During the first five years, only eighth grade students participated in this event. Two years ago, the entire school got involved in order to increase the amount of money raised. This year, students raised more $15,000, bringing the grand total over the past seven years to well over $50,000.

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A Roller Skating Party Fundraiser will be held from 6-8 p.m. May 28 at The Castle Fun Center, Rt. 17M in Chester. All C. J. Hooker Middle School students, friends and family members are invited to attend.

The Castle Fun Center will donate 25 percent of all participating admissions to benefit the Middle School Carnival.

Cost is $10 and includes admission, pizza and soda. You must present the special certificate* to receive the discounted cost. Bring your skates or rollerblades, or rent a pair for $3.

*Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to download and print. You can get a free copy from the Adobe web site.  

The 7/8 Girls Leadership Group recently held a bake sale to benefit the American Diabetes Association (ADA). The fundraiser was conceived and designed by eighth grade student Karalynn Bruntfeld, whose family members are diabetic. Because of this, Karalynn has long had an interest in raising money for the ADA.

Karalynn's classmates, Jackie Krauss, Marisa Robbins and Sophia Shuster, assisted her in this ambitious endeavor, with the help of Teacher Assistant Kathy Valerio. More than $100 was raised and sent to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.

Inside the Notre Dame Basilica.

On April 17-19, seventh and eighth grade French students at the C. J. Hooker Middle School took a trip to Montreal, where they stayed at the Hotel Auberge Universel.

Students were supposed to depart the C. J. Hooker Middle School at 7 a.m.; however, due to unforeseen issues with the contracted transportation vehicles, the trip was slightly delayed.

“It was unfortunate to be delayed, but the safety of our students is top priority,” said French Teacher Kyle Lewis. “Fortunately, the situation was corrected quickly and the students were able to participate in every activity on our itinerary.”

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The C. J. Hooker Middle School placed third in the 22nd Annual Orange County Quiz Bowl, which was held May 5 in the C. J. Hooker auditorium. Nine middle school teams from around the county, including Bishop Dunn Memorial School, Chester, Goshen Christian, Greenwood Lake, Minisink Valley, Monroe-Woodbury, St. Thomas of Canterbury, Warwick and the C. J. Hooker Middle School, answered questions on topics such as current events, literature, art, science, history, geography and math.

Warwick earned the first place trophy, while second place went to St. Thomas of Canterbury. The C. J. Hooker Middle School team placed third, with team members Nawshin Ahmed, Maaz Ahsan, Tucker Brownell, Bridget Larkin and Tom Payne, and alternates Jason Basri, Elijah Knowlton, Ryan Mayfield, James Shih and Nick Sullivan. The team’s advisors are Jackie Chapman and Diane Bigg.

Alvin Watson and Eleanor Knieriemen served as Masters of Ceremonies.

View the Honor Roll and Merit Roll

Author Susan Beth Pfeffer

C. J. Hooker Middle School students were treated to a visit from award-winning author Susan Beth Pfeffer as a part of the middle school’s National Library Week celebration.

Pfeffer, who resides in Middletown, has written more than 60 books that are geared towards young adults. She discussed her career, which began almost 40 years ago, and read to students from two of her books, Life as We Know It and The Dead and the Gone.

Pfeffer’s novel About David was awarded the South Carolina Young Adult Book Award. The Year Without Michael, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and winner of the South Carolina Young Adult Book Award, was named by the American Library Association as one of the hundred best books for teenagers written between 1968-1993.

On April 1, students from the C. J. Hooker Middle School traveled to Saratoga to compete in the Olympics of the Visual Arts, an event sponsored by the New York Art Teachers Association. This is the first time that CJH students attended the event with their peers from Scotchtown Avenue Elementary School and Goshen High School.

Our students presented wonderfully creative art projects in different categories: drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, furniture design, photography and illustration.

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If you haven't, then you should!

The Food Services Department offers a variety of tasty and nutritious meals for both breakfast and lunch -- important fuel for developing minds!

View the May menu

Six years ago, Spanish Teacher Gaby Ackert began her journey to become an American citizen. The seventh grade Spanish teacher came to the United States seven years ago, when she left her teaching position at a University in Ecuador to attend Westchester Community College as an exchange student. While living in Carmel, she met her husband, fell in love and decided to get married – and set a personal goal to become a citizen of the United States.

Ackert’s long road to citizenship
Ackert’s first step to becoming an American citizen was to apply for permanent residency. A permanent resident, also known as a “green card holder,” must be lawfully admitted to the United States. Ackert lived as a permanent resident for three years before she was eligible to apply for American citizenship, which took approximately seven months to complete.

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