editor’s letter
T
here’s a saying that “The only thing
that is constant is change,” and the
adage seems especially apt when it
comes to education.
In our Back to School issue, we
look at how our area has become
increasingly multicultural, and the ways the com-
munity is celebrating that diversity (“Wayne Public
Library is ESL Central”).
Our Neighbors column features Robert Yost, a veteran teacher of
applied technology at Wayne Hills High School, who led his students
to place 48th out of more than 1,000 teams in the 2018 First Robotics
Championship in Detroit. He sets an example of an instructor in a field
of the future succeeding with tried and true practices — using visuals,
encouraging teamwork and taking an interest in students as individuals.
One successful — and entertaining — product of the local (Kinnelon)
school system is performer Laura Benanti, a star of Paper Mill Playhouse,
The Detour on TBS, Broadway musicals and The Late Show with Stephen
Colbert, where she has a recurring role as First Lady Melania Trump. In
“Laura Benanti Aspires to Do it All,” she reveals the actress she’d like to
model her career on (hint: she’s 92 years young).
A future graduate of the Wayne Hills Class of ’19, Charles Njoku, was
recently drafted to play college football, and his skills are exciting sports-
writers. Read about him in “Catching on Quickly,” and celebrate our stu-
dents, past and present. ■
WayneMagazine
CINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER
contributors
6
BACK TO SCHOOL 2018 WAYNE MAGAZINE
Philip DeVencentis
Philip is a local news
reporter for The Record
and NorthJersey.com.
He started his career
with North Jersey Media
Group in April 2007 and
currently covers five
municipalities in Passaic
County. Ian Spelling
Ian is a freelance enter-
tainment journalist
who lives with his wife,
children and dog in
Woodcliff Lake. Ian has
written for The New York
Times’ syndicate, The
Record, Reader’s Digest
and TV Guide.
Darren Cooper
Darren has been The
Record’s local sports col-
um