Lakeland Regional High School celebrated Bring Your Child to Work Day on April 25, 2024 with over 30 staff members and 50 children participating in the fun day’s events. 

In order to create an environment that is fun for all involved and still is productive for LRHS students, Bring Your Child to Work Day organizer, science teacher Heather Visser, looks for volunteers to run events based on their subject area, club, or parenting expertise. Among the many fun activities like candy bingo, karaoke, and charades, business teacher, Ms. Jessica Geyer, ran an event on learning about money; journalism teacher, Ms. Kali Spoelstra, had her journalism class work with the kids to conduct interviews of the event… for this article; physical education teachers, Ms. Erin Zarubnicky and Ms. Nicole DeCarlo, hosted a kickball on the field; technology teacher, Mr. Randy Coren, and the robotics team showed off their robot – and even let students control it; and family and consumer science teacher, Ms. Laurie Landy Lynch, along with student volunteers, taught about the fruit they used to make fruit kabobs with the kids.

The Lancer Ledger got the opportunity to interview some of the children who attended LRHS’ Bring Your Children to Work Day.

Children were able to express what they were most excited for when they came to LRHS. Ella Roush, daughter of Melissa Roush, English teacher, told the Ledger that her favorite part of the day will be going to Mr. Testas room to play on the clarinet . Aliza and Keira Grimes, daughters of Mr. Bill Grimes, head of LRHS’ maintenance staff, told the Ledger that they were looking forward to the food and candy the most. Veyda Cawley, daughter of English teacher, Ms. Jamie Cawley, said that she was looking forward to meeting the 3-legged dog service dog, brought by special education teacher Ms. Karen McCormack, while Lia Costagliola, daughter of speech therapist Ms. Amanda Costagliola, said she was looking forward to playing the game Apples to Apples with her mom. Genevieve Conforti, daughter of history teacher Mr. Damiano Conforti, told the Ledger that her favorite thing is getting the opportunity to coach track as well as being able to get to know her dad’s students. 

Evan Matlosz, son of school counselor Ms. Diana Matlosz, told the Ledger that he is happy to be with his mom because “my mom won a very big award.” Ms. Matlosz is LRHS’ well-deserved Education Support Professional of the Year. Lia was excited to be here with her mom because she has an “awesome job!”

When interviewed, children were asked to include at least one fun fact about themselves. Evan told the Ledger that he loved sharks. Aliza and Keira said that they were twins and that they had a bunny. Ella said that her and her mom have the same eye color. Regan Geyer, daughter of Jessica Geyer, business teacher, said that her hair is blonde. 

LRHS Students Celebrate with Their Parents

Not only did Lakeland welcome the children of faculty and staff, but a record number of the student body traveled to their own parent or guardian’s workplace. Writers for the Ledger, freshmen Gabriella Cusmano and Ava Radice, as well as seniors Allison Doran and Christiana Ranft, recall their time spent with their parents on Bring Your Child to Work Day.

Gabriella Cusmano

On Bring Your Child to Work Day, I went to work with my mom, Senior Director of Service for Patek Philippe, located in New York City. During our day together, I was able to attend meetings with her, observe her shipment orders, talk to her employees, and explore the city outside of her office. In going to work with my mom, I was able to see how she manages not only her office and the people within it, but also how she tackles the many problems facing her throughout the day. I have only attended this event once before, so I was happy to refresh my memory as to how my mom functions throughout her everyday life. Although there were no activities offered to the kids in the building, it was still fun to meet and interact with the many employees at my mom’s workplace. After attending Bring Your Child to Work Day, my mom left me with a number of valuable lessons to hold on to, and I am thankful to have spent the day with her. 

Allison Doran

For Bring Your Child to Work Day, I joined my father, a U.S. History teacher, at Morris County School of Technology. During this time I was able to spend valuable time with my dad during my last year of high school, as well as gain insight into how he teaches. It is always interesting to see another school, and now as a high school student myself, I can see the school from a different perspective. One of my favorite places to visit at Morris County School of Technology is the Veterinarian Lab, which was opened up for the children of teachers to be able to visit. There they can learn about animals, and even get the chance to pet, hold, or play with them. One of the coolest animals I got the opportunity to hold was an African Hissing Cockroach, which was an interesting experience, and one that I will remember fondly. 

Ava Radice

During Bring Your Child to Work Day, I was able to go to work with my mom. My mom is a real estate agent for Keller Williams Prosperity. It was interesting to see how much work goes into being a realtor just with paperwork alone, and how hard my mom works each day. Real estate is mainly about making relationships and connecting with clients. It’s important to know that as a real estate agent, having a bond with a client is an essential thing when it comes to doing business with them. Agents do not get paid a salary like most jobs; they get paid commission. Commission is where they get only a percent of the price of the sale they made. Making money as a realtor has to come by how much and when you are selling. Knowing this helps me to realize how hard my mom works to provide for five children, and her always making sure we have what we need. In the end, traveling to work with my mom didn’t only teach me about real estate, it really helped me with valuable lessons and helped me have even more appreciation for my mom.

Christiana Ranft

For Bring Your Child to Work Day, I went to work with my mom, a kindergarten teacher in the Rockaway Township school district. During our day together, I was able to help teach the class, attend their specials, read stories, and play with the kids during recess. I was able to see first hand the amount of work my mom puts into her job, as well as the amount of patience it takes to teach five and six year olds learning to read, write, communicate, and share. I’ve attended this event with my mom each year since I was old enough to attend, and I was happy to be able to go once more before I graduate. I learned a lot from my time with my mom at  work, and I am grateful for the experience. 

Kid Journalist Take Over the Ledger

Robyn Mulhern interviewed her dad, school counselor Mr. Brian Mulhern. When asked about what he was most looking forward to he said, “Seeing you having fun.” Robyn would then ask why do you like being a school counselor, with Mr. Mulhern responded, “Because I like helping people.” Mr. Mulhern also shared a fact about himself, which was that he loves going to Mets and Giants games. Lastly, Robyn would ask what Mr. Mulhern’s job was, with him responding, “I help people with what they’re going to do after high school.”

Ella Roush interviewed her mom, English teacher Ms. Melissa Roush. When asked about what Ms. Roush was looking forward to most today, she said that she was looking forward to “seeing how Tori [Ms. Roush’s younger daughter] reacts to my 4th block class.” For the record, Ms. Roush stated Tori did a great job helping keep the students focused. Ms. Roush would also say, after being asked what she liked most about being a teacher, “I like meeting new people and learning new things every day.” Ms. Roush told Ella that her favorite animal is a giraffe. When given the choice to ask her own question to her mom, Ella asked how long Ms. Roush has been teaching and how many schools have you taught at. Ms. Rouch said that she has been teaching for 25 years and that she has taught at “Ewing, South Brunswick, Clifton and Lakeland.”

Angelica Conforti interviewed her father, history teacher and Dean of Students Mr. Damiano Conforti. She created her own questions and took a unique approach. When asked if junior Bethany Lamberti, Lancer Ledger staff writer and family friend, was his favorite student, he replied, “She was.” Mr. Conforti shared that he’s a history teacher because he “loves it” and does lunch duty in order to “supervise the lunch and watch over the campus.” Angelica concluded with an important question asking her dad for Starbucks at the end of the day. Mr. Conforti answered simply by saying, “Maybe.”

Ms. Amanda Costagliola, a speech therapist here at Lakeland, was interviewed by her daughter, Emma Costagliola. When Emma asked her Mom what she was looking forward to the most today, Ms. Costagliola had the same sentiment of her daughter Lia, stating that she looked forward to playing Apples to Apples. When Emma asked her Mom why she liked being a speech teacher, Mrs. Costagliola said, “We have so much fun learning to communicate.” When asked the final question, being one fun fact about herself, Mrs. Costagliola said that she loved animals. 

Our youngest journalist for the day, Michael Fucilli, interviewed his mother, English teacher Ms. Laura Fucilli. Ms. Fucilli shared how she’s looking most forward to bringing her son to lunch. In regards to her favorite part of being a teacher, she said, “I love being able to share knowledge with my students and hearing them share thoughts on literature I love.” Lastly, a fun fact about Ms. Fucilli is how she’s a big Yankee fan and loves baseball. 

Everly Spoelstra and Evan Matlosz got out in the field to not interview their moms, but other LRHS staff members. 

Everly interviewed English teacher Ms. Jamie Cawley. Ms. Cawley said she’s looking most forward to “spending the day with my kids.” When asked about her favorite part of being a teacher, Ms. Cawley said, “I love books and kids.” A fun fact she shared is how she enjoys making pinatas. 

When asked who he wanted to interview, with no hesitation Evan said he wanted to interview Mr. Keith Kelley, LRHS’ senior options coordinator. Evan first asked Mr. Kelley what he was looking forward to most on that day, in which Mr. Kelley responded with “I’m looking forward to lunch.” When asked by Evan why he liked working in Lakeland, Mr. Kelley said that he liked “talking to the kids and helping them better themselves.” When Evan asked Mr. Kelley to say one fun fact about himself, he said that he is “a part owner of the Green Bay Packers.” Instead of finishing there, Evan followed up the previous question by asking Mr Kelley why he was a Packers fan, in which he responded by saying his dad told him when he was little that he had to be a Green Bay Packers fan.