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The Crimson

The student news site of Bernards High School

The Crimson

The student news site of Bernards High School

The Crimson

Social Studies department coordinates Speakers’ Night at BHS

Mr. Catelli organizes special event for BHS students
Guest speaker Joe Deaux addresses the crowd at Distinguished Speaker Night.
Ryan Bali
Guest speaker Joe Deaux addresses the crowd at Distinguished Speaker Night.

Joe Deaux, a metals reporter for Bloomberg Business, and Manine Lurie, author of the “New Jersey Encyclopedia,” both came to Bernard’s High School to give a two hour lecture about their subjects, both pertaining to history, and some economics. Mr. Catelli organized this night by “personally reaching out to Bloomberg Business and Seton Hall and talking to the people. They were very interested and excited to come.” When asked why the event was sponsored for BHS, Mr. Catelli said, “It was two things. One, we wanted to help students see what it would be like if you wanted a career in the social studies field. Secondly, we did this to open a dialogue and expand the knowledge of the Bernard’s community. It is a good experience to have an expert in his field come and enrich us with information.”

Joe Deaux discussed about the financial crisis in 2008, and how it happened. He stated that “People back then didn’t understand that you don’t want to invest money that you don’t have in in a company, or money that you can’t afford to lose. This is what happened in 2008, that triggered the great financial crisis, and one of the reasons that we (the US) are in this deficit today. He also explained how “the price of metals, especially gold, skyrocketed during this time.” Today, the prices of metals are steadily decreasing due to the situation slowing alleviating. Deaux mentioned that we need to continue taking action for many more years about the aftermath of the crisis, if we want to finally climb out of this deficit.

Maxine Lurie discussed about the history of New Jersey. In her book, she refers to New Jersey as “The Crossroads of the Revolution.” She spoke about the major battles that took place, including the battles of Trenton and Princeton. In history, these two important battles are referred to as the “Ten Crucial Days” because these desperately needed victories sparked great nationalism and boosted the morale of the nation. Her book also mentions that the Articles of Confederation were signed in 1779, and she tells us how “great a step forward this was for our country.”

The night was very intellectual, and gave the audience a great deal of information about the past and present of our country.

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