RFH Spanish Teacher Gets Grant; Set for Conference in Cuba

Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Spanish Teacher Christina Gauss has received a Learning and Leadership Grant from the National Education Association.

The awarding of the $2,000 grant was based on her proposal entitled Cuba: One Year Later, in reference to the time that has passed since U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced their normalization plan.

The grant will allow Gauss to travel to Cuba in January, 2016 for an immersive cultural experience. While in Cuba, Gauss and fellow educators will participate in a Witness for Peace Delegation hosted by the People to People Organization.

“I am very excited for the opportunity to enhance my Spanish language skills while developing an understanding of the Cuban people, their rich cultural heritage, and their perspective on being at the forefront of social change,” said Gauss. “I am also looking forward to sharing my insights with students in all of my classes, and working to coordinate cross-disciplinary activities.”

The group plans to get involved with and learn about many aspect of Cuban life and culture, including:

• The literacy campaign that led to Cuba’s designation as an “illiteracy-free” zone by the United Nations;
• Current education practices for Cuban youth and communities
Local, sustainable agriculture;
• The current “drivers” of the economy;
• Cuba’s response to global climate change, a particular threat to island nations;
• Creation of the art that sustains the Cuban soul, and live performances at The Martin Luther King Center, a hub for community education and faith;
• Ecology as it relates to the earth, the community, and the mind.

Gauss currently teaches Spanish I, IV, IV Honors, and Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish at RFH. The activities she plans while in Cuba correlate directly to the AP Spanish Language and Culture Curriculum with a focus on contemporary life, global challenges, personal and public identities, family and community, beauty and esthetics, and science and technology.

Upon her return, Gauss will develop curricular materials, activities, and presentations to share her findings with her students.

— Edited press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School

Fair Haven Students Go on ‘Google Expeditions’

Fair Haven students recently took a virtual reality field trip.

They participated in showcase of Google Expeditions. Viola L. Sickles and Knollwood Schools were among the first chosen for beta testing for the virtual trip from a wait list of approximately 6,500 schools.

Continue reading Fair Haven Students Go on ‘Google Expeditions’

Rumson’s Charlie Puth and Chevy

Have you heard it? Seen it?

Rumson’s Charlie Puth just spread the word to the RFH Performing Arts Society (RFH Pas), via Facebook, that his Chevy (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles)commercial — using a coast-to-coast remix of his song “One Call Away,” partnering Atlantic Records and Chevy and featuring him, Brett Eldredge, Ty Dolla $ign & Sofia Reyes — is out and on YouTube.

It’s billed as a celebration of “the 2015 American Music Awards” on YouTube.

Check it out.

Puth also tells people on his Facebook page that if you pre-order his debut album, Nine Track Mind, you “get an instant download of “One Call Away” right now on iTunes http://smarturl.it/NineTrackMind.”

Puth graduated from RFH in 2010 and then from Berklee College of Music in 2013. An accomplished pianist and singer, he first gained notoriety when Ellen Degeneres discovered him via his YouTube channel and signed him to her record label eleveneleven. He is now signed with Atlantic Records.

Services Set for Fair Haven’s Ben Hamilton

A memorial service has been set for Saturday, Nov. 28, to honor the memory of forever Fair Havenite Benjamin “Ben” Barry Hamilton, who passed away this past Saturday at his home in the borough.

While “words of remembrance,” according to the obituary, will be shared at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at Thompson Memorial Home in Red Bank, the service will span from 1 to 4 p.m.

Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect is in the process of putting together a memorial tribute and slideshow to honor Ben.

In the meantime, here is his edited obituary from Thompson

Benjamin Barry Hamilton,”Ben” 56, of Fair Haven, died at home on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015.

Born in Jersey City to George and Joan (nee, Shook) Hamilton, he was a longtime Fair Haven resident. Ben was a retired investment professional. His professional career spanned three decades trading securities in the United States and Asia.

Ben will be remembered for his love of the Jersey Shore, his passion for surfing and his forever search for the perfect wave. He always began each day in New Jersey or Nantucket reading the local surf report or driving to check out the waves.

A Rumon-Fair Haven Regional High School Class of 1977 alumni,  Ben went on to graduate from Hobart William Smith College in  1981, where he was a proud member of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity and participated in Hobart Lacrosse. He then received his master’s degree in International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University.

He was a past family member of the Sea Bright Beach Club and an active member of the Clean Ocean Action.

Ben was also a founding partner of the Navesink River Paddle Excursions.

Ben was predeceased by his parents George and Joan Hamilton. He is survived by: his brother, George L. Hamilton Jr., of Ocean Grove, ; his sisters, Jeanmarie Drucker of NY, NY, and Kate Hamilton Pardee, of Nantucket, MA; his nephews and niece, Richard Drucker Jr. and Hamilton Drucker, George L. Hamilton III, and Katelynn Hamilton; his aunt, Jean Prial; close friend, Wendy Ostrov Delehanty; and many loving friends.

There will be a memorial gathering to celebrate Ben’s life on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015, at the Thompson Memorial Home, 310 Broad St., Red Bank, from 1 to 4 p.m. with “words of remembrance” at 3:30 p.m.

Memorial donations may be made to the Benjamin B. Hamilton Memorial Scholarship, P.O. Box 8097, Red Bank, NJ 07701 or to the Fair Haven Fire & First Aid, River Road, Fair Haven, NJ 07704.

R-FH Area Schools’ ‘Beyond Measure’ Discussion


“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” It’s a major tenet Rumon-Fair Haven area parents and students learned as they gathered together recently to view and discuss the documentary Beyond Measure, the sequel to the acclaimed Race to Nowhere.

Parents and students in the Rumson, Fair Haven and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) districts participated.

Here’s what happened …

Continue reading R-FH Area Schools’ ‘Beyond Measure’ Discussion

Insight into Fair Haven Schools’ ‘Expectations for the Future’

Nearly 100 community members shared their visions for the future of the Fair Haven School District at a recent workshop.

Expectations for the Future, held on Nov. 11, was the second in a series of four workshops open to the public designed to help drive the district’s current strategic planning initiative dubbed FAIR HAVEN VISION 2020. The first workshop, held on Oct. 7, focused on “points of pride” in the present-day school district.

At the second workshop, facilitators Dr. Charles Ivory and Dr. Gerald Woehr, of the non-profit Education Information & Resource Center (EIRC), asked attendees to peer into the future.

“Envision a highly successful Fair Haven School District about three years from now,” Ivory told the group. “Then consider what factors are making make it great, and what steps had to be taken to get there.

“This your opportunity to ‘future think’ what you would like to happen for the children of this community.”

Continue reading Insight into Fair Haven Schools’ ‘Expectations for the Future’

RFH Winter Concert Stage Set

The date is set for Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School’s (RFH) annual winter concert.

This year, the free concert will take place on Dec. 15 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the high school’s auditorium and feature performances by the concert band, string ensemble, jazz band, Tower Singers and chamber music ensemble.

“We really want the entire community to come out, bring their friends and family members, and support our student musicians in this celebration of the holiday season,” RFH Music Director Bill Grillo said.

— Edited release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School