Hello everyone, my name is Chris Tricoles, "Mr. T" and I am happy to be a part of the Saint Ann School community to teach science to grades 5-8. This is my 1st year teaching at SAS and my 1st year teaching in a classroom environment. I received an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from Nassau Community College in Garden City, NY and a Bachelors in Science from St. John's University in Jamaica, NY. Even though it is my 1st year in my own classroom, I am not a stranger to a teaching environment. Previously, I have been a variety of roles in education. First, I started as a lunchroom/playground aide in special education at the Samsel Upper Elementary School in Sayreville, NJ. Next followed becoming a substitute teacher for the Sayreville Board of Education and assumed that role at the Sayreville Middle School and Assumption Catholic School in Perth Amboy, NJ. I was introduced to being an educator when assuming the role of a interim physical education teacher at John Adams Elementary School in North Brunswick Township, NJ and the following year became a Paraprofessional/co-teacher at North Brunswick Township High School assisitng a student on a 1:1 basis while attending general education classes. Also assumed the role as a assistant coach on the "Raider Robotix" team as well. In the prior 3 summers, I have been a Nature/Survival Skills specialist at Eagles Landing Day Camp, also located in North Brunswick, NJ instructing children from ages 2-15. The professional experience I have gained is in multiple areas such as , Military, Law Enforcement, Banking and Retail Sales Management. I have been very involved in many areas of various communities being a Scout Leader and Merit Badge Counselor for Scouting BSA, working with the Girl Scouts, being involved in he past as a member of the Holy Name Society, affiliated with the St. Stanislaus Kostka RC Church and being the Corresponding Secretary for the "HSA", Home School Association for the St. Stanislaus Kostka School in Sayreville, NJ. I have a passion for Science as well as History and hope to share my love for problem-solving and exploring the unknown with my students. I look forward to an amazing year with all the students, faculty and staff and hope to create new and everlasting memories in the upcoming school year and years to come.

On April 12, our 7th graders helped put our rainbow trout into portable aerating tanks so they could release them into Mingamahone Brook in Allaire State Park. We counted 159 trout! See link for pictures.

9 students at Saint Ann School submitted science fair projects to the Mercer Science and Engineering Fair. 7 students won awards! Click on this news write-up for the full list of awards.

Students spent club time creating a maze on Makers Empire, which was then 3D printed, joined with other mazes to form one large maze such that a metal sphere ball could roll through the mazes!

After three months of preparation, the Science Fair is finally here! Students in grades 4-8 create a science experiment, write a laboratory report, create a trifold poster of the experiment, and present it to their classes. This counts as a test grade for the second trimester. Students are also encouraged (but not required) to submit their projects to the Mercer County Science Fair in March.

Take a close-up look at our rainbow trout! https://youtu.be/XB-Lp65FQM0

This month, Mrs. Daniel began running an afterschool club for students interested in learning about 3D Printing software, how a 3D Printer works, and how to use a 3D Printer. Check out the "glimpse" video! URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9UAdIcTgZo

During Computer Science Education Week, students completed Hour of Code on code.org in their science classes along with students all over the world! Our 6th graders even met with their prayer buddies to teach our 3rd graders how to code using block-based coding. They used code.org's Dance Party Hour of Code to create a dance character and to program that character to dance along to a song of their choosing. Fun was had by all! Link: https://saintannschool.org/news/hour-of-code

Students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade science created a program on Scratch MIT to either give a lesson or review quiz of vocabulary from their unit in science. Click on this story to get the links!

Since so many trout had already jumped over the top of the basket, I figured it was time to release the healthy ones to the tank, and leave the less healthy fish in the basket. Since the healthier fish were beginning to nip at other fish, I wanted to separate them so the less healthy fish have a fighting chance at survival.

Some of the trout jumped over the top of the basket into the rest of the tank. Check out the video of the fish tank from 11/25/18! https://youtu.be/V6faqWp6ZyM

Mrs. Daniel attended Administrators' Day on October 25, 2018, when she was able to discover a variety of facilities that Mercer County has to offer. Check out the link!

Okay, maybe not literally, but here is a video compilation Mrs. Daniel created showing that some of the fungal-infected eggs that were removed ended up hatching into alevins that were still alive! https://youtu.be/qWP8AobINuM

The Rainbow Trout eggs arrived on Wednesday, October 10, 2018. https://stannscience.weebly.com/2018-2019-trout-in-the-classroom/the-trout-are-here

Saint Ann School will receive our rainbow trout eggs on October 10, 2018.

On Saturday, Ms. Shields and Mrs. Daniel went to the Poricy Brook Fossil Beds to search for fossils from the Cretaceous period. Check out their pictures!