Just recently Mr. David Wronko had two big events at Asbury Park High School including the League of Women Voters, Veterans Day, and Civics presentations.

Ghana Session: Nadine Williams, Wilbur V. Martin, Sheila Batson

The first was a Ghana session with veterans Nadine Williams, Wilbur V. Martin, Sheila Batson.

The second was with the League of Women Voters, Patricia L. Supplee and Lois Kiely. During both events, Mr. Wronko’s students were able to share their civics projects.

Veterans Day Celebrated

Asbury Park High School students celebrated Veterans Day with students from the Solid Rock Foundation School in Ghana.

The celebration began with Mrs. Yvette Elgart’s chorus:

• Robert Pennington
• Chase Lucas
• Imani Morris
• Lutencia Cajuste
• Jessica Quiros-Quiros
• Cassie Jones
• Jasmine Cartera
• Janaya Ilson, singing the National Anthem

Action Civics Project

Once they were finished singing the National Anthem, Mr. Wronko’s students, Phikai Gross, and Jayanna Lunsford presented part of their Action Civics Project which dealt with how to help veterans who become homeless after their active service.

Some of the ideas they shared dealt with the establishment of special accounts for emergency money for veterans, having fundraisers, and establishing a network of health experts to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

In addition, because time allowed, Kevin Ogden’s idea of establishing a vehicle with special materials for traveling through floods to help hurricane victims was also presented.

Veterans spoke to students

After their presentations, the veteran guests spoke to all students from both schools. Air force veteran Nadine Williams, Vietnam veteran Wilbur V. Martin, and air force veteran Sheila Batson, shared their experience of serving in the military.

Questions from Solid Rock Foundation School

They spoke about their:

• Dedication
• Hard work
• Strong belief in being a proud member who protected the United States of America.

After their presentations, the students from the Solid Rock Foundation School asked them numerous questions about their training, their experiences in traveling, and what they liked best regarding their service.

League of Women Voters

The League of Women Voters were able to bring their lesson to the Asbury Park High School Dream Scholar class live and in person.

The presenters, Patricia L. Supplee and Lois Kiely brought the Dream Scholars through a rigorous lesson of the history of voting rights.

This was a very engaging lesson in civics and political participation. The main idea that was shared was that all vote counts and students were encouraged once they become of age to go out and become active members of society.

After their presentation, Mr. Wronko’s students, Sarayia Gadson and Ryan Monroe were able to share part of their Action Civics Project.

They spoke about some of the problems that all communities now face such as trash, water pollution, toxic waste, and recycling being thrown into the garbage dump.

After presenting these problems, they came up with solutions for communities to follow which they hope to elaborate on for future conferences.

The League of Women provided positive feedback and would like to assist Mr. Wronko’s students in furthering their project.

I just want to thank Ms. Janice Kroposky for her assistance with having the League of Women come to Asbury Park High School along with Kathy Baumgardner, Principal of Asbury Park High School. Also, I want to thank Dr. Jason C. Fitzgerald and Grisel Trejo for allowing me to be a part of their Action Civics study. Finally, Mrs. Casey Miles I want to thank for her flexibility in her schedule with students. 

See Wilbur V. Martin and Papa Williams on Classroom Close-up.

Project Ghana – Classroom Close-up, NJ (classroomcloseup.org)