December 21, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 3 Ramsey Smith School educator accepted to national program versity. The Teaching East Asia Consortium is a professional development workshop run through the East Asian Institute at Princeton University. The program meets one Saturday a month from November through May and is open to teachers who incorporate East Asian studies in the classroom. Presently, there are approximately 25 teachers in the seminar from across the state. Most participants are social studies teachers, but there are several language teachers, and art teachers have been included in previous sessions. “The day is broken up into halves,” Kassan explained. “In the morning session, a scholar lectures to us about specific content and how we can incorporate that into our class. So far, a Princeton religious studies professor and a U Penn art history professor have discussed Confucianism and Buddhism and Chinese art, respectively. Other topics include Japanese literature and modern China. In the afternoon, the teachers meet in small clusters to discuss strategies to implement the new content into our courses. In April and May, teachers will be presenting lesson summaries from material based on the seminars. There are travel opportunities, too, to China and Japan, but I will not be eligible for these until next year. This program was brought to my attention by the department head, Mrs. Stacie Poelstra.” Kassan is now in his sixth year in Ramsey, and this is his fifth year teaching world cultures to eighth grade students. He previously taught American History to sixth grade students and small group language arts classes to sixth and eighth graders. In addition to his social studies certification, Kassan is qualified to teach middle school language arts and K-5. Kassan is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park where he double majored in history and secondary social studies education. He recently presented his master’s thesis on Machiavelli’s Discourse on Livy at Ramapo College, where he concluded his graduate work. “At the moment, I am not enrolled in any courses, but I may resume my education in the fall,” he added. Kassan was recently named a Gilder Lehrman Summer Fellow which allowed him to attend lectures on various Cold War topics by distinguished American historian Alan Brinkley. He has also helped co-write two textbook manuscripts that may become social studies books for middle school level readers. Michael Kassan Michael Kassan, a world cultures teacher at Ramsey’s Smith School, was recently accepted to the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia Program at Princeton Uni- The Ramsey Junior Woman’s Club is seeking donations for its annual Holiday Giving Tree. The club asks area residents to select a gift tag from the tree located at the Ramsey Library and help make the holidays a little happier for a fellow Ramsey resident. The tree is decorated with hand- and heart-shaped ornaments made by the Ramsey Giving Tree set up at public library Juniors, capturing the spirit of the Juniors’ motto: “With hearts and hands we serve.” Gifts should be wrapped with the tag attached and returned to the library by Dec. 20. The library is located at 30 Wyckoff Avenue.