On June 4th, Leticia Aguilar Raymundo and MacKenna Healy had the honor of performing at the New Jersey State Teen Arts Festival, held at Middlesex County College. They earned this opportunity after being selected at the Hunterdon County Teen Arts Festival in April.The students presented a scene from our spring production, Our Place, and were adjudicated by professionals from the performing arts industry. It was a valuable and enriching experience for our theatre program, and we look forward to participating again next year.
Robotics
Members of the South Hunterdon Robotics Team don't just build and create robots. They develop life skills and practice critical thinking methods that benefit any future career path. We caught up with Industrial Arts Teacher and Robotics Advisor Craig Roth, who shared the most important takeaways for students.
Problem Solving and critical thinking: Robotics requires students to confront real-world problems—mechanical, electrical, or computational—and figure out how to solve them.
Collaboration and teamwork: Robotics projects are rarely solo efforts. Students learn to: Communicate clearly, Share Responsibilities, Resolve conflict and come to consensus.
Perseverance and Resilience: Things break. Code fails. Robots don’t do what you expect. Through these challenges, students learn: Grit, handling failure, value of patience and revision.
Joy of Making and Curiosity: When a robot finally works—moves, senses, responds—it’s an incredibly rewarding moment. Robotics taps into: Intrinsic motivation, Exploration and curiosity, pride in building something tangible.
In-House Competition Success: We hosted our own robotics challenges right here at school, where teams:
Designed and built fully functional robots under time constraints.
Competed in head-to-head tasks like obstacle navigation, object collection, or autonomous missions.
Practiced strategy, teamwork, and time management in a competitive but supportive environment.
Skill Development Across the Board: Students learned and applied foundational skills, including:
Programming with [mention language/platform, e.g., Scratch, Python, VEXcode].
Mechanical design and building with gears, motors, and sensors.
Troubleshooting and iteration—fixing problems, testing new ideas, and improving performance.
Teamwork and Leadership: Our student teams organized themselves, divided responsibilities, and collaborated to solve complex problems—building leadership, communication, and project management skills along the way.
Creativity and Engineering Design: Students were encouraged to think outside the box.
Several teams developed unique robot designs and creative mechanisms.
Others experimented with autonomous routines using sensors or custom code.
Our final in-house showcase highlighted the ingenuity and hard work of every team to compete beyond the classroom. We're preparing to enter local or regional robotics competitions, giving students the chance to:
Test their skills in a broader setting.
Connect with teams from other schools.
Gain experience with real-world pressure and sportsmanship.
It’s More Than Just Robots! While we build and program robots, our goal goes far beyond that. Students learn critical life skills: how to work in teams, solve real-world problems, think creatively, and bounce back from failure. These are skills that last a lifetime, no matter the career path.
No Experience Needed Students don’t need a background in coding, engineering, or electronics to join. We welcome all skill levels and provide training, mentorship, and support. Curiosity and a willingness to learn are what matter most.
Everyone Has a Role Robotics isn’t just for programmers or builders. Our team needs designers, strategists, writers, presenters, and leaders. There’s a place for every interest—from technology and science to art and communication.
Hands-On, Minds-On Learning This is a deeply engaging, project-based program. Students learn by doing—designing, building, testing, and improving. It’s an exciting way to connect classroom knowledge to real-world challenges.
Competitions Build Confidence For programs like FIRST or VEX, competitions are an opportunity to showcase skills, collaborate with others, and grow in confidence. Whether we win or not, every student gains experience that prepares them for the future.
It’s a Launchpad for Careers Robotics introduces students to STEM fields in a way that’s practical and inspiring. Many alumni go on to pursue careers in engineering, computer science, robotics, or other technical areas—and build impressive college applications along the way.
Community and Fun Matter Too Above all, robotics is a place to connect with peers, make new friends, and have fun while learning. It’s a supportive environment where students can take risks and grow.
Thank You: Cafeteria Workers
Q & A with Zoe Papanikolaki Zoe Papanikolaki works in the cafeteria at South Hunterdon High School and has been a wonderful addition to the Maschios team. We recently caught up with her to learn more about her experience serving the South community.
Q: Why is it important to supply students and staff with a quality lunch?
ZP: South Hunterdon students have two out of the three meals of the day from our cafeteria.A good meal is important for everyone's overall well-being. A healthy, balanced meal can help young students stay energized, focused and as a result, do well in school.
Q: What do you enjoy most about creating a lunch menu or serving students in this way?
ZP: Maschio's slogan is "Committed to delivering the best in food quality and customer service". Our menus are actually made by professional nutritionists, but I have the freedom of cooking and presenting in my own way. I enjoy making the meal taste good and at the same time look delicious. I have fun adding ingredients that are new to students, then seeing them come back for a second meal. Some students bang on the cafeteria door if we are a minute late to open, something that most people find annoying, I really find it rewarding!
Q: Where do you get your inspiration for the adult specials? ZP:Adult specials! That is one of my favorite meals to put together. Inspiration comes just like all other arts! You look at the model and you create! In my case the model is the available food! I get ingredients in my kitchen that may be too boring to serve as is, so here comes my inspiration combined with my experience and the result is the adult meal.
Q: What makes South Hunterdon a special place to work? ZP: South Hunterdon is a fun place to work. Most of my experience in school districts has been with high school ages. Our teenagers here are wonderful young adults. They respect us fully, they are nice and they behave well throughout lunch. The "customer", school officials and faculty has always been so nice to me, helping and supporting in any way they can. Although my commute to work is 50 minutes each way daily, I would not give up on this account as long as the choice is exclusively mine.
Q: Anything else you would like to share? ZP: The last thing I would like to share is " Good Luck Seniors!"
District Choral Concert
The first District Choral Concert for students in grades 5-12 took place on Tuesday May 8, 2025. This concert was under the direction of Kaitlyn Flynn (5-6) and Jocelyn Alam (7-12). The choral students came together for a joint piece with all 5th through 12th graders at the conclusion of the event. Their hard work was evident in a beautiful performance all around.
Eagles Insider
Our last Eagles Insider of the year features advice to seniors, a send-off to Mr. Bill, and shoutouts to some amazing South teachers. Have a nice summer!
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