SCHOOL SCENE A Special Supplement to the Sullivan County Democrat
A look inside the Sullivan West Central School District SECTION S, DECEMBER 5, 2017 CALLICOON, NY
SULLIVAN WEST SCHOOL SCENE
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At top of a caring class, student leaders help shape school district BY KATHY DALEY
H
igh schools everywhere harbor students who are sure to change the world, or at least their own portion of it. Take for example, AJ Lumalcuri and Leizel Schlott of Sullivan West High School. Lumalcuri designed a mural for the elementary school on the rock face of the visitor's parking lot, and planted perennials in a garden near High School Principal Mark Plescia's office. In his own home neighborhood, AJ organized a Litter Pluck, cleaning trash on County Road 114 between Callicoon and Cochecton. President of the senior class, Lumalcuri is also co-president of the Student Council, which is the body of student leaders that organize school activities and service projects. The Council also fosters school spirit and pride. “I'm not a bystander,” said AJ. “If I see something I'd like to change, I go for it.” Senior Leizel Schlott echoes those sentiments. She shares the Student Council presidency with AJ and also serves as Student Council Representative to the Board of Education, attending board meetings and sharing information and insights with the adults. “I want to know what's going on,” says Schlott, “and I want to be part of the decisions and of getting other
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Nancy Hackett admires the eagerness and enthusiasm of high school leaders AJ Lumalcuri, Leizel Schlott, Michael Mullally, Nikita Parikh and Sydney Favre.
people involved. Ultimately, I want to have a good impact on the school.” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Nancy Hackett is thrilled with this year's roster of student leaders, which also includes Michael Mullally, vice president of the Student Council; Sydney Favre, secretary; and Nikita Parikh, treasurer. Parikh also serves as vice president of her sophomore class.
School Scene A look at activities in the Sullivan West School District Published by
Catskill-Delaware Publications, Inc. Publishers of the
(845) 887-5200 Callicoon, NY 12723 December 5, 2017 • Vol. CXXVII, No. 50
“These kids are a model for what leadership looks like,” said Dr. Hackett. “We do have a good group that sits down and comes up with ideas,” adds Favre. One of the most memorable new activities took place at Homecoming, the annual autumn tradition of welcoming kids back to school with a rally, football game and crowning of Homecoming king and queen.
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ALL FIRED UP “After the merger (of three school districts into one in 1999), we never had a bonfire tradition at Homecoming,” explained Dr. Hackett. “The JeffYoungsville group would talk of bonfires. That idea has bubbled up through this generation.” Upon returning to high school after the summer, the student leaders hit the ground running as they coaxed the bonfire dream into reality. Before long, the Lake Huntington Fire Department was on board as was the high school's PTSO. At first, the fire department offered its firehouse as the site of the bonfire. But with a little more planning, the blaze was able to move onto high school property, where games, music and food enhanced the September event for close to 300 people. The firemen built the bonfire and monitored the safety of its 10-foot-high flames. Dr. Hackett pointed out that she received numerous thank-you notes from people in the community who enjoyed the fun. Homecoming was particularly thrilling for another reason: the presence of students and families from Roscoe, the school that has merged with Sullivan West to form one football team. Sydney Favre pointed out early on, there was reluctance to merge the two small football teams, CONTINUED ON 4S
Fred W. Stabbert III Joseph Abraham and Matt Shortall Willow Baum, Margaret Bruetsch, Kathy Daley, Rich Klein, Richard Ross, Patricio Robayo, Jeanne Sager, Ed Townsend, Mike Vreeland Liz Tucker Lillian Ferber Barbara Matos Susan Panella Susan Owens Patricia Biedinger Michelle Reynolds Margaret Bruetsch Janet Will Ruth Huggler, Rosalie Mycka, Elizabeth Finnegan, Petra Duffy, Nyssa Calkin, Claire Humbert, Peter Melnick Linda Davis, Kohloa Zaitsha, Billy Smith, Phil Grisafe
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annual Red Cross blood drives, checking in patients, providing food and escorting blood givers but “at the bonfire, the Roscoe out to their cars safely. boys came and hung out with Ride 2 Survive fundraising is us.� done throughout the year to colAnother new tradition born. lect money to ferry cancer patients to doctor visits and to COMMUNITY COUNTS hospital chemotherapy sesThe importance of Sullivan sions. West's role with and in the Even outside school, Sullivan community cannot be overemWest teenagers are involved in phasized, said Dr. Hackett. For the community. Sydney Favre example, there's the ongoing gets involved in fund-raising work of the Sullivan West events for her church, St. Community Task Force, with a Francis of Youngsville. Nikita mission to promote the safety Parikh volunteers at the Rock and well being of students. Hill Hindu temple to which her This year, parents are also getfamily belongs, and Leizel ting a boost from new Sullivan Schlott is president of a youth West curriculum director Dr. group at St. Francis parish in Kerri Brown, who's offering Narrowsburg, where kids visit monthly meetings to discuss nursing homes around holiday CONTRIBUTED PHOTO time. Michael Mullally volunthe key role that parents play in A new Homecoming tradition was born the night of Sept. 22: a kick-off party featuring a bonfire super- teers as a coach for Fremont Red student lives. “She's addressing what it's vised by the Lake Huntington Fire Department on high school grounds. Dogs Youth Football League and like to be a parent,� said for the Callicoon Center basketHackett, “involved in homework And each year, events like the Last year, a volleyball tournament ball team. concepts, sleep, social network, police versus staff basketball game was launched and this year will fea“This is a very giving group, very expectations that schools have with draws crowds of parents and others. ture a new basketball tournament, community-centered� said Hackett. regard to kids being prepared in That game is held in March as a noted Lumalcuri. “The whole class is, and the leaders class.� fund-raiser for the senior class trip. Student Council members host the are representative of that.� CONTINUED FROM 3S
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Where the crime scene is fake but the learning is authentic
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Twelfth grader Rich Meyerer labels evidence at the crime scene at Sullivan West High School.
in the case of a crime. “This is basically a chemistry class,” said Clark. “We use the scientific method: observation, forming an hypothesis, experimenting, testing and reviewing the results.” Students who wish to earn the college credits pay $440 for the Sullivan West course. By contrast, the course costs over $7,000 when taken at Syracuse University. Over the summer, Clark himself attended special training at Syracuse, and he receives ongoing updates during the school year. “It's challenging trying to stay ahead of the kids,” Clark said. “I'm up at night reading. But Syracuse is very helpful.” As the Sullivan West course progresses through the year, the class will break up into four students who set up crime scene, and four who study the crime scene, and they will rotate those tasks. Now, students take turns serving as leader of the investigation, photographer, note-taker, sketch artist, a student who does measuring and one
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t looked like the “victim” had been electrocuted. There was the telltale battery by the body, and the wires lying nearby. But then what about the gun on the table and blood spattered on the wall? It was all pretend, of course, at a science lab at Sullivan West High School. But the rigorous course in forensics is real and the outcome for students is a college-level science class under their belts. “I decided to take the course because I thought it might be fun, something different, and it would give me college credit too,” said Kira Duggan, an 11th grader. Teacher Jason Clark's Introduction to Forensics is part of Syracuse University Project Advance (SUPA), which is an educational program that provides high school students with the opportunity to take Syracuse University courses in their own schools during the regular school
day. In Forensics, students can earn four science credits before they even enter the university. “We are looking at what we offer students to give them the most complete education,” said Principal Mark Plescia. The SUPA Forensics class is new this year, and eight students participate. “Forensics is the science behind investigating and solving crimes,” notes Clark, who also teaches the high school's Earth Science class, as well as Introduction to Renewable Energy, which earns students credits at SUNY Sullivan. In Forensics, students learn to “lift” fingerprints and analyze them, and to study footprints, hair and fiber, just like in the old Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In fact the course introduces students to the 19th century fictional Holmes as one of the first Crime Scene Investigators (CSI). They also learn post-Holmes techniques, like analyzing blood type and DNA, which were later ways of determining culpability
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STORY AND PHOTOS BY KATHY DALEY
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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Grace Gaebel, eleventh grade, collects evidence wearing rubber gloves.
who is “gatekeeper,” that is, who determines the viability and admissibility of evidence. “I need gloves,” said student Grace Gaebel as she prepared to put evidence into individual small paper bags. Into the bags went fake money, hairs found near the body, a bullet casing and a bag of suspicious white powder. “It's a drug deal gone bad,” whispered Clark to a reporter. “But they don't know that yet.” The 11th and 12th graders attend the class every day, with every other day two periods long. The students are fascinated with the subject matter. For example, they have
learned about one recent theory on the Salem Witch trials when 19 women were hanged for alleged devil possession and witchcraft. Consumption of rye grains contaminated with a fungus known as ergot, which bears a similarity to LSD, is a possible explanation for the witch hysteria in late 17th century Salem. If eaten, the fungus can cause hallucinations and convulsions similar to those that were reported as the behavior of the “bewitched” girls. “It's interesting to learn about the history of solving crimes,” said 12th grader Bruno Valentini, “and it's interesting to solve a crime that another person did.”
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Gotcha! Kids caught doing good get prizes and honor in new program STORY AND PHOTO BY KATHY DALEY
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third grader sees another student looking for her coat after school breakfast one morning. Instead of leaving the student to look on her own, the child starts to encourage “not to worry... we will find it,” and then seeks out adults to help as well. The third grader remains with the fellow student, cheering her and looking, until the coat is found. This is the kind of interaction taking place at Sullivan West Elementary on a daily basis, say the principal and assistant principal. To encourage those students, and to celebrate kindness in general, the school has initiated a campaign called Caught Being Good. Adults in the building, from the superintend-
ent of schools to maintenance staff, have golden tickets to hand out to students who are noticed going out of their way to show others care and concern. And golden tickets also go to students who are trying to improve their own academic and/or behavioral habits. “Students can get golden tickets for team work, integrity, kindness, a positive attitude, creativity and extra effort,” says Assistant Principal Kevin Carbone. The golden tickets with the student names go into grade-level jars or baskets, and at the end of the week, the school's main office staff picks a name out and that child gets a prize. Then, at the end of the month, tickets are counted and the child with the most tickets gets the honor of being “Star of the Month” with his or her photo placed in the hallway for
all to see. “In our growing ‘me-centered’ world, it's very encouraging to see students who are going out of their way to think of others,” said Principal Rod McLaughlin. “The
‘Students, like all human beings are encouraged and excited when they receive a positive recognition of their thoughtful, positive and/or good behavior.’ Rod McLaughlin Sullivan West Elementary Principal|
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Caught Being Good program is one of the many pieces that dovetail into our overall PBIS culture.” PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, which encourages civility, citizenship and character as hallmarks of the learning atmosphere. Students are expected to be responsible, respectful, safe and kind. “Students, like all human beings are encouraged and excited when they receive a positive recognition of their thoughtful, positive and/or good behavior,” said McLaughlin. “For many it becomes somewhat addictive.” “It's for the kids who tends to do the right thing and for the struggling student, too,” Carbone added. The principal said he is delighted with faculty and staff, “who have embraced all of these avenues for
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encouraging good citizenship among our students and who model 'othercenteredness' for the students day in and day out.” Some of the students getting tickets include: A sixth grade student walking through the cafeteria who saw a kindergartner accidently spill a container of beads all over the floor. The older student stopped to pick up beads and consoled the younger child by saying “don't worry – it will be okay.” A kindergarten student saw another looking for a place to sit at breakfast and without being asked, scooted over and called out to the student, “Here we have room for you.” A fifth grader on the way to recess, which is a time of day all students look forward to, noticed an adult employee that they didn't know very well carrying a stack of papers. The student passed the adult, paused and then returned asking, “Can I carry that for you?” The adult was grateful, touched and encouraged and sought out the principal to comment on how wonderful the school's children truly are.
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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
The new Caught Doing Good campaign at Sullivan West Elementary encourages students to be kind and thoughtful and to be serious about schoolwork and good behavior. Here, Natalio Crespo, a sixth grader, works avidly on a class assignment.
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A tale of giving at holiday time – and of duct-taping somebody to the wall STORY AND PHOTO BY KATHY DALEY
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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Sixth graders Kaydence Everitt, Melonie Bock, Abby Parucki, Kayla Wilson, Peter March and Peter Norton are jubilant about ensuring families have food during the winter holidays.
foodstuffs to go to the food pantries. Carbone noted that the grades vie to be the top in their school, with the winning grade level getting the prize: a chance to duct-tape the Assistant Principal to a wall. “Last year, I dressed up as a turkey for Thanksgiving (at school) so I guess I can do this,� Carbone said with a rueful grin. School fundraisers and parentteacher organizations across the nation have stumbled on the moneyraising gimmick. Standing on a chair while being firmly taped to the wall
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(except for seeing and breathing openings), the teacher or administrator serves as a willing vehicle for raising money. The audience waits to see how long the adult will stay stuck to the wall once the chair is removed. In the case of Sullivan West, the adult will be taped only by the students of the grade level that brings in the most food for needy families. Still, sixth graders gathered in the collections room – Kaydence Everitt, Melonie Bock, Abby Parucki, Kayla Wilson, Peter March and Peter Norton – made the point that it's the
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sense of giving that is the bottom line in their winter holiday fundraisers. Like kids elsewhere who help others, they are learning, developing life skills and polishing their “civic responsibility� muscles. “It makes us feel like part of the community,� said Peter Norton. “People should have food on such an important day as Thanksgiving,� added Peter March. And Kayla Wilson put it succinctly. “Everybody should be doing this,�she said. “Everybody should donate.�
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t's a serious fund drive with a goofy but very in vogue prize: the ducttaping of a school official to the wall. Sullivan West Elementary planned to beat last year's Thanksgiving Food Drive in the total number of food items gathered to help needy families. Last year, 2,000 items went to local food pantries, including canned soup, beans, vegetables and fruit as well as packaged cereal, pasta, rice and more. “Our ‘Thanksgiving’ Food Drive provides food through the entire holiday season,� explained Elementary School Assistant Principal Kevin Carbone. The food gathering crusade is sponsored by the Parent-Teacher-Student Organization (PTSO) and involves students in every grade in the school, as they open up their hearts as well as their healthy sense of competition. “We're all in it together,� Carbone said, noting that last year, the Narrowsburg Ecumenical Food Bank, for one, cited Sullivan West for its tremendous help in meeting holiday needs. “Kids bring in the non-perishable items into their homerooms,� Carbone said. “Then at ninth period, the older students walk around and do the collections.� The piles of food go into a collection room, and the PTSO divvies up the
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Welcome to the world of coding and creating at SW High School L
ast year when she was a junior, Ava McLeod knew she needed a course in computer science before she graduated. “I wanted to have a foot in this before going to college,” she said. “I know that college computer classes are very tough.” McLeod, who plans to major in either computer science or criminology when she graduates from Sullivan West, spoke to one of the school's guidance counselors. Voilà! This year, McLeod delightedly drifts into a daily 8:30 a.m. class in
Introduction to Computers taught by veteran technology educator Tom Scardino. “I thought it would be complicated,” said McLeod, “but this program allows you to wrap your mind around it. It's not high stress. Here, we all learn skills together but we also work on our own projects.” This school year marks the launch of a comprehensive program in computer science at the high school, explained Scardino. To follow his “essentials” course will be classes in computer science principles and computer science cybersecurity.
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Growing Through Grief
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A FREE day-camp full of healing activities for children ages 5 to 17 grieving the death of a loved one that has occurred within the last two years. Through play, art, music, and activities, it is a safe place of acceptance, understanding and grief education. For more info call Bereavement Director Kim Warner 845-561-6111 x 117 Deadline Aug. 10, 2018 CONTRIBUTED PHOTO 55228
Sophomore Allen Marshall, right, and nine classmates are piloting an elective course in computer science taught by Tom Scardino.
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“Computers are so relevant to students,” Scardino said, “who have all been playing with games, phones, apps. And anybody who looks at careers see that this is a growing field.” The new class is available through Project Lead the Way (PLTW), which is a non-profit organization that provides courses in science, technology, engineering and math for schools nationwide. Hands-on learning and significant training and support for teachers are two of its hallmarks. Sullivan West has offered PLTW preengineering classes for years to older students and a Gateway to Technology class for 8th graders. But Scardino's computer class is learning real programming, that is, the process of creating a set of instructions that tell a computer how to perform a task. First, they take on visual, block-based programming and then transition to text-based programming. Scardino himself was trained by PLTW this summer through an online course. But he is no stranger to either the classroom or computer technology. At Sullivan West, he teaches threedimensional modeling, which creates
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Student Ava McLeod has set her sights on either a career in computer science or criminology, so a basic course in computer science is a first step.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Sebastian Dao, an eleventh grader, is working on creating a medieval game, complete with knights and danger around every corner.
3D objects using specialized software. He also teaches digital photography along with carpentry and home improvement courses, and began working in computer graphics in 2001. His Intro to Computers class is made up of 10 students in grades 10 throughout 12, all on different levels of expertise with computers. At the beginning of the school year, “they were given a basic program, and they get to make codings and recreate it into something they'd be interested in,” said Scardino. Eleventh grader Sebastian Dao is working on an interactive story as an app for a smartphone. “I read a lot, especially books on medieval times and magic,” said Dao. So he is programming a game focusing on the Middle Ages, with a main character who gets pulled into another world and has to figure out how to get back home. Next to him on a computer is Ava McLeod, who is a runner in real life and is working on a game in which a
runner has to make decisions on eating, sleeping, what to wear and so on as he runs the course. Another student is working on a game about a human spaceship. Later on, the class will begin programming a small driver-less robotic vehicle to move around as it avoids crashing into imaginary buildings and people. After that, they will tackle website design. Scardino says the skills that students learn are invaluable, no matter what they wind up doing in life. “This type of training prepares them for different careers,” he said, “not just programming. It develops problem solving, trying to figure things out, how to work together. It involves creativity, math, reading, art, typing.” And as for Scardino himself, the class is pure pleasure. “The students are really embracing it,” he said. “They want to learn. They're engaged, active, willing to help each other. It's a teacher's dream.”
DECEMBER, 2017
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Look what's cooking at SW Elementary School BY KATHY DALEY
‘I
love teaching kids to cook,” says professional chef and Fat Lady Café owner Judith Maidenbaum with a smile. “I think it's really important. My kids cook, all my grandkids cook.” At a meeting of the Sullivan West Elementary School Garden Club, Maidenbaum imparted some of the delights of all things culinary in a special occasion organized by Catskill Mountainkeeper, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County and Sullivan Renaissance. The three organizations partner in the Catskill Edible Garden Project (CEGP), which works with schools and community organizations to design gardens as living, educational and gathering spaces. “We did our first ‘Chef in the Classroom’ event here in the fall of 2015,” recounted Sullivan Renaissance's Colleen Emery. Teacher Shelia Schultz, Garden Club advisor, “was (then) inspired to continue cooking with her club,” continued Emery, “and was awarded a Sullivan Renaissance Healthy Community Initiatives grant last year to purchase a cooking kit.” At the November cooking event, Emery assisted along with Pamela
KATHY DALEY | DEMOCRAT
Judith Maidenbaum, owner of the Fat Lady Café in Kauneonga Lake, spent an afternoon at Sullivan West Elementary School in Jeffersonville teaching members of the student Garden Club about herbs and spices in soup-making. With her are George Olsen and Ethan Hoch.
Greenlaw with Catskill Mountainkeeper, who serves as program coordinator for the Catskill Edible Garden Project. Also involved was SueAnn Boyd from Cornell Cooperative. Chef Judith quickly got the Garden
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY SAMANTHA BUSCH
It takes a team to serve up a program. Key players in the Chef in the Classroom event were, from left, Colleen Emery, Project Coordinator, Sullivan Renaissance; SueAnn Boyd, Healthy Schools Coordinator, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County; Judith Maidenbaum, owner of Fat Lady Café in Kauneonga Lake; Pamela Greenlaw, Catskill Edible Garden Program Coordinator; teacher Shelia Shultz and elementary school garden club members Haley Boice, Karlee Diehl, Alyssa Gettel, Ethan Hock, Ryann McElroy, George Olsen and Keely Schock.
Club kids working and learning as she engaged them, step by step, in creating a pot of fragrant yellow lentil soup leavened with spices from India. “What is spice?” she asked the group of students. “It's some little speck of something that adds flavor,” responded student George Olsen. Correct, said Maidenbaum. She went on to teach the proper use of the mortar and pestle as the students each smashed cardamom pods. They pressed garlic, grated ginger and added turmeric and cilantro into the beautiful mustard-color soup that bubbled on the stove. The cooking took place in the school's STEM room, where science, technology, engineering and math activities take place. “This is good!” said George later on, as the students sipped soup and compared the plain and the spicy versions. “These students have never had this experience before,” said Club Advisor Schultz, who also teaches kindergarten at Sullivan West. “This can take
them to a whole different level.” The popular after-school club, which lasts from April until December each year, teaches students how to prepare soil, plant, and harvest along with important tips, such as how to distinguish weeds from plants. They learn everything from the job of particular garden tools to behavior expectations. When Maidenbaum made her appearance in November, the students were engaged each week in harvesting tomatoes, pumpkins, watermelon, squash, strawberries, swiss chard and green beans, all growing in four by eight foot beds near the school tennis courts. The garden also serves as an important learning center during the school day, added Schultz. Her own kindergarten class learned about pumpkins by watching them grow from seedlings to flowers to the chubby orange fruit so good in fall and winter pies. Throughout Sullivan County are five other CEDP school gardens: at George L. Cooke Elementary School and Robert J. Kaiser Middle School in Monticello, at the Hebrew Day School in Kiamesha, at Liberty Elementary School and at Roscoe Central School. Catskill Mountainkeeper and Sullivan Renaissance provide funding support, technical assistance and design of the gardens, along with staff and volunteers to oversee the development and building of the spaces. Cornell, at its Ferndale Road site, hosts the Edible Garden project that serves as a demonstration and teaching garden. Cornell offers both nutrition and horticultural support as part of its Healthy Schools and Community program, which is coordinated by Boyd. The focus for all is on giving students access to healthy, local foods while they learn how to grow and cook the most local ingredients they can find. The gardens are invaluable in teaching sharing, independent observation, learning about food and where it comes from, adopting healthy habits and reconnecting with and exploring one's place in nature, Emery said.
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Gaining knowledge of the world Students Shalyn Eugene and Jasmine Cuttler work on their essays in the middle school/high school library as part of the seventh grade English class of teacher Charlotte Schwartz. The focus of their writing are the messages of perseverance and hope in the book ‘A Long Walk to Water,’ a New York Times bestseller. The book, based on a true
story, relates the experiences of two eleven-yearolds in Sudan, a girl who fetches water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home, and a boy who becomes one of the 'lost boys' of Sudan: the refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay.
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