Fifth graders are smarter and in early April everyone had fun proving it. Students on teams from Cranford and Garwood helped their parents answer questions on science, math, geography, and other topics at the “RU Smarter Than A Fifth Grader” event held at Orange Avenue School. This was the seventh year that the Rotary Club of Cranford sponsored the tournament, and the fourth year that Bernie Wagenblast served as MC.
Parents, friends, and Rotary members filled the auditorium and cheered on their favorite students. People in the audience wore their school colors and waved signs for the Orange Team from Orange Avenue School, the Red Team from Livingston Avenue School, the Yellow Team from Hillside Avenue School, the Green Team from Brookside Place School, the Blue Team from Lincoln/Franklin School in Garwood, and the Violet Team from St Michael’s.
Joe Carney, Chair of the event for Cranford Rotary said “This event gets better every year. The kids are excited and we have more fun. Students had gone through a preliminary round of testing in order to advance to the finals. Each school had a parent representative answering the questions with the aid of the student participants, just like the TV program. Everyone was a winner.
The Rotary Club of Cranford was established in 1923 and serves the Cranford community through service projects, sponsorships and scholarships. Close to $250,000 in scholarship funds have been awarded over the last twenty years.
Past beneficiaries of other Rotary support include Cranford Family Care, Cranford United Way, Cranford Historical Society, Cranford PAL, the Cerebral Palsy League and the Rotary International Foundation. The Cranford Rotary Club meets every Thursday morning at 7:45 at the Cranford Community Center. Any business or professional person, active or retired, is cordially invited to attend meetings. For additional information, please contact Membership Chair Rich Feder at 908- 500-4318.
(above) Contestants included Zack Szekeres, Julia Chen, Garret Hanlon, Grace Donnelly, and Mrs. Lisa and Mr. Chris Szekeres from Brookside Place; Finnegan Sezer, Luke Marmarou, Sam Tallon, Kori Burns, and Mrs. Shannon Tallon from Livingston Avenue; Cole Golding, Owen Usinowicz, Maggie O’Connell, Michael DiFulco, and Mr. Tom Usinowicz, Mr. Ed O’Connell, and Mrs. Denise DiFulco from Orange Avenue; Eva Salvatore, Thomas Pereira, Lily Young, and Mr. Brad Young from Hillside Avenue; Mackenzie Cruz, Carina Hechevarria, Catherine Dustin, Ethan
Groning, and Mr. Bill Kolfenbach from Garwood; and Christopher Cowell, Simon DelGuercio, Nicholas De La Prida, Ben Tipton, and Mrs. Tresha Cowell from St Michael’s.
