Webster
Hosts First STEAMposium
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Daniel Webster Magnet School held its first STEAMposium, which was a week filled with exciting STEAM-related assemblies, activities and events designed to engage students in problem-solving and the engineering design process.
All students in the school visited the STEAMposium during late May with their teachers. Students in second through fifth-grade participated in a design challenge, led by ArchforKids, a Dobbs Ferry-based educational company. ArchforKids is being funded by the Webster PTA.
Students in the younger grades addressed the challenge, Castles: Homes & Fortresses. The older grades constructed models of green skyscrapers. After a brief introduction, children made their creations out of recycled boxes and other materials.
Amy Moselhi, Board of Education vice president, Walter Cronk and Louis Rollano, who are civil engineers, as well as Ralph Rossi, a mechanical engineer and environmental engineer, gave presentations to explain what engineers do, the types of problems they try to solve and their design process. They showed examples of plans and designs, explained how they devise and revise plans, showed examples of finished projects and types of materials they used and explained how they use a budget and why it is important.
"The purpose of the first STEAMposium was to empower students to think about and solve problems in the real world," said Principal Melissa Passarelli. "We are continuing to strengthen the connection between the STEAM projects that students have worked on and their real-world applications. We are also engaging all students in understanding and using the engineering design process, and seeing examples of how it's used in the real world with real engineers."
There was also a Family Invention Night and a week-long STEAM Fair. STEAM-related games and materials were raffled.
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Prepare Medical Information
Now for
Next School Year
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It's never too early to talk about being prepared for the new school year.
Physical Exam: All new students and children entering Pre-K, Kindergarten and Grades 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 in September will be required to submit a copy of their current physical exam to the school nurse within 30 days of starting school.
Immunizations: Current students promoted to the following grades will also be required to submit updated immunization records in order to attend school:
Grade 7 - One dose of meningococcal vaccine
Grade 12 - Second dose of meningococcal vaccine, given on or after age 16.
Parents should check with their child's health care provider as soon as possible to make sure that they are up to date and ready to start school in the fall.
In-school Medication Pick-up: Parents need to pick up their child's in-school medication from the school nurse before summer vacation. New medication orders with supplies are due back in the fall.
Athletics Forms and Info: Health information required for Athletics
participation may be submitted through Family ID located on the Athletics website.
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Monday, June 17: NRHS Last Day of Classes
Monday, June 17: Grade 5 Moving Up Day, Trinity, 9 a.m.
Monday, June 17: Grade 5 Awards, Columbus, 9:15 a.m.
Monday, June 17: Grade 5 Luncheon, Columbus, 11:30 a.m.
Monday, June 17: Graduation Rehearsal, NRHS, 1:30 p.m.
Monday, June 17: Awards Ceremony, NRHS, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, June 18: Board of Education Special Meeting, Central Administration, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, June 19: Kindergarten Moving Up Ceremony, Trinity, 9 a.m.
Wednesday, June 19: Grade 5 Graduation, Columbus, 9:30 a.m.
Wednesday, June 19: Grade 5 Garden Party, Webster, 7 p.m.
Thursday, June 20: Grade 5 Graduation, Davis, 9 a.m.
Thursday, June 20: Ward Grade 5 Moving Up, at ALMS, 10:30 a.m.
Thursday, June 20: Grade 8 Award Ceremony, IEYMS, 1 p.m.
Thursday, June 20: Graduation Cap and Gown Distribution, NRHS, 1:30 p.m.
Friday, June 21: Grade 5 Moving Up, Webster, 9:30 a.m.
Friday, June 21: Grade 2 Graduation, Barnard, 11 a.m.
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| From left: director Anthony Stirpe; Jamie Cantone; Isaiah Fernandez, student manager of the orchestra; Jeremiah Adme, electric bass; Ryan Basch; Suzanne Morello, Director of Orchestras; Nora Shefferman, piano. |
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'See Rock City' Wins
3 Regional Metro Awards
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On a night of cheers, hugs and shouts of joy, the student thespians of New Rochelle High School's TheatreWorks won three Metro Awards, regional theater honors the school had sought for the first time in at least 15 years.
"It just feels incredible!" said Ryan Basch, one of the winners on the gala night in the Purchase College Concert Hall. Basch won the award for Outstanding Featured Ensemble Member in the recent TheatreWorks production of "See Rock City and Other Destinations."
The play featured vignettes of personal discovery and overcoming fears at tourist destinations across the United States. Junior Jamie Cantone won Outstanding Comic Performance - Female for her role as the UFO-seeking Evan. The show also won for Outstanding Student Orchestra.
At the ceremony, officially named The Metropolitan High School Theater Awards, the NRHS students were up against singers, dancers, actors and others from more than 50 schools throughout Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties in New York and Bergen County, New Jersey. The annual awards are presented by the Helen Hayes Youth Theatre and sponsored by The Journal News/lohud.com.
NRHS teacher-director Anthony Stirpe had impressed upon the students that the seven nominations the show had scored was the true prize, especially combined with the opportunity to perform two songs from the show, "Here" and the title number, in the sold-out Purchase College venue. Making it to the show was enough.
Stirpe himself was nominated for Outstanding Direction. The show's other nominations included: Outstanding Overall Production, Outstanding Acting Performance - Female (senior Jazz Jenkins as Kate, a bride who flees her wedding for Niagara Falls), and Outstanding Ensemble Group.
"It's crazy that the first time we entered in so long we got seven nominations," said junior Skyler Edwards, who played a tour guide in the show.
Then the wins came in.
"It's unreal," Stirpe said after the ceremony. "I'm so happy, I'm beyond words. We won three awards and put on an amazing performance. It's been a fantastic night that the students will always remember."
Indeed, the community is also not likely to soon forget how the theater group staked a claim of excellence in the region.
As Cantone said, "I'm so happy that we put New Rochelle on the map again for theater."
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Construction Wave Coming to New Rochelle Schools
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Construction crews are gearing up for another summer wave of renovations and upgrades in the City School District of New Rochelle schools.
Once students are out, summertime work will take place at Albert Leonard Middle School, and Columbus, Jefferson and Trinity elementary schools, with asbestos abatement taking place at Isaac E. Young Middle School.
Much of the work will begin July 1. Most of it is part of Phase III of the $106.5 million construction bond act passed by voters in 2016. Phase III is projected to cost $29 million and will be divided into two parts, with much of the worked planned for summer 2020.
"The summer allows us to make great progress in keeping our buildings comfortable, appealing places to learn," said Director of Facilities Carl Thurnau. "With Phase III under way, we are well past the midpoint in making the improvements throughout the District that the 2016 bond act made possible."
While classes are in session, crews must work around them - at night or on weekends. When classes are out, crews will replace windows and sections of roof on several schools, replace sidewalks and make other upgrades.
Masonry work on the ALMS exterior was completed over the past few weeks. Projects for the middle school this summer include site work in front of the building.
At Columbus, crews will upgrade heating and cooling systems in the main offices and will replace sidewalks. Some windows will also be replaced.
The staircase outside Jefferson, leading to the auditorium, will be replaced, while brickwork flanking the stairs will be repointed. The new stairway is the final major piece of the $46 million Phase II of the work. Inside, the school will receive new electrical switchgear and the auditorium will be cooled with a new air conditioning system.
Trinity will receive a new ceiling in the main entrance and the hallway outside the gymnasium. The library will receive new carpet. Outside, a new aboveground oil tank will be installed.
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| Data scientist and ALMS parent Dr. Amit Bhattacharyya teaching Python computing language. |
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Hour of Code Night Teaches Computation, Coding
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Hour of Code night began at Albert Leonard Middle School in December, bringing students back to class in the evening to learn how computers compute.
Now the program has split into levels to teach students who are a little more advanced and those who are just starting. It is open to all students of ALMS and Isaac E. Young Middle School.
"We think it's one of the most relevant things you can do," said seventh-grader Benjamin Patlis, one of 11 students taking the classes Wednesday night. Dr. Amit Bhattacharyya, a data scientist, led the class, teaching seven students the basics of the Python computing language, including how to write a code to instruct a computer to swap values, a step toward teaching it to sort, which is a building block for more complicated procedures.
The classes are taught by parents and District teachers with expertise in computers and coding who volunteer their time.
The program began with Hour of Code team leader Jacqueline Spiegel, with support from PTA STEAM Committee member Omer Uzun, and the pool of volunteers quickly grew. The
Students get an opportunity to learn skills which will be vital to future careers, including well-paying jobs which do not require a 4-year college degree.
"It's a new currency in the world that everyone should become familiar with," Bhattacharyya said.
His daughter, ALMS sixth-grader Anika, who took her father's class, said she likes the way computers require a person to put everything in the right place.
"You have to be very precise," she said.
Parents and students interested in the program may contact
Xiomara Gonzalez, math department chairperson, at
[email protected].
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