Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School’s (RFH) production of The Faerie King’s Daughter has taken flight and will soon be making its onstage landfall Nov. 20 to 22.
The Faerie King’s Daughter is about what happens when four groups of residents — fairies, trolls, humans, and elves — interact in an unexpected way that changes life in the Fairy Glen forever.
Continue reading Getting Set for RFH’s ‘Faerie King’s Daughter’ Showtime
It’s all about America’s achievement culture. Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) officials are showing another documentary at the school in an attempt to give parents and students some insight.
The feature-length documentary film Beyond Measure — a follow-up to the Race to Nowhere: the Dark Side of America’s Achievement Culture — will be presented in the high school’s auditorium on Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. The screening is hosted by the RFH, Rumson and Fair Haven school districts.
Admission is free, but seats must be reserved in advance by visiting the RFH website at www.rumsonfairhaven.org, and clicking the the Home Page link.
Six years after 2010’s award-winning Race to Nowhere rose to national prominence, Reel Link Films has released Beyond Measure, which is intended to shine a light on tenacious and cutting-edge alternatives to the stifling, high-pressure education system presented in Race to Nowhere.
Beyond Measure follows public schools across the country as they take matters into their own hands and innovate from the inside.
Subverting a high-stakes education culture, even when it means putting their jobs at risk, the film’s featured educators are the “advance guard” in a burgeoning national movement to reinvent schooling.
Via spotlighting success stories, Beyond Measure shows that it is possible to rise above America’s toxic achievement fixation and build a richer, deeper, more empowering, student-centered education culture from the ground-up.
“… Beyond Measure is a road map for communities looking to put true learning at the forefront of their school experience,” said Timothy Quinn, former president of the Princeton Board of Education. “It demonstrates what students, educators, and parents can achieve when they look beyond merely improving an updated model of instruction to creating a dynamic learning environment where every student can thrive.”
Notable figures featured in the film include Sir Ken Robinson (international education expert and presenter of the most-watched TED talk of all time), Linda Darling-Hammond (education advisor for President Obama’s 2008 campaign), and bestselling author Daniel Pink (Drive and A Whole New Mind).
The upcoming screening at RFH is part of a nationwide campaign to bring the film to schools, theaters, and festivals across the country.
As part of Reel Link Films’ commitment to grassroots change, Beyond Measure is partnering with educational institutions and community organizations to host intimate special-event screenings that double as forums for constructive community dialogue.
Director Vicki Abeles’ new book, also entitled Beyond Measure, will be available for purchase at the RFH screening courtesy of River Road Books.
Abeles’ book examines cultural and educational symptoms of the academic rat race and suggests steps — big and small — that readers can take to reclaim their schools and their children’s lives.
It has been described as “America’s wake-up call” by Maria Shriver and praised by New York Times bestselling author Brigid Schulte as “one of the most important books of the early 21st century.”
— Edited press release from the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional School District
The year was 1977. It was an RFH Halloween.
Seniors of the Class of ’78 were geared up for some ghostly fun. They gathered in the Senior Commons and paraded around, and, yes, out of the confines of the RFH campus.
Bag it.
That’s what members of the Chinese, French and Spanish National Honor societies at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) recently asked students to do — to “bag a lunch and help a bunch,” as the slogan for the Table to Table charitable initiative goes.
Table to Table provides meals to New Jersey families in need. RFH put $430 in its coffers when students on Oct. 14 brought home brown paper lunch bags and returned them to Bag a Lunch team captains at school filled with the amount of cash they would typically spend on a single lunch.
“I am very pleased with the participation of the RFH students, and the work of our team captains,” RFH French Teacher Christine Berg said. “And I am happy that the money raised will be used to help our fellow New Jersey residents.”
— Edited press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional School District
Yes, soccer season has kicked in.
When Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect shared a photo of the boys’ team from back in the late 1970s, RFH grads challenged all to remember who the first girl was to play on the boys team (since there was no girls team then).
We found her and a photo of the team that year, which was 1975-76. Remember? It was Chris Bowden, RFH Class of 1976. They were playing, of course, in 1975.
So, the Retro Pic of the Day honors that first girl to kick in some girl power on the RFH Boys Soccer team a few decades ago.
Do you remember in which year RFH formed its first girls’ soccer team? We think it was the 1980s. How about 1983? Remember who the captains of that team were?
Roughy 100 Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) students recently participated in a forum dubbed Interactive College Admissions Committee Workshop.
The Oct. 8 presentation offered an insider’s view into the college admission process.
Continue reading An RFH Look at the College Admissions Process
It was a motivational moment for Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School’s female athletes — specifically, soccer players.
Three-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup Champion Christie Rampone on Monday made an appearance at a team practice at Rumson’s Meadowridge Field East.
During an informal session, Rampone described participation in high school soccer as a “privilege.”
Continue reading Lessons Learned by RFH Girls Soccer Team from Olympian Christie Rampone
‘Tis the season for the tech crew for the RFH Tower Players’ fall show to get to work on building a set.
So, the Retro Pic of the (George) Day revisits the set of the fall show of 1977 — Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite.
The set was quite ornate, in keeping with the decor of the upscale Plaza Hotel in New York City, where the show was set.
In this photo, reflected in a mirror over the hand-crafted fireplace are crew members Jamie Blake and Tom Campbell. Looks like these guys are actually laying a carpet to mimic the lush interior of The Plaza’s rooms accurately. Check out the small detail of the light switch cover. They even wall-papered. These guys did very nice work.
The guys and girls on crew were considered pretty cool and from diverse extra-curricular backgrounds back in the day.
Is it still as widely accepted as “cool” to be on crew? We’ve noticed a dip in popularity of the activity by sheer virtue of the fact that far fewer have signed on.
Tech crew people are an integral part to a show’s success. These guys work very long hours and labor pretty intensely over little-known behind-the-scenes details. Have you thanked a techie lately?
Thanks again, George Day, for this photo contribution!
Fall is here and school is in full swing.
At Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School students are back in class, in the halls, in the cafeteria, in study hall … somewhere in that building on Ridge Road with the tower.
You get the drift.
However, on March 13, 1979, they were outside — in force.
They had staged a walkout “in protest of the Board of Education’s decision to terminate three teachers in order to stay within its state-mandated spending limit,” according to the archives of the Red Bank Register.
So, the Retro Pic of the Day takes us back to that day with a photo of an unpublished Register photo of that day that appeared in the 2011 Monmouth County Library exhibit entitled Red Bank Register: 40 Photographs, 1976-1985.
The exhibit featured the work of several Register photographers. The photos came from years’ worth of preservation of negatives from the work of Carl Andrews, James J. Connolly, Carl Forino, Dave Kingdon, Don Lordi and Larry Perna.
While the records did not indicate which photographer took the RFH shot, it’s a classic, so we’re sharing it in our look back for the day. Carl Andrews was a Rumson resident. Though it’s not clear if he took the photo.
While I was in my first year of college when the photo was taken, I do recall hearing about this walkout. RFH students were always very proactive with school politics.
“The students, who said the Board‘s decision showed ‘callousness and disdain for teachers as individuals,’ argued that the school should have waited for older teachers to retire instead of firing younger ones with less seniority,” the photo description for the exhibit said. “Tora Doremus, Board president, stated that the quality of education at Rumson-Fair Haven would be maintained and that ‘I don‘t think this walkout served the students‘ purpose.’ More than 300 students participated in the demonstration on Friday morning, March 13, 1979.”
Hey, I think that’s Erin Bell, daughter of RFH English teacher Marilyn Bell, right in the front.
The Red Bank Register Negative Collection is in the Monmouth County Archives and the exhibit featuring the 40 photos was at Monmouth County Library Headquarters in Manalapan in October of 2011.
There’s nothing quite as wonderful as an old friend who’s known you since you were a kid. And there’s also nothing worse than losing that friend at a young age.
The worst of it happened a couple of days ago to friends in the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School alumni community.
A wave of shock and sadness engulfed the Class of ’78 with the announcement of the death of 55-year-old classmate Debra “Debbie” Clarke Crowell on Sept. 8.
There have been some losses of the all-too-young in the class already. This was the latest.
Continue reading Remembrance: RFH Grad Debra Clarke Crowell Dies at 55
Rumson mom LuAnn Hughes attended author Harlan Cohen’s talk presentation at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Tuesday night.
Centered on his book The Naked Roommate (about getting comfortable with the uncomfortable in the college transition), it was designed to help college-bound students and their families.
She posted her takeaway on the speaker’s salient message on Facebook.
Here’s what the mom of teens, also a teacher, got out of the talk and shared with friends …
“It’s important to know what YOU want and stop living for what others expect from you.
“Transitions are hard. There are 5 aspects to pay attention to: social, emotional, physical, financial, academic.
“We need to focus more on people, places and having patience to get comfortable with the uncomfortable.
“Universal Rejection Truth: There will be times you lose, attempts you fail, people that don’t give you what you want. If you ignore the universal rejection truth you will spend your time hating, hiding, fighting, attacking and blaming others.
“If you face the truth you will have the strength and resilience to do what you’re meant to do because you’re not afraid to take risks.
You have to be able to take rejection to take risk after risk. Risk taking is what helps you grow.
“Don’t take critical feedback as an attack. Being able to take rejection is the key to people being able to help you.
“Rules:
1. Get comfortable with the uncomfortable. Embrace the fact that this is going to be difficult.
2. When you panic, think of your people, places and patience. Don’t panic and hang out with the wrong people. You have to have YOUR people and places.
3. Your kids struggles belong to them but the victories belong to you (lol). The challenge is that we are so connected through technology that it’s hard to set boundaries. Consider letting your child marinate in their misery.
4. Advise your child to apply “the 24 hour rule” whenever anything traumatic happens. Clarity will come. Be patient.
5. Get in the habit of asking your child “What do you think you should do?” If answer is “I don’t know” ask about who his 5 people and 3 places are. It takes a good 8 weeks to adjust (patience).
“With 30% of college students facing depression, how do you know when to stop letting your child marinate in their misery?
“Make sure they have their people, give your kids permission to be imperfect before they get there, let them fail.
“Make sure they understand that the first 8 weeks are hard.
“If you’re really worried and your child is showing signs of suicide (2nd leading cause of death among college kids) you go and check and intervene.
“Give your kids permission to struggle, to face adversity and to get over it.
“Places: Look for where you can sweat, play, pray, learn, lead.
People: People who volunteer to help, people you pay to help.
“College is about what YOU want not about who wants you.”
Text college to 44144 for roommate contract.
Good luck parents and college freshmen!
Yes, Fair Haven Police Chief Darryl Breckenridge is retiring.
Pretty much everyone in the Rumson-Fair Haven area now knows that he is calling a close to his 35-year career in law enforcement.
The chief was raised in Fair Haven. And, like most Fair Havenites, he went to Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School. He graduated in 1976, America’s bicentennial year. It was also an era of Huckapoo shirts, lambswool-lined jackets, Wallabees, topsiders and host of other fashion fatalities of their time.
So, the Retro Pic of the Day honors the chief stylin’ in his graduating year RFH Yearbook photo. He wore the trend well.
Pretty hip, huh? What was your favorite 70s style?
Hmmmmm. The chief looks a lot like his son D.J., director of Fair Haven Recreation, in this shot, right?
— Elaine Van Develde
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