Morris Hills Regional District

Congratulations to our Morris Hills and Morris Knolls graduates!

Members of the Morris Hills High School Physics Club competed at the Yale Physics Olympics at Yale University.

The team of Aum Shah, Sejal Butala, Krishna Kaushik Panyala, and Arjun Pandey was crowned champions of the Physics Olympics winning 1st place in the Golf Ball Roller Coaster Challenge, 2nd place in the Snell's Law Challenge, and tied for 2nd place in the Fermi Quiz. The tie for 2nd place was with our other team of Pranav Vanga, Jason Mao, Ish*ta Banerjee, and Om Dagadadunde.

Established in 1998 by Professor Con Beausang, the Yale Physics Olympics is an all-day physics competition where students compete in teams of four to complete a pentathlon of a variety of physics-themed activities. In addition to the five competitive events, there is a make-and-take activity for team coaches, a demonstration show, and a presentation by a Yale scientist.

The MH Physics Club is led by Mr. Nickolas Maloupis.

Morris Hills and Morris Knolls competed in Garden State Esports’ league for the first time this school year. On May 18, the Morris Hills Rocket League team concluded their inaugural season by competing at the State Championship at Stockton University. The team of freshman Paul Sousa and sophomore Andres Serna beat Seneca High School, last year’s winners, 3-1 to be crowned the 2024 Rocket League State Champions.

The Garden State Esports league hosts three seasons in which JV and Varsity teams compete in different video games against other schools in their conference. In the upcoming fall season, Morris Hills will again compete in Rocket League; the fall season is 3v3. The winter season consists of Chess and Overwatch and in the spring season, they will be defending their title in 2v2 Rocket League as well as competing in Valorant.

Both Morris Hills and Morris Knolls unveiled state of the art gaming labs this school year, where the teams practice and compete in their online matches throughout the seasons.

Congratulations to the Morris Hills team on their State championship in the district’s first Esports season. They are coached by Business teacher, Ms. Debbi Sabatini.

Members of the Morris Knolls Varsity Club volunteered to help at Dennis B. O'Brien field day on Friday, 5/31. They helped out with the dunk tank, bounce house, corn hole, bowling and much more!

Congratulations to the following MHRD JUNIORS, who have been accepted to participate in prestigious summer programs:

Melinda Huang (AMSE): NJ Scholars Program
Prisha Malik (AMSE): NJ Governor's School for Sciences
Riya Jain (AMSE): NJ Governor's School for Engineering & Technology
Samarth Desai (MH MAG): NJ Governor's School for Sciences
Timothy Hsu (MK): NJ Governor's School for Engineering & Technology (waitlist) (Not pictured)

Morris Hills High School is proud to announce the Valedictorian and Salutatorian for the Class of 2024.

The Valedictorian for the Class of 2024 is Darsh Shah. Darsh will attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the fall where he will major in Computer Science and Economics.

The Salutatorian for the Class of 2024 is Emma Zhang. Emma will attend Columbia University in the fall where she will be majoring in computer science and financial engineering.

We are honored to announce the Valedictorian and Salutatorian for the Morris Knolls High School Class of 2024. Join us in celebrating Sara Gomez, our Valedictorian, and Calvin Chen, our Salutatorian. Sara has achieved an impressive GPA of 104.9565 and will be furthering her education at Princeton University in the Fall, while Calvin has attained a GPA of 104.3056 and will be continuing his academic journey at Swarthmore College. Both Sara and Calvin will be recognized for their outstanding achievements at both our senior awards ceremony and graduation ceremony.

As a celebration of Financial Literacy Month, for the second year in a row, Morris Hills High School welcomed Funding the Future: The Financial Literacy Concert Tour featuring Gooding on April 19. Through a rock concert, multimedia presentation, and talkback, the show covers the importance of developing good saving and budgeting habits early and how to manage debt while exposing the myth of rock stars, athletes, and actors who sell false images of overnight success.

Funding the Future is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to educate students across the country on the importance of smart financial decisions, through a multimedia presentation including music, video and an inspirational message shared by a musical celebrity, emphasizing the importance of financial literacy at a young age.

Business teacher Mrs. Meghan Burgin organized this valuable event for the students to attend. The Business department offers eight courses that satisfy the Personal Financial Literacy state graduation requirement.

Morris Hills Social Studies and Special Education teacher Catherine Hudak recently played a role in the naming of conference rooms in the new Morristown location of the Barnes & Thornburg law offices. When Ms. Hudak learned of their new location, she recommended the six conference rooms be named for diverse, unsung heroes of the American Revolution. A Morristown historian with a master’s degree in history and a published article titled, “The Ladies of Trenton: Women’s Political and Public Activism in Revolutionary NJ”, Ms. Hudak collaborated with Michael Zogby, partner-in-charge of the Barnes & Thornburg New Jersey and Philadelphia law offices and gave a Women’s History Month presentation in Morristown on March 17 that was broadcast to 18 Barnes & Thornburg offices nationwide. Ms. Hudak presented a case study about the remarkable group of New Jersey women, the Ladies of Trenton, and their role in the fight for American independence. Mary Dagworthy, Annis Boudinot Stockton, and William Stives of New Jersey are among the historical figures recognized with a conference room and placard. Ms. Hudak’s article can be found through this link:

https://buff.ly/3UowOoF

Congratulations to Morris Hills High School junior Justin Chen, who was elected the Key Club New Jersey District Governor for the 2024-2025 school year at the New Jersey Key Club District Convention held in March. Justin is currently serving as a Lieutenant Governor for this school year. In his role as District Governor, he will oversee the overall operations of the district board, which involves training other district officers, appointing committees, fostering relationships with Kiwanis-family leadership, and communicating district needs to the international board liaison. Key Club adviser Elizabeth Maloupis states, "Through steadfast determination and unwavering dedication, Justin has ascended the ranks of Key Club—an inspiring testament to his leadership and commitment to service. We beam with pride watching Justin assume the esteemed role of NJ District Governor, representing our community with distinction and honor."

Key Club International is the world’s largest student-led organization. High school students in districts around the world are all working together to better the world through community service. The parent organization, Kiwanis International, founded its first Key Club in 1925 and since then has added hundreds of thousands of Key Clubbers to its family.

The Morris Hills Robotics team competed in the First Tech Challenge Qualifier meet. They were part of the Alliance team that won the meet, surpassing 21 other schools and teams. They also secured 1st place in the Innovate Award, recognizing the team's imaginative thinking, ingenuity, creativity, and inventiveness in bringing designs to life. These dual 1st place achievements qualify the team to participate in the upcoming FTC State Championship. This will be the first time Morris Hills will compete in the FTC State Championship.

At the State Championship, they won the 1st Place Think Award and placed 7th overall in the state. The criteria for this award is removing engineering obstacles through creative thinking. This judged award is given to the team that best reflects the journey the team took as they experienced the engineering design process during the build season.

The members of the Robotics team are Krishna Chidrawar, Akshay Dhawan, Ruhi Kamdar, Anish Mahapatra, Divya Patel, Alan Qu, Premkumar Sethumadhavan, Aaryan Shah, and Sheil Shah. These students are enrolled in the Robotics 2 course at Morris Hills High School.

The Robotics Program is led by their coach and teacher, Mr. Sean Trisler. They are also supported by two mentors, Mr. Henry Van D**e and Mr. Ken Blair, who volunteer with the Robotics Program at Morris Hills. Henry and Ken are both retired from industry in the STEM fields and have been volunteering with MHRD for many years.

The Morris Knolls High School Student Government Association proudly hosted an exhilarating Dodgeball Tournament in the school's gyms on Thursday, March 7th, 2024. The event saw enthusiastic participation from over 100 students, creating an evening filled with energy, teamwork, and community spirit.
After an intense double elimination tournament bracket, the championship title was clinched by Mr. Simone's team, led by the spirited Michael Simone. The victorious team members, Michael Simone, Luke Dickerson, Brodie Freker, Jack Martinez, Billy Sobieski, Darin Cashman, Mikayla Doyle, and Tessa Simone, showcased exceptional skills and teamwork throughout the tournament. In a light-hearted celebration of their dominant performance, the team members are pictured playfully pretending to sleep, symbolizing their seamless victory in the competition.
Adding a colorful twist to the tournament, the "BBQ Bacon Ballers" won the best team uniform award. Team members Leo Lanzone, Sofia Marek, Karolina Kedzierska, Sean McKeever, Hogan Hyatt, Devin Gaglione, Thomas Deegan, and Luke Schagelin donned unique uniforms, each representing a different aspect of BBQ, bringing creativity and fun to the tournament's atmosphere.
The event was not only a platform for students to showcase their athletic talents but also a delightful gathering for students, parents, guardians, and community members to enjoy a pleasant Thursday evening together. The Morris Knolls High School gyms were filled with cheers, laughter, and applause, reflecting the strong community spirit and the positive impact of such engaging school events.
The Morris Knolls High School Student Government Association extends its heartfelt thanks to all participants, supporters, and attendees who contributed to the success of this memorable event. We look forward to fostering more such opportunities that bring our school community together.

The Morris Hills Mock Trial team was a Morris County semi-finalist at the NJ State Bar Foundation Mock Trial Competition held at the Morris County Courthouse. All teams are given a case to prepare a full trial for and compete against other schools from the county in a live role play of the trial. The team consisted of Anushka Agarwal, Aiden Chemparathy, Aanvi Desai, Akshay Dhawan, Ruhi Kamdar, Jiya Patel, Priyanka Patel, Nicolette Sookraj, Sanjana Veggalam, and Kaya Zibit-Clarke. The Mock Trial team is led by Tiffany Doltz.
Students pictured (L-R): Ruhi Kamdar, Anushka Agarwal, Sanjana Veggalam, Aiden Chemparathy, Priyanka Patel, Aanvi Desai, and Nicolette Sookraj

The 2023-2024 District Calendar has been revised to reflect the giveback of two unused emergency closing days. The district will be closed on Friday, May 24, 2024 and Tuesday, May 28, 2024.

31 members of the Morris Knolls Varsity and Future Educators Clubs visited Lakeview & Dennis B. O'Brien Schools on Friday, 3/1 to celebrate Read Across America Day by reading to the elementary students.

Structured Learning Experience, or SLE for short, is a work study program in which seniors from both Mortis Hills and Morris Knolls gain real-life work experience through approved part-time jobs. In the second marking period, our SLE students worked a combined 9,719.9 hours and earned $149,662.48, making their grand earnings total since the start of the school year, over $225,000.

Come join us for the MH and MK Technology Showcases - May 22 and May 30.

The Bickford Theater at the Morris Museum has invited Nimbus Dance of Jersey City, New Jersey, to perform on Friday, April 26. Nimbus will present Artistic Director Samuel Pott's Spring, new choreography set to Aaron Copland's renowned score Appalachian Spring, which will be performed by the professional dancers of Nimbus Dance along with a cast of 15-20 youth performers from the Morris Knolls School. Nimbus Artists will work with Morris Knolls students during the month of April, teaching choreography and conveying movement concepts connected to Spring.

About the show/ticketing/etc.:

Spring Nimbus Dance - Morris Museum “As a choreographer, Pott… is known for creating works that invite an emotional—and often personal—connection between dancers and the audience.” —NJ Monthly

The Morris Hills Academic Decathlon team participated in the regional competition. Students prepare to take tests in the seven subject areas of: Science, Economics, Mathematics, Social Science, Language and Literature, Art, and Music, all centered around this year's theme, Technology and Humanity. In addition, students compete in essay, speech, and interview events, with the day culminating in a super quiz. The Morris Hills team took home 29 awards and medals, including Highest Scoring Decathlete in the region, Prathamesh Trivedi. Decathletes Prathamesh Trivedi and Krishna Chidrawar qualified to compete in the state competition in March, where Prathamesh won Gold in Language and Literature and Honorable Mention in Mathematics. The Academic Decathlon team is led by Lora Santucci.

During March, Athletic trainers across America are being recognized for their commitment to helping people prevent injuries, stay healthy and active, and most recently, leading the way with establishing Covid-19 protocols. As healthcare professionals, they are highly educated and dedicated to the job at hand. Athletic trainers are found in high schools and colleges, corporations, professional sports, the military, performing arts, clinics, hospitals, and physician offices.

Morris Knolls High School would like to salute Melanie Rynshall for her essential role in providing quality health care for our athletes/employees every day.

Morris Knolls High School is proud to announce that Juliana Guglielmi is one of the Morris County students that have been presented with the 2024 Morris County Unsung Heroes Award.

Big congratulations are in order for the Morris Knolls/Hills Ice Hockey Team for their spectacular victory against Governor Livingston High School at the Prudential Center Monday night in the Public Co-Op state final! With just 38 seconds remaining, they secured the winning goal, sealing a triumphant 4-3 victory!

Congratulations to both the team and their dedicated coaches for this remarkable achievement!

During the month of December 2023, students enrolled in the Culinary Arts program at Morris Knolls participated in a Cupcake Wars event.

As part of the event, over 120 students created unique, holiday themed cupcake designs to demonstrate their culinary prowess. Students were responsible for baking and designing their creations, as well as photographing their final product. Images of the cupcakes were then shared with the faculty for voting.

Four students were recognized for their outstanding creations: Cole Brennan, Abby Erickson, Natalie Villalobos, and Emily Wagner. For their accomplishments, the students received personalized cutting boards, which were created in the Morris Knolls Engineering Shop on an Epilog Laser Engraver.

Students who are enrolled in the program have the opportunity to participate in a variety of Work Based Learning experiences. Additionally, dual-enrollment credit opportunities are available for students who are pursuing post-secondary options. The program concludes with Culinary Arts III, where students earn ServSafe Food Service Manager certification.

For more information on Career and Technical Education programming at Morris Hills Regional, please contact Mr. Keith Bigora, District Supervisor of Career and Technical Education, at [email protected].