Union County, NJ — As the population ages, the need for trained homecare providers continues to increase. For individuals who are interested in working in the homecare provider field, a comprehensive, state certified Home Health Aide training program is available this fall.

“This statewide training program is a great opportunity for Union County residents to establish their credentials and gain a foothold in a high-demand field,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh, “Helping older adults to stay in their homes and connected to their communities is a priority for the Freeholder Board, and a qualified workforce is needed to achieve that goal.”

Applicants must be Union County residents 18 years of age, U.S. citizens or otherwise qualified by their immigration status, and proficient in English. They must be able to perform tasks such as helping patients out of bed, giving bed baths, and aiding transfers for those with limited mobility.

Classes will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays during October, and concluding in early November, at Jewish Family Services, 655 Westfield Avenue in Elizabeth.

Upon completion of the training, students will have the knowledge and skills required by the New Jersey State Board of Nursing to become certified home health aides.    

The $75.00 registration fee includes the cost of the textbook and workbook. In addition, there is an $80.00 application fee payable to the New Jersey State Board of Nursing. A passport size photo is required to be attached to the application.

Attendance in the class is contingent upon a pre-training interview in September. Space is limited and applicants should arrange to schedule an interview now by calling Donna Farrell at the Union County Division on Aging and Disability Resource Connection, at 908-527-4858. 

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UNION, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce that the 2015 Teen Arts Touring Exhibit is on display from August 28^th through September 25^th at the Connect One Bank, located at 2003 Morris Avenue in Union.

The exhibit consists of 60 pieces of art selected from more than 650 visual art works shown at the 2015 Union County Teen Arts Festival held in March at Union County College in Cranford. The annual event is administered by the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs in the Department of Parks and Community Renewal.

“The artwork in this exhibit is exceptional. The fact that the artists are teenagers makes the show even more outstanding,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “I encourage everyone to get out and see this fun, lively exhibit as it goes on tour throughout Union County.”

For information about the Teen Arts program contact the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs at 633 Pearl Street, Elizabeth 07202; telephone (908) 558-2550. NJ Relay service users should call 711 or email culturalinfo@ucnj.org.

Catch the 2015 Union County Teen Arts Festival in action on YouTube.   

2015 TEEN ARTS EXHIBIT

The exhibiting students are:                                   

Clark

Mother Seton RHS 

Waverly Banks

Gabriella Luna

 

Cranford

Cranford HS 

Sabrina Huwang

Kristen Orsini

Naomi Lee

Cranford Achievement Program

Kelly Ryan

Nathaniel Reyes

Hillside Avenue School 

Alec Duerr

Orange Avenue School

Jacqueline Smith

 

Elizabeth

Abraham Lincoln School:  Valentina Cardenas

Benedictine Academy:  Angelika Zarzecka

Benjamin Franklin School:  Alma Cardona

Christopher Columbus School:  Kandy Torres

Dr. Orlando Edreira:  Christopher Cruz

Duarte-Marti School:  Roque Bahian

EHS-Edison Academy:  Rommel Varela

EHS-Dwyer Academy:  Theocita Allen

EHS-Halsey Academy:  Roger Veloz

EHS-Lower Academy:  Allison Marcias

EHS-Upper Academy 

Evelyn Altamirano

Catarina DaSilva

EHS-Jefferson Academy 

Briana Calderine

Inorys Vila

Andrea Arias

Elmora School:  Susej Monroy

iPrep Academy:  Carlyani DelValle

Marquis de Lafayette School:  Angelica Bautista

Madison-Monroe School:  Valentina Henao

Nicholas M. Butler School:  Najiyah Ishmael

Nicholas S. LaCorte School:  Noely Solorzano

Ronald Reagan Academy:  Vanessa Herrera

T.C. Reilly School:  Maria Dilandro

Victor Mravlag School:  Alexandra Riascos

William F. Halloran School:  Sadie Vizcaino

Woodrow Wilson School:  Geraldine Castano

 

Hillside           

Walter O. Krumbiegel MS 

Vanessa Ejiofor

 

Kenilworth                  

David Brearley HS:

Derek Hernandez

Timothy Balke

Salvatore Gorka

 

 Linden            

Linden HS : Adrianna Rendon

McManus MS : Patrycja Komajda

Soehl MS : Fatimat Mahmoud

 

Mountainside              

Deerfield MS : Emily Berkow

 

New Providence                   

New Providence HS 

Rebecca Pappas

Catherine Sander

New Providence MS 

Liana Hawkins

 

Plainfield                     

Plainfield Academy of Arts 

Gelinis Cepeda

Sebastian Nunez

Jeremy Medina

Queen City Academy 

Yousra Belgaid

 

Roselle           

Abraham Clark HS 

Agape Deleon

Mireya Lopez

Grace Wilday Jr. HS 

Ria Bhattacharya

 

Scotch Plains               

Union County Vo-Tech 

Samra Shakeel

Dana Tokarzewski

Julie Kim

Hillcrest Academy 

Alina Alvarez

 

Springfield                

FM Gaudineer MS

Sadi Lowy

 

Summit                        

Oratory Preparatory

Giovanni Martinetti

Paul Moyer

 

Union               

Union HS 

Lucero Lopez

Lianna Cardoso

 

LINDEN, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders announces that its next mobile paper-shredding program for personal documents will be available on Thursday, September 17, at the Recycling Center in Linden.

“Union County’s mobile document-shredding service helps residents fight identity theft and eliminate clutter in their homes,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “It is a cost-effective way to assist our recycling efforts and it ties in with Union County’s other Go Green Initiatives.”

The Sept. 17^th shredding event will take place at the Linden Recycling Center, located at 2 Donaldson Place in Linden. NEXCUT Shredding of Elizabeth will be shredding documents at the site from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine. The shredding event will end before 1 p.m. if the shredding truck reaches capacity.

All Union County residents are eligible to use the paper-shredding service. In an effort to accommodate everyone, there is a limit of four, 10-pound bags or boxes per person. Documents should not be bound. Please remove plastic binders and paperclips. Paper that is wet/damp will not be accepted. Residents should continue to recycle non-confidential papers and magazines with their municipal recycling program.

Documents are put into 96-gallon containers provided by the shredding company. The items are then dumped onto a conveyor belt and shredded on site. Participants are welcome to view the shredding process via a closed-circuit television. The shredded documents are then recycled, shipped to paper mills and used as pulp. The next shredding event will take place Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Westfield Memorial Pool.

The mobile shredding program is paid for through New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Recycling Enhancement Act Grant Funds. For more information about future events or directions please call the Union County Recycling Hotline at 908-654-9889 or visit us online at www.ucnj.org/recycle .

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Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh joined Linden Mayor Derek Armstead in picking their top five favorite ‘Art Outside the Box’ artist submissions that will be featured on traffic control boxes at three Linden intersections. In the coming days, we will open up online voting for you to pick your top three favorites. Learn more about the Chairman’s Initiative at https://ucnj.org/artoutsidethebox/.

 

Union County, NJ – Union County 4-H Clubs are gearing up for a new season, and Union County students in grades 1-12 are invited to join the fun. Along with favorites like Archery, Cooking and Lego Robotics, Union County 4-H also offers a new Technology Club and a new Community Service Club.

To sign up for a club, meet the club leaders and find out more about 4-H activities, plan to attend this year’s annual 4-H Open House, set for Friday September 18 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Union County Colleen Fraser Building, 300 North Avenue East in Westfield.

“Our 4-H Clubs encourage young people to connect with their community, develop leadership and organizational skills, and have a great time learning more about their favorite topics,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “The Freeholder Board is proud to support 4-H and its guiding principles of thoughtfulness, community service and healthy living.”

Union County 4-H Clubs are run by the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Union County, supported in part by the Freeholder Board. The clubs belong to a 100-year American tradition established by the U.S Department of Agriculture by an Act of Congress, originally meant to help rural communities connect with useful information about agriculture and family health.

Over the years, 4-H has kept pace with the shift to urban and suburban life, using popular activities to help youngsters to engage in civic affairs and develop related skills such as teamwork and public speaking.

In Union County, the current 4-H slate includes modern clubs like Anime, Lego Robotics, S.T.E.M. and Fashion Design. The program also offers traditional favorites such as horticulture, cooking and archery.

Students can also join a Variety Club and explore topics of their own creation. For older students, 4-H offers membership in the Community Service Club, which plans and conducts community service programs throughout Union County.

4-H Clubs are open to boys and girls.  A materials fee of $10.00 per club ($5.00 per additional club in the same family) is payable at the Open House. Individual clubs may also have materials fees.

For more information about the Open House and this year’s lineup of 4-H Clubs contact Union County 4-H Agent James Nichnadowicz at 908-654-9854 or jnichnadowicz@ucnj.org, or visit online at ucnj.org/rce.

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Union County, NJ  –  The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce that all five of the high schools comprising the Union County Vocational-Technical School District (UCVTS) have been included in the 2015 Newsweek top 500 Public Schools national survey, including four in the top 100.

In addition, six of the County’s 21 municipalities ranked among the top 100 “Best Places to Live” in New Jersey survey, published in the September 2015 print edition of New Jersey Monthly.

“Our UCVTS students, families and staff all deserve our respect and appreciation for this achievement,” said Union County Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “It is especially gratifying to see all that hard work recognized in the context of Newsweek’s new ‘beating the odds’ methodology, which underscores the importance of tapping the rich potential of all students, regardless of their economic background.”

The annual Newsweek top 500 Public Schools survey measures college readiness. In addition to its usual “absolute” performance list of the 500 highest-ranking schools, Newsweek also published a “Beating the Odds” list that recognizes the impact of socioeconomic disadvantage on conventional ranking systems.

“Our outstanding staff has strived to create a community that embraces young people who are eager to learn, share and make a difference,” said UCVTS Superintendent Peter Capodice. “This is a team effort and the results show: our students come from many different walks of life and when they leave this campus, they are prepared to take their place in the world.”

The New Jersey Monthly “Top 100 Towns” list includes Summit (#23), Cranford (#51), Westfield (#62), New Providence (#69), Clark (#73) and Berkeley Heights (#77). Summit and Westfield were also included in the magazine’s short list of 16 “Favorite Downtowns.”

“As a native of New Jersey I can testify that there are hundreds of great neighborhoods throughout our state. Having six of our municipalities on the New Jersey Monthly list – including two with special recognition – is a real mark of distinction for the whole Union County community,” said Jalloh. 

The 2015 UCVTS rankings for absolute performance in the Newsweek survey are:

4. Union County Magnet High School
5. Academy for Allied Health Sciences
6. Academy for Information Technology
7. Union County Tech
8. Academy for the Performing Arts

The rankings for “Beating the Odds in the Newsweek survey are:

23. Union County Magnet High School
24. Academy for Allied Health Sciences
25. Academy for Information Technology
26. Union County Tech
27. Academy for Performing Arts

The UCVTS campus is located at 1776 Raritan Road in Scotch Plains. Expanded and updated considerably within recent years, the campus includes five full-time high schools that incorporate intensive study within a vocational specialization and advanced, honors level academic coursework in a cooperative learning environment.

UCVTS students are selected from a diverse population of eighth grade students in each of the 21 school districts of Union County through a competitive application process.  For the 2014-2015 school year, approximately 38% of applicants to UCVTS were offered admission.

The Academy for Allied Health Sciences – AAHS exposes students to various health careers through medical related coursework in a learning community committed to high levels of professional, hands-on experiences.

The Academy for Information Technology – AIT students gain technological expertise with business integration in a curriculum that emphasizes professionalism and ethical practices in the dynamic workplace.

Magnet High School for Science, Mathematics and Technology – The Magnet High School is an engineering-based specialized academy that highlights critical thinking, problem solving, and leadership skills through a project based curriculum.

The Academy for Performing Arts – APA combines intensive study in theatre arts, dance, or technical theatre with rigorous academics culminating in a senior year at Kean University.

Union County Vocational-Technical High School – UC TECH students have the opportunity to select from a variety of vocational programs in high demand career fields including automotive technology, green construction technology, commercial art, criminal justice, cosmetology, and culinary arts, in addition to five specialized career academies: Exercise Physiology & Related Sciences, School of Design, Teacher Education Academy, School of Sustainable Sciences, and the newest program, Academy for Clinical Care Sciences. 

The application process for UCVTS begins each fall, when 8^th grade students residing in Union County attend a required information session at the campus in Scotch Plains. The first of several such sessions this fall will be on September 26. Students who are interested in applying to enter as freshmen in fall 2016 can visit ucvts.tec.nj.us to see a complete schedule and to get more details about applying.

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Union County, NJ – Volunteer Advocates with the Union County Rape Crisis Center (UCRCC) are a beacon of hope for victims of sexual violence, by providing support and guidance through the aftermath of an attack. Union County residents can join this deeply meaningful volunteer experience by attending the next round of training sessions, starting this fall.

All volunteers are trained and mentored by UCRCC staff. A weekday evening training course for volunteers is now available consisting of 13 sessions on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Each session starts at 5:30 p.m. and ends at or before 9:30 p.m.

No previous experience in crisis counseling is necessary.

“If you are looking for an invaluable way to serve the Union County community, I encourage you to contact Union County Rape Crisis Center and join the next training session,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed Jalloh. “All we ask of our volunteers is that they have a big heart, a strong capacity for empathy, and a desire to make a difference at a point of crisis in someone’s life.”

The Union County Rape Crisis Center (UCRCC) has been a part of the Union County Department of Human Services since 1984. As advocates for victims of sexual violence, UCRCC volunteers most often provide guidance over the phone. As requested, they may also provide accompaniment for forensic examinations at hospitals, statements at police departments, and to courtrooms.

To attend the upcoming round of training sessions, volunteers are requested to call the UCRCC hotline at 908-233-7273, in order to schedule a pre-training interview.

Persons interested in volunteering should call now, as space is limited. 

The sessions will all be held at the Ralph J. Froehlich Public Safety Building in the County services complex in Westfield at 300 North Avenue East, starting on Thursday October 1.

Volunteers must be Union County residents at least 18 years of age, hold a valid driver’s license, and have their own vehicle.

To schedule an interview, or for more information about volunteering, call the UCRCC hotline at 908-233-7273.  Additional information is available at unioncountyrapecrisiscenter.blogspot.com.

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Over $73,000 in total grant funding awarded for projects

Union County, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce the 2015 Union County Library Grant awards to 20 public libraries in Union County for children’s programming and materials. The new grant opportunity seeks to expand, create, and enhance programming offered to children by libraries within Union County.

“As a youth my library card was as good as any driver’s license. It gave me access to the world and I enjoyed spending hours there reading. In today’s world, advancement in technology has changed the way young people learn and utilize the library,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “Through this grant program, the Freeholder Board hopes to support our public libraries in their efforts to offer programs and services that inspire learning in the ever-changing digital age.”

Public libraries engage children in many different learning opportunities that are crucial to social and educational growth.

“Libraries help to strengthen our neighborhoods by supporting the cultural lives of our diverse communities,” noted Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski, who championed this new grant program. “Adding important value to our communities as cultural centers, libraries are a place for children to explore, interact, and imagine.”

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Administered through a Trust Fund established with non-tax dollars, the grant opportunity made available over $73,000 to support 20 Union County public libraries.

Examples of projects eligible for funding through this grant opportunity include: technology upgrades; educational programming; purchase of books, videos, and audio tapes; creation or expansion of summer and fall programming; and planning documents.

20 Public Libraries	Amount Awarded
Berkeley Heights	$1,935.40
Clark	$3,623.00
Cranford	$4,000.00
Elizabeth	$4,000.00
Fanwood	$4,248.00
Garwood	$400.00
Hillside	$4,385.00
Kenilworth	$3,997.15
Linden	$3,345.00
Mountainside	$4,058.00
New Providence	$3,560.00
Plainfield	$3,050.00
Rahway	$2,000.00
Roselle	$3,972.00
Roselle Park	$5,531.12
Scotch Plains	$3,915.00
Springfield	$3,395.00
Summit	$3,500.00
Union	$5,543.96
Westfield	$4,800.00
Grand Total	$73,258.63

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Union County’s Sensory Friendly Theatre series brings the puppet adventures of ‘Monster Intelligence’ – a musical journey for the entire family – to life on stage at the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway on Sunday, September 13 at 2:00 p.m.

All tickets are $8 per person and can be purchased through the Union County Performing Arts Center at ucpac.org or by calling the Box Office at 732-499-8226.

“The sensory-friendly performance series is designed to offer a relaxed and safe theatre environment for children and adults with sensory sensitivity, developmental and learning disabilities,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “The Freeholder Board is proud to offer a performance series that helps make art accessible to everyone.”

Bring the entire family to follow Melvin in this musical journey. Melvin the monster is growing up fast – but he’s still not old enough to get his scream license. On his birthday, he makes a special wish to get his license early – and the Division for Monster Screams grants his request, but on one condition. First he must pass a difficult test to prove he is ready.

Up in Arms puppet theatre brings Melvin’s adventures to the stage with a cast of friendly, colorful monster characters and original songs (Green Day-style rock, classical, jazz, pop, and Broadway standards) – this is a journey never to forget.

Implementing the supportive atmosphere at the performance is the organization Autism Friendly Spaces, which provides specialists to train staff and volunteers on working with children with autism and other special needs during Sensory Friendly Theatre performances, while providing comfort and help to families.

For each of the special performances in the Sensory Friendly Theatre series, the theatre environment at the Union County PAC will be adjusted to provide a sensory-friendly, comfortable and judgment-free space that is welcoming for all families. For more information on what to expect at a Sensory Friendly Theatre performance visit ucpac.org.

Save the dates – mark your calendar for upcoming Sensory-Friendly Theatre series performances sponsored by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders: Sundays – November 22, 2015, January 10, 2016, March 20, 2016, May 1, 2016 and July 31, 2016. Specific show titles will be announced soon.

For more information or to purchase tickets call the Union County Performing Arts Center, 732-499-8226 or visit ucpac.org. The UCPAC Box Office, located at 1601 Irving Street, Rahway, NJ, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 AM until 5:00 PM and is also open late on Thursdays until 8:00 PM.

For information on additional Union County recreational programs for people with disabilities age five and up, call the Union County Department of Parks and Recreation at 908-527-4806 or visit ucnj.org.