Aging is inevitable, and for many, it signals the beginning of a new chapter - one where you cross off bucket list items and live life to the fullest, on your own terms. However, for some women, aging is a horrible prospect, filled with chronic fatigue, irritability, and inability to perform in the bedroom. If you're concerned about life in middle age and beyond, we've got great news: there are easy, proven steps that you can take to help stop the negative effect of aging.
Global Life Rejuvenation was founded to give women a new lease on life - one that includes less body fat, fewer mood swings, and more energy as you age. If you're ready to look and feel younger, it's time to consider HRT (hormone replacement therapy), and growth hormone peptides. These therapies for men and women are effective, safe, and customized to fit your goals, so you can keep loving life as you get older.
HRT, and growth hormone peptide therapies bridge the gap between your old life and the more vibrant, happier version of you. With a simple click or call, you can be well on your way to a brighter future. After all, you deserve to be the one in charge of your wellness and health. Now, you have the tools to do so - backed by science and applied by our team of HRT experts with more than 13 years of experience.
As women age, their hormones begin to go through changes that affect their day-to-day lives. For women, hormone deficiency and imbalance usually occur during menopause and can cause chronic fatigue, hot flashes, and mood swings, among other issues. Hormone replacement therapy helps correct hormone imbalances in women, helping them feel more vibrant and virile as they age.
Often, HRT treatments give patients enhanced quality of life that they didn't think was possible - even in their 60's and beyond.
The benefits for women are numerous and are available today through Global Life Rejuvenation.
As women age, their bodies begin to go through significant changes that affect their quality of life. This change is called menopause and marks the end of a woman's menstrual cycle and reproduction ability. Though there is no specific age when this change occurs, the average age of menopause onset is 51 years old. However, according to doctors, menopause officially starts 12 months after a woman's final period. During the transition to menopause, women's estrogen and other hormones begin to deplete.
As that happens, many women experience severe symptoms. These symptoms include:
The symptoms of hormone deficiency can be concerning and scary for both women and their spouses. However, if you're getting older and notice some of these symptoms, there is reason to be hopeful. Hormone replacement therapy and anti-aging medicine for women can correct imbalances that happen during menopause. These safe, effective treatments leave you feeling younger, healthier, and more vibrant.
The most common reason for menopause is the natural decline in a female's reproductive hormones. However, menopause can also result from the following situations:
Oophorectomy: This surgery, which removes a woman's ovaries, causes immediate menopause. Symptoms and signs of menopause in this situation can be severe, as the hormonal changes happen abruptly.
Chemotherapy: Cancer treatments like chemotherapy can induce menopause quickly, causing symptoms to appear shortly after or even during treatment.
Ovarian Insufficiency: Also called premature ovarian failure, this condition is essentially premature menopause. It happens when a woman's ovaries quit functioning before the age of 40 and can stem from genetic factors and disease. Only 1% of women suffer from premature menopause, but HRT can help protect the heart, brain, and bones.
For many women, menopause is a trying time that can be filled with many hormonal hurdles to jump through. A little knowledge can go a long way, whether you're going through menopause now or are approaching "that" age.
Here are some of the most common issues that women experience during menopause:
If you're a woman going through menopause and find that you have become increasingly depressed, you're not alone. It's estimated that 15% of women experience depression to some degree while going through menopause. What many women don't know is that depression can start during perimenopause, or the years leading up to menopause.
Depression can be hard to diagnose, especially during perimenopause and menopause. However, if you notice the following signs, it might be time to speak with a physician:
Remember, if you're experiencing depression, you're not weak or broken - you're going through a very regular emotional experience. The good news is that with proper treatment from your doctor, depression isn't a death sentence. And with HRT and anti-aging treatment for women, depression could be the catalyst you need to enjoy a new lease on life.
Hot flashes - they're one of the most well-known symptoms of menopause. Hot flashes are intense, sudden feelings of heat across a woman's upper body. Some last second, while others last minutes, making them incredibly inconvenient and uncomfortable for most women.
Symptoms of hot flashes include:
Typically, hot flashes are caused by a lack of estrogen. Low estrogen levels negatively affect a woman's hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls body temperature and appetite. Low estrogen levels cause the hypothalamus to incorrectly assume the body is too hot, dilating blood vessels to increase blood flow. Luckily, most women don't have to settle for the uncomfortable feelings that hot flashes cause. HRT treatments for women often stabilize hormones, lessening the effects of hot flashes and menopause in general.
Mood swings are common occurrences for most people - quick shifts from happy to angry and back again, triggered by a specific event. And while many people experience mood swings, they are particularly common for women going through menopause. That's because, during menopause, the female's hormones are often imbalanced. Hormone imbalances and mood swings go hand-in-hand, resulting in frequent mood changes and even symptoms like insomnia.
The rate of production of estrogen, a hormone that fluctuates during menopause, largely determines the rate of production the hormone serotonin, which regulates mood, causing mood swings.
Luckily, HRT and anti-aging treatments in Oxford, NJ for women work wonders for mood swings by regulating hormone levels like estrogen. With normal hormone levels, women around the world are now learning that they don't have to settle for mood swings during menopause.
Staying fit and healthy is hard for anyone living in modern America. However, for women with hormone imbalances during perimenopause or menopause, weight gain is even more serious. Luckily, HRT treatments for women coupled with a physician-led diet can help keep weight in check. But which hormones need to be regulated?
Lowered sexual desire - three words most men and women hate to hear. Unfortunately, for many women in perimenopausal and menopausal states, it's just a reality of life. Thankfully, today, HRT and anti-aging treatments Oxford, NJ can help women maintain a normal, healthy sex drive. But what causes low libido in women, especially as they get older?
The hormones responsible for low libido in women are progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone.
Progesterone production decreases during perimenopause, causing low sex drive in women. Lower progesterone production can also cause chronic fatigue, weight gain, and other symptoms. On the other hand, lower estrogen levels during menopause lead to vaginal dryness and even vaginal atrophy or loss of muscle tension.
Lastly, testosterone plays a role in lowered libido. And while testosterone is often grouped as a male hormone, it contributes to important health and regulatory functionality in women. A woman's testosterone serves to heighten sexual responses and enhances orgasms. When the ovaries are unable to produce sufficient levels of testosterone, it often results in a lowered sex drive.
Often uncomfortable and even painful, vaginal dryness is a serious problem for sexually active women. However, like hair loss in males, vaginal dryness is very common - almost 50% of women suffer from it during menopause.
Getting older is just a part of life, but that doesn't mean you have to settle for the side effects. HRT and anti-aging treatments for women correct vaginal dryness by re-balancing estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. When supplemented with diet and healthy living, your vagina's secretions are normalized, causing discomfort to recede.
Uterine fibroids - they're perhaps the least-known symptom of menopause and hormone imbalances in women. That's because these growths on the uterus are often symptom-free. Unfortunately, these growths can be cancerous, presenting a danger for women as they age.
Many women will have fibroids at some point. Because they're symptomless, they're usually found during routine doctor exams. Some women only get one or two, while others may have large clusters of fibroids. Because fibroids are usually caused by hormone imbalances, hysterectomies have been used as a solution, forcing women into early menopause.
Advances in HRT and anti-aging medicine for women give females a safer, non-surgical option without having to experience menopause early. At Global Life Rejuvenation, our expert physicians will implement a customized HRT program to stabilize your hormones and reduce the risk of cancerous fibroid growth.
Endometriosis symptoms are much like the effects of PMS, and include pelvic pain, fatigue, cramping, and bloating. While doctors aren't entirely sure what causes this painful, uncomfortable condition, most agree that hormones - particularly xenoestrogens - play a factor.
Endometriosis symptoms are much like the effects of PMS and include pelvic pain, fatigue, cramping, and bloating. While doctors aren't entirely sure what causes this painful, uncomfortable condition, most agree that hormones - particularly xenoestrogens - play a factor.
Xenoestrogen is a hormone that is very similar to estrogen. Too much xenoestrogen is thought to stimulate endometrial tissue growth. HRT for women helps balance these hormones and, when used with a custom nutrition program, can provide relief for women across the U.S.
Hormone stability is imperative for a healthy sex drive and for a normal, stress-free life during menopause. HRT and anti-aging treatments for women balance the hormones that your body has altered due to perimenopause or menopause.
HRT for women is a revolutionary step in helping women live their best lives, even as they grow older. However, at Global Life Rejuvenation, we know that no two patients are the same. That's why we specialize in holistic treatments that utilize HRT, combined with healthy nutrition, supplements, and fitness plans that maximize hormone replacement treatments.
If you've been suffering through menopause, is HRT the answer? That's hard to say without an examination by a trusted physician, but one thing's for sure. When a woman balances her hormone levels, she has a much better shot at living a regular life with limited depression, weight gain, mood swings, and hot flashes.
Here are just a few additional benefits of HRT and anti-aging treatments for females:
Hormone imbalance causes a litany of issues. But with anti-aging treatments for women, females can better process calcium, keep their cholesterol levels safe, and maintain a healthy vagina. By replenishing the body's estrogen supply, HRT can relieve symptoms from menopause and protect against osteoporosis. But that's just the start.
Global Life Rejuvenation's patients report many more benefits of HRT and anti-aging medicine for women:
If you're ready to feel better, look better, and recapture the vitality of your youth, it's time to contact Global Life Rejuvenation. It all starts with an in-depth consultation, where we will determine if HRT and anti-aging treatments for women are right for you. After all, every patient's body and hormone levels are different. Since all our treatment options are personalized, we do not have a single threshold for treatment. Instead, we look at our patient's hormone levels and analyze them on a case-by-case basis.
At Global Life Rejuvenation, we help women rediscover their youth with HRT treatment for women. We like to think of ourselves as an anti-aging concierge service, guiding and connecting our patients to the most qualified HRT physicians available. With customized HRT treatment plan for women, our patients experience fewer menopausal symptoms, less perimenopause & menopause depression, and often enjoy a more youth-like appearance.
Growth hormone peptides are an innovative therapy that boosts the natural human growth hormone production in a person's body. These exciting treatment options help slow down the aging process and give you a chance at restoring your youth.
Sermorelin is a synthetic hormone peptide, like GHRH, which triggers the release of growth hormones. When used under the care of a qualified physician, Sermorelin can help you lose weight, increase your energy levels, and help you feel much younger.
Human growth hormone (HGH) therapy has been used for years to treat hormone deficiencies. Unlike HGH, which directly replaces declining human growth hormone levels, Sermorelin addresses the underlying cause of decreased HGH, stimulating the pituitary gland naturally. This approach keeps the mechanisms of growth hormone production active.
Ipamorelin helps to release growth hormones in a person's body by mimicking a peptide called ghrelin. Ghrelin is one of three hormones which work together to regulate the growth hormone levels released by the pituitary gland. Because Ipamorelin stimulates the body to produce growth hormone, your body won't stop its natural growth hormone production, which occurs with synthetic HGH.
Ipamorelin causes growth hormone secretion that resembles natural release patterns rather than being constantly elevated from HGH. Because ipamorelin stimulates the natural production of growth hormone, our patients can use this treatment long-term with fewer health risks.
One of the biggest benefits of Ipamorelin is that it provides significant short and long-term benefits in age management therapies. Ipamorelin can boost a patient's overall health, wellbeing, and outlook on life.
When there is an increased concentration of growth hormone by the pituitary gland, there are positive benefits to the body. Some benefits include:
Whether you are considering our HRT and anti-aging treatments for women in Oxford, NJ, we are here to help. The first step to reclaiming your life begins by contacting Global Life Rejuvenation. Our friendly, knowledgeable HRT experts can help answer your questions and walk you through our procedures. From there, we'll figure out which treatments are right for you. Before you know it, you'll be well on your way to looking and feeling better than you have in years!
Recently four teachers from the Oxford Central School were recently recognized for their contributions to the school district, both in and out of the classroom.Joy Paola was selected to be the 2014-2015 Teacher of the Year as part of the Governor’s Educator of the Year Program. After getting her degree from Rider University, Paola taught in Sayreville before coming to Oxford in 2005. Paola is a very creative teacher who has been teaching third grade students since 2005 and she continues to be a positive role model for her studen...
Recently four teachers from the Oxford Central School were recently recognized for their contributions to the school district, both in and out of the classroom.
Joy Paola was selected to be the 2014-2015 Teacher of the Year as part of the Governor’s Educator of the Year Program. After getting her degree from Rider University, Paola taught in Sayreville before coming to Oxford in 2005. Paola is a very creative teacher who has been teaching third grade students since 2005 and she continues to be a positive role model for her students and her peers.
Michael Kenney, OCS School Social Worker, was selected as the Educational Services Professional for his work with OCS students for more than 13 years. Kenney continues to be a key member of the School-Wide Positive Behavioral Support Plan in the Oxford Central School and he provides lessons on positive life choices to students in grades KG-eighth grade, both in the classroom and during Lunch Bunch periods each week.
Kenney is a graduate of both William Paterson and Rutgers. Both staff members, who were nominated and selected by a team of teachers, administrators and community members, will be eligible for county and state level awards as part of the Governor’s Educator of the Year Program.
Two additional teachers, Jessica DeWitt and Shannon Pettinelli, were also recognized by the New Jersey Department of Education as Exemplary Educators for their continued efforts in the classroom. DeWitt, the 2013-2014 OCS Teacher of the Year, was nominated by staff for her efforts both in the classroom and beyond the school day. Pettinelli, a special education teacher, has been a instrumental in developing district initiatives to promote awareness of students with disabilities. Both staff members received certificates of achievement from the Department of Education.
Robert Magnuson, Chief School Administrator added, “These four educators epitomize all that is right with education today!. They work long hours to develop the whole child: socially, emotionally and academically. They are wonderful members of our community and it is a privilege to work with them each day.”
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A trash incinerator in Warren County has been burning liquid waste for the past two years of its nearly 30-year run.That was through a research, development and demonstration project authorized by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.Now, Covanta Warren Energy Resource Co. LLC is looking for a permanent permit to take in up to 32,000 gallons of liquid waste per day. The deliveries will count toward the Oxford Township fa...
A trash incinerator in Warren County has been burning liquid waste for the past two years of its nearly 30-year run.
That was through a research, development and demonstration project authorized by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Now, Covanta Warren Energy Resource Co. LLC is looking for a permanent permit to take in up to 32,000 gallons of liquid waste per day. The deliveries will count toward the Oxford Township facility's limit of accepting 200,000 tons of trash per year for processing, according to the DEP.
A 30-day public comment period on the permit request is open until May 5. A public hearing may be scheduled on the application if requested and "issues of fact relevant to the proposed agency action" are raised, according to the DEP.
The liquid trash is what the DEP refers to as Type 72 waste, and encompasses bulk liquids and semi-liquids. Covanta Warren's research project began March 10, 2016, and its been incinerating the liquid waste ever since via a Liquid Direct Injection system, state officials said. The research permit expires Sept. 30, according to the DEP.
Covanta Warren began operating in July 1988 and also disposes of Type 10 municipal waste (household, commercial and institutional); Type 23 vegetative waste and Type 27 dry industrial waste. That last category excludes hazardous waste like asbestos and non-hazardous pesticides, oil and chemical waste.
"The liquid waste is injected into the boilers along with regular municipal solid waste, and it's just another way to defer liquid waste out of the landfills," said James F. Regan, spokesman for Covanta Warren's parent company.
The DEP describes the source of the Type 72 liquid waste as "varied" but mainly comprising "liquids from industrial processes that may upset the biological treatment processes of a sewage treatment plant, like soapy waters.
"Some of the sources are boiler blow-down water, washdown wastes, washdown of tanks from the manufacture of paints. These wastes have a composition that is greater than 90 percent water, and they come from many different areas in the eastern United States."
Examples of potential sources of the liquid waste include a shampoo that may have failed quality-control testing or expired products, according to Regan.
"It's non-hazardous industrial liquid waste," the Covanta spokesman said. "The majority of it is water-based and things like lotions or creams, shampoo products, but it's 95 to 97 percent water with traces of shampoo and lotions and creams and manufacturing/industrial processes wouldn't want to send this material to landfill."
The liquid waste coming in to Covanta Warren for incineration passes through the weigh station at the 218 Mt. Pisgah Ave. facility. From there, it goes to the Liquid Direct Injection -- or LDI -- unloading area for "a sampling procedure to ensure all incoming material is compliant with all approved paperwork," the DEP says.
"All Waste Type 72 streams that are considered for LDI undergo a rigorous review and waste characterization by Covanta," according to the DEP. "Covanta utilizes a 'Waste Approval Flow Chart' to ensure only compatible non-hazardous liquid waste streams are accepted at the facility."
Covanta has been using the LDI process to incinerate liquid waste for about a decade at three of its other facilities, in Indianapolis, Indiana; Springfield, Massachusetts; and Niagara Falls, New York, according to the New Jersey DEP.
Covanta Warren uses two processing lines to incinerate waste at up to 752 degrees Fahrenheit. The high-temperature, high-pressure steam that is generated passes through a turbine that drives a generator to produce electricity. The Warren County incinerator produces up to 13.7 megawatts to operate the facility, with surplus power sold to the JCP&L electrical grid. Exhaust steam from the turbine is air-cooled and condensed to be recirculated through the boiler as feedwater.
The facility draws water from two offsite wells near the Pequest River. Its peak daily water demand from 2007 through 2011 was 480,222 gallons per day in October 2007, the DEP says. That's less than the original operating permit's peak demand projection of 563,200 gallons per day.
Thanks to reusing cooling tower condensate, Covanta Warren from 2007-11 averaged 7,784 gallons per day of wastewater discharged to the nearby Pequest River Municipal Utilities treatment plant -- well below original projections of 87,843 gallons per day of wastewater.
Covanta Warren's air pollution controls include spray dryer absorbers (scrubbers) for acid gas control, baghouses for particulate removal, carbon injection for mercury reduction and two systems -- one of which is proprietary -- for the reduction of nitrogen oxides.
The new waste stream is projected to "help sustain the long-term viability" of the Covanta Warren facility, the DEP says, while providing "local businesses with a local disposal option that is an alternative, less expensive and sustainable means of disposal." In addition, Warren County receives "revenue sharing that potentially benefits the local communities," the department says in a review of the proposal.
According to the DEP's review of the Type 72 permit request: "Evaluations of the traffic, noise, air and other potential environmental impacts have demonstrated that the facility has satisfied the regulatory requirements to operate the facility by maintaining compliance with the conditions of the draft permit tentatively approved by the department."
Covanta Warren does not anticipate any capital improvements or increased processing of liquid waste as part of the permanent Type 72 permit, said Regan, the spokesman.
Anyone looking to comment on the permit application may do so in writing to Anthony Fontana, Chief New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Solid & Hazardous Waste Bureau of Solid Waste Permitting, Mail Code 401-02C, P.O. Box 420, Trenton, NJ, 08625-0420.
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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OXFORD — The Oxford Tunnel "is safe" the state Department of Environmental Protection told local officials just after it installed a gate across its southern entrance.The gate was installed before the early February snowfall and a photo was sent by the DEP to Township Mayor Gerald Norton with a note stating the railroad tunnel had been deemed safe in a 2018 inspection.Last year the township blocked off the north entrance, or portal, to the tunnel. That entrance is on municipal-owned land.Ho...
OXFORD — The Oxford Tunnel "is safe" the state Department of Environmental Protection told local officials just after it installed a gate across its southern entrance.
The gate was installed before the early February snowfall and a photo was sent by the DEP to Township Mayor Gerald Norton with a note stating the railroad tunnel had been deemed safe in a 2018 inspection.
Last year the township blocked off the north entrance, or portal, to the tunnel. That entrance is on municipal-owned land.
However, the southern entrance remained open and local officials were concerned that anyone who entered the tunnel from the southern end would wade through ice-cold water only to find they could not exit through the north end.
The tunnel was built in the 1850s as a way to eliminate the grade through a gap in Oxford Mountain. Prior to the tunnel's connection, trains had to stop to engage a "pusher" engine to make the northbound climb and to provide additional braking for southbound trains on what was then the main railroad route from northern New Jersey into Pennsylvania.
The tunnel fell into just occasional use with the completion of the Lackawanna Cutoff in the early 1900s which eliminated all grades with a new line between the southern end of Lake Hopatcong and the river crossing at Columbia (Knowlton Township). The tunnel was abandoned, along with much of the railroads in northwestern New Jersey, in the latter part of about 50 years ago.
Township Committee members and residents said they were concerned there have been at least two partial collapses inside the tunnel, and fear that further collapses will endanger state highway Route 31, which crosses over the tunnel. That route is the main north-south road through Warren County, and the only road capable of sustaining heavy trailer truck traffic.
Norton said he will request an updated engineering inspection on the 3,000-foot-long tunnel's condition from the state DOT.
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The collapse has allowed underground springs to run directly into the tunnel and at the northern end water has collected due to a dam formed from collapse debris. The water that flows out has created a near-permanent creek that flows down the former railroad right-of-way to the south.
The southern entrance is owned by the DEP and is part of the Pequest Wildlife Management Area which has several miles of trails.
In January, the Township Committee wrote a letter requesting DEP find a way to close off the entrance which is on state-owned land.
Norton said the tunnel situation has come to the attention of Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5, who offered his help to work with the committee to push the state's DOT and DEP to thoroughly inspect the tunnel on an ongoing basis and work to find money to make repairs.
FRANK H. CONLON/THE STAR-LEDGERJacob Burlas is practically living at The Growing Stage.During the day, the 21-year-old Oxford resident is working as a camp counselor at the Netcong theater, teaching elementary school kids about music, choreography, and costumes.At night, he’s rehearsing for Saturday’s opening performance of "The Wiz" — a production that offers high school and college students an opportunity to learn and perform during summer break.Burlas says he’s enjoying every s...
FRANK H. CONLON/THE STAR-LEDGER
Jacob Burlas is practically living at The Growing Stage.
During the day, the 21-year-old Oxford resident is working as a camp counselor at the Netcong theater, teaching elementary school kids about music, choreography, and costumes.
At night, he’s rehearsing for Saturday’s opening performance of "The Wiz" — a production that offers high school and college students an opportunity to learn and perform during summer break.
Burlas says he’s enjoying every stressful minute.
"There’s something about this place that’s magical," he said during a rehearsal break. "It’s just a place you want to be."
The Growing Stage: The Children’s Theatre of New Jersey has been entertaining and educating young audiences for 30 years. Founded in Chester, the theater has been based in the historic Palace Theatre in Netcong since 1996. It is dedicated to nurturing a love of theater through childrens’ theatrical performances and classes.
"People who came as kids now bring their own kids, and parents who brought their kids are now bringing their grandkids," founder and executive director Stephen Fredericks said. "We’re not just going after a great moment of theater, but a memory."
The theater presents a main stage season of four productions, featuring Actors’ Equity performers. Starting in September with "Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka," the lineup also includes a musical adaptation of "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer," the play "With Two Wings," and "Pinkalicious The Musical."
Its educational programs offer young performers the chance to sing, dance and act with professional directors and designers.
They are nurturing the artists and audiences of tomorrow, Fredericks said, because children who are exposed to high quality theater are more likely to become audiences members as adults.
"It all feeds each other, and that’s the spirit we try to put into everything we do," Fredericks said.
Even as they celebrate their 30th anniversary, Fredericks and company are still experimenting with new programs. Last year, the company presented a new play reading series to help to develop new works for young audiences. This year’s new ideas include "Sand Box Series: Theatre for the Very Young," an hour-long program that includes watching a performance and participating in a theater activity, and the summer youth production of "The Wiz."
Fredericks said that last program was born out of a desire to offer opportunities to students who were too old for the children’s classes, but still active in performing arts in high school and college.
Incredibly, participation is free.
"We don’t charge a dime. You’re not going to encourage them to continue to participate if you charge them," Fredericks said. "It has to be financially accessible."
Some two dozen students, ages 15 to 22, travel to rehearsals from as far away as New Brunswick, Califon, Newton and Irvington. In addition, teens work as stage managers, and operate the sound and lighting boards.
Their energy and enthusiasm is inspiring, Fredericks said.
"I enjoy working with Equity actors, but there’s something rewarding about working with youth," he said. "You see the friendship, the bonds. They will be friends for life."
The cast includes Growing Stage regulars like Burlas and Matthew Fralley, 15, a Netcong resident who has been taking classes since he was 10 years old.
Others, like Cassandra Daniels, never heard of The Growing Stage until the show was announced. The 22-year-old Raritan Valley Community College student is playing the Scarecrow.
"'The Wiz' is one of the shows I've always wanted to do," the North Plainfield resident said. "I am definitely learning a lot."
"The Wiz" Where: The Growing Stage, 7 Ledgewood Ave., Netcong When: Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 4, this Saturday through July 29. How much: $12. Call (973) 347-4946 or visit growingstage.com
Students from College Achieve Public Schools attend the Summer of a Lifetime program at Princeton UniversityPhoto Credit: Brian Taylor By College Achieve Public Charter SchoolPublishedAugust 9, 2022 at 2:56 PMRED BANK, NJ — More than 120 rising 9th-12th graders from College Achieve Public Charter School (CAPS) — a network of public charter schools serving predominantly low-income and students of color in Paterson, Plainfield, North Plainfield...
Students from College Achieve Public Schools attend the Summer of a Lifetime program at Princeton UniversityPhoto Credit: Brian Taylor
By College Achieve Public Charter School
PublishedAugust 9, 2022 at 2:56 PM
RED BANK, NJ — More than 120 rising 9th-12th graders from College Achieve Public Charter School (CAPS) — a network of public charter schools serving predominantly low-income and students of color in Paterson, Plainfield, North Plainfield, Neptune Township and Asbury Park — returned last week from summer school at some of the best universities in the nation as well as Oxford University in England through its inaugural summer program. Called the Summer Of A Lifetime (SOAL), the program offered students, some of whom haven’t traveled outside the state in which they live, an immersive experience on a college campus as well as exposure to travel and different cultures through its partnership with Oxford University.
“As lifelong educators in communities with high poverty, we’ve always seen bright students who excelled in high school, got into top universities, and struggled to fit or even dropped out their first year because they felt uncomfortable and out of place. We had to change that,” said Michael Piscal, CEO and Founder of College Achieve Public Schools. “Filling that social capital gap for our students is one of our main goals at College Achieve, which is why we’re sending them on ski trips, offering students internship opportunities and summer jobs and taking them to see plays at the local theater. These are all activities that are not part of their daily lives, but the exposure will help them feel less like outsiders and more like they belong everywhere that their hard work and abilities take them in life.”
For one to three weeks, students immersed themselves in the college experience. They attended classes taught by professors, adjuncts or Rhodes Scholars at the universities, lived in the dorms and experienced the typical day of a student on a college campus. They also visited sites around the schools including Stonehenge and Windsor Castle in England and the White House, the U.S. Capitol Building and Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
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Studies show that these intangible travel, cultural and life experiences help students feel more culturally comfortable on campus. In the United States, “white students at public colleges are two and a half times more likely to graduate than Black students, and 60 percent more likely to graduate than Latino students.” In fact, one in four first-generation college students do not return for their second year of college and one in three first-generation college students with parents who have no college experience drop out prior to completing a degree.
“There are so many students for whom college is not a given, who don’t have family members and friends telling them stories about their time in college. When they eat at the dining hall, sit in college classrooms, attend classes taught by professors and just spend the day on a university campus, we’re showing them that they belong at these schools, that it is possible for them to get into the best colleges in the nation and that they can be successful,” said Brian Taylor, who founded CAPS’ Princeton University SOAL program. “It’s not an exaggeration to say that for many of our College Achieve scholars, these few weeks are going to change their lives and mold their hopes for the future they want to build.”
CAPS was founded to help close the achievement gap between students of color and their White and Asian peers and to prepare students to get to and through college. They held their first graduation in May, where 100 percent of the seniors at College Achieve Central were accepted to at least one college or university and each graduated having taken at least three AP classes. Programs like SOAL will become a critical part of developing well-rounded students who are ready for university.
“We’re giving the kids a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with an experience they would never have had at this juncture in their young lives,” said Jodi Henderson McInerney, Chief Operating Officer & Executive Director of CAPS. “I’ve already seen such growth in their independence after just a few short days of travel. The lessons they’re learning about themselves and how to navigate the world in a safe way that allows them to explore are priceless.”
State testing data shows their program is working. CAPS schools far outperform their neighborhood public schools. Most recently, CAPS students excelled on the Start Strong state testing that measured learning loss after the pandemic. The results from all three College Achieve schools showed their students needed significantly less support than their peers in neighboring schools in math and ELA.
“Many of our scholars had several firsts by participating in our SOAL program: the first time on a plane, the first time leaving America, and the first time visiting England, Harvard, and/or Princeton,” said Dr. Gemar Mills, Chief Academic Officer & Executive Director of College Achieve Paterson Charter School. “College Achieve school leaders know that being able to envision yourself at a top university is a critical first step in our students believing they can be successful anywhere their talents and hard work takes them.”
Similarly, CAPS plans to expand the SOAL program in the summer of 2023 due to its popularity among students and the positive impact it has already had on its participating scholars.
“We hope to send every high school student away at least one summer for the experience of a lifetime to an amazing college or university. We think it will make a world of difference,” Corri Ravare, Executive Director of College Achieve Central Charter School in Plainfield and North Plainfield.
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