Columbus Comes To Life In Toms River Regional Schools' Classrooms

TOMS RIVER, NJ ? Columbus Day was celebrated in the Toms River Regional Schools on Monday, not with a day off, but with a day full of history lessons.

The school district has faced criticisms over canceling the day out of school for students that had been scheduled for Monday, a decision that was made to get students out of school sooner in the summer, Superintendent Michael Citta said.

The day had been scheduled as an in-service professional development day for the teaching staff; bringing students into school for the full day moves the last day of school tentatively to June 16. It had been scheduled for June 20.

At the Sept. 21 meeting, Citta said the district would be spend Columbus Day teaching students about Italian heritage and Italians' contributions, including using curriculum created by the Italian Heritage Commission created that has been approved by the state Department of Education.

Toms River Intermediate East teacher Casey Kanarkowski brought Christopher Columbus into his eighth grade social studies class by dressing head to toe in costume as the Italian explorer.

He set up different stations for group work discussing myths and facts about Columbus, and Kanarkowski challenged students to place themselves in the historical context and think about how they might respond to such treacherous voyages and other circumstances of the time.

Karen Husenica's Kindergarten students at Hooper Avenue Elementary School made Italian-themed tambourines and learned about Columbus in a music-filled atmosphere in Karen Husenica's class.

Other classrooms celebrated Italian-American culture with decorations, meatballs, and yes ?even cannolis. Richard Cicala's Columbus Day lesson was led by students, who presented slideshows on not just Columbus himself, but other important explorers like Marco Polo.

At West Dover Elementary, teacher Perry Gellis?s class hosted a Christopher Columbus-themed escape room. The students worked in teams to decipher clues to reveal historical facts about Columbus and other explorers in order to unlock doors.