In keeping with celebrations observing Thomas Jefferson’s birthday April 13, 1743, here are some recipes that, according to the National Constitution Center, Jefferson served at the first meeting of the First Continental Congress in 1774. The Jefferson biscuits, or scones, are still served at the City Tavern at Second and Walnut streets in Philadelphia’s historic district.
Try them with or without nuts, and smear with butter or honey before enjoying.
Jefferson’s Biscuits
2 1⁄2cups all-purpose flour
1⁄2teaspoon allspice
1⁄4cup brown sugar
1⁄2cup butter, cut in small pieces
1tablespoon baking powder
1⁄2cup milk
3⁄4teaspoon salt
3⁄4cup sweet potato, mashed
1⁄2teaspoon cinnamon
1⁄2teaspoon ginger
1⁄2cup pecans, chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Combine dry ingredients.
Add butter with fork, food processor or pastry cutter until the texture is small crumbs.
Combine milk and sweet potatoes. Add to flour mixture. Add pecans.
Knead dough until it’s a smooth mass. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/2″ thickness and cut with a 2″ biscuit cutter.
Place on a greased baking sheet 2″ apart.
Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned.
The nation’s third President was a tireless recorder, writing down everything from how to plant seeds and vines in the garden to recipes for his favorite foods.
Thomas Jefferson’s Macaroni and Cheese
2-1/2 cups macaroni
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2-1/4 cups milk
1 tsp salt
Dash pepper
2 cups grated cheese
Cook macaroni according to package directions until tender, drain thoroughly. While macaroni cooks, melt butter in a saucepan, stir flour until smooth, and cook a minute or two. Add milk, a little at a time, and cook, stirring constantly until sauce bubbles. Add salt and pepper.
Arrange alternate layers of macaroni and grated cheese in a medium-sized baking dish or casserole, reserving about 1/4 cup cheese to sprinkle over the top.
Pour hot sauce over all, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and dot with bits of butter.
Bake 35 minutes in a preheated 400-degree oven. Serves 4 to 6.
If you have a cast iron griddle or cast-iron pan, the Monticello Museum staffers have modernized the three ingredient Monticello Muffins found in Jefferson’s granddaughter’s cookbook , said to be his original recipe.
Monticello Muffins
4 Cups flour
1 ½ packages of yeast
1 ½ Cups water.
Mix flour yeast and water together and knead. It will be sticky so add small amounts of flour as you go along to stop the stickiness. Place it in a bowl, cover with a towel and let rise overnight. Shape into small balls ( like golf balls) and let rise again for an hour or so.
Heat griddle and cook the muffins for five minutes on each side over medium heat.
Apathy It would seem the naysayers who were less than complimentary to Middletown Mayor Tony Perry’s proposal for the township to provide some funds for the board of education by buying some of the school property they don’t need, are placing their frustration in the wrong place.
The Mayor stepped in simply because he was listening to the people, heard a good idea, and can make it happen. The Board could have thought of something like that. But they did not. Or if they did, they did not think it was as good an idea s closing two schools and changing another.
The Mayor stepped in when the Board of Education got itself into the financial jam it’s in then only offered a single solution, one they even knew would not sit well with the people.
The Mayor dose not have any power over the Board of Education. But he does listen to good ideas, works hard, and tries to resolve problems that impact the taxpayers of his town.
It certainly isn’t the Mayor who’s to blame; he’s the elected official who actually heard an idea that made more sense than closing down schools, investigated and immediately responded. Nor does it sound like he wants to place blame right now; rather, he is looking forward to a solution to resolve a serious problem.
It’s the voters of Middletown Township who could shoulder some of it
Some of the blame should be placed on Voter Apathy.
The Board of Education is an elected body. Their meetings are open to the public. They are subject to questioning from the public.
Yet few people attend board meetings, and fewer people ask any questions. There is no doubt school budgets are complicated, and school boards don’t always do everything right.
But it is the people who put them in office who should be following up to be certain they are doing what the voters want.
Has anyone asked the board if there is an overall plan, or has there ever been one, to ensure maintenance is kept up to date to avoid the disastrous overalls that have to be done when regular attention and money are not allocated each year?
Has anyone ever questioned why the Navesink School, one of the ones the Board wants to close, scores so high academically?
Has anyone ever asked why all the elementary schools do not fall in that same category?
And so many more questions over the years. This did not happen overnight.
The New Monmouth School PTA recently held a highly successful fund raising event at the Shore Casino in Atlantic Highlands. Parents worked long and hard to present an evening of fun and entertainment made possible only by their hard efforts and creative ideas.
The parents, faculty, and even students teamed up to present hundreds…yes, hundreds….of gifts guests eagerly bought chances on, not only because there were so many but because each one was creative, useful, and so attractively presented they were hard to pass up.
The committee for the buffet dinner and entertainment took great care and a lot of time even for the little things. They made attractive sail boats for every table to identify reservations; they had a caller with a terrific voice and great sense of humor call out all the winning numbers’ they were so organized they did it all in their precise scheduled time frame that even left time for dancing and final cocktails while hearing great music.
They all worked so hard to provide more for the kids in the school….like a playground so every child would have a place to run, jump, laugh and play with his friends.
The parents and faculty should not have to be the ones to provide things like a playground for the kids. But they did it…because they wanted their kids to have the benefits of how things could be better with volunteerism, hard work, and everyone working together. The parents saved money for their kids’ education the board of education should have had in place. But they did it because they want to be sure there is a playground for recess or lunch time breaks in their academic day.
School boards are not known for being open and candid with their decisions on budgets, curriculum or priorities. It’s up to parents…and taxpayers…to elect the people willing to take on the job of board members, then keep in touch with them so they know what you want…and that they do it.
A series of events and activities throughout the next couple of months are all on tap in Highlands, with Mayor Carolyn Broullon announcing Monday night’ official recognition of the borough’s 125 anniversary as a municipality.
Broullon made the announcement at this week’ s council meeting, inviting all to come to Borough Hall at 6:30 Monday night for refreshments, celebrations, and an opportunity to learn more about the borough, borough hall, and the borough’s interest and plans for the future.
Also being celebrated in April and honored at the meeting are Arbor Day on April 12, Alcohol Awareness Month throughout the entire month, and Local Government Week the week of April 6, with the Highlands 125h anniversary the focal point of those celebrations.
Councilwoman Karen Chelak also noted the activities of the Business Partnership whose St. Patrick’s Day parade drew more than 12,000 people to the borough.
Jersey Speed Skiff JS-65 Egg Beater Owner/driver Connie Cottrell
The Jersey Speed Skiff weekend the weekend of May 17, other celebrations honoring Cinco de Mayo at the beginning of May, and the Partnership’s annual Craft Festival Memorial Day weekend, and the Taste of Highlands and as well as the Frank Thomas fluke tournament on Father’s Day.
The borough is also celebrating the arts councils and other group of the borough who work towards the beautification of the borough. Cited were the seven organizations involved in gardening, history, film, civic and fraternal groups who work throughout the year to enhance the borough.
Council president Joann Olszewski also reported on her recent meeting with Dr. Bill Jacoutot at the Highlands School concerning the DAR, Daughters of the American Revolution research into a home within one and a half blocks of the school wherever the Yankee troops were under cover with views of Sandy Hook where the British were in control in the months following the Declaration of Independence signing.
She noted their presence there and many other activities and personalities during the Revolution were focused in Highlands and will be recalled and commemorated during the nation’s 250th anniversary next year.
In other business, the borough also authorized Black Rose Construction’s contract totaling $741,851.98 and Colliers Engineers and Dredging contract of $64.500 for construction of a sidewalk along Shore Drive from Waterwitch Ave. to Willow St. for the safety of commuters and others enroute to the Sea Streak dock. Broullon said the work is anticipated to be completed by Memorial Day. Council also approved improvements for Washington Ave. approving a bid of $236,609.94 from Fiore Paving.
On tap for the future, Broullon said, is dredging of Jones Creek, and further consideration and exploration with other officials of a walkway across Route 36 for access to Kavookjian Field.
With the 282nd anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson being celebrated April 13, it is time to recognize the third President of the United States for his brilliance, generosity, creativity, inventiveness, architectural ability and so much more.
In spite of his magnificence or his contributions to the world, for himself, Mr. Jefferson wrote the epitaph on his own tombstone;citing the only achievements he wanted to be remembered for:
Here is buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the State of Virginia for religious freedom and the Father of the University of Virginia.
He never even mentioned he was the first Secretary of State, second vice President or third President of the United States.
That Jefferson towers over every President from Washington to Trump in such a wide variety of excellence cannot be denied.
He was a lover of study, music and history; his served his birth land as a lawyer, a member of the House of Burgesses, a legislator, Governor, member of the Continental Congress, Minister to France, Secretary of State, Vice President and President.
He doubled the size of the nation, created a University, and opened the country to further expansion and research.
He proved himself to be a shrewd and cautious negotiator when he paved the way for the Louisiana Purchase, a 830,000 square mile piece of land he got from France for roughly $15 million when Napoleon was asking for $22 million; it resulted in carving out the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Michigan, both North and South Dakota and even parts of what are now Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Minnesota from that land.
President Jefferson doubled the size of America with this one purchase.
He sent Lewis and Clark out those expeditions that opened up the West for this new America.
But these are the facts most people know about the man who was born in Shadwell, Virginia and is buried with his wife Martha on the grounds of his beloved Monticello in Charlottesville, which he himself designed.
There are a host of other fascinating facts about this fascinating man.
He was a musician, known to practice on the violin 15 hours a day. There’s a great story about how two other suitors came to woo the beautiful young widow Martha, while Thomas himself was courting her. Arriving at her home, the two would-be suitors heard the violin and pianoforte being played, and male and female voices raised in song. It was moving enough they realized they didn’t stand a chance against him, left and never returned to try again.
He was a voracious reader and collector of books; he had the largest library of any man in the world at one time. But when the British burned the White House and destroyed the entire library of Congress, it was Jefferson who sold his own private collection of more than 6,000 books for just under $24,000 to establish the Library of Congress.
He was an inventor and also designed improvements for earlier inventions. He is credited with inventing the dumbwaiter, that food service elevator that enabled his slaves to have prepared meals brought up to the dining room at Monticello rather than carried up steps; he was a farmer and made improvements on the plough so it could be operated on hilly pastures; he also improved the polygraph, as a voracious reader and writer, he often made copies of the more than 19,000 letters he wrote in his lifetime, many of which are preserved in various historic and private homes today. He invented a revolving bookcase, purely for beauty and convenience, he introduced crop rotation to America, improving upon what he had seen in Europe.
Jefferson brought back more than ideas from his years in France. His love of wine came about from tasting the many French varieties, his love of ice cream had him introduce that to the United States as a refreshing summertime dessert served from the ice house. He even wrote the first American recipe for ice cream which included 6 egg yolks, half a pound of sugar, two bottles of cream and a single vanilla bean.
Jefferson spoke at least four languages, English, French, Italian and Latin, and read both Greek and Spanish but by his own admission did not speak either of those two.
He was a journalist who kept records on everything from the weather and his gardens to the behavior of animals. He was an animal lover, and his pet mockingbird, Dick, was often seen perched on his shoulder at White Houses meetings.
Before he designed the University of Virginia and was the Father of the University, he designed his own home at Poplar Forest, land he had inherited, and which served as his “quiet place” when he wanted to be away from the crowds.
That building, now open to the public, is octagonal in design, with windows cut so specifically and perfectly to ensure he would receive the precise amount of sunshine he wanted to enter the rooms.
Jefferson appears to be the first President to ignore a subpoena. It was when Congress ordered him to appear in Richmond Va., with a letter he allegedly had received concerning Aaron Burr’s plan to invade Mexico.
He declined to go, saying his absence from Washington would leave the nation without a leader. Chief Justice John Marshall declined to investigate the matter; he simply dismissed the charges against Burr rather than attempt to hold the President in contempt of court.
Thomas Jefferson: tall, red-headed, quiet in tone, better on paper than by mouth, thoughtful, perhaps a bit controversial, so devoted to his wife he never married again at her request when she died after only a few years of marriage, and leader of a nation that could never have been started without him and his fellow believers in the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson
Mayor Tony Perry and the Middletown Township Committee took the initiative earlier this week and presented a proposal to the Middletown Board of Education which could prevent the anticipated school closures in Leonardo and Navesink Schools for the 2025–2026 school year.
Middletown Township Mayor, Tony Perry
Perry’s action came on the heels of the Board of Education’s approval of a tentative budget proposal on Tuesday, March 18, which included plans to close the two elementary schools and convert Bayshore Middle School into a combined elementary school due to budgetary constraints.
The Township Committee and the Board of Education hosted a shared services meeting at Town Hall last Wednesday, to discuss collaborative solutions.
As part of the effort, the Township will restructure the agreement for the Middletown Township Police Department’s Special Law Enforcement Officer (SLEO) III program. With the support of the Township Committee, this restructuring will provide the Board of Education with $600,000 in savings but will not compromise safety for students.
Additionally, the Township discussed the acquisition of a $2 million 10-acre tract located at Sleepy Hollow Road and Kings Highway East and owned by the Middletown school district.
The Township would use its Open Space Trust Fund to acquire and preserve the land and their proposal will be presented and further discussed at next Tuesday, April 8 meeting. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM in the Middletown High School North Auditorium.
“I’m very proud that we found a practical solution to the District’s budget challenges that will keep our schools open come September,” said Mayor Perry. “This solution reflects our shared commitment to providing students with the exceptional education they deserve without disruption. By working together, as well as listening to the ideas voiced by our community members, we are strengthening the future of our schools.”
“I’m grateful for the successful collaboration between the Township and District, which has led to a positive outcome for our students and families,” said Township Schools Superintendent Dr. Jessica Alfone. “By working together, we are paving the way for a sustainable and thriving future for our students and the entire community.”
“Board leadership has worked hard and will continue to collaborate with Mayor Perry, the Township Committee, and our legislators to address our budgetary constraints,” said Board of Education President Frank Capone. “I want to thank Mayor Perry for the extensive discussions over the last few days that have resulted in what I believe the Board will approve as a solution for this year’s budget to ensure these schools will remain open. I look forward to community participation in the strategic planning process to ensure a sustainable future for the Middletown School District.”
Take a trip through history on Saturday when six Monmouth County Historic Schoolhouses will be ready to share their history with the public from 11 AM to 3 PM.
Included on this self-drive tour are the 1812 Montrose School in Colts Neck,
Visitors may start at any of the schools and visit as many as they wish at their own pace. Maps and information on the schools will be available at each site in hard copy and with QR code.
This is a unique opportunity to explore each of the schools, some of which are seldom open, at your own pace all in one day. Due to the diligent work of several historic societies all of these buildings have been carefully restored and display many period artifacts including vintage desks, class attendance list and photographs from bygone eras, as well as original architectural details.
These edifices remain as testament to the importance our ancestors placed on the need for education. Historic interpreters will be on hand to share how each school played a part in the story of the development of education in our area .
Service Academies Congressman Chris Smith announced that a United States Service Academy Information night will be held Wednesday, April 30 from 5:30 to 7:00pm at Naval Weapons Station Earle, 201 Highway 34 in Colts Neck.
U.S. CONGRESSMAN CHRIS SMITH REPRESENTING NEW JERSEY’S 4TH DISTRICT
The event will provide important information for high school and college students—and their parents, counselors or teachers—residing in the Fourth Congressional District who are interested in competing for a congressional nomination to one of the United States Service Academies.
A nomination is required for acceptance into four of the five US Service Academies (the Coast Guard Academy does not require a congressional nomination).
Each institution plays an integral role in training young men and women to become tomorrow’s military leaders and affords them a collegiate education opportunity of the highest quality that is free of financial obligation, provided the student graduates and fulfills his or her service obligation.
The Service Academies are The US Military Academy at West Point, New York; The US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland; The US Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colorado; The US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York; and The US Coast Guard Academy at New London, Connecticut.*
Due to security restrictions on NWS Earle, attendees under 18 must be accompanied by an adult, and all adults must pre-register and present valid photo ID. All drivers must also present auto insurance and registration at the entrance gate.
Residents of New Jersey’s Fourth Congressional District between the ages of 17 and 22 (17-25 for the Merchant Marine Academy), who are U.S. citizens and are single with no dependents, can seek a nomination to one or more of the service academies through Smith’s office. Interested candidates can start the application process as early as the spring of their junior year in high school.
“Over the years, I’ve had the honor and privilege of nominating many outstanding young men and women for acceptance into our nation’s military academies,” said Smith. “These courageous members of our community have stepped up in tremendous ways to preserve our fundamental freedoms and defend our great nation.”
Nominations are available to those who reside in the Fourth Congressional District regardless of where they attend high school or college.
The Fourth Congressional District encompasses 21 municipalities in Ocean County and 19 municipalities in Monmouth County, including Bay Head Borough, Beachwood Borough, Berkeley Township (part), Brick Township, Island Heights Borough, Jackson Township, Lacey Township (most), Lakehurst Borough, Lakewood Township, Lavallette Borough, Mantoloking Borough, Manchester Township, Ocean Gate Borough, Pine Beach Borough, Plumsted Township, Point Pleasant Beach, Point Pleasant Boro, Seaside Heights Borough, Seaside Park Borough, South Toms River Borough and Toms River Township.
In Monmouth County, municipalities in the 4th Congressional District are Avon-By-The-Sea Borough, Belmar Borough, Brielle Borough, Colts Neck Township, Eatontown Borough, Farmingdale Borough, Freehold Township (part), Howell Township, Lake Como Borough, Manasquan Borough, Middletown Township (part), Ocean Township, Sea Girt Borough, Shrewsbury Borough, Shrewsbury Township, Spring Lake Borough, Spring Lake Heights Borough, Tinton Falls Borough and Wall Township.
For more information, contact Congressman Smith’s Toms River Office at 732-504-0567.
Prayers With the Reverend Joseph Donnelly Council of the Knights of Columbus taking reservations now for their Country Hoedown Party set for April 26, complete with a buffet dinner, dessert table and prizes, the Our Lady of Perpetual Help St Agnes parish is also planning a Mother’s Day tea Party for Saturday, May 4 and inviting all to attend for tea, sweets and savories, including a flower bar and gift basket raffles.
The Tea Party will also include door prizes, flower bouquet raffles, door prizes and a demonstration of creating floral bouquets.
Tickets for the event will be available after the 9:30 mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church Sunday, and are also available by calling the parish office at 732-291-0272.
The parish is also featuring a Children’s Family Mass once a month at St. Agnes Church at the 10:45 a.m. mass on April 28, May 18 and June 22, with families encouraged to attend the mass as a group and enjoy conversation, friendship and light refreshments in the downstairs meeting room after mass. Further information is available by e-mail Mary Barrett at marybattett@gmail.com.
Boys interested in serving as acolytes at either church for masses or adults wishing to be liturgical volunteers or Eucharistic ministers serving in either or both churches can contact the parish office at 732-291-0272, ext. 10 for further information.
That meeting of the Mayors and school board chairman to discuss including Sea Bright in the Henry Hudson regional school district will hopefully result in getting the question on the ballot in Atlantic Highlands in November. Middletown East
Highlands and Sea Bright have already said they want it, and the Atlantic Highlands Mayor and council members have been saying for a long time they’re in favor of it.
Atlantic Highlands Mayor Lori Hohenleitner
But they (Atlantic Highlands Mayor and council members) haven’t done anything to move it forward. They were not even willing to have a non-binding question on the ballot to understand the residents’ desires. Instead, they are rather simply waiting to see exactly how many more appellate court decisions Shore Regional is going to spend money to fight before they take a stand on their own.
Things are happening in the Bayshore that should make these folks wake up and act quickly.
What’s happening in Middletown these days should make these mayors and board scared silly they might not even have their own district one day….and it could happen sooner than they think.
Or is it possible some people really want the Henry Hudson Regional school district to be dissolved so soon after it’s been formed so it can help solve Middletown’s problems?
Could it be possible that all three towns, Sea Bright included, could be become part of a giant Middletown School system?
Could that be the answer to solving everybody’s financial problems?
Does anyone see that what could happen to Highlands, Atlantic Highlands, or both, is the same thing that started all of Sea Bright’s problems half a century ago?
They closed the grammar school in Sea Bright in the 1970s, and the borough became a district without a school. They had no choice but to have their kids go to Oceanport, where they have little if anything to say about how the kids are being taught.
Read Middletown’s problems. They want to close Navesink, ironically the school with the highest academic values and ratings of any of the primary grades school in town, indeed even highly ranked across the state. They want to close the Leonardo School, saying all those kids should now be bused to other buildings, other locations, other teachers, and lose so much of the neighborly friendliness they know and love.
Let’s just take the Navesink school. That’s a k through five school. The Middletown Board of Education wants to close it because it’s too expensive to keep educating the 208 students that go there.
Look at Atlantic Highlands. That’s PK through 6 school where 245 students are being educated. Highlands is a Pk through 6 school as well; they have a student population of 170. Both schools average less in a classroom than the Navesink School they want to shut down a couple of miles away.
So how long do you think it’s going to take the state, the Middletown school district, or all those financial wizards wondering how Middletown got into so much debt in secret in the first place to think about expanding one district to resolve the problems of many?
Supposing the Henry Hudson regional district, with or without Sea Bright, came into the Middletown School district. That would bring in millions of dollars to Middletown, helping them resolve their financial problems. It would also bring in youngsters for the two schools Middletown is thinking of closing, filling the classrooms better, making it worthwhile to keep teachers on the job there and keeping an awful lot of parents happy?
Is that what Atlantic Highlands wants? In the end, after all the stalling, all the talk about waiting until Shore Regional gets its answers, all the failures to put it on the ballot for the people to decide, could it be that the Atlantic Highlands Mayor or mayor and council would really like their schools to become part of Middletown?
Isn’t it time to step up to the plate and let the people know what the ultimate goal really is?
Isn’t it long overdue to simply put the regionalization question on the ballot in Atlantic Highlands like the other two towns did: Isn’t it time to let the people let the elected officials know what they want? You’ve been fiddling with the question for years, time’s a wasting.
The real question is, why is the Atlantic Highlands Mayor and Council ignoring the solution staring them in the face , a solution that has been validated by feasibility study after study, studies that make it clear including Sea Bright into Henry Hudson is best for the students and taxpayers?
This is a solution that enables the local board to preside over what could be the ultimate closure of their very own school system. The promised “Step 2” to include Sea Bright would also go a long way in gaining State and Education Commission support to recognize and praise Henry Hudson as a truly regionalized school. It is a solution which would most likely protect the Henry Hudson system from consolidation into Middletown for years to come.
With decreasing younger population throughout the state creating statewide problems for the cost of education, there may come the time when it is not the local voter who will make the education decisions; it could well be the state that mandates specific numbers in classes in order to get state funding.
Sea Bright felt the pain half a century ago. Can’t we all learn from that before it happens again?
Life The Henry Hudson Regional faculty member Denise Furda who had her Osprey Chorus singing the Highlands Elementary School song during the St. Patrick’s Day parade brings similar enthusiasm to classes she teaches in all three schools of the regional district.
Mrs.Furda, who has been the music teacher at the Highlands Elementary school since 2002 when she first came aboard to teach general music, band and chorus in Highlands, also began teaching band at the Atlantic Highlands Elementary school in September 2017.
Now, with the regionalization including all thee schools in a single district, she is now in each of schools, including Henry Hudson where she teaches general music and instrument lessons to 7th graders, in addition to her band classes in both elementary schools and her chorus class in Highlands.
A heavy schedule, but one this hardworking teacher loves for many reasons. “l love when a student reaches a goal they have set for themselves,” she enthused, “In fact, I just invited a student, who has been working really hard this year, to join the Osprey Band at HES. He got a big smile on his face, so I put my hand up for a high-five, but he ran over and gave me a big hug instead. He was so excited! It was a great moment! “
You might say music is this teacher’s life, or at least a great part of it! Graduating magnum cum laude from the Crane School of Music at SUNY in Potsdam, NY, in 2001, she holds a degree in music education with a concentration on vocal. But she plays numerous instruments, her favorite being the piano.
I can play all of the instruments I teach at at least middle school level, she said, “although flute is my main band instrument. “ She also plays the oboe in the Greater Shore Concert Band, is the Director of Music at the First United Methodist Church in Oakhurst, where she plays the organ and leads the Choir and Praise Team. She’s also skillful in ringing and teaching hand bells.
The teacher said she has always had something musical in her life but admits to enjoying bowling as well and is proud of her accomplishments there. “I’m having my best year ever with a 178 average,” she boasted.
Married, living in Oakhurst and the mother of three sons, one who has passed, and two teenagers, Mrs. Furda believes music is an important part of every child’s life and aids them in learning about history, other cultures, language, and even math. “Students learn about history and cultures through learning about composers, learning rhythm helps with math, reading music notation helps with language, and in both band and chorus, students learn to work not only independently but also in a group, and how sometimes it takes time working towards a goal and achieving it.
She believes all children like “at least listening to music,” even if they aren’t interested in performing it. But for all, one of the best parts of music, she believes, is that it connects people with their emotions. “An upbeat, happy song definitely brings a smile to my students’ faces.” She said, by way of example, “I once had a student request to sing “Bad Day” . She said it helped her get through a rough patch of life. We did sing it, and other students commented that they related to it too. “
Although she aims for a variety of music styles in her concerts, the music instructor said she generally expects students “to like the upbeat, fun piece the most; still, “often there will be student requests for us to start with the soft, calm piece.”
The downside, or most frustrating part of teaching music for this teacher is “when I know a student is not doing as well as they could. I have to figure out what they need to find the inspiration to reach their best potential.
Sometimes, it’s a particular song they click with or the right compliment which may inspire them. “ She works until she achieves that goal, and her student has improved and enjoyed the experience of learning.
The new regionalization of the three schools has distinct advantages for music, Mrs. Furda believes. “Our students begin their musical journey with Mrs. Jennifer Wolff in the elementary school general music classes, then may have instrument lessons from me in fourth grade. Moving up they then work with Nicholas McGill at the high school level. “
At the elementary instrument lesson classes, she teaches flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, trumpet, trombone, baritone horn, pitched and non-pitched percussion. In her 7th grade general music class, Mrs. Furda teaches basic music notation, beginning piano, and beginning guitar. Students learn a few chords on each instrument and play a few simple songs using those chords. She places emphasis on teaching a student to read music, learning that is the easiest way to learn to play an instrument.
Students tend to want to write something in their music to help them remember, something she does not allow until they come close to a concert presentation. “If you write in names of notes or counting the rhythm right away, you lose the opportunity to learn to read those notes and rhythms, “ she explains. But once in performance mode, if a student is still missing a note or rhythm, she permits them to write in the music so that the performance of the piece is better.
For herself, this busy happy teacher blames Weird Al Yankovic for her ability and love for the accordion. “I am a huge fan of “Weird Al” Yankovic, the accordion rock star,” she explains Besides that, I grew up singing with Village Harmony summer camp where I learned songs from the Balkan countries usually accompanied by an accordion. I usually play it for the annual parade and the occasional school-talent show, when I dress up as Weird Al and perform his song “Yoda”.
