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AROUND TOWN cont. from Page 4 with their peers and make an impactful change in their community.

That on-stage spark was lit when she began attending her older sisters’ high school productions as a child and became entranced by the magic of the stage.

“I always came out feeling so alive, and that’s something I want to send everybody home with,” Bridget said.

For Williams, the sisters’ experiences symbolize the power and potential of music. The productions are not just performances. They are learning opportunities that shape who students become and how they approach life.

“Music teaches to be diligent, to be humble, to believe in yourself, to take chances, to fail and know how to get up from that,” Williams said. “Stellar musicians, through their art, make us all better human beings.”

RHS students urge motorists to drive safety

Students from the Robbinsville High School Class of 2025 are participating in the 13th Annual “U Got Brains Champion Schools Program,” in which New Jersey teens come together to create peer-driven campaigns that demonstrate driving safety.

Although teen driver fatalities have declined over the years, motor vehicle crashes remain the number one cause of death, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The ‘U Got Brains Champion Schools Program’ has given New Jersey teens an opportunity to address this issue

“We know that with help from our Champion Schools students and teacher advisors, we can continue to reduce the number of traumatic brain injuries and fatalities,” said Rita Steindlberger, president and CEO of the Alliance.

“We applaud these students for setting a great example with their peers and helping to build a culture of safety in our high schools,” said Violet Marrero, NJM Insurance Group’s consumer safety director.

Robbinsville High School students are focusing their campaign on raising awareness about the dangers of distracted driving. Their campaign is composed of three main components: visual displays, presentations, and proposed legislation.

For the visual displays, the students will be creating monthly displays in the main hallway of Robbinsville High School. Within the display students and faculty will be able to learn about the types and dangers of distracted driving, as well as ways to be a safe driver and passenger.

There will be a QR code included in each display that once scanned will open a safe driving quiz that can earn top-scorers prizes, including the opportunity to park in the Safe Driver of the Month parking spot.

To highlight National Distracted Driving Awareness Month in April the students have created a series of videos that will be aired during the high school morning announcements, as well as

See AROUND TOWN, Page 8 posted on their social media pages. Each video is themed around the idea of “you wouldn’t do this while driving,” such as tasks like painting a portrait or baking cookies that you would never think to do while driving. The videos make a parallel to how if you would not do those tasks, then you should also not text while behind the wheel. Multiple clips of these videos were also merged together to create a public service announcement for the NJM “Just Drive” contest.

During National Distracted Driving Awareness Month the students of Robbinsville High School will also participate in a Safe Driving Spirit Week. The week’s themes include wearing flip flops to flip bad habits behind the wheel and denim as a stance against distracted driving.

For presentations, the students have organized two events focused on distracted driving. First, the sophomore and junior students were set to attend the Hang Up and Drive presentation on March 29.

The presentation was to feature Jacy Good who miraculously recovered from a crash caused by a distracted driver that claimed the lives of both her parents and left her partially paralyzed. Jacy has previously shared her story on the Oprah Winfrey Show, NPR, CNN,

Next, parents and teen drivers will be able to attend the virtual Share the Keys program on April 3 at 7 p.m. This interactive orientation program is a researchbased, data-driven program designed to reduce teen driver crash risks through increased parental involvement. Anyone is welcome to attend this informative session. The Zoom link will be posted on the Robbinsville school district website (robbinsville.k12.nj.us) closer to the event.

For the final component of the campaign—legislation—students have received help from state Senator Linda Greenstein to write legislation that would require companies that have mobile ordering on their mobile applications to contain a warning to the user to not use the feature while driving. The goal of the legislation is to reduce distracted driving by reminding users to only place an order while in the passenger seat, parked, or from home.

At the conclusion of the U Got Brains program, three winning schools will be selected by a panel of judges to receive a grand-prize of $10,000 cash donated to their school by Founding Sponsor, NJM Insurance Group.

The program is fortunate to have a group of community safety leaders who have chosen to support these efforts through sponsorship, including New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, State Farm Insurance, National Road Safety Foundation, Allstate, Volvo, Nikhil Badlani Foundation, State Farm Insurance, Teen Safe Driving Coalition, New Jersey Education Association, and AAA. Robbinsville High School would also like to thank the New Jersey Education Association for their generous donations and support in helping to implement their campaign.

Model UN team wins big at national conference

Autonomous weapons raise complicated questions that challenge even the most seasoned diplomats, legal scholars and war ethicists, but Allison Dera wasn’t fazed.

“It’s really balancing state sovereignty, countries’ security interests and humanitarian causes,” said Dera, explaining the geo-political nuances of the topic in a recent interview. “It’s a very difficult balancing act because you have to keep so many factors in mind.”

The Robbinsville High School senior confronted the issue as part of her work in Model UN, an international education program in which students simulate the United Nations General Assembly and debate world affairs.

Dera, vice president of Robbinsville High School’s Model UN club, was in Washington, D.C. in February for the North American Invitational Model United Nations, where she worked to get a resolution passed that outlined how countries can mitigate fully autonomous weapons systems.

Her measure sought to codify into international humanitarian law limits on the capabilities of such weapons and when they can be used.

It’s just one example of the complex and urgent problems that Robbinsville students are addressing in Model UN — and their success with it.

Earlier this year, the club brought home 10 awards from BosMUN XXII, Boston University’s Model United Nations Conference. Students won best position paper and outstanding delegate, in addition to verbal recognitions and honorable mentions.

The awards highlighted students’ writing and arguments, communication, diplomacy and collaboration with others.

Before the Boston conference, students submitted papers identifying their chosen country’s positions on issues. Topics included global human trafficking, sustainability and the future of Congress. Students then debated the issues and voted on resolutions — policy docu- ments detailing how countries can work together to solve the problem at hand.

The conference, held Feb. 10-12, drew about 1,500 students from schools all over the nation and was the biggest competition the club has participated in since the COVID-19 pandemic began. For the past two years, Robbinsville’s Model UN club participated only in mock events within the school and in virtual competitions.

“It was a pretty big deal for us to do so well because we really hadn’t competed since COVID,” club adviser Mark Iannelli said.

Robbinsville’s team also earned six awards, including two first-place finishes, at the Rutgers Model United Nations conference in November. That competition drew about 800 students, mostly from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

To qualify for travel competitions, Robbinsville Model UN members must do well in mock events at the high school. These events entail writing position papers and debating with peers on various committees.

The experience has been life changing for Hammad Farooqi, the club’s president, who said Model UN has helped him grow as a student, leader and person.

“Model UN is a great club to build your public speaking skills and teambuilding skills by taking on the roles of different countries tackling important issues,” Farooqi said. “As a freshman I don’t think I was very confident, but through this role I was able to take on a new persona.”

The Robbinsville senior said although the work is demanding, he has enjoyed meeting people and forging new friendships. He plans to attend Princeton University in the fall to study computer science.

“The dream would be to have my own start-up and develop my own software, to be able to apply my love for computer science to the type of leadership roles in a team like we have at Model UN,” Farooqi said.

As for Dera, she is scheduled to travel to Madrid, Spain, later this month to compete in the Harvard Model Congress Europe competition with the AllAmerican Model UN team. After graduation this year, the 18-year-old plans to attend McGill University in Montreal and wants to work in international development.

“I would like to work in economically developing regions of the world, addressing economic systems, public infrastructure systems, maybe even for the World Bank or a non-profit organization,” Dera said.

RISTORANTE & PIZZA

DINE & DONATE DAY

1973

Years

In honor of our 50th Anniversary, Brother's Pizza on Rt. 33 will host a "Dine and Donate Day" for a local charity. We have chosen one Sunday per month to donate 50% of our sales to a featured 501c organization. Please support our cause to give back to our community!

RISTORANTE & PIZZA

UPCOMING CHARITABLE EVENTS:

2023

MAY 21: Miracle League

JUNE 11: NJ Autism

JULY 9: Joeys Little Angels

AUGUST 6: Whats My Name

SEPTEMBER 10: Ryans Quest

1973

OCTOBER 8: I Believe in Pink

NOVEMBER 12: Shine & Inspire

DECEMBER 10: OneProjectNJ & Mobile Meals of Hamilton

DOUGH RAISED:

Years

JAN. 15: Sea Girt Polar Plunge $4,733.56

FEB.19: Deborah Heart & Lung $3,680.33

MAR.12: The Hamilton YMCA $4,398.07

2023

Please consider visiting the websites of these organizations for additional donation opportunities!