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LIVINGSTON, NJ – Recently, many Livingston students were honored for their skills in music, arts and public speaking. Livingston students have always been involved in the arts, and with participation in the arts now being part of school performance reports, involvement in all grade levels is on the rise. Below is just a sampling of Livingston’s recent successful immersions into the arts.
Students Qualify For Junior Region Concert Band At Heritage Middle School, the following five students qualified for the Junior Region Concert Band, after auditions for the best middle school musicians in North Jersey: seventh graders—Jeff Xu (clarinet), Alex Wu (clarinet) and Derek Wand (oboe), and eighth graders—Jessica Rossilli (baritone sax) and Camillo Lin (clarinet). The students will continue rehearsing with Heritage music teachers Michael Miskiv and Dan Traglia in preparation for the Region Concert Band performance being presented by the North Jersey School Music Association on March 23. Livingston District Forensics Competitors Win Burnet Hill’s Megan Tappe and Julia Benjamin were semi-finalists in the Livingston District Forensics Competition held at Mount Pleasant Middle School. Megan was also part of the junior varsity team that participated in the Essex County Tournament in Forensics Interpretive Reading Tournament. According to the Burnet Hill website, forensics is the art of public speaking. The public speaking program in Oratorical Declamation provides students with the opportunity to select and memorize a speech that has been delivered before a live audience and prepare it for presentation at a local tournament. Special attention is given to effective communication of the author’s mood and meaning; use of vocal variety and pace to define character; appropriate use of facial expressions; appropriate and timely gestures, frequent and meaningful eye contact with the audience; clear pronunciation and enunciation; and effective voice projection.
Students Win at the Essex County Forensics Interpretive Reading Tournament In addition, Heritage’s Ricky LaGrotta won the individual varsity finalist trophy at the Forensics Interpretive Reading Tournament that was sponsored by Essex County Steering Committee for Gifted and Talented Education. At the junior varsity level, Riker Hill’s Hayley Locke won the second place individual trophy, while Hillside’s Lily Ann Nossen won the third place individual trophy. The second-place team trophy was won by: Nossen, Locke, Julian Levy and Patrick Zotti of Mt. Pleasant Middle, Diego Bolanos of Harrison, Megan Rose Tappe of Burnet Hill, Veena Nambi of Mt. Pleasant Elementary, and Shira Salzman of Collins. Students Succeed at Pennsylvania Liberty Bell Classic
During Presidents' Day weekend, 21 members of the Livingston High School Forensics Speech and Debate Team competed in the 39th annual University of Pennsylvania Liberty Bell Classic in Philadelphia. The Classic, which is sponsored by Penn for Youth Debate, is one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious high school invitational forensics tournaments. The event included 505 entries and 208 judges, representing 67 schools from 14 states and three countries. The following Livingston team members earned awards: • Catherine Yang took Third Place in Declamation, • Ruth Albuquerque was a Semifinalist in Declamation, • Jessica Li was a Semifinalist in Declamation, • Natalie Kahn was a Quarterfinalist in Oral Interpretation of Literature, and • Divyaansh Raj was a Seventh Place Speaker in Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate Student’s Artwork is Chosen for Emerging Artists Exhibit Livingston High School junior Molly Nagel’s digital photograph titled, “The Shielding,” was chosen for display at the Emerging Artists Exhibit being held at the James Howe Gallery at Kean University. The juried exhibit, which is sponsored by the Art Administrators of New Jersey, provides New Jersey high school students with the opportunity to exhibit their skills and talents in a public venue.
