This is our 2023 Grant-in-Aid winner, Madeline Tubbs. Among her many accomplishments is the winning of the Girl Scouts Gold award. Her project for that was an educational website, https://www.lets-bee-friendly.com/. She is a bee-keeper as well! Here is what she says on the website:
Let's Bee Friendly Hello! In December 2022, I earned the Girl Scout Gold Award for my project Let's BEE Friendly. This website is a part of that project. If you want to learn about honey bees, why they are important, and how you can help them- you are in the right place! Madeline Tubbs Email: tubbsohoney@gmail.com Registered NJ Apiary: 6871 The website is full of information, as well as games and links to activities. 
Theresa Messineo, Emily Blumberg, Andrea Ritacco, Gina DiMaggio, and Laura Perrius
We also inducted our next two members, Emily Blumberg and Andrea Ritacco. Andrea is a Business Education teacher at Whippany Park High School and was named the Morris County Teacher of the Year. Emily is the Passaic County Teacher of the Year. She is a science teacher at Passaic Preparatory Academy. As the first female physics teacher at the academy, her goal is to make science more inclusive. We were so glad Emily could attend the meeting, since she has a seven week old baby girl! The Bergen County Teacher of the Year, Gina DiMaggio, has taught English at all levels at Lyndhurst High School. She was inducted into Alpha Chapter at the DKGNJ convention in March. 
We also recognized and congratulated Laura Perrius, who was our Key Award winner this year. The awards were made at the DKGNJ State convention in March. Congratualtions, Laura!
Among all of the reports and announcements was the information that Chapter Dues are now $80 for active members and $40 for those who have been approved as reserve members. Dues need to be to Cathy Cleenput by June 15, 2023. You can pay online here or snail mail the check payable to Alpha Chapter DKG to her at her address in the directory.
Information about the DKGNJ Convention!
Friday, April 12, 2024 - Sunday, April 14, 2024 at the Doubletree in Somerset. All the information will be posted, as it comes in, on the state website: https://www.dkgnj.org/nj-state-convention.html The induction ceremony for new members is planned for Saturday, April 13, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. All of the information about welcoming new members and the ceremony will become available in the fall. We anticipate a wonderful convention with inspiring workshops and a chance to see the wider view of DKG, so mark your calendars and plan to attend. Hotel information: Guest Rates: Room rates will not include breakfast. Single Occupancy $119.00 Double Occupancy $119.00 Triple Occupancy $129.00 Quad Occupacny$139.00 Room rates quoted above are non-commissionable, net rates, subject to taxes which is currently 14.625%- New Jersey sales tax of 6.625% and Local Occupancy Tax of 8%. 2024 tax% may subject to change. ** No cots allowed in guest rooms. RESERVATION METHOD: Reservations will be made by individual call. When calling in for reservations guests must call 1-800-222-TREE(8733) no later than Friday, March 22nd, 2024 and ask for the reservations in the Delta Kappa Gamma (DKG) 2024 room block to ensure attaining the group rate. aHappy New Year Ladies!
I am writing to you filled with inspiration and a renewed spirit, not just as a result of turning the calendar page to a new year, but even more so from the past few months of DKG activities. The inspiration actually started with our December meeting and the amazing presentation Theresa Maughan gave us recounting the Lessons Learned as a State Teacher of the Year. Not only did Theresa share the depth and breadth of her knowledge and experiences, but she encouraged each of us to look within ourselves to the skills and “stories” we have to share as key women educators. Following that awe inspiring meeting, this past Sunday Laura Perrius hosted our Informational Tea for two aspiring initiates. The two initiates Andrea Ritacco and Emily Blumberg are both County Teachers of the Year for Morris and Passaic Counties, respectively. Andrea shared how she arrived to be a Business Education teacher (of approximately 14 yrs) at Hanover Park, through the alternate route program after a 14 year career with Tiffany & Co as a CPA and internal auditor for the company. Emily has been teaching approximately 7 years, however, in true DKG style, Emily has bucked the norm of male dominated Science educators, teaching Physics and Chemistry at the Passaic Preparatory Academy. The ladies shared several annecdotes about their teaching assignments and involvement in their school community beyond the classroom. Wait, it gets even better! Several sisters also attended the tea and they each in turn described their experiences within DKG and what DKG offers to women “beyond these walls”. The entire afternoon was truly uplifting. I told the ladies that had I not been a member, I would have signed up on the spot. Thank you EVERYONE! for inspiring me and instilling me with pride as I am counted among such accomplished professionals. I look forward to seeing you all on February 4 at the TriBoro First Aid Squad in Butler. Social will start at 9:30, followed by breakfast at 10:00 and our program with Cheryl Bullock from Strengthen Our Sisters. Warmly, Theresa
The news that was sent to the state newsletter was edited down to fit their requirements and may be even further edited when it comes out, so here is the real news from Alpha! Send me your news so that we can keep up with each other :)
Jan (alphachapterdkg@gmail.com)
Alpha Chapter is excited about the plans for our program series “Beyond these Walls”, which begins in October with Beyond These Walls...Historically and a book discussion on Carnegie’s Maid. The programs will continue through the year with Beyond These Walls...State-Wide, Beyond These Walls ....Community, and Beyond These Walls …International
Our members continue to be busy and active, learning new things and sharing their expertise. In retirement Laura Perrius has learned to play the harp, thanks to Alpha’s Hoitsma Fund for assistance paying for the lessons. She has played at several public gatherings, including a Clifton Main Library “Art on the Go” activities program for young children, at which she played for their award day. She played and showed the harp to the children, giving them an opportunity to try the strings and see how the harp is played up close.
Clare Swanson attended the DKG International Convention where, as a member of the 2020-2022 International Leadership Development Committee, she presented a workshop with the rest of the committee and also worked the registration desk, was a workshop monitor and took tickets at the Northeast Regional Breakfast. One of our new members, Tammy Cooper, also attended and served as a page.
Jameelah Wright Howard has been very busy! This is the note she sent:
I hope you have had the most amazing summer! Mine was okay. I slept late and accomplished much writing of my dissertation proposal. Last year was so busy and chaotic, and I just realized I never shared any news with Alpha Chapter. Or maybe I did, and I forgot? That’s how crazy things have been for me. So, I will try to recall what I can. Some news might be old or unusable. That’s fine. Use what you can. Here goes: September 2021, I was informed by the New Jersey Association for the Education of Young Children (NJAEYC) that I had been nominated as Teacher of the Year. I was invited to a formal ceremony in October 2021 where I received a trophy and a $250 Lakeshore Learning gift card. I used the prize money to purchase Science materials for my classroom. In March, a chapter I co-wrote with a colleague was published in the book Educational Psychology and Transformational Classrooms. The chapter is titled “The Year of Isaiah”. In April 2022, I presented twice at the American Educational Research Research Association’s (AERA) Annual Meeting in San Diego. One presentation was titled “Relational Teaching and the Education of Black Boys” and the second one was “Challenging the Marginalization of Black Boys”. In March, I was informed by my doctoral program director that I was nominated for and awarded two academic scholarships! A ceremony was held in late April where I collected my awards. One scholarship was the Rose L. Dakss Early Childhood Education Scholarship, and the other was the Anna Maria Villegas Doctoral Scholarship. In May 2022, I was a guest panelist on a webinar during Black Birder’s Week. The program was hosted by Black AF in STEM and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University. I was so excited to share my love of birds with others.
Theresa Maughan, another new Alpha member, is the 2022 NJ State Teacher of the Year and did a podcast June 30th for PowerEdUp for which there are several links:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR2WyXRY6CE Podcast Platforms: https://anchor.fm/poweredup/episodes/Show-85-Educating-the-Next-Generation-with-Authentic-History-e1n6tah Website: powereduup.com/show85 
Jennifer Skomial, NJTOY 2021, was one of the presenters at TCNJ’s Center for Future Educators this summer. She and the New Jersey State Teachers of the Year for 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2009 presented programs to a group of high school juniors and seniors.
Dr Emily Hoeflinger began her new job as Assistant Professor of English at Brookdale Community College this fall. Brookdale serves the Monmouth County area with a variety of sites - the main campus on Lincroft as well as satellite sites at Freehold, Hazlet, Long Branch, Wall, and Neptune, and it is ranked in the top 3% for community colleges in the nation. This semester, Dr. Hoeflinger is teaching A:P (Accelerated Learning Program), which is a program that was developed in the Community College System to better support students in need of reading comprehension and writing support. Next semester she will start teaching at two of the Higher Education Centers. This will take her to Wall and Freehold. Dr. Hoeflinger is getting to know the campus and its community.
Finally, Colleen McElroy resigned from Cedar Grove High School at the end of last year and now she is the new principal at St. Catherine of Siena School.
Silver Linings and Small Wins  As crazy as 2020 has been, Jameelah Wright was determined to find the silver linings, whether big or small. So, in March, when school buildings closed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, and she and her team of teachers had to figure out a way to teach prekindergarten students virtually, she had an idea. Since her school (teachers and families) was already connected schoolwide on ClassDojo, it would be a seamless transition from in-person to virtual instruction. Crisis averted. As a student in Montclair State University’s Teacher Education and Teacher Development program, her classes also shifted to an online format, so not a single beat was missed in the pursuit of her doctoral degree.
That same month, Jameelah learned that she would be awarded a fellowship from the alumnae organization of her alma mater, Douglass College, Rutgers University. The Julia Baxter Bates Fellowship was named for the first Black student admitted into Douglass College, and Jameelah was truly humbled and honored to obtain it. Also, as result of receiving the fellowship, she was featured in the alumnae organization’s digital newsletter. A few weeks later, in April, she learned that she would also be awarded a scholarship from the Pi Lambda Theta honor society. Also in April, Jameelah received word that a proposal she submitted for a webinar for the Council of Professional Recognition (CDA Council) had been accepted, and that she would be facilitating Finding Our Voices: Awakening the Inner Advocates and Activists in ECE Teachers in August. In the midst of all the madness on top of a global pandemic, such as the racial unrest and political strife, it was the small wins that gave Jameelah hope and kept stress and anxiety at bay. Towards the end of summer, she learned that a book she had contributed to, The New Teacher’s Guide to Overcoming Common Challenges, would be out in October. In October Jameelah opened an email from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) informing her that her paper “Drawing Conclusions about Writing in Preschool” had been accepted for presentation at the 2021 national conference. And in November, Jameelah was notified by the university that she passed her qualifying exams and was officially a doctoral candidate! She is looking forward to more small wins and silver linings in the new year. August 2020
It's time to save dates to your caledar!Dear Alpha Sisters, We are sure this is the weirdest summer ever, and that those of you who are still teaching are really worried about what is going to happen in September. Hang in there! This is coming to you through MailChimp because DKG has changed its communication policy. Email from the society may not show the emails of all the recipients. This is an effort to cut down on the phishing and fraud that has been happening. Meanwhile, the Alpha Chapter Executive Committee has met and planned for the coming year. Whatever else happens, we have a plan that is flexible. We anticipate that at least the first two meetings will need to be virtual and you will find out more as we approach the dates. You have plenty of time to read the book for the first meeting - Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. Bennett discusses her book in a video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oRpIGuluEiQAlpha Chapter Meetings Thursday, October 8, 2020 4:30 p.m. social, 5:00 p.m. meeting Location: tbd Program: Book discussion on Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett Saturday, December 5, 2020 9:30 a.m. social, 10 meeting Location: tbd Program: Strong Women Series, Mary Harop (Salmon Fisher, off the coast of Alaska) Saturday, February 27, 2021 (weather date March 6, 2021) 9:30 a.m. social, 10 meeting Location: tbd Program: Helping All Women Find Their Strength, Bread For the Journey Program, Presenter: Rev. Cynthia Reynolds Thursday, May 6, 2021 4:30 p.m. social, 5:00 meeting, Location: tbd Program: Diversity in Education & Implicit Bias, Presenters Mrs. Ravenelle and Mrs. Akinwande The DKGNJ Executive Committee is also meeting and trying to plan for the coming year. You will soon be getting an email from DKGNJ asking you to vote on by-laws changes to make it possible to have state meetings virtually - chapters already have that capacity. Please, when you get it, VOTE! We will need over 50% of the state DKGNJ membership to vote in favor of the amendments in order to make this happen. Every vote counts. Meanwhile, stay healthy! Megan Connolly & Jan Paxton  Margaret E. Anzul, 91, passed away at home in Morristown, NJ on Friday, June 5, 2020.
Margaret lived in Madison for over forty years and Basking Ridge for 15 years before moving to Morristown. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Sacred Heart College in California, Masters from the University of California at Berkeley, and her Ph. D. in education at New York University. Margaret spent 38 years as a school librarian for the Madison Board of Education. She was predeceased by her husband Clement Anzul. Margaret is survived by her two sons Mark and John Anzul, and John’s wife Ann, her grandchildren, John L., Catherine, Faith, Mary and Laura Anzul and her sister Nell Rehm. In her retirement Margaret started a consulting business, and mentored over 35 clients through their doctoral degree programs. In addition, she was also the co-author of two textbooks on qualitative research, as well as numerous articles on this topic. Volunteer and community service were an important part of Margaret’s life. She was a founding member and Past President of the Friends of the Madison Educational Endowment Fund, and of the Friends of Paul Ziegler Fund. She was also a Past State President of Delta Kappa Gamma, and she was a member of the Committee on Teaching About the United Nations for over 15 years. Other interests included spending time with her family, collecting art, and listening to classical music. Her grandchildren said that qualities about Margaret that they will remember were her strength, her generosity, and her love of education. A Memorial Mass will be held at a later date at Assumption Church, 91 Maple Avenue, Morristown NJ. In lieu of flowers donations to the Rosary Shrine, 543 Springfield Avenue, Summit New Jersey 07901 would be appreciated. For more information or to send condolences please visit jacobhollefuneralhome.com Dear Alpha Sisters, What a wonderful meeting!! Thank you all who were able to attend. It was extra special to have Pat Marks, Joan Konetschny, and Judy Merz with us from far away. It was also wonderful to have Brittany and Jameelah with us as members for the first time. We're going to have one big induction ceremony when we finally get there. I am attaching two merged screenshot pictures. I think I got everyone somewhere, but there are duplicates of some people. It was so good to see you. For those of you who were unable to attend, we decided to send half of our donation to Red Hawk and half to NJ Food Bank. Emily reports that the Montclair campus has students who have no other place to go staying in the dorms and they are in need. Patti and Cathy also made plans for our Grant-in-aid winner to get her award and we will meet her sometime in the future somehow. So stay safe. Now, here is the information on Red Hawk from Emily. So, this is the Red Hawk Pantry website. It looks like they are in need for sure. Reminder of the list of things that are needed:
Red Hawk Pantry The Amazon link is here. There's a good amount of items on here. Ver mi lista en Amazon This is the donation link from the website: The Red Hawk Pantry Here's the tshirt link that people can buy if they want and the money goes to the RHP:follett Mailing address: The Red Hawk Pantry C/O Sonja Tillman Montclair State University 1 Normal Ave Student Center Rm 104 Montclair NJ 07043 We could potentially box things up and mail them over (I'm happy to do this). Again, I have an email out to Sonja. I will get back to you as soon as I hear from her. --emily Best wishes, Jan  December 1, 2019
Happy Snow Day to those of you who got one! I see from the list Kristin sent me that December 8 is a busy day for all of us. I look forward to seeing as many of you as can come to the meeting at 1 p,m, at Christ Church, Pompton Lakes. The book discussion will be lively, I'm sure! If you haven't already told Kristin you are coming (deadline 11/26, what deadline?) please let her know asap! DKGsocial2018@gmail.com Those who are coming will, I am sure, bring books for Luisa's class and/or for Linda Leddy to save for Book Smiles. Those of you who are not coming to the meeting or would like to help out the Red Hawk Pantry, Emily has received the following information.Donate to the Red Hawk Pantry!Since it opened on April 18, 2016, The Red Hawk Pantry has assisted thousands of Montclair State University students who struggle with food insecurities. You can help support those students in need by donating directly to the pantry. Ways You Can DonateOnline GiftYou can make your gift online. Please select "Red Hawk Pantry" on the donation form. To donate goods, you can bring your donation to the Center for Student Involvement in the Montclair State University Student Center, 1st floor or you can drop off items at the Information Desk on the 2nd floor of the Student Center. There is also a t-shirt available for purchase at the University Bookstore! For every shirt sold, the pantry receives $5.00. Amazon Wish ListYou also can choose from our Amazon Wish List. Once you have chosen items be sure to request they be delivered to the following address: The Red Hawk Pantry C/O Sonja Tillman Montclair State University 1 Normal Ave Student Center Rm 104 Montclair NJ 07043 Learn MoreVisit the Red Hawk Pantry website. Looking forward to seeing many of you next Sunday, Jan DKG Alpha Zeta State’s President, Ingrid Williams, has initiated a president’s project for the 2019-2020 year. “For the Love of Books” Book Drive will commence this year and all chapters will be collecting new and gently used pre-school through grade 12 books to be redistributed throughout the state of New Jersey.
I have spoken to the state chair of this project, Susan Murphy, and she has indicated that the books we collect can go to any worthy recipients. I told her about the books we collect for the school in Paterson and she said this is perfect. Susan wants each member to be responsible for donating 25 books and I have the spreadsheet she distributed for me to keep track of how many books each member donates. Since the books we collect for Paterson are to be grade 4 or younger, if anyone has books for grades 5 - 12 that are new, gently used or in like-new condition I will collect them and keep them in my garage until I have collected 350 and then I will contact Book Smiles to pick them up and take them to their distribution center. Some good sources of books other than buying them on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or other retail bookstores is to buy them from used bookstores, church rummage sales, garage sales, etc. You can even ask people to donate them to you if they don’t sell them. Most of the time they are just happy to have someone take them off their hands. Many public libraries also sell or give away used children’s books. At our December meeting we are just collecting for Paterson. When you bring your books to the future meetings, please put a post-it note on the top book in your bag with the number of books, your name and if the books are for Paterson or Book Smiles. I will take the books for Book Smiles. Also, please email me the number of books you bring and if they are for Paterson or Book Smiles. Thank you all for your generosity and if you have any questions just email me at lindaleddy@yahoo.com. Sincerely, Linda Leddy Alpha Chapter Chair “For the Love of Books” |
