Dear Millburn Families and Staff,
DISTRICT UPDATE - May 16, 2025
Please join us on Monday in person or livestream for the Board's annual Organization meeting. Wyoming School Principal, Kristin Mueller and some Wyoming students will tell us about “Whole School Meetings.” Lead Nurse, Ms. Patricia O’Gorman will present the annual Health and Wellness Report, and Mr. Connolly and I will give an update on our enrollment figures.
As the district is beginning the hiring process for the next Principal of Washington School, they want to hear from parents about what qualities you would like to see in the leader of the 5th Grade school.
Please join Dr. Diskin for a "Fireside Chat" at the Bauer Center on Tuesday, May 20 at 9:30 am.
Please RSVP here to let us know if you plan to attend. If you are unable to attend, you may provide your insights using this form.
🌟 Good News
🌟 First Grade Chess Champ!
Deerfield First Grader, Aadvik Iyer, came in 2nd Place in the National (US) Kindergarten-1st Grade Chess Championship tournament held in Florida from May 9 to 11.
Congratulations to this young man for this incredible achievement in a tournament at the United States/National level with Kindergarten and 1st grade students from all states participating. Aadvik came in 2nd Place with 6.5 points out of 7 (6.5/7). Aadvik proudly displays his medal here:
🌟 Gymnastics Champion
Congratulations to 6th Grader, Dexter Lam, Dexter Lam, who won the Gold Medal in vaulting and is the United States Vault National Champion! After a year of injuries, he was able to compete at the 2025 National Championships in Salt Lake City, his only competition this year. He earned 4 medals in Salt Lake City: Vault, Rings, Parallel Bars and All Around.
🌟 AP Art Library Exhibit
The Millburn Art Advisory Committee is holding its annual Point of Origin show at the Millburn Library. This exhibit honors 12 Millburn High School AP Art students with scholarships and a display of their work at the library. The opening reception takes place on Tuesday, May 20 at 7:30 pm, where they will present the students with their awards. Get more information about the artists and the Committee here.
Congratulations to Ona Munne – 12th Grade, Esther Hong – 12th Grade, Ava Kay – 12th Grade, Eliana Goodman – 12th Grade, Somya Dave – 12th Grade, Obewanna Frimpomaa – 12th Grade, Emma Levine – 11th Grade, Arabella Strike – 11th Grade, Anuska Kadyan – 11th Grade, Raoul Dosanj-Mikkelsen – 11th Grade, Jacob Parker – 11th Grade, Yuvraj Chaudhary – 11th Grade
🌟 Deerfield Art Show
Deerfield School held their annual student Art Show this week, with works of art from all students displayed throughout the hallways. Here is just a sampling of the talent on exhibit.
🌟 Scholar Athletes
Two Millburn High School seniors were honored among the 2025 Essex County Scholar Athletes of the Year this week. Congratulations to Jared Barishaw and Sveva Patel-Jhawar. Every school in the county submits two athletes to recognize their accomplishments on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. Jared plays boys basketball and lacrosse. Sveva plays girls soccer, basketball, and girls flag football.
🌟 Signing Day at Millburn High School
These MHS athletes have committed to play for a college team:
🌟 Leadership Lessons
Millburn High School’s Studio 462 students have been interviewing business leaders and entrepreneurs who have shared their advice for the next generation. Hear from them here!
🌟 Science Stars
Congratulations to Qianheng (Hendry) Xu who won First Place in the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics category at the prestigious International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) today! ISEF is one of the most prestigious high school science fairs in the world. In order to attend, participants must qualify by winning a regional science fair. Over 1,600 participants from all over the world came together this week to present their research. Hendry's research was titled "StutterZero: End-to-end speech conversion to transcribe and correct stutters". This was a big week for Hendry. He also won First Place at the NJ Academy of Sciences symposium last Saturday (see below for all of the NJAS winners!)
🌟 Congratulations also go to the following Millburn High School students for their amazing success at the NJ Academy of Science symposium last Saturday:
Neel Ahuja won First Place in the Animal and Plant Science category for his research project titled “Reducing Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Water Contamination with Mycorrhizal Hydroponics Plants and Constructed Wetlands."
Ishaan Bharadwaj won First Place in the Ecology & Environmental Science category for his research project titled “A Potential Enzymatic Pathway for Polystyrene Degradation Using Saliva of Greater Wax Moth Galleria mellonella.”
Daniel Han won First Place in the Math & Computer Science category for his research project titled “Mathematical Modeling of T-Cell Mediated Oncolytic Virotherapy for Glioblastoma Treatment.”
Ahisha Ravi won First Place in the Psychology & Behavioral Science category for her research project titled “Improving Weight Loss in Young Adults through A Gamified and Intrinsically Motivational Age Tailored Obesity Therapy.”
Paridhi Tyagi and Hendry Xu tied for First Place in the Health & Medicine category. Paridhi’s research project was titled “Investigating the Role of Mutant CHCHD10 in ALS Pathogenesis Through Mouse Models”. Hendry’s research project was titled “StutterZero: End-to-end speech conversion to transcribe and correct stutters.”
Jonah Ladetsky won Third Place in the Health & Medicine category for his research project titled “Hospital Leadership Change and its Impact on Liver Donation Rates”.
All seven students qualified to attend the 2026 National Association of Academies of Science/American Junior Academy of Science Annual Conference in Phoenix next February.
🌟 Upcoming Events
🌟 MHS Band Concert and Senior Tribute
The Millburn High School Bands will present their Spring Concert on Wednesday, May 21 at 7:30 PM in the MHS Auditorium. This festive evening of music will showcase the talents of the Concert Band, Symphonic Band, and Wind Ensemble, performing an exciting and diverse selection of repertoire.
The concert will also include a special tribute honoring graduating senior band members and retiring high school administrators, making it a memorable event you won’t want to miss. Admission is free, and the event is open to the general public.
🌟 Parent Wellness Presentation
Don’t miss Millburn’s Consortium Parent Wellness presentation next Tuesday, May 20, on a very important and timely topic and growing problem among teens. Sports broadcaster Craig Carton will share his gambling addiction story and the impact it can have on those who go down that path.
Strawberry Festival Season Continues - South Mountain's turn is next Wednesday. Enjoy!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Best Regards,
Dr. Kate Diskin
Superintendent