CHICAGO, IL – Hazel Technologies, Inc., developer of USDA-funded AgTech products that protect and extend produce quality, announces a successful trial with New York-based fresh fruit importer, Jac. Vandenberg on Chilean table grape imports, post-arrival.

In the trial, personnel at Jac. Vandenberg’s New Jersey Import Operations Department received two groups of Thompson seedless grapes that were packed in Chile on April 13th and arrived in the States 57 and 61 days later. Upon arrival, Vandenberg’s team applied Hazel Tech’s flagship technology, Hazel 100™, into each box of grapes. At the conclusion of the trial, Vandenberg saw higher quality in the grapes protected by Hazel 100 for two to three weeks after arrival, noting significantly greener stems, which Vandenberg attributes to seeing less shatter, in the Hazel 100-protected fruit.

As a distributor of fresh fruit imports with 75+ years of experience, Jac. Vandenberg receives approximately 12 million boxes of premium fresh produce each year from over ten countries. They predominately import fruits from South American countries, like Chile, and work with European and African markets, as well. The company then distributes to supermarkets and wholesalers across the continental U.S. and Canada. Their commodities include a wide array of fruits including, but not limited to, cherries, citrus, and table grapes.

While the United States accounts for 48.5% of Chilean table grape exports, according to the USDA, U.S. imports of Chilean grapes were down 7% in May of 2022, compared to the previous year. The decrease in arrivals is due to logistical delays and increased freight costs in South America, created by the residual supply chain issues from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Thompsons are a very complex and very popular variety of table grape worldwide,” said John Paap, Brand Manager at Jac. Vandenberg, “Seeing the noticeably greener stems in the grapes protected by Hazel 100, even after their extended amount of time on the water before treatment, is very exciting. Being able to get an additional few weeks out of these table grapes is something we could only hope for as an importer. With Hazel 100, it’s possible.”

“Hazel 100™ is predominately used by growers, packers, and shippers, but this trial has shown us that Hazel 100 sachets can provide additional shelf-life when applied at any point of the supply chain,” said Nicolas Tomicic, Business Development Manager-AgTech at Hazel Technologies, “Seeing the greener stems on the Thompsons treated by Jac. Vanderburg was truly rewarding and opens up a lot of new opportunities for table grape importers into the United States.”

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About Hazel Technologies, Inc.:

Hazel Technologies, Inc. is a USDA-funded startup company that develops new solutions to extend the quality shelf life of fresh produce and reduce food waste. Founded in 2015, Hazel Tech services over 300 of the world’s largest fresh produce packers, shippers, and retailers. Selected as a Finalist for Fast Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas and winner of “Best Sustainable Packaging” at the 2020 World Food Innovation Awards, the company’s patented and patent-pending technologies have been tested by top academic research programs.

For more information, visit www.hazeltechnologies.com.

About Jac. Vandenberg:

As a family business with over 75 years of experience, Jac. Vandenberg understands the importance of good customer and shipper relations in order to provide the best possible service to both. Jac. Vandenberg maintains the tightest possible levels of control over their supply chain to ensure their fruit reaches the hands of their customers at the freshest condition. They understand that each of their customers has different needs, and they do their best to fulfill them.

For more information, visit www.jacvandenberg.com.

PISCATAWAY, NJ – Students at the Children’s Corner Preschool by the River were treated to Valentine’s Day themed lessons in STEM on Wednesday, where volunteers from Johnson & Johnson and the United Way introduced them to some basic concepts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

The volunteers went classroom to classroom, conducting experiments with heart shaped candies and bowls of water, having the 3- and 4-year old Pre-K students fill little boats with the candy to see how many it would take to sink.

The students also noticed what else happened when the variously colored candies fell into the water.

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“The water turned green and the heart turned pink,” said one girl with excitement.

“We were working with June Launay with the United Way who was able to link us up with Johnson & Johnson who really wants to push STEM projects in the schools,” said program coordinator, Harry Vanderburg, the Piscataway School District’s Community and Parent Involvement Specialist (CPIS).

“The earlier we get this sort of education to the children the greater the likelihood of their succeeding later on is going to be,” said Vanderburg who wants to bring in more community stakeholders to enhance the curriculum already being taught.

“The United Way has a focus on early childhood development, particularly quality Pre-K programs,” said June Launay of the United Way of Central Jersey.

“We do have preschool activities in other districts and this is our opportunity to work with Piscataway and expand into their new, expanded preschool program,” said Launay. “We have worked with older grades in the district over the years, but this is our first time focusing just on preschool and coming in with STEM projects.”

She said they had a fantastic day working with the Children’s Corner during the program.

“It’s been a great school, they’re very easy to work with,” said Launay. “They’re very welcoming to our volunteers who are having a great time as well.”

Vanderburg and Launay hope to expand the program to include the Children’s Corner’s location by the pond and to the district’s various satellite Pre-K classrooms.

“We’re going to be doing additional activities with this school,” said Launay. “I have a women’s Pre-K STEM committee that is looking to expand into more districts. They’re currently working in Jamesburg and this gives us an additional location where they can bring their Pre-K STEM projects to the school. It’s a way of supplementing what the teacher’s doing in the classroom and enhancing learning because it’s never too early for kids to learn STEM.”

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JAMESBURG – John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Jamesburg hosted a community-oriented event on April 2 to jumpstart the “Week of the Young Child.” The celebratory program, which celebrates early education, educators, children, and family, is an initiative from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

The activity-filled day featured fun for attendees and important information about schooling for families in Jamesburg.

Hosted at JFK’s playground and field, young visitors were welcomed with bouncy houses, pony rides, petting zoos, face paintings and free hot dogs.

For parents and guardians, the event featured a variety of organizations that connected with local families to provide information and resources on health care, nutrition, and food security.

Jennifer Vanderburg, the Early Childhood Coordinator at JFK, explained that besides having fun, the purpose of the event was to inform working families about their free preschool program. According to Vanderburg, the New Jersey Department of Education provided JFK Elementary with a preschool expansion grant that enables families to enroll at no cost.

“We have expanded our school to include public preschool for our community of working families through the NJ Department of Education Preschool Expansion Grant. Currently, we serve approximately 100 three- and four-year-olds in eight classrooms. Our program offers a high quality, full day program at no charge to the working families in our community.

“We have eight classrooms, with capacity for up to 120 children ages three and four. As Jamesburg is a small community, we are able to offer this program to all interested with no wait list.

“We implement all the elements of a high-quality program, as deemed by the state of New Jersey,” she said.

Overall, Vanderburg said the event served as an opportunity to provide assistance and connect with local families.

“We are a community school and collaborate with our families to ensure we meet their needs. We work to offer parent workshops as well as partner with local agencies to try to connect families to resources requested,” she said.

From April 4–8, JFK Elementary continued to celebrate the “Week of the Young Child” by hosting daily in-school activities for students. Music Monday was rescheduled for April 14, Tasty Tuesday was April 5, Work Together Wednesday was April 6, Artsy Thursday was April 7, and Family Friday was April 8.

Registration is now open for the 2022-2023 school year. Interested families can contact John F. Kennedy Elementary School by visiting https://jfk.jamesburg.org/

JACKSON – Testimony regarding an applicant’s plan to construct three private schools on a 13.5-acre tract on Leesville Road is expected to continue on May 16 before the Jackson Planning Board.

The applicant, Lees Village, LLC, is proposing to build two two-story elementary schools and one two-story high school at 31 Leesville Road in a Neighborhood Commercial zone. Lees Village, LLC, is seeking preliminary and final major site plan approval from the board.

Initial testimony regarding the application was presented during a meeting in November and continued before the Planning Board on April 4.

Board Chairman Robert Hudak, Vice Chairman Leonard Haring Jr. and board members Michele Campbell, Jeff Riker, Jackson Business Administrator Terence Wall, Township Councilman Martin Flemming, Joseph Riccardi, Timothy Dolan, Mordechai Burnstein, Tzvi Herman and Noah Canderozzi listened to testimony presented by representatives of the applicant and comments from members of the public for more than three hours.

The board’s professionals, attorney Sean Gertner, engineer Doug Klee and planner Ernie Peters, asked questions of the applicant at various points during the public hearing at the Jackson municipal building.

The applicant is represented by attorney Donna Jennings. Planner Ian Borden, traffic engineer John Rea, and Mordechai Eichorn, the managing member of Lees Village, LLC, presented information regarding the application during the meeting.

Jennings has previously said the application does not require any variances from the municipal code.

Borden reiterated his previous testimony during which he said the applicant is proposing to construct three private schools: two elementary schools each with a maximum capacity of 600 students, and a high school with a maximum capacity of 255 students.

Eichorn testified that Lees Village, LLC, is a for-profit business venture that will own the buildings and seek tenants to lease the space. He said the tenants could be for-profit schools or nonprofit schools.

Each school will educate boys or girls, but the buildings will not be co-educational. Because no tenants have been signed, Eichorn could not specify how the schools would be occupied.

Depending on the tenants, the schools could operate for the entire year. A boys high school would be closed for three weeks in the late summer, Eichorn said.

Regarding the proposed development, Eichorn said, “There is a demand for a girls elementary school and a demand for a girls high school. There is a demand for a boys elementary school and for a boys high school. (Who the tenants are) comes down to who would pay the most money.”

Borden has acknowledged there are public schools across the road; the Switlik School on West Veterans Highway and Jackson Memorial High School on Don Connor Boulevard, both of which have bus traffic. He testified that the three private schools would have staggered start and end times.

The school times Borden provided on April 4 have been revised from the times he presented during the initial hearing in November.

Under the current proposal, pupils in kindergarten through fifth grade would attend school from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pupils in grades six through eight would attend school from 7:40 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.

Students in grades nine and 10 would attend school from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Students in grades 11 and 12 would attend school from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Meals for the students would be delivered to the schools on a daily basis, Borden said.

Dolan called the 14-hour schedule for students in the 11th and 12th grades “a tough day,” to which Jennings responded, “The parents are well aware of what the times are. They want their children in school.”

Borden testified that the schools will not have showers, that the gymnasiums will not have bleachers, that no rental of the schools by outside groups would be permitted and that no public performances will be offered in the buildings.

An access drive from Leesville Road into the property is proposed, in addition to interior loop roads. An emergency access road to and from Leesville Road is also proposed.

The applicant has designed the site with separate areas where buses will drop off children and where parents who drive their children to school will drop them off, according to the testimony.

Riker expressed concern there could be conflicts regarding children walking from the area where they have been dropped off by their parents across the lane that has been designated for school buses.

The applicant’s representatives estimated that about 5% of the children who attend each school could be dropped off at their school each day (i.e., 30 children dropped off at each of the two elementary schools and 13 children dropped off at the high school).

“I’m not well-subscribed that one entrance is enough to get people in and out” of the site, Riker said.

The intersection of Leesville Road and Veterans Highway was a source of concern for the board members.

Rea previously testified that at the driveway to the school site on Leesville Road, the applicant will require a southbound left turn lane for Leesville Road traffic turning left into the site, and a northbound right turn lane for traffic turning right coming up from the signal by the Quick Check at Don Connor Boulevard.

“We are going to need to widen Leesville Road to provide the separate left and right turn lanes to get into our property, and to have traffic discharge from our property safely and efficiently,” Rea testified in November.

At that time, he said improvements will also be required at a traffic signal at Veterans Highway.

During his testimony on April 4, Rea reiterated the applicant’s plan to make the road improvements.

The applicant is proposing the additional improvement of a northbound right turn lane on Don Connor Boulevard for traffic heading north, coming from Jackson Memorial High School, and heading east on Veterans Highway.

Hudak opened the hearing to public comment shortly after 10 p.m. None of the residents who commented on or asked questions about the application – several of whom identified themselves as educators – objected to having additional schools in Jackson.

Some residents who spoke questioned and/or objected to the proposed location of three schools on Leesville Road, which they said is a busy street.

Regarding the impact on Leesville Road, Susan Cooper said, “This is going to be insane. It’s going to be absolute chaos. We (people living off Leesville Road) are not going to be able to get out of our streets. This (application) is going to adversely affect the residents of Leesville Road and surrounding areas. This (proposal) does not belong on a residential street.”

Dawn Slay said, “All children deserve an education (but) I am voicing strong opposition to the location of these schools. Please take the residents who live on Leesville Road into consideration.”

Maria Amador expressed concern about noise from buses that would be transporting the high school students home when their school day ends at 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

No decision on the Lees Village application was reached by the board members on April 4. The application was carried to the Planning Board meeting scheduled for May 16.

MARLBORO – An application that proposed the construction of a two-story, 39,459-square-foot warehouse and HVAC manufacturing center on Boundary Road has been approved by the members of the Marlboro Planning Board.

The application submitted by SRS Enterprises was approved following testimony during a meeting on Sept. 16. The applicant was represented by attorney Salvatore Alfieri, of the firm Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs, Matawan.

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SRS Enterprises is a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) manufacturing company.

The site where the structure was proposed is a 10-acre property on the west side of Boundary Road, north of Vanderburg Road. The site previously contained a privately run swim club.

A portion of Big Brook and a tributary border the parcel along the northern and southern property lines and the site is encumbered by wetlands, according to information presented to the board.

The application submitted by SRS Enterprises proposed three possible phases of construction:

• Phase one proposed the construction of a two-story, 39,459-square-foot warehouse/manufacturing facility and office building. The building would contain 7,148 square feet designated as manufacturing space, 12,558 square feet designated as office space and 19,445 square feet designated as warehouse space. Access was proposed from Boundary Road. Parking spaces for 80 vehicles five loading spaces were provided on the north side of the site;

• Phase two proposed the construction of a one-story future building addition of 26,172 square feet, consisting of 6,543 square feet of manufacturing space and 19,629 square feet of warehouse space;

• Phase three allows the applicant to convert 6,595 square feet of phase two into office space and to provide an additional 20 parking spaces.

Robert Senia, a principal of SRS Enterprises, said the business would have 35 employees (eight factory employees, 10 warehouse employees and 17 sales employees). Hours of operation at the site would be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday, and occasionally on weekends.

Engineer Greg Redington, president of REDCOM Design and Construction LLC, Westfield, said phase two and phase three of the application were separated from one another as future work because it was not known at this time which portion of the plan the business may need first at a future date.

Following the conclusion of testimony, a motion was made to approve the SRS Enterprises application.

Board Chairman Mark Barenburg, Vice Chairman Andrew Pargament and board members Michael Adler, Neil Betoff, Lynn Franco, David Gagliano, Rohit Gupta, Andrew Kessler and Michael Slotopolsky voted “yes” on the motion.

Anachronistic by Caleb Su, one of our top 11 winners.

Do you have three minutes to learn 11 new words?

If so, we’re offering an especially entertaining way to do it. Take a look above, and below, at the work of the 11 winners from our , in which students were challenged to define one of our Words of the Day within 15 seconds.

Thank you to the more than 1,300 students who participated, as well as to the teachers who devoted class time to the project. Scroll beyond the winning videos to see our 14 runners-up and 27 honorable mentions. As always, we chose finalists based on the originality of their video, as well as on how well each showed an understanding of the word and its use in a specific context.

For more vocabulary fun, check out our YouTube channel, which has a playlist of dozens of vocabulary video winners from over the years.

And if you enjoyed this challenge, join us for our Student Podcast Contest, happening now, and our Summer Reading Contest, which begins June 9.

(Note to students: We have published the full names of those finalists from whom we have received permission. If you would like yours published, please write to us at LNFeedback@nytimes.com.)

Winners

acclimate by Alex Lee, 16, Bergen County Academies, Hackensack, N.J.

slapdash by Elliott Stone, 13, and Ms. Marx’s Writing Class, The Center School, New York, N.Y.

Runners-Up

acquiesce by Renee Ma, 14, and Evelina VanderBurg, 13, Wilmette Junior High School, Wilmette, Ill.

fickle by Morgan Righini, 13, and Christianna Wiechert, 13, Oyster River Middle School, Durham, N.H.

flounder by Clarity Kapur, 13, Julia R. Masterman School, Philadelphia

gewgaw by Annabel Kim, 14, and Katelyn Fang, 14, Wilmette Junior High School, Wilmette, Ill.

gingerly by Chuyan Zhang, 15, Cranbrook Schools, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

hallucination by Patrick Connelly, 17, Westwood High School, Westwood, Mass.

levitate by Ethan Stein, 17, Ava Handler, 16, and Hannah Fertig, 16, Glen Ridge High School, Glen Ridge, N.J.

livid by Sydney Langell, 15, Aurora High School, Aurora, Ohio

malodorous by Faye Tang, 14, Fort Settlement Middle School, and Olivia Xu, 14, Sartartia Middle School, Sugar Land, Texas

metamorphosis by Hayeon Kwak, 16, Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan, Old Tappan, N.J.

omnipresent by Kayla Ritchie, 14, and Reana, Wilmette Junior High School, Wilmette, Ill.

Sisyphean by Robert W. Witt, 14, Columbus Signature Academy New Tech, Columbus, Ind.

supine by Rachel Heggie, 17, Hopewell High School, Huntersville, N.C.

tableau by Audrey Mima, 16, Mount de Sales Academy, Catonsville, Md., and Katie

Honorable Mentions

blowhard by Peter Romanowski, 13, Oliver Jones, 14, and Ryan Wetmore, 14, The Rumson Country Day School, Rumson, N.J.

catalyst by Aman Singh, 13, Williamsburg Middle School, and Rohan Singh, 16, Yorktown High School, Arlington, Va.

coercion by Ruby Avellanet, 14, and Melina, Glen Ridge High School, Glen Ridge, N.J.

contortion by Alexis Kemble, 14, and Alyssa, Aurora High School, Aurora, Ohio

dismember by Declan Smith, 13, and Jake Lee, 13, Science Academy STEM Magnet, Los Angeles

dismember by Jannah Mharie C. Esquilla, 16, Trisha Grace Fallega, 15, and Danica Ann A. Murillo, 16, Domingo Lacson National High School, Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Philippines

epilogue by Melody Chen, 15, North High School, Franklin Square, N.Y.

eulogy by Ian Lawler, 17, and Morgan, Harborside Academy, Kenosha, Wis.

expedient by Prince Aile V. Indoma, 16, Frexie T. Camina, 16, and Runice E. Magbanua, 15, Domingo Lacson National High School, Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Philippines

hiatus by Sydney Steiner, 16, Moorestown High School, Moorestown, N.J.

hoodwink by Ethan Einfeld, 13, Abraham Ho, 13, and Colin Johnson, 14, Brier Terrace Middle School, Brier, Wash.

ignite by Benjamin Oscar Morland, 15, Cary High School, Cary, N.C.

kerfuffle by Henry Bird, 14, Michael Malia, 14, and Andrew Rodrigues, 14, The Rumson Country Day School, Rumson, N.J.

levitate by Federico De la garza Marón, 19, and Carlos Julian Gochicoa Flores, 19, The American School of Tampico, Tampico, Mexico

materialize by Denali Isaacs-Perman, 16, and Rio, Northern Utah Academy of Math Engineering and Science, Layton, Utah

melancholy by Georgia Perry, 15, Westwood High School, Westwood, Mass.

misanthrope by Leah Gottlieb, 15, Clarkstown High School North, New City, N.Y.

niggle by Jack Niefergold, 18, Jimmy and Alana, North Collins Jr. Sr. High School, North Collins, N.Y.

ominous by Jeffrey Fleishman, 13, Manasquan Elementary School, Manasquan, N.J.

passive by Matea Collins, 16, Southridge School, Surrey, British Columbia

savor by Sofia Garnier, 16, Gianna Perlaza, 17, Emily Dahl, 17, Giancarlo Oliveri, 17, Isabella Mascetti, 16, North High School, Franklin Square, N.Y.

Sisyphean by Akos Benedek, 16, and Varvara Alexeyenko, 16, Leysin American School, Leysin, Switzerland

sobriquet by Alicia Budacsek, 13, Wilmette Junior High School, Wilmette, Ill.

trinket by Bailey Brethren, 17, Western Albemarle High School, Crozet, Va.

ubiquitous by Chloe Jacobi, 14, and Sophia Friestedt, 14, Wilmette Junior High School, Wilmette, Ill.

wizardry by Dan Cantwell, 16, Rece, Moorestown High School, Moorestown, N.J.

zeitgeist by Elizabeth Langston, 13, Campbell Hall Episcopal, Los Angeles

Thank you to our contest judges!