Students Win With Vegas, Cleaning Out Closets, Thoughts of Thin Mints and a New State Holiday

West Essex Winners

More than 250 people said “Viva Las Vegas” when held its Casino Night Tricky Tray, raising funds for the Class of 2013. On Sunday, March 27, the school’s sold out event raised more than $18,000, helping students offset the cost of prom bids and senior year activities, such as the Senior Ball, Senior Luau, and the Senior Trip.

The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign was redesigned as Welcome to Fabulous West Essex for the Vegas-themed event. The cafeteria was decorated with large playing cards. More than 200 prize baskets were raffled off. The prizes, donated by many local businesses, families and companies, included an iPad 2, Amazon Kindle, NJ Devils Tickets, Jersey Boys tickets, an iPod touch, ski weekend at Pico Mountain, the Xbox Kinect, and a catered lunch for a West Essex student and his or her lunch table. The winner of a 50/50 raffle brought home $500 in cash. The event was one of the most successful tricky trays in West Essex history. Best wishes to the Class of 2013.  

Thinking of Thin Mints

If you are thinking of Thin Mints or Dreaming of Do-Si-Dos, never fear, Girl Scout cookie time is here!

North Caldwell Girl Scout Troop 308, led by Valerie Buccino and Stephanie Hadley, hosted a Girl Scout cookie sale on April 2 at Jack's Foodtown, Caldwell. The girls, Amanda Berger, Caroline Bizub, Samantha Bernstein, Hayley Brener, Isabella Buccino, Ellie Decker, Hailey DeVita, Mary Fant, Rylie Frieder, Elizabeth Hadley, Olivia Lieberman, Julia Reif, and Alexandra Shamosh, also collected donations for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and supplied bins for buyers to donate cookies to the U.S. troops and/or the homeless.

The Girl Scouts in your neighborhood are out and about delivering orders, but if you don’t know any local scouts, you can still take home a box or two. This weekend, April 9 and 10, various Girls Scout troops will be selling their famous treats at , Caldwell, and . So bring an extra few dollars this weekend, support the scouts, take home some Tagalongs and savor some Samoas. The Girl Scouts are sure to say Thank U Berry Munch.

Last Call for Prom Dresses

Have you had a chance to clean out those closets yet? If not, now is a great time to start your spring cleaning as the deadline to donate prom or bridesmaids dresses to the teenagers of Haiti approaches this week. Drop off gowns and dresses to , Caldwell, on or before Saturday, April 9. The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pictures of the girls in their prom best are promised! For more information, call 973-239-6988.

Celebrate National Teach Agriculture Day

New Jersey celebrated a new holiday this year – Teach Agriculture Day! On March 31, NJ Agriculture Secretary Douglas H. Fisher visited the ’s West Caldwell campus to host the State’s commemoration of Teach Agriculture Day and to promote agricultural sciences as a career path for students. 

“There currently is a shortage of agriculture teachers, so we want students getting ready to choose their career paths to know that agricultural education is not only a rewarding field to go into, but one that is in need of motivated individuals,” said Fisher.

The West Caldwell vocational school offers students Introduction to Agriculture, Foods and National Resource, the first course in the Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education. During the event, Fisher presented a proclamation from Gov. Chris Christie proclaiming March 31 as Teach Ag Day in New Jersey. For more information on Essex County’s Vocational Technical Schools, call 973-412-2069 or visit the website.