BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN MIDDLE SCHOOL - PROFILES

Programs & Events

NATIONAL CIVIC EDUCATION PROJECT
BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN MIDDLE SCHOOL Teacher: Melissa Cavallo

	SCHOOL PROFILE:		Her teaching experience includes five years at BRMS and a year working at the Eagles’ Circle Junior High School, an alternative school in Winnipeg, Canada. Cavallo received her undergraduate degree from The College of New Jersey and a Master’s degree from Columbia University’s Teachers College. This year she is serving on the school district’s Energy Steering Committee Team 7C teachers, from left to right: Alison Oram, John DiCosmo, Anthony Silva, Bruce Turnbull, Mike Grey, Lauren Zugale, Laurey Leivonen, Melissa Cavallo, Joanna Gray team7c.jpg Cavallo is privileged to be working with an outstanding group of colleagues – Mike Grey, Bruce Turnbull, Joanna Gray, Lauren Zugale, John DiCosmo, Anthony Silva, Laurey Leivonen, Alison Oram, and Sitta Cohen – on the Civic Education Project. The team is composed of a diverse group of teachers representing all academic subject areas. Both regular and special educators, the teachers range in experience from year one to eleven years of service. Many of them are active in the school community, and all are passionate about continuing their learning and sharing that love with their students. They believe in the power of interdisciplinary collaboration and work to help students make connections among different subject areas in their learning. They hope to help students recognize the importance of becoming responsible citizens and strive to extend young people’s learning beyond the classroom and into world around them.

	The Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School (BRMS), located in Somerset County, New Jersey, serves students from several towns in the central part of the state. The building houses both seventh and eighth grades, with an enrollment of over 1500 students. Each grade level is divided into six teams of students and teachers, creating smaller communities within the school that better facilitate learning and growth. At BRMS, students have the opportunity to excel academically, socially, and emotionally. There are many clubs and activities that students can be a part of, as well as several musical groups and various athletic teams. Each year, students and teachers do their part to help the surrounding community by fundraising, and the school has been recognized as the top contributor to The New Jersey Association of Student Councils’ State Charity for the last few years, an honor they are very proud of receiving.

	TEACHER PROFILE:

	Melissa Cavallo Melissa Cavallo, a seventh-grade language arts teacher at the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School (BRMS), has been an educator for six years.