Lodi High School Surf Club make splash at American Dream Mall

Lodi High School may not be near the beach, but it has the only surf club in northern New Jersey.

The surf club is the result of a passionate educator and surfer, LHS Art Teacher Matthew Nicolosi, who wanted to share his love of surfing with his students. Many students told him they would love to learn to surf but living miles and miles away from the closest beach made that difficult. 

Nicolosi, who learned to surf at 10 years old, started coming to the DreamWorks Water Park at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford where they have surfing school SkudinSurf, right after it opened. 

"I realized it is really close to not only where I live, but where my students live, and it would be great to bring something to the students that I enjoy," said Nicolosi. 

So, three years ago, he decided to share his passion for his favorite hobby with his students and created a club that would give students a chance to experience what it is like to catch a wave and learn to surf.

Senior Emma Porter said she enjoys the independence of surfing and loved learning to surf through the club so much that she wants to surf for the rest of her life. 

"My goal is to expand the surf club and have other school districts participate,” Nicolosi said. “It is a great opportunity to bring surfing to a community that would otherwise have difficulty accessing it."

The club normally enjoys surfing outings at the water park three or more times per year. On a recent outing, the club met for an evening surf lesson at the water park. Nicolosi is a lifeguard and instructor at the park and arranged for the club members to come to the water park, take a lesson and then enjoy some time surfing in the indoor wave pool. 

"The wave pool affords these students an opportunity to work on the basics and mechanics of surfing in a condensed and controlled environment," he said. "There are very few places in the world that offer that opportunity."

“It is a gift to be able to share this with them,” said Nicolosi, who noted that that the lessons and surfing are offered in the early mornings and evenings when the water park is closed to the public.  

Lodi Public Schools expands Thrive Program to elementary schools

Lodi Public Schools, which has made student mental health a top priority, is expanding its Thrive counseling program to its five elementary schools. 

Lodi Public Schools Director of Counseling Christine Orosz said the program started in the high school and middle school last year and was expanded to the elementary schools for the 2024-25 school year. Superintendent Frank D’Amico recognized the importance of having mental health support at all levels for students, and, with his support, and the support of the Lodi Board of Education, the district was able to bring Thrive to all district students.

“We wanted to make it more convenient for our students to have access to mental health services,” Orosz said. “Thrive’s licensed clinicians become part of the school. They are embedded with the staff and work closely with guidance, the administration, and the child study team.” 

Thrive Alliance Group also has experience in education as its Executive Director Patricia Hovey is a former school district director of special education. “It is the school’s first and primary goal to educate students, but we really also wanted to bring mental health services to our students, and it really is more accessible to have the clinicians right in our schools,” Orosz said. 

Typically, when a school counselor refers a student to an outside program, the student must find transportation and the parent must find a counselor that is part of their insurance. Now, this program is right at the school with clinicians available to offer sessions right during the school day and the service is paid for by the school district. 

“When a student is referred to Thrive, the school’s clinician will contact the parents first and ask the parents to talk to their child before the counseling starts,” said Thrive clinician Malki Mori, who works at the middle school. 

Hovey commended the Lodi administration and board of education for expanding the program to elementary schools. 

 “This teaches important skills to younger students,” she said. “Children in the elementary schools will learn how to articulate their feelings as the clinician is teaching kids the abilities and skills that they need which will help them develop social skills and manage stress in school.” 

Christina Jelly, senior director of operations and outreach at the Thrive Alliance Group, commended Lodi for having clinicians for each grade level who can give support to students during the school day. Diana Abril started in October as the new clinician for the Lodi elementary schools and spends one day at each school each week. Mark Barzola is the clinician for the high school. Malki Mori is the clinician at the middle school. 

The district is already seeing a difference, Orosz noted. 

 “Students that would typically exhibit certain behaviors are doing that less with the Thrive clinicians in the buildings,” she said. They are establishing relationships with the students and students who would previously experience a mental health struggle are having more conversations with teachers. Last year, there was concern that one student would not graduate due to some issues, but the Thrive clinician helped them overcome challenges and the student graduated with the rest of their class. 

Some students also experience social anxiety, which the clinicians also help with. One student who avoided social situations recently attended a school dance which they never would have attended before, Malki noted. 

The clinicians also support teachers, offering them strategies on dealing with different student behaviors and a district approach to student mental health issues through professional development. 

“It is so nice that our clinicians are a resource for our teachers and help teachers understand the mental health piece,” Orosz said. “We are giving our students and teachers the tools to be successful. Many of these tools and skills will also help our students be successful later in life.” 

Next, Lodi Public Schools and Thrive will offer parent engagement workshops and educational information sessions for parents, Orosz said. A mental health resources fair has been scheduled for Nov. 19. 

Thrive currently works with 24 New Jersey school districts and 100 schools. Many of its clinicians also speak Spanish. 

School Uniforms

Lodi students are required to wear school uniforms.

Embroidery on the uniforms is recommended but not required.

Elementary Uniform

Middle School Uniform

High School Uniform

We encourage embroidered uniforms which may be purchased through GEM Sports.

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