FBHS: Building human relations and school unity
Borough program
at head of the class
in peer relations
BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY DAVE BENJAMIN The “Hollyrock” game show not only challenged the minds of Freehold Borough High School students, but also their physical agility. Students jumped rope, used hula-hoops, played Simon Says and put numbers in order.

Understanding people and building quality relationships between students are what the human relations program at Freehold Borough High School is all about.

"This high school, [of all] the six [in the Freehold Regional High School District], has the best interstudent relationships," said Nicholas Tabor, co-adviser. "We have a varied population here. But yet, if you were to come in and ask anybody what do you think about that [particular] group, they might look at you and say, ‘What do you mean, what group?’ "

Tabor said that is the positive message, and impact, that the program has had.

"The human relations program is meant to build character education throughout the school by uniting the school in different ways and getting people to meet each other, who may never have met," said Jessica Small, a junior.

Two teams of students compete against each other, and the clock, to answer challenging questions, while hundreds of students in the audience cheer their teams.

"Last year when I was a freshman, I was involved in the activities, and I thought it was pretty good," said Lauren Herstik. "We had a lot of fun with all the activities that they planned for us, and now I want to get involved with actually planning them."

Herstik, who is now on the production team this year, said the program is very well organized.

"We were really effective in getting all the information sent out to the rest of the school," Herstik said. "Everyone knows what’s going on."

The kids really get to know each other, and they get involved with the theme of the day, Herstik said.

Guest speaker Michael Aronin pokes fun at his own disability to teach Freehold Borough High School students to go beyond physical shortcomings.

Looking back at the program last year, Herstik said she was able to meet a lot of juniors and seniors, and it really helped her with her classes because she was able to get help when she needed it.

"I knew people, and it was better overall," she said.

The program, which has spanned more than a dozen years, has helped to resolve problems that once affected the school. That was in the past, Small said.

"Part of our program was centered on that," Small said, "and that really helps people learn different things about each other, things that they may never have known."

This year, the Freehold High School student population is a mixture of 69 percent Caucasian, 11 percent black, 10 percent Hispanic, and 10 percent Asian.

Principal Carol McKee said she has definitely noticed a difference over the past 11 years. There is an increased sense of unity and acceptance of each other among the students and an increase in school spirit, she said.

McKee said that people in the community have actually approached her and complimented what they see.

"What they see is a very positive impact that is coming from the school," McKee said.

The program has been so successful that other schools have come to observe and have used the program as a model for their schools.

Two years ago we got a call from Florida, inquiring about the program, McKee said. Apparently, a former student moved to Florida, and the new school didn’t have such a program. The student wanted to get one started, and the administration was intrigued.

Tammy Lieberman, a junior, explained how the human relations program works.

"A production team member runs the forum, while small-group leaders are responsible for taking a small group of people," said Lieberman. "They guide them throughout the day in certain activities. We provide the activities for them to run and they are actually helpers."

Throughout the morning, students were divided into groups and proceeded, according to a time schedule, to four different activity areas: build your own machine, a small-group activity where students had to build a machine; a game show held in the main gymnasium; hallway door decorating; and a special guest speaker.

Part of school unity involves working together as a community. In the small-group activity, build your own machine, students have created, in the past, different kinds of machines, including copying machines, toasters and cars.

"[Today] we’re building a human machine," said Melissa Giuffre, senior, who gave directions to her group in the media center.

Some students formed the walls of the square elevator, while others criss-crossed hands to become the lift inside the elevator frame. Other students took turns as passengers.

Joanne Egli, co-adviser, said she’s been going around the school and judging the human machine projects.

"It’s fun stuff," said Egli. "We have a car wash, an air conditioner and a washing machine."

In the gymnasium, groups of students challenged each other in the "Hollyrock Entertainment" game show with fast-paced questions and answers.

Aiming to build team unity, the game show is di-vided into two-min-ute question-and-answer sessions with 45-second physical challenges, including: double hula-hooping; skipping rope; Simon Says; a dance contest, and putting seven-digit numbers in order.

Down the hallway and up one flight of steps, students were busy decorating doorways, another project to enhance relationships between group members. The 40-minute project was aimed to raise school spirit, spice up the school, and bring students together as they worked on the project.

"Every room that has a group inside is going to be decorated," said Small. "That’s almost every door in the building."

There are approximately 15 students in each group, and each group is assigned to a particular door. McKee was given the opportunity to judge the decorated doors.

In the auditorium, students met with Michael Aronin, a nationally acclaimed speaker who teaches audiences how to get past personal shortcomings and move forward productively in their careers.

Aronin uses his comedic wit to go beyond his physical challenge, cerebral palsy.

"This 5-year-old kid said [to me,] ‘What happened to you,’ " said Aronin. "This is what happens when you watch too much ‘Barney,’ and then I kicked him."

Aronin told his audience, "I like having fun. I like being a wise guy. Here’s one at the mall. I got in one of these aqua massages. Ten minutes of sheer heaven. While I was in the massage, a line formed. [They] were waiting to use the aqua massage. I got out [flinging my arms unrestrainedly] and screamed, ‘What happened?’ "

The physically challenged comedian said his sense of humor has helped him get through life.

"It is my sense of humor that has helped me to get to where I am today," said Aronin. "I was born this way. I consider myself very lucky, very fortunate. To me this is normal. I have had several friends who have become disabled in accidents, in sports injuries, and they had to learn how to readjust their lives to meet their new disability."

Aronin said he did not have to do that.

"From the very start," he said, "my parents instilled in me a sense of humor, the ability to laugh, the ability to use humor to accept the challenges I face."

There have been challenging and frus­trating times, when he gets angry, he said.

"But using humor has helped me get through," Aronin said.

He said he has also met people with different challenges, who are different on the outside. Using humor lets people know that although he is physically chal­lenged, he is not mentally challenged.

Aronin feels that his presentations benefit those who are disabled, as well as those who are not.