Classroom Close-up NJ is a half-hour television program that features innovative projects in New Jersey public schools. The 16-time Emmy® award-winning show is in its 23rd season and airs on NJTV every Sunday at 7:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The show is the only television program in the country devoted to featuring the positive things happening in public schools. Here you can watch and download current shows, search for stories that have aired the past two decades, become a fan, view the photo gallery, and check out the schedule and monthly guide.
Segment A:
STEM Capstone - Students at the Marine Academy of Science and Technology (MAST) integrate STEM into realistic projects by working with clients and mentors on complicated projects. The Systems Engineering II Capstone projects range from shark tank vacuum systems to footwear for crew racers. The students work directly with clients to create products - from architecture and interior design to stuffed animals for children with Autism.
Segment B:
Life Skills Beyond the Classroom - Special education students from Pennsauken High School volunteer to work at Habitat for Humanity as part of a Hipp Grant focused on life-skills training and career readiness. The students learn about community service by offering their services for the greater good.
Segment C:
Our Sustainable Selves - Pine Hill Middle School teachers are capturing student interest in alternative forms of gardening through the study of aquaponics. Students are learning the importance of alternative farming methods to create a self-sustaining home, of eating and preparing healthy foods, and of successful ways to run a business.
The aquaponics project is located in Amanda Thistle-Natalie’s classroom. The classes learn the difference between heterotrophic and autotrophic organisms. They also learn about nutrient cycling, and they measure levels of plant growth, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
Segment D:
Project Ghana - Asbury Park seventh graders exchange ideas, culture and history with students from Ghana. Dr. Martin Luther King teacher David Wronko runs Project Ghana which involves weekly video-conferencing between the two schools. The students demonstrate for each other lessons on math, science and art. The exchange gives students from both countries an opportunity to share their differences, but more importantly, their similarities.
Visit classroomclosup.org for more info.