project – must be held to the same standards. The taller addition is understandable; the filtration tanks have to fit underneath a higher roofline. We disagree, however with using white siding when the stucco on the sides of the building are a dark coffee brown color. We have no problem with that brown color or the caramel-colored doors on the building’s new addition, but they clash with the white siding (perhaps it can be painted the same color?) and with the original water works building to the front and the rear of the addition (perhaps the older portions of the building can also be painted the same dark coffee-brown color?). If the white siding must remain, then the town should at least paint the rest of the building the dark coffee-brown color, matching the new addition in the middle. The water works facility has seen the benefits of the revitalization effort in the last 15 years. The iconic water tower was painted and emblazoned with the new logo of the town, the chain link fence was replaced with the black fence seen along the railroad track downtown, and the pump house buildings had their new, but improper, angled roofs replaced with “A” roofs after the council decided the “A” roofs would look better and be more utilitarian. What would also look better is having the entire water works building painted the same coffee-brown color as the new addition, with the sashes of the windows of the original building painted the same caramel as the doors on the addition and using the same roofing material on the entire building. The circular building and one of the pump house buildings (the only other structures that will be left on site following the South Jersey Gas remediation project) should be painted the same colors as well. Mayor Stephen DiDonato and Councilman Edward Wuillermin, who is the chairman of the Hammonton Water and Sewer Committee, told The Gazette that they have been consulting on the design with Angela Donio of MainStreet Hammonton. Donio told The Gazette she would like to see the building have a more unified look, from the colors to the roof material. DiDonato and Wuillermin both said that the project at the water works is a work in progress, and is not finished yet. We look forward to seeing a more unified building as the renovation project moves forward, or even in the near future after the renovation is completed, provided that a funding source for the project can be found by the town. food trucks coming MainStreet Hammonton has been working hard on its newest communityoriented festival designed to bring people to the downtown area: the Hammonton Food Truck Festival. The festival, which features more than 20 unique food trucks, plus food from downtown restaurants and participation from retail stores, will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on June 12. There has been much anticipation for this festival, which will feature food trucks lining the streets of the downtown, allowing people to enjoy a “food court on wheels” as they walk up and down the sidewalks of downtown Hammonton. This new event is another great way to experience the downtown area, with all of its existing restaurants and shops augmented by food trucks filled with different tastes. Just like Cruisin’ MainStreet, the Halloween and Christmas parades and Third Thursdays, the downtown is at its best when it’s filled with people having a good time. Hammontonians love food, and they love to socialize. The Hammonton Food Truck Festival combines these two loves in a entirely new way. In addition to the food trucks, there will be live and DJ music, a “Starving Artists Fair” on Second Street and a pop-up Cuban restaurant at Kitchen 19 opening for the night. For more information on the Hammonton Food Truck Festival, call MainStreet Hammonton at 567-9014 or go to www.downtownhammonton.com. PersPective/education Teachers always try to meet the needs of all their students. There are government regulations that refer to this. For example since September 28, 1875 in New Jersey, we have to provide a “thorough and efficient” education. In special education, the requirements are a “least restrictive environment” and a “free appropriate public education.” The regulations do not say an excellent education and despite teachers’ best intentions, it is virtually impossible to provide children with a perfect education. Children are all different and have different needs. Principals, teachers, and parents are all responsible for providing students with the best education possible. If you have a child that is an excellent gymnast, you may enroll them in a top level gymnastic academy. If your child is academically gifted you may provide additional resources such as textbooks, online courses, software, and tutoring. The summer is a good time to provide extra resources for all students. Studying in the summer helps accelerate children’s learning. With the higher demands in all courses, sports, and part-time jobs it can be hard to keep up during the year. It is important that students concentrate on getting better not being excellent. This reduces frustration and will carry over to the school year. I had all my own children study in the summer to get familiar with the subject matter so they could spend less time doing homework and still get good grades during the school year. Some specific areas: Math: Usually while learning mathematics you want to master one topic before moving on to the next one. For summer study, it is much better to have a general idea of the first six chapters as opposed to a complete knowledge of chapter one. There are a lot of resources on the web to help with math. Working on the examples in the book is very effective. Social studies: Social studies is a great subject to study in the summer. It’s exciting and often there is a lot of reading. If you child reads it in the summertime the length of time they need to re-read it during school year can be reduced. Students should concentrate on how key concepts and big ideas relate to each other. A powerful way to learn social studies is to combine elements from different disciplines such as economics and history. Chemistry and other sciences: Science today is a lot more than just memorizing facts. Students have to understand the concepts. As with mathematics there are a lot of sites on the web that explain the sciences and will give you a solid knowledge of the material you will see in class. Another good method is to buy a used chemistry book and go over the first few chapters. Be sure to take notes and review them. English: English is another great subject to study in the summer. During the year, students have to worry about tests. In the summer, the reading may actually be fun. Summer is also a great time to increase your interpretive reading ability. An easy way to do this is take notes about how a specific group of people would perceive the text at its significant points. For example, how would people who believe in a certain religion perceive the text and react to it? Interpreting literature in this way helps students develop an academic way of seeing the text from a viewpoint that is beyond their own feelings and thoughts. dr. c. dan Blachford superintendent hammonton Public schools Quote of the Week: “Why change? everyone has his oWn style. When you have found it, you should stick to it.” — Audrey Hepburn 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 email 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.