Vietnam Vets Honored On 50 th Anniversary Of Peace Accords

Barnegat Plans Pre-K Expansion

By Stephanie Faughnan

BARNEGAT – The community came together once again on March 29 to honor Vietnam veterans - this time, on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Paris Peace

Accords. The date is officially known as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

For the event’s organizer, Barnegat resident Thy Cavagnaro, showing gratitude to Vietnam veterans is a deeply personal mat- ter. Thy said she was just a young girl when her family escaped the fall of Saigon and was welcomed to the United States as refugees.

Clad in a traditional Vietnamese dress, she spoke about the incredible support she and her family received from Americans who opened their homes and helped them integrate into society. Meanwhile,

e Pros And Cons Of Students Using AI To Write Papers

While ChatGPT can be a valuable tool for students, there is a risk of over-reliance on technology and a lack of critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

The previous two paragraphs reflected both sides of the ChatGPT coin, but they also had another role in this article. Those two paragraphs were written by ChatGPT itself, when asked how it might affect education in both positive and negative manners.

Released at the end of November, the chatbot created and founded by Sam Altman took the world by storm. By January the web app had reached a total of 100 million users, and according to a UBS study, it currently is the fastest-growing consumer app in history. Even though ChatGPT seemingly possess-

Thy also took the opportunity to address the mistreatment of Vietnam veterans. She recognized the trauma the returning soldiers endured, being forced to fight in a war they didn’t want to be in and being ostracized when they came home.

“You survived the majority of your lives for many, many decades by

(Vets - See Page 4) es all sorts of useful features, it also raises questions that are directly intertwined with the school system here in the United States.

For example: What can ChatGPT offer to our educational system, and are there any (Students - See Page 16)

By Stephanie Faughnan

BARNEGAT – A planned expansion of the local school district’s state-funded preschool program is designed to allow for increased enrollment at the Lillian M. Dunfee School.

According to Superintendent Dr. Brian Latwis, a waitlist of approximately sixty students currently exists for the upcoming school year. The Department of Education’s approval of the district’s plans to convert existing space into two additional classrooms would make room for thirty new students.

“Construction costs are built into this year and next year’s Pre-K funding budgets,” said Barnegat School District Business Administrator Steve Brennan. “The work will be done internally to maximize in-house expertise and reduce costs.”

The local school board also asked the Department of Education to approve alterations to Dunfee’s Pre-K ADA lavatory. Under the grant program, approval of a “school facilities project” would receive a maximum of 40 percent funding from the state. Barnegat began receiving state-funding for the preschool program in January 2019 and initially used classrooms throughout the district’s six schools.

All Pre-K students were moved to the Dunfee after Barnegat Schools reconfigured in September 2020.

The increase in demand for preschool enrollment appears to be related to more people moving into

(Expansion - See Page 5)