For the second year in a row, SHR has been named as a "Poetic Achievement Honor School!"

Hundreds of New Jersey schools entered the Creative Communications "Celebration of Today's Writers" Contest; we are thrilled to be one of 41 schools recognized for "excellence in Language Arts programs."

What better way to close out National Poetry Month than to celebrate the beautiful work of South's talented young writers? Their poems are published in an anthology and our school is eligible for a small grant as a result of this award.

Congratulations to our winning poets:
Paige Cornell
Kelly Albanir
Lina Restrepo
Emma Hart
Gillian Carr
Lisha Hoff
Brielle Cameron
Gianna Sabidussi
Devin Conlon
Alex Tucker
Melissa Aversa

South Hunterdon Regional High School is proud to announce the winner of the
McCarter Theatre Youth Ink High School Playwriting Residency Program!

Congratulations to our winner:
Paranoia by Danny Carpenter

Danny’s play will be professionally produced by McCarter Theatre and performed with the winning plays from
the other high schools at the annual Youth Ink Festival.

Runners-up:
Echo by Becca Hendricks
Picture This by Adam Warwinsky

Honorable Mention:
Life is a Gift by Kelly Albanir
Battle of the Ages by Emily Marley
Amend by Emily Murphy

Festival Dates:
June 4-7, 2010
Call or visit McCarter Theatre (www.mccarter.org) for tickets.

Thank you to LAEF for funding this fabulous program for our students!

Mark your calendars for South’s own Ten-Minute Play Festival on June 11 & 12 at 7:00 pm. The following student-written & student-directed plays will be performed: Paranoia by Danny Carpenter; Echo by Becca Hendricks; In the Jungle by Brandon Bacorn; It’s the Real Thing by Ms. Susan Laird, Directed by Brandon Bacorn; Forever by Kelci Dillon.

Spring Musical, Feb. 27-28, 2010 – The 2009-2010 spring musical this year, “Footloose,” was a great success despite inclement weather forcing us into a revised performance schedule!

Many musical enthusiasts have enjoyed the movie Footloose, starring Kevin Bacon. A city boy, Ren McCormick, has to suddenly move to the small town of Bomont where dancing and any other raucous behavior is prohibited by law. When he tries to change opinions in the old fashioned small town, he not only has to convince the town council to go along with his outrageous plan, but his peers as well.

Audience members enjoyed being transformed back to the 80’s. The cast, crew, directors, and volunteer parents of SHRHS all worked together to make the show a terrific success. The dancing, live band, creative set, lighting, and fabulous stage direction all contributed to a powerful and entertaining show!

The SHR Middle School Student Council along with the PTSO hosted the “Let it Snow” Winter Semi-Formal Dance for the middle school students on Friday, December 11, 2009. Students were asked to donate a non-perishable food items in a combined effort by Student Council and REBEL to contribute to local food banks. The dance was full energy as students danced and socialized to the music. Over ninety middle school students were in attendance, everyone looking beautiful and handsome. The event was full of smiles, laughter, dancing, singing, and fun. Thanks to everyone that made this night a success. The next middle school dance is scheduled for February 11th.
Congratulations to the cast and crew of our fabulous fall play, "The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet!" Bright costumes, fast-paced fight scenes, campy kisses, and energetic dances made this show a real hit with our audiences. As usual, the play was extremely student-centered: special kudos to the student mentors and directors, designers and choreographers! Special thanks also to our amazing parent and teacher volunteers. Be sure to see the Play web page for some great pictures!
Having Our Say, McCarter Theatre, Princeton, September 23, 2009 –

“I just started crying…I looked over and everyone in my row was crying...I’m not even sure why; it was just so beautiful.”

“I lost track of the fact that we were in a theater and I really felt like I was in their living room – in their house – and they were talking to me.”

“I absolutely loved it! I learned so much about slavery and segregation…how it hurt whites as well as blacks.”

“Some of the lines and images stayed with me all day and into the night. I couldn’t stop thinking about the play.”

These are just a few student reactions to our recent trip to McCarter to see the revival of Emily Mann’s award-winning play Having Our Say. Over 35 SHR students were able to attend this YouthInk Playwriting Residency kick-off event. After the show, as students engaged in writing and class discussions, it became very clear that we all adored this play and shared a uniquely powerful, profound experience together with the rest of the audience at that performance. We thank LAEF for funding the YouthInk program once again this year…we are certainly off to a great start!
The Bell Jar Projects - Congratulations to Ms. Damron's 10th grade students who presented the annual Bell Jar Project Day (celebrating the prose and poetry of Sylvia Plath and critically examining today's media-produced gender stereotypes). Students were thrilled to be the first to showcase their projects in our new auditorium (the beautiful lobby, big movie screen and speaker system made us look, sound and feel like professionals). This year's group delivered some of the best work ever, including short films, original poetry, innovative dances, and powerful, visually stunning display boards. We were happy to be joined by so many parents this year and to be showered with so much fantastic feedback! What a magnificent way to close out national poetry month.
Night at the Nest, an evening of fun and competition designed to demonstrate school pride, was held on Friday, March 20, 2009 in the HS Gym. Participants were divided into two teams, Blue and Steel, which are our school colors. The teams competed in a variety of relay races and a choreographed dance. The dance was ten minutes long and designed completely by SHR students. The music and the costumes revolve around a theme for the entire night, which for this year, was "Action Heroes". The evening was a lot of fun for everyone involved and really allowed us to showcase our South Hunterdon pride!
Bye Bye Birdie - The 2008-09 high school musical, opened in our brand new theater on February 26 and played through February 28, 2009 to very enthusiastic audiences.  Actually, attendance nearly doubled recent year’s numbers and a good percentage were friends and supporters from our community. 

Birdie’s huge success can be attributed to one thing, “teamwork”.  Consisting of student actors, technicians and stagehands, the adult creative team, South teachers and staff and parent volunteers, the Birdie team collaborated really well.  After many rehearsals, Saturdays spent building, days prowling thrift stores for costumes and props, and hard work “putting it all together,” it delivered a production full to the brim with great fifties music and dancing, rolled jeans, poodle skirts, swinging pony tails, a hip-swiveling Birdie who is an Elvis Presley type personality, dozens of screaming fans, an Ed Sullivan appearance and a bunch of frustrated parents who just can’t understand “Kids” today. 

Bye Bye Birdie is built on the excitement of early rock and roll and no teenager then or now could resist it’s contagious beat.  It certainly hit the right chord with our audiences who continued to rave about us for weeks after. See the Musical Web Page for a few photos and other information.