Page 5 - Summer 2018_Final 3

Volume 39, Issue 4 EBEA Newsletter Page 5

ELISE BARA: EBHS CHILD NUTRITIONIST sensitive to others and would gladly assist her
Elise worked her last four years in the district in the colleagues at workshops and required meetings. It will
high school cafeteria. She was known to have a positive be very difficult to fill her shoes, especially in the
attitude at work and loved sharing comical stories of sociology classes.
her life with co-workers. Elise is an avid gardener and Jo-Anne was also an active member of the EBEA.
enjoys sharing pictures of her beautiful garden. In Jo-Anne was the "Action Team Co-chair" representing
retirement, Elise is looking forward to spending time EBEA in ensuring a fair and equitable contract was
with her grandchild Hudson in Virginia. Best wishes in reached. More recently, Jo-Anne has served as the
your retirement Elise! PRIDE chairperson. Under Jo-Anne's leadership, the
PRIDE committee evolved serving the needs of the East
Brunswick community. Since Jo-Anne's leadership in
EILEEN BERK: HAMMARSKJOLD FAMILY
2014, the PRIDE committee has sponsored 56 events
CONSUMER SCIENCE TEACHER totaling nearly $150,000 in grant funded community
A farewell note to Eileen. Without you helping me out outreach projects.
those first couple of years in the new Hammarskjold, I
would’ve been lost. I learned more from you than any EBEA President Dana Zimbicki stated, "Jo-Anne has
culinary school could ever teach me. It is my honor to embraced the East Brunswick community, her home
take over your cycle classes and to maintain the town, and ensured the EBEA has been an integral
traditions you have imparted on your students while component of the community. We are more than
teaching them how to cook and sew. teachers and support staff, we are members of the EB
community and Jo-Anne has worked tirelessly to
achieve this goal. Jo-Anne is going to be deeply missed.
JO-ANNE BIJAS: EBHS SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER Jo-Anne and I literally shared a brain for the many
Jo-Anne Bijas is a consummate professional educator. years we worked side by side at Hammarskjold. We
A sociology major in college she achieved her dream of walked arm in arm with each adventure...piloting an
teaching sociology when she left the familiar inclusion special education social studies class,
surroundings of Hammarskjold Middle School for the planning countless trips for 800 seventh graders to
rigors and new challenges in working with older Medieval Times, and even going back to school
students, a new staff, and the opportunity to teach together earning our doctorate degrees. We have
sociology, a popular elective at EBHS in 2008. She always been 'Thelma and Louise'. Thank you, thank
th
jumped right in, working with her colleagues in 10 you, thank you for being my friend, an EBEA leader,
grade world history and especially in sociology. She and a fantastic caring teacher to the nearly 3,500
dedicated her time and energy to assist her students as students you have blessed."
well as continuing to maintain the hands-on sociology Now that she is winding down her influential career,
curriculum. Jo-Anne added a common-sense approach she can look forward to continuing to use her sociology
to many of the sociology projects. She enjoyed the expertise after retiring to South Carolina with the love
creative music and values projects and would spend of her life, Geoff, and enjoying the warm climate and
afternoons during the parent teacher conference week new culture of the south. She will surely have time to
grading the visuals in H-9 before hanging them in the H spend with her four beautiful grandchildren, Corrine,
-Hall for everyone to see. She added a nice touch to Tess, Jackson, and Brody. We wish her well and she will
the always popular weddings in Sociology 1 as well as be missed in the East Brunswick Public Schools.
the Friday meetings with the senior citizens in both
Sociology 1 and 2. Dedicated, responsible, and reliable,
Jo-Anne always arrived at EBHS early in the morning
and she could be seen cutting bagels with the smell of
coffee filling H hall while setting up for senior citizens
on Fridays. Decorating for weddings and planning the
event was always a successful undertaking for Jo-Anne
as well as a memorable learning experience for her
sociology students. Jo-Anne was always respectful and