PrOViDing sUPPOrt

FOr PArents AnD stUDents

Hopewell Valley’s Night O in March is community-wide initiative was designed in response to the increasing demands of work and school on personal and family time. With the support of local school o cials, sports leaders, parents, community and religious leaders, all sports practices, classes and homework are canceled on this special evening.

e Search Institute’s “What’s Up With Our Kids?” presentation reviewed survey ndings including strengths and areas of concern among TMS and CHS students who participated in the Search Institute’s Attitudes & Behaviors survey last spring.

8th Grade Team “Transition to High School” Day

Timberlane Middle School kicked o an 8th Grade Transition and Wellness Day with a Keynote Presenter, Jean Clervil. An inspirational speaker and author, Jean overcame his own battles with fear and pressure to succeed as a college student and relates especially well to students facing those same concerns. His stories and strategies were meant to leave students feeling inspired and motivated. Dan DeStefano, Supervisor of Counseling Services, was joined by a group of current HVCHS students who shared their experiences and answered questions from TMS students. Also, Michael Orfe, Director of Vocational Programming at the Mercer County Technical School provided information about the programs MCTS o ers to high school students.Students also had opportunities to participate in health and wellness activities

Youth Mental Health First Aid is a training program intended for any adult who interacts with youth. It teaches one how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among children and adolescents ages 12-18. A number of sta members and parents of students in grades 7-12 participated in the subsequent training.

Teen Mental Health First Aid is a related program that all juniors will be taking in Wellness Classes.

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(609) facilities and times due to pool issues (HVCHS has no pool) and a season of just virtual meets due to Covid 19. When they did practice, it was off campus from 7 to 9 every night.

“They have been extremely influential towards the growth of our program,” Atkinson said. “They have made a lasting impact.”

The girls’ seniors included D’Alessandro and fellow captains Charlotte Kavanaugh and Regan Sherman, along with Kelley Dwyer and Olivia Doherty. The boys seniors were Pavel Sverdlov and captains Alex Helmrich and Armaan Desai.

D’Alessandro, Dwyer and Sherman all reached the Mercer County Championship finals this year and were members of last year’s 200 free relay Meet of Champion qualifiers. Helmrich was an MCT finalist in the 100 and 200 freestyles, while Sverdlov and Desai were members of the A relay teams that qualified for MCT finals.

D’Alessandro was sixth in the 50 free at MCTs, and Sherman was sixth in the 500 free. For the boys, Helmrich was third in MCTs in the 100 free, and was also part of the top-six MCT relay teams in the 200 and 400 freestyle. Junior Alex Nicolai and sophomore Tyler Mac were part of both relays, Helmrich was on the 200 free relay and freshman James Damron was on the 400 free relay. Nicolai, who qualified for the Meet of Champions in the 200 free last year, finished third in the 200 free at MCTs this season.

Junior Amelie Bass contributed to the girls’ cause in a big way. She has qualified for the 50 free in the Meet of Champions for the second straight year, and holds the school record in that event. At MCTs she finished third in the 50 and fourth in the 100 freestyle. Junior May Hartog was fi fth in the 100 back and sixth in the 100 free at the MCT, while the girls 200 free relay was second with D’Alessandro, Dwyer, Bass and freshman Grace Kunkel.

It started as a tight-knit group that grew even tighter as time went on.

“Especially with the seniors who started freshman year, we have been through so much together. We have all been through these challenges together, which strengthened our relationships,” D’Alessandro said.

The coaches were quick to point out that several underclassmen were important cogs to this year’s success.

“Amelie Bass, Anna Wurtz and May Hertog have been integral members of our team,” Atkinson said. “For the boys, juniors AJ Yadamiec (freestyle) and Jonah Corveleyn (distance) are both strong leaders that will step into an important leadership role next season.”

They learned their lessons well from this year’s seniors, who laid a solid foundation. It was only fitting that they went out together as division champs, with the girls winning the Valley for the first time since 2010 and the boys taking it for the first time since 2005.

D’Alessandro felt the key to the girls’ title was beating Lawrence for the first time in her four years. “All of us have worked so hard and have sacrificed so much time in and out of the pool. I am so happy and so proud that we did it. My freshman self would be blown away,” she said.

Ava felt the teams were undaunted despite losing their opening meets in the NJSIAA Central Group C tournament.

The boys lost a heartbreaking 86-84 decision to Rumson-Fair Haven, and the girls fell to Shore, 95-75.

“I would absolutely still consider this a successful season,” she said. “Advancing in states would have just been the cherry on top for this whole season. Not only did we win the division, but I think the seniors greatly shifted the environment on this team.”

It was an environment that D’Alessandro felt needed to improve.

“From freshman to junior year, it wasn’t always positive,” she said. “Before the season even began, I went with other seniors to meet with our coaches to talk about what we wanted to bring to the team. It was important to us that every member of the team knew they were important. You don’t have to be the fastest to make an impact. We wanted to emphasize this and that is how we beat Lawrence.

“This season was so successful because it was the first season I felt like we truly became a family. I think in creating this we were able to win the division and also leave a long-lasting love for swimming and each other.”