Tech Talk: Summer 2019

TechTalk

Volume 9, Issue 4

Summer 2019

Students Take Home First Place in ProStart Competition Culinary Arts students Hailey Hernandez (Carmel) and Ke’Ajahnai Ridenhour (Hendrick Hudson) placed first in the New York State ProStart Invitational competition held recently at the Culinary Institute of New York.

From left: Grace Romer, Erica Andre, Kayla Tobias & Brianna Lux

Students Take First Place at SkillsUSA States Competition

The pair won the Management Team competition, in which students have to develop a proposal for a restaurant concept and present it to a panel of industry judges who put their problem-solving skills to the test through a series of challenges.

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Three Career and Technical Education students from PNW BOCES took home the top prize in the state SkillsUSA competition held recently in Syracuse.

Kayla Tobias (Yorktown) and Grace Romer (Walter Panas) took home first place in the Television/Video Production competition, and Brianna Lux (Somers), took home first place in the Medical Assisting competition. Third place honors went to Erica Andre (Hendrick Hudson) for First Aid/CPR. CTE teachers Liz Marques and Aaron Armisto (TV/Video Production), Maria Pontbriand (Medical Assisting) and Veronica Farlow (First Aid/CPR) said they are proud of the hard work and many hours outside of the classroom that their students put into the competitions.

The first place winners will head to Kentucky in June to compete at the national level representing New York State.

Inside This Issue College and Career Fair • Work-Based Learning Coordinator Awarded • Sports Medicine Internships • Film Student Wins Award • English as New Language Learners • Spring Has Sprung at Educated Palate • Regional Winners in SkillsUSA • Culinary Juniors Honor Seniors with Luncheon • Special-Effects Field Trip • Preschoolers Are Truckin’ • Positive Job Prospects • Bringing Spring to Nursing Center • Summer Camps • New Visions Health • Peers Influence Peers Project

Students Take Home First Place in ProStart Competition continued from page 1

College and Career Fair Lets Students Explore Future More than 250 college representatives from near and far came out to present at the College and Career Fair on the Putnam | Northern Westchester BOCES campus recently. Students from area high schools got the chance to explore opportunities at private and state colleges and universities as well as learn more about jobs in the police and military.

Vassar, University of Maine, University of Massachusetts, Ithaca, Manhattanville, Skidmore, Drexel, SUNY and CUNY schools were just a small sampling of the offerings for the day.

The winners (in pink): Hailey Hernandez and Ke’Ajahnai Ridenhour, with their teacher Suzie Low-Pratt (second from right).

“I couldn’t be more proud of my students,” said Culinary Arts teacher Suzie Low-Pratt. “They worked really hard on this competition and they made a great team!”

Hernandez and Ridenhour were both awarded scholarships and went on to represent New York State at the National ProStart competition in Washington, DC, May 8-10.

Representatives from more than 250 colleges and universities presented at the College and Career Fair.

Work-Based Learning Coordinator Awarded Melissa Crea’s job is getting other people jobs. It is something the Work-Based Learning Coordinator at the Tech Center does so well that she earned the Rookie Work Experience Coordinator of the Year award recently. The award is presented by the Work Experience Coordinators’ Association of New York State.

Crea works with Career and Technical Education (CTE) students at PNW BOCES on finding internships and jobs while they are in school as well as positions after they graduate. She is passionate about finding the right fit for each student who comes through her door.

“I love the variety of setting up individual internships, class placements, and helping students find jobs, and I also love networking in the community,” Crea said.

CTE Director Cathy Balestrieri said that staff members at the Tech Center know they can count on Crea to deliver.

Work-Based Learning Coordinator Melissa Crea

“The job of Work-Based Learning Coordinator is critical to student success,” said Balestrieri. “Melissa is warm, caring, passionate, enthusiastic, approachable, creative and committed to providing appropriate and meaningful work experiences to our students. Her ability to connect with teachers, students, and employers is a true talent.”

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Sports Medicine Internships Open up World of Medicine Sports Medicine students not only study anatomy and physiology and do hands-on training, but they do internships to help them determine specific areas of medicine they are most interested in. Many of this year’s secondSports Medicine students earn valuable internships. year students received scholarships and will work toward health-related degrees.

Kevin Valdes, Mahopac, worked at Northern Westchester Hospital both with the operations manager and in the ER. He said the Sports Medicine class and his internship helped him decide what major to pursue in college.

“Studying anatomy and physiology and learning to do orthopedic assessments no doubt helped give me the confidence to work with people,” said Valdes, who was accepted into an accelerated physician’s assistant program at DeSales University. Valdes said teacher Dr. Will Brightman is also instrumental in inspiring students to pursue their passion in the field. “He is amazing, inspiring and accommodating. He really wants us to succeed.”

Jessica Reiner, from North Salem, interned in Brightman’s Chiropractic and Sports Medicine office recently. “I was able to interact with patients and learn more about health care,” said Reiner, who will major in public health and physician’s assistant programs at Nova Southeastern University.

FILM STUDENT WINS AWARD The top prize for storytelling in the recent Future Filmmakers Festival went to a student in the Digital Film, Video & Audio Production program. Hendrick Hudson High School senior Oliver Pezzano received the Chester award for his film “Westchester.”

The festival, presented by the Matthew S. Hisiger Film Foundation, the Picture House Regional Film Center, and Westchester County, encourages and honors teen filmmakers. The event took place at the Picture House movie theater in Pelham in April.

“Westchester” is set in a postapocalyptic future, where all of the air in the New York area has become toxic. The main character is alone, desperately trying to stay alive.

Pezzano’s film teacher, Liz Marques, was not surprised at his win.

“He is an extremely talented, creative student who has a serious love for film,” said Marques of Pezzano, who plans to study film in college in the fall. “If anyone is going to make it in the business, Oliver will.”

Mahopac High School student Tess Bartman interned with Cove Care, Carmel, in the psychiatric outpatient department as well as with a child psychiatrist. “When I came to the Sports Medicine program I wanted to be a naturopath,” said Bartman. “But after learning about all the different fields, I fell in love with western medicine.” Bartman will study biology and psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Luca Petriello, Mahopac, interned at Aon Physical Therapy in Brewster.

“I knew I wanted to be a physical therapist, but this class helped me discover that I like the hands-on aspects of athletic training.” Petriello will major in athletic training at Sacred Heart University.

Matthew Vassallo, Mahopac, interned at Northern Westchester Reconstructive Nursing Center in Mohegan Lake. “When I was interning, they were so impressed that I already knew how to read an EKG machine,” said Vassallo, who will attend Iona College. “We learned that here.”

Joseph Muratore, Mahopac, also interned at Aon Physical Therapy. Muratore will study human performance and health promotion at SUNY Morrisville.

Oliver Pezzano won a Chester award recently.

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English as New Language Learners Look Back to Look Ahead There are people who risk their entire lives to bring a plate of food to their families. I have crossed the border. Although I am an immigrant, I am not different from you. – ENL student Zucely Zecena As students at the English as New Language Learners Academy work to learn both English and a new trade, one thing is often clear to their teachers. The trauma that many faced in their native countries can follow them to the United States and choke their attempts to move forward.

Four students read excerpts from the autobiographical entries that capped the project, and all students received certificates recognizing their work.

“My heart is exploding with pride at their achievements and at all they did to tell their stories in a meaningful way,” Carnes said. “The students took this project and just ran with it.”

All of the students in the program, which includes classes in English immersion, academic subjects and a variety of trades, had the opportunity to journal each week during class and reflect on questions and other prompts. As expected, the journaling led many students to follow up with private sessions with Carnes where they could discuss traumatic experiences from their earlier lives.

This year, two Academy staffers at the Putnam | Northern Westchester BOCES Tech Center – social worker Stephanie Carnes and English Social worker Stephanie Carnes, student teacher Ellen Sugrue-Dolan – Armando Lopez-Duarte and English teacher teamed up on a months-long Ellen Sugrue-Dolan at a celebration for the “We have students here who have had journaling project designed to ENL Academy. a lot of pain, and this was a chance help students look back at painful for them to unload a little of that,” experiences and begin exploring Sugrue-Dolan said.

Carnes and Sugrue-Dolan designed the feelings that could derail their futures. The results were on project after receiving a grant from the NoVo Foundation, view at a Family Celebration held recently on campus. which seeks to foster equality and a more caring world.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG AT EDUCATED PALATE RESTAURANT Tables were set in festive spring colors, and the house was packed during a luncheon at the Educated Palate restaurant on campus recently. The restaurant, run by Hospitality Academy students, was decked out for the annual spring luncheon.

Diners feasted on crispy-crab-cake appetizers; a main course of beef Bourguignon with pommes puree and roasted asparagus; and, for dessert, heavenly cream puffs filled with pastry cream, covered with chocolate ganache, and garnished with sugared berries and raspberry sauce.

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Students worked in all capacities of the student-run Educated Palate in the spring.

Regional Winners in SkillsUSA CTE students placed first in several categories of the regional SkillsUSA competition held at Dutchess Community College in March.

Kennedie Chapman (Yorktown) placed first in the Cake Decorating competition, demonstrating her superior skills. Jaclyn Pedoty (Putnam Valley) and Sabrina Gill (Carmel) let their talent shine by placing first in the Digital Cinema category. And in the Television (Video) Production category, Kayla Tobias (Yorktown) and Grace Romer (Walter Panas) took home first place, demonstrating their talent.

All of the students got to compete in the statewide SkillsUSA competition in Syracuse in April (see page 1).

Kennedie Chapman

Sabrina Gill and Jaclyn Pedoty

Kayla Tobias and Grace Romer

CULINARY JUNIORS HONOR SENIORS WITH SPECIAL LUNCHEON They have been cooking, baking, cleaning and running a restaurant for the past two years. But this time the seniors in the Hospitality Academy at the Tech Center were the guests, as the juniors in the program served them a lavish luncheon at the Educated Palate student-run restaurant recently.

The seniors and their invited guests—mentor teachers and counselors from their home school districts— enjoyed a mouth-watering three-course meal, and two seniors spoke about what the program has meant to them over the years.

“The teachers pushed us to do our best,” said Hendrick Hudson senior Ke’Ajahnai Ridenhour.

“They prepared us for the real world by teaching us to bake, cook and work in all aspects of a restaurant.”

“This has been our second home, and the hands-on experience has been incredible,” said Carmel senior Hailey Hernandez. “I have met such great people here. They are so talented—I can’t wait to see what they do!”

Hospitality Academy juniors served lunch to the graduating seniors of the program.

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Eye Opener for Students at Special-Effects Field Trip A visit to a special-effects business in Yonkers recently showed CTE students that a career in the trades could mean something quite different from working in construction. It could have them staging blowing up buildings, car flips and even hurricanes.

Eleven students from CTE programs in Construction Electricity, Carpentry, TV Production, Welding and Computer Graphics toured the Yonkers warehouse of K-F/X, which creates a wide range of special effects for movies and television. Five BOCES CTE graduates currently work at K-F/X. The group toured the company’s warehouse, examining bullet-riddled cars, wind and fog machines and the wide range of tools used to create special effects. Showing them a rain special effects trailer in the company’s parking lot, Riedman told the students, “If you see any kind of rain in a movie shot in New York, it’s probably us.”

CTE students tour the K-F/X warehouse with shop coordinator Dustin Riedman.

Positive Job Prospects for CTE Students Life after the Tech Center looks very promising for graduates in the construction trades, a representative from Tradesmen International told students recently.

“Your jobs can’t be outsourced; you really are in a good spot,” Tradesman International General Manager Michael Vetare told students in the Construction Electricity program.

Ohio-based Tradesman International hires craftsmen for placement with industrial companies throughout North America. Vetare painted a positive future for students willing to apply themselves. “I can’t stress it enough. We’re desperate for people like you,” he said.

Preschoolers delighted in trying out the trucks.

Preschoolers Are Truckin’ What makes preschoolers happier than a parking lot full of trucks? A parking lot full of trucks they can actually go on! That is precisely what preschoolers in the Teens ‘n’ Tots preschool, run by Child Development and Education students, experienced when an ambulance, a front-end loader, and several other vehicles came to visit the BOCES campus.

Tradesman International General Manager Michael Vetare

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BRINGING SPRING TO NURSING CENTER Bringing spring and summer cheer into the lives of patients is crucial to healing, as Nursing Assistant students discovered when they gave out spring paper flowers to the residents at the Paramount at Somers Rehabilitation and Nursing Center recently. “The flowers were made by our SkillsUSA members, and the residents were very happy to receive them,” said teacher Veronica Farlow.

Summer Camps Make Learning Fun

New Visions Health Takes Safety Seriously As part of their study of health care and safety, New Visions Health students gave presentations about health-care responses to mass casualties, weather, natural disasters, chemical warfare, and pandemics. “Career and Technical Education teacher Robert Cuomo gave a lecture and PowerPoint about his experiences with the Putnam County Emergency Response Team and explained how the team was activated during winter storms Riley and Quinn in 2018,” said New Visions Health teacher Veronica Farlow. “It was interesting to learn about all the components of the Emergency Response Team, and it was a great learning experience for the students to understand the role of health care in disaster situations.”

Everything from film to health careers and more is offered at summer camp.

Students ages 12 to 15 can learn about 3D printing, architecture, animation, hairstyling, fashion design, film and sound, law enforcement, health careers, culinary arts, computer repair, sports medicine, metal working and more at Summer Camp at the Tech Center.

All programs run from 9 am to 1 pm and cost $235 per week, with the exception of session one, which begins on July 1 and costs $185. Session two runs from July 8 – 12; session three runs from July 15 – 19; session four, from July 22 – 26; and session five, from July 29 – August 2.

To register, go to www.pnwboces.org/tech and click on Summer Camp in the left-hand column.

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Editor: Karen Thornton Designer: Valerie Laudato

www.pnwboces.org STUDENTS PERFORM IN PEERS INFLUENCE PEERS PROJECT Four Digital Film, Video and Audio Production students starred in the Peers Influence Peers film project “Saved By The Bell” recently. Kayla Tobias, (Yorktown), Grace Romer (Walter Panas), Xavier Zenon (North Salem), and Michael Squitieri (Somers) worked on the film, which looks at bullying in a unique way. It premiered on May 3 at Putnam Valley High School.

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Todd Currie

ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT

PRESIDENT

Richard Kreps

Anita Feldman

Mary Cay Nilsen

Lynn Allen, Ed.D.

John McCarthy

Catherine Lilburne

Tina Mackay

Frank Schnecker

DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT

ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT

VICE PRESIDENT

TRUSTEE

TRUSTEE

TRUSTEE

Michael Simpkins TRUSTEE

TRUSTEE

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