Tag Archives: RFH

Local Life

Reunited: RFH Class of 2006

Photo/Elise Casey, Facebook post
Photo/Elise Casey, Facebook post

And, reportedly, a good time was had by all.

Judging by the looks on their faces in the photos and some comments tossed around on Facebook, the grads of the RFH Class of 2006 had fun times reuniting at their 10th reunion on Saturday at Nauvoo Grill Club in Fair Haven … and assorted other places thereafter.

“Our RFH 10 year reunion was a huge success! Such a great time last night,” said classmate Kevin Wong in a post with the above featured photo. “Thank you to everyone that came out!”

Recognize anyone? Your favorite Class of 2006 memory? Tell us about it for our special Class of 2006 Retro Pic(s) of the Day feature for later.

Cheers to the RFH Class of 2006!

 

Local Life, Opinion

Retro RFH Show Time!

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It’s opening night for the RFH Tower Players’ fall show.

The fall show at RFH has been a longstanding tradition along with the spring musical.

But, back in the day, of, well, the 1970s, there was also the RFH Freshmen Follies which got the new kids in the halls on stage. It was a way for the youngest in the high school to, let’s say, come out of their shell. And they did.

So, the Retro Pic of the (George) Day literally honors the RFH Class of ’78 President Ward Tietz, who not only came out of his shell for the show, but wore a couple of shells like medals on his chest — coconut shells, in fact.

He agreed to join this editor (right) and her best buddy and don a hula skirt, flower headdress and coconut shell bikini top in the great ol’ stage tradition of doing anything for a laugh. Farce. He got those laughs, including many from his own co-stars, who even lost their own sailor hats and nearly fell over mid-song as he strutted and cried under his breath that the stinking shells were itchy and giving him a rash.

That’s our Honey Bun, in the tradition of belly laughs, RFH camaraderie and a tribute to friends and the power of a fun song from an old musical, South Pacific.

This number just never fails in any era — especially considering the star’s outfit.

Get a load of Honey Bun from an RFH stage in ’74!

RIP my best friend Stephanie DeSesa (left in photo). Thank you. I’m still laughing with you.  

Thank you, again, George Day, for preserving yet another priceless RFH memory!

Schools Scene

Haitian Artist Tebo Comes to RFH

He radiates positive energy and endless creativity, and his biggest dream is to help young people with talent realize their own potential. His name is David Thebaud, or Tebo, as he is known in his native Haiti. He arrived at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) on Nov. 14th to meet, once again, with some of his biggest supporters.

Continue reading Haitian Artist Tebo Comes to RFH →

Arts & Entertainment, Schools Scene

Spotlight: RFH Student Artwork

There’s a new arts-inspired initiative at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) that is casting a bright spotlight on students’ artwork.

The RFH National Art Honor Society (NAHS) and the RFH Multiple Disabilities (MD) Program have teamed up to provide artisan frames for the display of creations by RFH students. Featured will be paintings and photography by NAHS and MD students. The collection will be rotated regularly and be featured prominently throughout the school building on an ongoing basis.

Photographs of works by RFH art students at all levels will also be enlarged and placed above the student locker areas.

“This project has brought warmth and enhanced the school climate,” said Special Services teacher Jennifer Dellett. “Our goal is to have all three floors at RFH filled with stimulating artwork by the end of the school year.”

The purchase of 40 frames was made possible by a grant from the RFH Education Foundation. The grant request was written and submitted by Dellett and Art teacher Kristen Lanfrank.

For those who would like a closer view of the artwork, an event dubbed Community Art Opening is planned for the spring of 2017.

As part of the event, students involved in the program will provide community members with a tour of RFH and a discussion of all the art and images on display.

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

Schools Scene

RFH’s Relationship with its Sister School in Spain

Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Spanish students have a sister … school.

The sister is Isabel de Castilla Public High School in Avila, Spain.

Students in several RFH Spanish classes have begun fostering friendships with the students in Spain through Edmodo, an online educational and social network.

In February of 2017, 17 students and two teacher chaperones will travel from Isabel de Castilla Public High School to visit RFH. Spending the week in homestays, the group will attend classes at RFH as well as participate in special events.

The events include: attending the World Language Department’s Languapalooza talent show; sharing a meal prepared by the RFH Cooking Club; and joining the Spanish National Honor Society for a welcome fiesta.

The trip is designed to provide cultural insight into life as a teenager in Rumson and Fair Haven. The group from Spain will travel to New York City and Philadelphia as well.

A reciprocal journey for RFH students is planned for the 2017-18 school year. RFH students and teacher chaperones will stay with local families and attend classes at Isabel de Castilla in Avila, a small medieval walled city about an hour west of Madrid.

“We are really looking forward to having firsthand insight into the practices, products, and perspectives of the Spanish youth and their culture,” said RFH Spanish teacher Christina Gauss. “We hope to collaborate with the Spanish students throughout the school year.”

As part of their classwork, students in the RFH Advanced Placement Spanish Language and Culture course recently created and sent videos to students at Isabel de Castilla. The videos showcase life at RFH and in the surrounding communities.

In addition, the RFH students developed an online survey to gather information on how social media platforms are used to promote social movements. The online survey has been sent to the students in Spain as well as students and community members in the RFH community. The RFH students plan to compare and contrast the results from RFH and Avila, Spain.

The student groups from RFH and Spain have also begun an ongoing conversation on the A Day in the Life topic. Students in Gauss’ Spanish 4 Honors class created an electronic visual collage that best describes their personalities and lifestyles, and they have shared these collages with the students in Spain. Students in Daniella Goodarz’s and Seth Herman’s Spanish III Honors classes will soon begin interacting with the students from Avila using Edmodo as well.

“This is an excellent opportunity for our students to forge a meaningful and authentic cultural and linguistic exchange,” said Herman, supervisor of World Language at RFH.

The sister school relationship became official this past July when Gauss met with Aida Marquez, English teacher and Bilingual Program Director at Isabel de Castilla, to finalize the details.

The meeting occurred after Gauss had traveled to Spain for a week-long professional development course at the University of Alcala’s Summer Spanish Language and Culture Institute for U.S. Teachers of Spanish.

During the course, 85 teachers from all regions of the U.S. compared and contrasted their educational systems, shared best practices for second language acquisition, explored ideas to increase student engagement, and collaborated on projects to promote students’ global competence skills.

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

Schools Scene

RFH: A Visit From a Sister School in China

Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) recently hosted visitors from its sister school in China.

The group of 14 students, parents, and chaperones from the Hangzhou Entel Foreign Language School (HEFLS, or Entel) in Hangzhou, China visited on Oct. 7. RFH and Entel had entered into a partnership with the goal of building a bridge between language programs at the two schools.

The visitors from Entel enjoyed a week-long tour of various high schools and universities in the United States, making stops in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia before arriving at RFH.

There they attended an information session with members of the RFH administration before taking a tour of the school and participating in a few athletic activities. Members of the Entel group then shadowed RFH students as they attended either an English or History class.

Next up was a visit to Rebecca Wang-McKenna’s Chinese class, where the visitors participated in cultural activities in both Chinese and English.

The visit culminated in a luncheon for the guests attended by RFH Chinese Teachers Rebecca Wang-McKenna and Matt Yang, several RFH students, and several members of the RFH administration.

Previously, RFH students and chaperones had visited Entel for two weeks on two separate occasions in April of 2013 and November of 2015.

RFH and Entel are now exploring the possibility of an exchange program, or a shadowing program in which three to five Entel students will attend classes with RFH students throughout the school day.

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

Local Life

Pre-Loss: RFH Homecoming Carnival Fun

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Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School’s (RFH) Bulldogs may have lost the homecoming game to St. John Vianney on Friday night, but even in the absence of homecoming queens and kings, festivities in the form of the new carnival tradition had students in a winning mood, unfazed by the impending knowing and unknowing losses of the court and the game.

Continue reading Pre-Loss: RFH Homecoming Carnival Fun →

Local Life

A Retro RFH Football Home Game Cheer

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The boy cheerleaders of RFH Powder Puff Football 1977 Photo/George Day
The boy cheerleaders of RFH Powder Puff Football 1977
Photo/George Day

Friday night is the night — homecoming football game at RFH and, well, carnival.

There is no Thanksgiving Day game anymore welcoming RFH alum back from college in a mini reunion of sorts. The game isn’t against Red Bank Catholic (RBC). There’s no dance the night before the game with invites to those alumni who came home from college for the first time. And, the latest controversy among many RFHers of the past and present is the nixing of the homecoming king and queen.

Continue reading A Retro RFH Football Home Game Cheer →

Local Life

Retro RFH Gaggle of Halloween Gals

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RFH Halloween of 1977 with a gaggle of girls Photo/George Day
RFH Halloween of 1977 with a gaggle of girls
Photo/George Day

It’s in the air. Halloween.

That means it’s about that time that people start planning their costumes — or not.

At RFH, oh so many bewitching moons ago, there was a lot of planning going on to celebrate the season. Halloween was a full-day of tricking, treating and staying in costumed character in the high schools hallowed halls.

So, the Retro Pic of the (George) Day is an ode to the camaraderie celebrated within a gaggle of girls all for the sake of friendship and a just plain fun full day of RFH Halloween.

Some of these costumes may not pass muster in the guarded school daze of today. Which ones do you think those might be? Then again … Recognize any of these good ghouls? OK, who’s the ghost?

Scared o’ them!

— Elaine Van Develde

Thanks, once again, to the fabulous George Day for this peek back in RFH time!