Page 6, March 3, 2023, BlueStone Press
Town Board discusses future of Marbletown Community Center Brooke Stelzer BSP Reporter The Marbletown Town Board discussed taking a closer look at the use and the future of the Marbletown Community Center during the board meeting on Feb. 21. [Additional stories from this board meeting are on pages 7 and 8] Councilman Tim Hunt said the board is going to reevaluate how the building is currently being used, which includes town income from renting the space to private parties. Chairman and town supervisor Rich Parete said the town receives $6,000 to $7,000 per year in income. The issue, the board shared, is that the cost to maintain the aging building outspends the income that is received. Councilwoman Daisy Foote shared that the furnace in the building is “on its last leg” and that the roof is also in need of repair. “We just got a quote of $60,000 for a new roof,” said Parete. He said the Rondout Municipal Center on Lucas Turnpike has expanded spaces open to the public that he would like to see further utilized by the town, including a vacant bistro space with a large kitchen, a gymnasium, pickleball court and a playground. “It would be nice to start getting groups to come here, to rent the bistro, and say hey, you’ve got your kid’s birthday party here, you’ve got the gymnasium for two hours, you can go out on the playground. We may have to reevaluate the properties we own moving forward. Towns are not meant to be in the real estate business.”
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WISE program excels at Rondout Valley High School Amber Kelly BSP Reporter At the RVSD Board of Education meeting on Feb. 21, held in the high school cafeteria, Superintendent Dr. Joseph Morgan said, “OK, tonight we have Mr. (James) Sullivan and Mr. (Andrew) Lutz to present on the WISE program.” Sullivan began the presentation, saying, “Tonight we’re going to start off by just showing you a little video. What I did was I sent out emails and texts and Facebook requests to former WISE graduates, and said ‘hey, we just want to get a sense of your memories of WISE and how the program impacted you, and would you send me a one-minute video.’ We got a lot of responses.” Following are samples of what the WISE graduates said in the film. “It was the first time I felt challenged.” … “I got into music production and founded Bars Behind Bars.” … “By building confidence I got my foot in the door of social services.” … “I made a robot and now I am a programmer.” … “It was the first time I took charge of my path." Over the past 26 years, there have been 1,162 WISE graduates at Rondout. There is an average of 48 students per year, and an average of 30 community task force members per year also. Former faculty and WISE program coordinator Francine Hertz said, “I don’t know how much any of you know about WISE. To kind of just go through the basics, there used to be five pillars and we’ve added a sixth pillar to the program. Project, mentor, journal, presentation, task force – those are the main aspects. “Every student in the senior class is invited to participate. Philosophically, all kids – all abilities, any kid who wants to do it – are welcome, the more the better. We’re always aiming for 100% of the class coming up. We haven’t had it, but we’ve gotten close. We’ve often had close to 60%. “Once they say they want to do this we help them with the application,” Hertz continued. “It’s a one-page proposal, not meant to discourage any kind of learner. Projects can be pretty much anything that is legal. As creative and diverse as the class is, that is the span of the projects. Some students take a more practical route, some students take maybe more sort of creative route, some students travel. It’s really broad. I did WISE when I was in high school. I did an internship in a special education school, and continued my career here at Rondout.”
Andrew Lutz, program consultant, and Francine Hertz, program coordinator, speaking to the Board of Education about the WISE program at Rondout Valley High School. Photo by Amber Kelly
At the end of the film a list of over 150 mentors from 18 years at Rondout scrolled down pages of screen. Hertz said, “In terms of participation from the faculty, I can’t say enough about this district. The professionals from kindergarten through seniors, administrators, secretaries, librarians that have participated in WISE all made it possible. I really think they’re the backbone – the mentors – of this program. That is probably the reason that this program is not at every single school. Not everyone has the quality staff who agree to be mentors, because it is voluntary, it’s an extra.” Andy Lutz, former longtime Rondout faculty member and WISE program consultant, talked about WISE practice of writing a journal. He compared the word “journal” to the word “journalist,” or one who writes about the news, clarifying the intention of journaling. “The student will write about their day. It’s a daily journal,” Lutz said. “They will take it to their mentor once a week. The mentor will read it. The mentor will write comments. The next night, writing their journal entry, they will write, ‘I met with Mr. Sullivan and he said I should do this, that what I’m doing now needs to be changed,’ something to that effect. So, the journal includes not only specific information, but also reflective information, thinking back to how were the kids thinking at the time they were doing daily journals. At the end of the semester, they make a public presentation to which three members of the task force are in-
vited. You normally would have an adult from the community, a teacher and a peer. All three have read the journal from beginning to end. The student makes a presentation about their experience. “Now look at that word presentation,” Lutz said. “What do you see at the beginning of that word? Present. Gift. That is what the kid is giving when they made their presentation. They’re saying, ‘I had a great experience, or I had a difficult experience, but whatever I had, I can’t wait to share.’ There is a variety of ways that they share their presentations.” Hertz said, “The student task force meets once a month. Student coordinators help with organization and record keeping, and going into 11th grade social studies classrooms to talk about the program. They also set up the meeting room in a cozy way with the intention to foster interaction and collaboration.” A sample of current WISE projects includes: the study of debt, the study of hair dressing for senior citizens, biology research, the study of makeup, attempting to make a viral video, how to promote a personal business, the study of passion, preparing for college, and the study of fashion. Hertz said, “Participating students come in (to the WISE meeting room) and sometimes they are quiet and sometimes they chit-chat. It’s a great space, you all should really go see it sometime.”
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