Fallsburg School Scene 2016

SCHOOL SCENE A Special Supplement to the Sullivan County Democrat

A look at activities in the Fallsburg Central School District

SECTION F, JANUARY, 2016 • CALLICOON, NY

FALLSBURG SCHOOL SCENE

SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT

JANUARY, 2016

How do you boost scores?

‘Engage, affirm, empower,’ says Fallsburg superintendent STORY AND PHOTOS BY KATHY DALEY

T

he goal is an ambitious one: that by the end of this school year, the Fallsburg Central School District will experience student growth in reading and math skills by 60 percent and 45 percent respectively.

So the District has hunkered down to make it happen.

“I am proud of the ideas generated and put into place,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ivan Katz. “They include improving our student assessment and feedback systems, enhancing programs in student

Dr. Ivan Katz, Superintendent of Schools, has the District on the path to improving student skills in reading and math as evidenced by end-of-the-year Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) testing.

social-emotional health, ensuring that students set and work towards individual goals in reading and math, and improving our communication and feedback strategies with the entire school community.”

Dr. Katz said that one of the biggest changes taking place this year is that teachers engage students “affirmatively” and hold them to higher expectations.

“Teachers work with students on their individual goals and develop individualized plans on achieving them,” the Superintendent said.

“They hold weekly meetings in their classes on classroom management, as part of our Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Students are empowered to take an active role in how their classes operate.”

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JANUARY, 2016

STAFF STUDY, TOO This school year, Fallsburg teachers have received special training in a number of areas.

“We have a very diverse school community with students of very diverse needs,” said Katz, “and these professional development opportunities were provided based on students’ needs, as well as from feedback from the community and our staff.”

Workshop topics included strategies for helping students of poverty and students experiencing “trauma,” and ways to get parents more involved in the education of their children. Datadriven instructional decision-making was a topic, along with specifics about the Teen Intervene program, which helps students who have begun experimenting with drugs and alcohol.

Continuing staff development will come from the District's instructional coaches, who work with teachers on specific subjects such as ELA and math, and from Sullivan BOCES specialists.

TRAUMA CHALLENGES Teachers this year are particularly

attuned to the child experiencing trauma at home.

“We’ve just begun to improve our understanding of how trauma influences student learning and behavior,” said Katz.

Research reveals that children who experience stress, abuse, alcoholism and inconsistency in parental behaviors carry those toxins to school with them every day, impacting their ability to learn and get along with others.

Fallsburg staff received introductory training on student trauma in early October.

“It has caused our staff to begin to probe deeper when students are not completing their work or are behaving inappropriately,” Dr. Katz said.

Furthermore, some staff are being trained as “trauma champions,” who will provide their colleagues with support and strategies for how to help students affected by serious stressors.

“We are also reviewing our internal structures, such as our Code of Conduct and Positive Behavior Intervention and Support system (PBIS — a system for encouraging good behavior), to ensure that they are trauma-informed,” Katz said.

School Scene: A Look at Activities in Fallsburg Central School Published by

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PARENTS ON BOARD Research also supports the notion that when parents have high educational aspirations for their children, the kids do better in school and better later in life.

Fallsburg's ongoing partnership with the non-profit Every Person Influences Children (EPIC) allows for high-quality training for Fallsburg parents and staff.

“Our schools developed parent engagement plans based on training done last June,” Katz explained.

“These include expanding parent volunteer opportunities in the classroom and revising our open house formats.”

Parent leadership training in October resulted in participants serving on various shared-decision making teams throughout the district.

More training sessions for parents on the Common Core Standards, appro-

priate homework support and other topics are planned throughout the school year.

All the hard work has resulted in a further decline in the number of student disciplinary referrals at Benjamin Cosor Elementary School, which has witnessed a slowdown in bad behavior for the past nine years.

At the Junior-Senior High School, a recent increase in referrals, particularly at the ninth grade level, has school administration and PBIS teams reviewing data to try to determine why.

“This is why we’ve established internal data systems that regularly review these trends,” Katz said. “I expect that each school’s administration and PBIS teams will respond with appropriate strategies that will minimize interruptions to instruction, improve student behavior, and, ultimately, improve student learning.”

Credits: The Democrat would also like to thank the Fallsburg School District for all its cooperation in this project.

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STORY AND PHOTOS BY KATHY DALEY

H

ector Garcia thinks it's very cool that his high school science teacher wants to learn Spanish and that she's doing it by sitting in a class of all Spanish-speaking students. “It's good for a teacher to know Spanish and communicate with us,� said Garcia, a senior, who cheerily gave advice to the new Spanish learner, science teacher Molly Ollive.

Ollive said she wanted to expand her ability to really reach all of her students. “I wanted to learn Spanish, and I wanted to know what my students were going through,� she said.

Almost half of Fallsburg students hail from Spanish-speaking countries, Ollive pointed out. Some have lived in the U.S. for many years and

speak English well. Others are brand new to the country, but are quickly thrown into high school classes where only English is spoken. They can get lost academically. “One of our students came here (to the U.S. and to Fallsburg) only a month ago,� said Spanish teacher Angela Hist. “His Spanish is absolutely beautiful, but his English is nonexistent.�

Another student left his native country in the fifth grade but, because of his age, was placed in the ninth grade, where he was totally lost.

On top of the disorientation, students often arrive in the U.S. branded by the fears of gang violence that is the norm in urban areas back home. “In some places in Central America, a child can be killed walking into school,� said Hist.

Fallsburg's English as a New

Language class (ENL), taught almost entirely in English, does help new students get a leg up. But another class — taught by Hist and attended

by Ollive — also improves the chances of the newcomers succeeding.

Ollive, surrounded by Spanishspeaking students, studies in Hist's Home Language Arts (formerly Native Language Arts) class. The course brings students up to date on grammar, punctuation, reading, history, geography and literature, all in their native tongue.

That, says Hist, then helps them in all their other subjects and gives them an added boost in the ENL class. “Once they are learning their own language well, they can start making connections between Spanish and English,� said Hist. A Fallsburg

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Fallsburg senior Hector Garcia makes a point with Spanish language teacher Angela Hist, right, and with teacher Megan Ollive, who is immersing herself in learning Spanish at the high school.

course “where I learned colors, numbers and days of the week.”

Then she arrived at Fallsburg a year and a half ago, where she teaches general physical science, environmental science and marine biology.

Ollive was bothered by the fact that her students often struggled in her classes.

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teacher for two and a half years, she taught in her native country of Colombia and serves as adjunct professor at Mercy College and Pace University, both in Westchester County.

“Research has shown,” said Hist, “that if a student has a good basis in their own language, they can learn a second and third language.”

Colleague Ollive recounts that in college, she took a Spanish language

would take them so long to complete a report on it. I couldn't figure it out,” said Ollive. “Now I'm sitting in this class, and Angela gives me a two and a half minute video (in Spanish) and it takes me two and a half hours to get through it. I understand how it is for my students.”

Hist noted that her Spanish-speaking students are delighted with Ollive's presence in their classroom.

“For the first few classes, Megan came in, and the students wondered what she was doing here,” recounted Hist. “I told them 'she wants to know and to learn what you guys are saying. She is making an effort to learn about you and your culture.'”

The kids responded with a collective “awwwwwwww,” signifying they thought that was really sweet.

Now, said Ollive, they cheer her on.

“I love it,” she said. “They tell me, “Mrs. Ollive, you're doing it!”

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New sports chief uses team approach to invigorate athletics STORY AND PHOTOS

BY KATHY DALEY

A

t last, Suzanne Lendzian decided she was ready to make the leap northward from New York City.

She'd worked for the New York City Department of Education as a physical education teacher and coach, as department chairperson for Physical Education and Health, and as athletic director for a building that housed six public schools.

There, she also served as Dean for student life, culture and discipline.

But, raised in Warwick, Lendzian began to dream of green space.

“I was interviewed for Athletic Director at Fallsburg, and they had their own field, own teams and own facilities,” said Lendzian. “I was ready to make the jump.”

“Students to administrators to teachers — everybody's been very supportive,” said Lendzian, who arrived in April. “The Phys Ed staff has gone out of their way to assist me.”

Charged with reinvigorating the District's athletic department, Lendzian has hit the court running.

“I'm working to improve the athletic program overall,” said Lendzian, “hiring new coaches, creating and supplying coaches with a handbook and emergency action plan, and informing them of profes-

sional organizations and development that's available.”

Coach vacancies for the modified girls’ and boys’ basketball teams allowed her to pick up two good hires: Kirsten Jacobsen for girls and Darius Dramos for boys. Neither had experience coaching, but Lendzian worked on training and getting them certified.

“They are passionate and knowledgeable about basketball,” she said. The new coaches are also young, which makes for good connections with the players. Plus, both come from families active in the District and community; their individual mothers work for the District as teacher aides.

Drawing more potential athletes is also a must for the AD. She's developed an “Athlete of the Week Program” and mailed letters home to inform parents of their child's accomplishment. She routinely pops into classrooms to let students know about upcoming games and team tryouts. She speaks at elementary school assemblies to encourage younger kids to get into athletics.

Boys modified football coach Scott Fallsburg's Athletic Director Suzanne Lendzian is a new fixture at most home games and at non-sports events like concerts, dinners and scholarship meals.

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Charged with reinvigorating the District’s athletic department, Lendzian has hit the court running.

knowing your role on a team, dedication to the task at hand — all make for more rounded people. It makes them contributing members of society.”

A vital necessity for Lendzian is supporting the hard work of coaches. This year, Phys Ed teachers were trained in teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation to all students in grades 9 through 12, along with AED (Automated External Defibrillation) operation, both of which are now mandatory skills for students in New York State.

Lendzian makes herself available by cellphone or mail, “giving coaches a level of administrative presence in a supportive way, building a bridge of trust between me and the coach.”

The sports chief, who played soccer, basketball and softball at Warwick High School and also loves golfing, kayaking and swimming, keeps a special bulletin board at the front of the high school, encouraging students to take hiking opportunities at the Fallsburg Rail Trail or to try outdoor activities at Frost Valley YMCA in Claryville.

“Action time out of the classroom gives students the serotonin to make them more focused in the classroom,” she says. “I want students to be active and healthy.”

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Whitehead, said Lendzian, will serve as a special bridge between the District and the community — Whitehead is the Pop Warner football coach for the Town of Fallsburg.

“He's part of us reaching out to lower grade students, getting a feeder program going,” said the AD. It's no secret that Fallsburg athletics have struggled for wins in recent years. Bolstering prowess and teamwork, Lendzian is making leadership training available through the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, which will assist team captains and other team leaders.

She gets out to practices on court and field to add activities that polish skills and encourage teamwork. For example, volleyball requires a good deal of communication on the court, so Lendzian teaches an activity that asks one blindfolded partner to follow the directions of another in order to find a hidden object in the gym, such as an orange cone used for traffic control.

From that activity, teammates learn to listen to each other's voices, to trust and to work together for a common goal.

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After-School kids absorbed in project-making and team building STORY AND PHOTOS

BY KATHY DALEY

A

mation about the three American walk-in museum to honor heroes. The plan, said fifth grade George Washington, Abraham teacher Christine Decker, who coorLincoln and Dr. Martin Luther dinates the Extended Day Program, is to teach the students to eventually offer tours of the museum.

The exciting project is part of the District's after-school emphasis on Project-Based Learning (PBL), an initiative that encourages powerful hands-on learning experiences.

“It's a teaching and learning method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working to investigate a specific topic, question or problem for an extended period of time,” explained Decker. “Students use multiple modalities to gather information — virtual field trips, videos, books, exploration — and PBL incorporates various academic areas.”

The children produce a product that actually reveals the learning that took place all along the way.

Exposure to working as part of a team is also a plus.

“We are also trying to get our students to see beyond the school and their hamlets, and to see how interdependent the world is,” Decker said.

“They have very limited opportunities to explore, visit, or experience life and we are trying to bring these opportunities to them.”

Opportunities abound in the Fifth graders Jose Martinez and Nelson Brizuela Paz agree with Extended Day Program Coordinator Christine Decker, above, that project Extended Day program. Some 360 building makes for fun learning. students from grades K-6 meet after

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King Jr., will soon grace a hallway at Benjamin Cosor Elementary School, thanks to the creative efforts of third graders in the school's Extended Day

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FALLSBURG SCHOOL SCENE

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Student Madison Torres Martinez has researched rainforests and is working on a diorama that includes a pretend boa constrictor.

school from 4 to 5 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays.

An important focus is on helping students complete their homework, but there is play time as well. There's an art club, a journalism club, a Big and Littles Mentor Club, which pairs high school students with younger kids to work on homework, and there are games and a Zumba program.

But the PBL emphasis is new this year and creating quite a buzz.

“I'm working on a rainforest project,” said fifth grader Madison Torres Martinez, with excitement sparking in her eyes. “I researched snakes, big cats, monkeys, birds and boa constrictors!”

Nelson Brizuela Paz and Jose Martinez, also fifth graders, have teamed up to build a soccer field and stadium, and are researching Neymar, the famous Brazilian soccer player who goes by his first name.

“Making a replica of a soccer field is really fun,” said Nelson. “You learn to work together.”

Decker says the children's teachers play a role in the after-school learning as well.

“We have asked their teachers to take 15 to 20 minutes daily to focus on a long-term project for students,” which is then furthered after school, Decker said. “We have also asked classroom teachers to give no homework on the third Thursday of each

month so that groups can devote the entire hour to their PBL project.”

Even better — many of the students' teachers, teacher assistants and teacher aides actually work with the kids after-school as part of the Extended Day Program.

“They are very dedicated,” Decker said.

Special projects include insect and bat studies by first graders, and spiders and owls in second grade. Third

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Decker said the school hopes to share its after-school projects with the Fallsburg community at large in the springtime. Meantime, the hands-on learning is reaping significant rewards.

“Since the introduction of PBL projects, we're noticing that students are motivated to do their homework in a timely fashion so that they can go back to work on their PBL project,” she said. “Plus, PBL is fun!”

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graders work on maps, countries and cultures, while fourth graders build replicas of famous landmarks around the world. Rainforests are the purview of fifth graders, and sixth graders focus on the Middle Ages.

The after-school group of English as a New Language students is making small-scale versions of the Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty, and Shakespeare's Globe Theater in London.

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Best ‘Buddies’ at elementary school make for positivity and peace STORY AND PHOTOS BY KATHY DALEY

D

iego Lemus was one of the 12year-olds who, from time immemorial, pushed back when someone pushed first. But at school, that kind of comeback is not permitted.

So Diego is part of a program at Benjamin Cosor Elementary School called Buddies that gives students strategies for calming down and not resorting to retribution.

“Before, I would get frustrated and not think positively,” said Diego. “I might say mean things. This has helped me to get friendships and to understand that by hitting or yelling, you hurt the other person's feelings.

“I have learned how to get along with people,” he said. “There was a kid I didn't get along with in third grade. Now I am giving it a chance.”

Created by instructional math coach and veteran teacher Peter Dworetsky, “Buddies” gathers students from first through sixth grade

‘Before, I would get frustrated and not think positively, I might say mean things.’

Diego Lemus Student | to meet once a week from 8 to 9 a.m., before the school day starts. Working with Dworetsky on the project are kindergarten teacher Scott Persten and school psychologists Katrina Uhrig and Gabriella Calvello.

“We try to target students who are in need of extra support in some area,” said Dworetsky.

Some students have trouble with behavior or academics. Others have social or emotional issues.

First, the group of about 15 students run through some ice-breaking activities — such as a cup-stacking challenge that teaches how to lose and what to do, gracefully, when

Sixth grader Diego Lemus, at right, says he's benefited from a new program designed by veteran elementary school teacher Peter Dworetsky.

one experiences frustration.

One strategy is to count backward from 10 to 1, taking deep breaths, rather than reacting immediately.

“That has helped me,” said Diego.

From there, Buddies students and adults break into small groups to discuss any problems the students are undergoing. Goal setting comes next — one student might promise that he will complete his homework.

Another might have trouble getting to school on time, and her strategy might be to work more to get ready in the morning, without worrying about what siblings are doing.

Twenty minutes of physical activi-

ty in the gym caps the Buddies hour.

“We play kickball because it's team building,” said Dworetsky. “We are seeing that some kids who didn't get along with others are really improving, and you see the older kids helping the younger kids.”

During the regular school day, the students know that they can turn to any of the four Buddies’ adults for assistance or advice.

Students are selected for Buddies based on teacher recommendation or parental request.

Perks are included. To reward Buddies' kids for meeting their goals and improving behavior, the group

enjoyed a recent tour of the New York State Museum in Albany, where they also engaged in a bird-drawing workshop that fascinated them.

Afterwards they ate at Pizza Hut. Dworetsky said the Buddies' hour of calm attention is nurturing for the students.

“All day long, this building is teeming,” said Dworetsky. “But for an hour, we are a small group and are able to give really good attention to the kids. Hopefully they will benefit.”

Diego Lemus says he already has.

“My mother told me she is proud of me,” said the student. “That went right to my heart.”

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