NYSECB
Providing a Quality Education to our StudentsBethlehem students celebrate “Farm to You Fest”
Release Date: October 8, 2009
Students across the district celebrated New York State Farm to You Fest beginning October 5 with more than a week of activities designed to get kids thinking about the connection between the food on their plates and the bounty of their state’s farms. The activities were the result of the district’s partnership with the Bethlehem Healthy Kids Committee.
Activities for the week are outlined below. Visit the Healthy Kids Committee’s Web site for more information about the local events, and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Market’s Web site for statewide information.
• “Squash Hunger Produce Drive” for the hungry (in partnership with Capital District Community Gardens and the Bethlehem Food Pantry). All Bethlehem Schools collect and bring to central pick up location at McCarroll’s Delmar Marketplace on Delaware Av. Mon-Fri. from approximately 4:30 PM – 6:00PM. Students donated more than 1,000 pounds of fresh produce this year!
• “Farmers Market Scavenger Hunt” at the Delmar Saturday Farmers Market located at Bethlehem Middle School, Sat., Oct. 10th, 9AM-1PM.
• Students will welcome Visiting Farmers teaching in their classrooms at Hamagrael Elementary, Tues, Oct.6th and Fri, Oct. 9th, 9:30AM-1:00PM.
• At 9:30 am each day, students from Eagle Elementary will walk to a neighboring dairy farm, Sunnyside Farm, for a tour. For more details, contact Amy Conway at 439-4667.
• Students at Bethlehem Middle School will sample salads with vegetables freshly harvested from their own Organic School Kitchen Garden.
• School lunch menu featuring local products: all Bethlehem schools, Mon-Fri.
• Farm Fresh Recipe Contest: Bethlehem Elementary and Middle schools.
Farm to You Fest Photos
Click on a photo below to view a larger version of it in a new window.
Two Schenectady HS Arts Teachers Win Fellowships
Congratulations to Sayles School of Fine Arts teachers Peg Foley and Susan Cohen who were recently selected to receive a $5,500 fellowship from Surdna Arts Teachers Fellowship Program (SATFP) for artistic development. Foley, an art teacher, and Cohen, a music teacher are among 19 other teachers selected from schools from around the country for the award. The program is designed to offer teachers the opportunities to immerse themselves in their own creative work, interact with other professional artists and stay current with new practices. The winners, demonstrating excellence as both artists and teachers, were evaluated and selected by a peer review panel.
Foley used the fellowship to explore the ideas of time and permanence in her own art work and to broaden her technical skills in the field of printmaking and fiber arts. She attended Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina over the summer to work with Dennis O’Neil in alternative methods of screen printing. She then used funding to set up a screen printing studio to continue the processes she learned during the summer program. Foley’s work is being exhibited at Schenectady County Community College, the Johns Sayles School of Fine Arts Butzel Gallery and the Oakroom Gallery.
Cohen studied for a week in Boston with the McClosky Voice Institute where she worked with master teachers and a physician from the Lahey Clinic to better understand vocal hardships and how to heal them. She also studied jazz theory at the Jazz Center in Putney,VT with world renowned jazz singers Sheila Jordon and Jay Clayton. Throughout the summer, Cohen worked in Blue Sky recording studio with Scott Apicelli to learn about the physics of recording and to better understand the use of digital media in recording.
The $1,500 complementary grant awarded to the school supports the teachers’ post-fellowship activities.
Surdna is a family foundation established in 1917 by John Emory Andrus. The foundation makes grants in the areas of environment, community revitalization, effective citizenry, the arts and the nonprofit sector, with annual grantmaking of approximately $37 million. Schools eligible for the SATFP program include specialized public arts high schools and arts-focused magnet and charter high schools.
Keane Students Team Up With Young Readers Across the Country to “Read for the Record”
On Thursday, October 8 the students in grades K-2 at Keane Elementary School teamed up with more than a million children across the country to read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” by Eric Carle for Jumpstart’s fourth annual Read for the Record campaign.
After listening to the story, the students created beautiful caterpillar drawings, completed writing assignments and made their own “Very Hungry Caterpillar” books.
Over the past three years, more than a million people have participated in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign. Jumpstart is a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that every child in America enters school prepared to succeed.
http://www.schenectady.k12.ny.us/WilliamCKeaneElementarySchool/Read_for_the_Record.htm
SED hosts forums on statewide educational technology plan
NYSUT Research and Educational Services – October 15, 2009
The State Education Department is currently collecting public comment on the new USNY Statewide Educational Technology Draft Plan through a series of Community Forums. To support member participation in the Community Forums, NYSUT has developed Talking Points that may be helpful in the discussion. (Download talking points. 45k pdf)
The forums are open to the public, but pre-registration is required. The complete Educational Technology Plan draft with information on the Community Forums can be accessed at: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/edtech/.
A-P-W Fifth Graders Participate in Conservation Field Day
Oct 22, 2009 at 11:15 am
Fifth grade students from A-P-W Middle School stepped away from their classrooms for a day to participate in the 2009 Conservation Field Day at Selkirk Shores State Park. Developed and sponsored by Oswego County’s Soil and Water Conservation District as a way to introduce students to a variety of environmentally relevant topics and help develop an understanding and appreciation for natural resources, the fifth graders spent the day learning from and participating in discussions and hands-on activities with specialists from a variety of backgrounds.
Highlights from the day’s activities included a presentation about wildland fire safety, prevention and suppression by NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Ranger Scott Jackson. The students learned helpful hints and key safety measures to keep in mind when having a campfire and also how Forest Rangers fight wild fires and a discussion about the equipment that is contained in a Ranger’s 30-plus pound survival and safety backpack.
Learning and understanding nutrient cycling in today’s ecosystem was also one of the favorite stations amongst the A-P-W students. Botanist Joseph McMullen asked the students to pull a single strand of hair from their heads and drop it on the ground and then walked the students through understanding how the nutrients from that piece of hair could end up in a piece of fruit that is grown in Florida and then purchased by their mom or dad at a local grocery market.
Another favorite was a station about the dwellings and habitats of animals that can be found in wetlands, woodlands, dunes, on the beach or in aquatic settings. From identify the animal described in their mystery card to understanding and replicating the animals’ habitat and presenting their finished project to their peers, volunteers from the NY Sea Grant and Steward Program helped the students became better acquainted with the world of nature that surrounds them
It’s Rocket Science for Students at Granby Elementary School
Oct 22, 2009 at 11:25 am
Granby Elementary Sixth Grader and budding scientist Kelsey Hartle preps the launch pad and her rocket for a successful BLASTOFF during the school’s recent rocket launch day. Granby Elementary Sixth Grader and budding scientist Kelsey Hartle preps the launch pad and her rocket for a successful BLASTOFF during the school’s recent rocket launch day.
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BLASTOFF! Manning the launch pad controls for a successful launch of his rocket is Granby Elementary School Sixth Grader Benjamin Hughes and his teacher Karen Murdoch. Hughes and his classmates constructed model rockets as part of their science curriculum to reinforce concepts like forces in motion, aerodynamics, and physics. BLASTOFF! Manning the launch pad controls for a successful launch of his rocket is Granby Elementary School Sixth Grader Benjamin Hughes and his teacher Karen Murdoch. Hughes and his classmates constructed model rockets as part of their science curriculum to reinforce concepts like forces in motion, aerodynamics, and physics.
It’s not often that a classroom project draws a large crowd of spectators, but that is what happened last week at Granby Elementary School as sixth graders launched their model rockets. Amidst clear skies all that could be heard echoing throughout the playground at the school was parents, community members and fellow students conducting an official NASA-like countdown for each student: five… four… three… two… one… BLASTOFF!
The three sixth grade classes participating in the launch built their rockets over the period of a few weeks using kits from the OCM BOCES Science Center. Once constructed, the students were given the opportunity to personalize their rocket. From paint to stickers, sports themes to patriotic in nature each rocket was artfully and scientifically prepared for the launch.
On launch day each student individually launched his/her rocket using a launch pad and battery controlled system that was included in the kits. As each student fired their rocket into the sky fellow classmates calculated the rocket’s distance and trajectory. Also occurring at the same time and tied to the launch project was an English Language Arts (ELA) piece. Students, acting as journalists, interviewed spectators, asking about the sights, sounds and smells associated with a rocket launch along with the spectators’ thoughts and opinions about the rocket projects. Once back in the classroom, the 6th graders prepared newspaper articles about their findings and interviews.
An annual event at Granby Elementary School, the rocket projects are closely tied to the 6th grade curriculum of studying forces in motion and Newton’s laws and reinforcing basic scientific concepts in electricity, aerodynamics, and physic
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Mural Project Brightens West Linear Park Walls
Oct 22, 2009 at 5:51 am
OSWEGO, NY – A youth-focused initiative continues to brighten the West Linear Park in the Port City.
The design concept and implementation of a series of murals is directed by local young people with the support of an adult committee.
Nicholas Cocks and Hannah West work on their murals recently.
It is a community collaborative comprised of Oswego youth, city officials, teachers and students of the Oswego High School, Oswego State student teachers, Oswego businesses and artists, as well as Oswego County Opportunities Youth Services Street Outreach and the Oswego
City-County Youth Bureau.
Nicholas Cocks and Hannah West are two of the young artists who created the mural designs and are bringing them to life on the concrete walls.
The other two youth artists are Christine Pingry and Melissa Guppy.
“We came up with the ideas for the murals,” Nicholas said.
“Our ideas had to be OK’d by the Common Council,” Hannah explained.
Once they submitted their initial drawings, everyone involved offered critiques, Nicholas pointed out.
Hannah’s block was a depiction of music and Nicholas was using a playing card to show the duality of man.
Hannah is in studio art and Nicholas “is just talented on many levels.”
“I play a lot of music, but I can’t listen to music without seeing pictures in my head,” he said. “So, I just kind of get my ideas for art through listening to music.”
“They have only had one good work day, and that was a couple of weeks ago. Since then it has rained on the days that we planned to work,” explained Dawn Metott, youth activities coordinator with the Youth Bureau.
Hannah and Nicholas braved the cold temperatures to get a little bit more done last week.
They have returned this week to hopefully wrap up the painting in the warmer weather.
“We’re trying to finish up some more this week,” Metott said. “We should be just about ready to seal at least two of the four murals.”
“The first time we came here we were in shorts,” Hannah said recently. “Now, we’re trying to paint in coats and mittens.”
“It’s exterior, latex (paint). But I think it’s supposed to be applied at 50 degrees or above,” Metott said.
Sponsors for the project are the city of Oswego, Oswego City-County Youth Bureau, Oswego County Opportunities, Oswego Art Collaborative, and Oswego YMCA.
The school district did the first mural. And, the mayor thought it would be a good idea to have smaller artworks created along the retaining wall below it, Metott explained.
The idea was to cover up the graffiti in the area and offer an artistic outlet for talented area youth.
“We will continue to do as much as we have young people for and support for,” Metott said.
The committee members will continue to work on the project over the winter, planning and suggesting new artworks, seeking funds – to maintain the interest level among the youngsters, she added.
“That way we can also present our ideas to the council for approval over the winter, so we can get right started in the spring,” she said.
There are some images that have been approved by the city and will be ready to go next year.
“I have another one,” Hannah said. “But we won’t get to that one until the spring.”
Committee members involved in this round of murals are Joe Rial, local artist/mentor; John Belt, outreach specialist with OCO Youth Services; Kathleen Knopp, prevention and early intervention program manager, OCO Youth Services; Linda Goodness, assistant director of the city’s Community Development Office; and Metott.
Metott said she’d like to thank the committee members for volunteering their time and artistic talents, the Common Council and the mayor for seeing the value in supporting youth in the community, all of the sponsors for their donations, and, the parents/ family members who have helped out so much.
SUNY Oswego students at all levels participated in the graffiti clean up for “Community involvement Day” late last month.
The event was coordinated by Alyssa Amyotte, coordinator of Service Learning and Community Service at the campus.
They worked in conjunction with Mike Smith, Oswego DPW commissioner, to complete the cleanup and preparing the walls for the mural project.
For additional information or to participate, contact Metott at the Oswego
City-County Youth Bureau, phone 349-3575.
PQ Students Turn Positive Behavior into Dollars for Charity
North Salem’s youngest students have an added incentive to put their best feet forward in school this year. Each time they are “caught” doing something good, they will receive a ticket that contributes to a donation of $1,000 to the charitable organization Friends of Karen. The effort is part of the school’s behavioral expectations program, Tigers CARE (Cooperate, Act responsibly, Respect each other, and Expect honesty), in which children earn tickets to receive a variety of acknowledgements, such as having their names announced on the PA system, or telling the “Joke of the Day” during morning announcements.
The new element, Tigers CARE – We Share, expands the program to introduce the concept of philanthropy. “The theme now includes the idea of giving to others, rather than only receiving personal acknowledgements for their positive behavior,” says school psychologist Dennis Tendler.
The school mascot, Cubby the Tiger, joined Friends of Karen events coordinator, Gwen Salmo, at a recent assembly to launch the initiative. With Cubby urging them on, the 600 students drove the target number of tickets they should earn this year to 40,000 – slightly higher than the number achieved last year. The $1,000 is actually a donation from area opticians, Raymond Opticians.
“Earn your tickets, and you’ll get the satisfaction of helping others,” Ms. Salmo told the students. Friends of Karen is a North Salem-based organization that helps families of critically ill children in the tri-state area pay for medical expenses, transportation to treatments, and assistance with household expenses, among other necessities. “You are making a big difference by making people’s lives a lot easier,” Ms. Salmo said.
Project Adventure in Bedford Central School District
BUCHANAN-VERPLANCK INVOLVES PARENTS WITH THEIR CHILDREN’S LITERACY
From Hendrick Hudson School District| Teacher Marilyn Tropiano conducts class for parents and their children. |
They planned a series of four interactive parent meetings each based on a specific literacy component under the general title: Literacy: Family Matters. The topics are “Interactive Reading,” “ELA Information Night,” “The Wonders of Nonfiction” and “The Power of Poetry.”
In collaboration with BV Parent University the topics were expanded to include a session on “Homework Tips.” Parents and their children are invited to participate in an evening of information as well as hands-on activities. Each evening culminates in a question/answer session as well as a parent feedback/reflection forum.
The first two sessions were on September 16th, “Interactive Reading”, and October 5th, “Homework Tips.” The remaining dates will be November 19th, “The Wonders of Nonfiction,” February 1st: “ELA Informational Night,” and March 3rd: “The Power of Poetry.” Babysitting is offered and light refreshments are served.
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