2010-06-15 - Union Catholic Regional High School

UC’s “Peacemakers in
Progress”
Greg Gagliardi
PHYSICS PHUN AT
SIX PHLAGS Jamie Ciocon
On April 28, Union Catholic offered a unique annual
workshop to seventh graders in Catholic schools
throughout the region. Called “Peacemakers in Progress,”
it was an anti-bullying workshop that targeted middle
school students. A variety of students from nearby middle
schools attended the April 28 workshop; those in attendance
may be bullies, victims of bullying, or school
leaders. This year 13 schools sent 51 students. “Our hope
is that the message of anti-bullying is communicated back
to their classmates and school regardless of who attends,”
says Peer Ministry leader and organizer of “Peacemakers in
Progress,” Mrs. Schurtz.
The overall goal of the workshop is to spread the
message of peace to middle school students. This is the
time when bullying intensifies. The workshop takes
various approaches in accomplishing this goal. One
approach is getting the bully to realize the negative effects
of his or her behavior. Another way is to help victims
handle bullying situations or convince bystanders to speak
out against bullying at appropriate times. The organizers
of the workshop understand that one workshop will not
change the world, but if the message is spread through the
peers of the students who attend, the ripple effect will
make a positive difference.
The workshop has been in existence for seven
years. Faculty organizers and a team of student leaders
reevaluate the program every year. They revise the
workshop to make necessary changes with the goal of
keeping it relevant while still interesting. One major
change the program has made was to incorporate cyber
bullying. It is observed as a growing problem among
middle school students and needs to be stopped by the
same means as any other bullying. The message of peace
is being spread the same way; it is now a critical part of
the workshop.
Another unique approach used by the UC student
leaders to address those in attendance is wearing tee shirts
to the workshop to act as “walking advertisements”
against bullying. The tee shirts are customized by the
group leaders and include anti-violence messages. During
the day, seventh grade students made tee shirts for
themselves to bring the message back to their respective
schools. This is one unique way in which the leaders
ensured the success of the workshop. At the end of the 9
a.m. to 1 p.m. workshop, visiting seventh graders were
required to fill out an evaluation. “The overwhelming
majority of the responses were favorable and positive,”
says Mrs. Schurtz.
UC‟s “Peacemakers in Progress” program has been
successful in helping students understand the negative
consequences of bullying behavior. Educating these
students is helping achieve goal of spreading peace one
student at a time, and this makes a huge positive influence
in schools everywhere.
On April 30, Six Flags Great Adventure became one giant
physics lab. Seniors and juniors from the Conceptual, Honors,
and AP Physics classes ventured to the theme park located
in Jackson, New Jersey, to test their physics knowledge
on the park‟s rides and attractions. Students were able to
experience the concepts that they had learned all year in the
classroom, such as acceleration, rotational motion, and
forces on rides such as El Toro, Kingda Ka, and Nitro.
Physics teacher Mrs. Hofmann along with chemistry
teacher Mrs. Lubin chaperoned the event. Students were
split into groups within their classes for the day. Before arriving
at the park, each group was to complete a packet full
of problems involving concepts that they would use throughout
the day, such as conservation of energy and centripetal
force. Students also armed themselves with their equipment
for the day: acceleration meters to measure the magnitude of
the acceleration due to gravity at different points on a ride,
angle meters to measure angles of inclination and depression,
and stopwatches. They would use this equipment on at
least two rides in order to collect data for the problems and
calculations based on each ride.
Overall, students responded with enthusiasm to the
Physics Day. “It didn‟t feel like a test to me,” said Stephanie
Ramirez ‟10, of the Honors Physics class. The work done on
Physics Day counted as part of the final exam for the Conceptual
and Honors Physics classes, and as a test grade for
the AP Physics class. “I had fun going on the rides and collecting
the data, and we used what we had measured and
experienced to do the calculations. I liked that everything
we learned in physics all year came to life during this trip.”
Others who, to put things lightly, are not as
“phanatic” about physics as some of their classmates, also
enjoyed the trip. “Once we handed in our packet, we were
free to have a great time at Six Flags,” said Jennifer Reis ‟10.
“The lines were short, and the weather was beautiful. What
more could you ask for”
*Note: Are you confused about some of the terms used in
this article That is a sign that you should sign up for a
physics class when you have the chance!
Students measured the acceleration rate due to gravity
on the mighty Kingda Ka – while racing at the
speed of 128 miles per hour!
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