|
GROTON MONTHLY
GROTON CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
E-NEWSLETTER
September 2022
SEPTEMBER 2021
| |
| |
|
Campfires. I spent much of my down time this summer camping and sitting around campfires. For those of you who have seen the school calendar, you already know I am using this as the theme for the year. In that publication, I spoke of the most important existential question one can ask around a campfire… What is the best way to roast a marshmallow?
But campfires bring more than camaraderie and calm. More than a mesmerizing flame and the crackle of wood. Campfires allow the space to think. To dream. To imagine what could be. Over the next ten months we have just 1170 hours with our students. That’s 180 days or 70,200 minutes of time to inspire, engage, and build capacity for learning in our kids. This year I encourage you all to make your classroom a campfire. The place where the outside noise is eliminated and students have the space to think. To learn. To grow. And you have the capacity to build that fire that pulls them in so that they start to dream big and imagine what CAN be. And they do it because of all of you. Pretty amazing… the life of an educator. What a year we are going to have!
-Margo Martin, Groton Central School Superintendent
| |
MEET OUR NEW STAFF MEMBERS! | |
|
Andrew Doane
JSHS Associate Principal
| |
|
Nick Dyson
Business Manager
| |
|
Jack O'Reilly
Social Studies
| |
|
Chelsey Mahany
Science/AG
| |
Ashley Beck
Special Education
| |
|
Breanna Miskimen
5th Grade
| |
|
Danielle Heavans-Soda
1st Grade
| |
|
Eryn Kelly
Special Education
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Krystal Brown
Teaching Assistant
| |
|
Katye Randall
Teacher Aide
| |
|
Darin LeBlanc
Teacher Aide
| |
|
Jasmine Competillo
Teacher Aide
| |
|
Emily Slater
Teacher Aide
| |
|
|
|
Christopher Miller
Bus Driver
| |
|
Bert Starks
Bus Driver Substitute
| |
|
William Austen
Bus Driver
| |
|
|
ROSS FIELD PROTOCOLS
- Parking: Parking will be limited to the Baken Ave. parking lot only, as there is still a significant amount of construction going on at the concession stand. Due to the limited number of parking spaces, we are asking families that are able to park at the Village Parking lot on Main Street (across from the Legion) to do so until further notice. In that way, we are reserving the available parking spaces for those people that need accessibility.
- A-Turf field surface: In order to be sure we are not contaminating the new field with dirt, gravel, etc., only authorized personnel will be allowed on the artificial turf. That includes players, coaches, and official photographers.
- No food or chewing gum is allowed on the field. Players have been instructed to bring clear fluids only, as colored drinks will stain the field.
- No pets are allowed at the facility at any time.
- The grass that has been put down at Ross Field is freshly laid sod that cannot be walked on for the first six months. Therefore, please stay off the grass areas at all times.
- There are no indoor bathrooms available at Ross Field as the concession stand is not yet completed. We will have port-a-johns on site.
-
We have bleachers available on both sides of the field, however, due to the press box not being completed on the home side of the field the top rows will be roped off for announcing staff so feel free to bring a lawn chair if you wish to sit by the fence that surrounds the field.
| | |
|
AROUND OUR COMMUNITY
Girl Scouts of NYPENN Pathways, Inc. was proud to announce Peyton Conger, Ariana Hillery, Ann Seamans, Nattalie Lombardi, Michaela Durkee, Alyssa Mejia, Aoife Cummings, Grace Shaff, Connie Dickerson and Mariah VanEtten of Groton, NY Troop 40011 are the recipients of the Girl Scout Bronze Award. This award is the highest honor a Girl Scout Junior can earn spending a minimum of 20 hours on a sustainable project that will make an impact on their community for years to come.
Project Name: Sykes Park Revamp
Organization that benefited: The Village of Groton
Description: From the leader: The girls chose the Village Park to repaint the tables that had vulgar words and images and old peeling paint and to paint the whole outside of the pavilion to make the park more appealing for people to use. They spent hours sanding and painting 15 picnic tables, the outside of the pavilion and posts, planters, and an informational booth. They then made a PowerPoint presentation and slide show to present to the Village Board and the Service Unit leaders. They are hosting an open house to invite everyone to see their hard work and encourage children not to deface the park.
| |
|
FOOD SERVICES
Breakfast and lunch are FREE for ALL students again this year with our Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) grant!
In order to continue to provide FREE breakfast and lunch for ALL students, we NEED to get as many people as possible to fill out the lunch application form. This information also allows us to be eligible for other grants that further support our students' educational programming. Please click on the link below to download the lunch application. Fill it out and turn it into the main office of your child's school ASAP.
Feeding our bodies so our minds can grow!
| |  |
|
SUMMER ADVENTURES FOR THE FOOD SERVICE WORKERS
At the end of the school year everyone is ready for a break and ready for all the summer fun. For food service we are switching roles and gearing up for summer feeding. I often sit and reflect on past summers thinking of menus, locations, and making sure we are doing enough to provide meals to as many students as we can. This year, with the help of one cook, two food service helpers, and three interns, we were able to feed 8,000 students in just six short weeks. I couldn't be prouder of all the hard work everyone puts in to make this happen. Another bonus this year was three wonderful interns (Rachel Houston, Michalea Canaday, and Emily Cargian) who I had working with us to learn more about the industry. Not only were they rockstars and super ambitious to take on any task but they helped with daily operations, a summer sports academy, food samples and recipes at the kids farmers market and helped organize and run two summer camps: baking buddies and top chef. To top all that off, they also planned, prepped, cooked and ran an end of the year internship celebration for around 100 people. Switching gears to the start of the school year, my team and I attended a culinary boot camp at Coltivarie, where we learned about our new partnership with the Chef Ann Foundation to help us to continue our journey with as much scratch cooking as possible. I and my entire team are so excited to start this new journey. Watch throughout the year for exciting updates and new menu items and taste testings. I would like to thank my entire team for all of their hard work, dedication, and heart that goes into fueling our students everyday!
| | |
ELEMENTARY & JR - SR HIGH SCHOOL FOOD SERVICE STAFF | |
|
AIR Time Comes to GES!
In order to promote reading and build strong reading comprehension in our young students the Groton Elementary School is introducing a new program this year called Accountable Independent Read (AIR). Our goal is to get students reading books on topics they live in order to help them build their stamina and motivation as readers. Each day students will be given thirty minutes of independent (or, for our youngest classrooms, teacher-led) reading time. As students work through their books they will be asked questions about their book through a program called Accelerated Reader as a means of assessing their comprehension of the text.
Because this is a building-wide initiative, our literacy coach, Erin D’Antonio, has built in AIR challenges to help motivate students to rise to the task of reading. Each challenge will run for five weeks, and will be designed differently to keep the program fresh for kids. Student progress towards meeting the challenge will be set in the Accelerated Reader so that as they work through a book their progress in demonstrating reading comprehension is being tracked. Younger student progress will be measured by the class logging its read aloud time. At the end of the five weeks, those students who have met the challenge will receive a reward! To kick off the event with a bang, our first reward is a popcorn treat!
Research has shown that the more a student reads, the greater their vocabulary, writing skills, and knowledge of the world around them. Reading also helps alleviate stress and leads to relaxation and can be a great sleep aid. Let’s all work together to build strong readers of the future this year by supporting this program!
| | |
 |
PARENT SQUARE
For the upcoming 2022-2023 academic year, the Groton Jr/Sr High School will switch to a new communication platform called ParentSquare. ParentSquare is a unified app for school communication. Parents, guardians, and students can now receive all announcements from the district, their student’s schools and teachers in one place, with options to specify how and when they are notified. Students will also receive a notification via email to sign-up for StudentSquare for grades 6-12. Students can login to their StudentSquare on either their Chromebook or cell phone.
Directions to signup for ParentSquare:
- Find the email from your school and click to get started, or:
-
Go to parentsquare.com/signin (or install the ParentSquare app) and follow the prompts to sign up.
-
Use Google single sign-on, your email, or your phone number to set up your account. Your email/phone number must match contact details in the school's database for this to work!
-Brian Kavanagh, Groton Jr-Sr High Principal
| | |
|
|
21st Century Programming Grant
Groton Central School District has been awarded a 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant of almost $500,000 annually. Monica Dykeman has joined the district to help create and implement opportunities for students and families around STEM, health and socio-emotional learning through 2027. We are calling this new initiative STEALTH and there will be many ways to get involved including after school, weekend and summer activities. Upcoming activities this month include: after school Primitive Pursuits, Girls on the Run, Wilderness Club, Craft Club, Stop the Bleed training, Literacy Nights, and more! Look for flyers and online postings to learn more about these exciting new opportunities!
| | | | |
|
|
|
SYRACUSE METS GAME
One of the first outings through our 21st Century Grant was a trip to NBT Stadium to see the Syracuse Mets play against the Buffalo Bisons. Students in the junior/senior high school were nominated by their teachers for their hard work either last year or over the summer. Students were invited out on the field to be introduced at the beginning of the game. They had special front row seats located at 3rd base on ground level. They all received a bobble head and game program as souvenirs. Many students got to meet the team mascot, Scooch, and get his autograph. At the end of the game they were called back out on the field for the countdown for the fireworks show and watch the fireworks display from the field. The Mets won the game 5-3.
None of the students had ever been to a baseball game at a stadium before and said it was the best experience of their lives. Mrs. Albro and Mrs. Carr are planning other events throughout the year for teachers and staff to nominate students to attend.
| | |
|
THE CREATIVITY IS FLOWING IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
The elementary school is bursting with creativity as students work to complete their fall self portraits. It certainly has been great seeing all of these smiling faces back in the building!!
| |
ATHLETICS
SPORTS SENIOR NIGHTS...
October 4th - Cross-country
October 4th - Boys Soccer
October 11th - Girls Soccer
October 20th - Volleyball
October 21st - Football
| |
|
Thank you to Adrian Mitchell at Old Stage Photo for all the sports action shots! | | |
|
Homecoming Week: October 24th-28th
Spirit Week Themes for JR/SR High School:
Monday- USA Day
Tuesday- Decade Day
Wednesday- Adam Sandler Day
Thursday- Career Day
Friday- Groton Pride Day
Homecoming Dance: Saturday, October 29th
Time- 7pm to 9pm
Where- Cafeteria
Theme- Under the Stars
Powder Puff: Thursday, October 26th
Time- 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Where- Ross Field
| | |
|
Greetings families and welcome back from Student Services. It has been wonderful to see our students in person after returning from summer break! The resiliency our students continue to show has been remarkable!
To help continue this resiliency, over the summer our counseling team developed resources for teachers to help them best support students' mental health in the classroom. We recently presented this material at our Superintendent's Conference Day. Some of the topics that were covered included anxiety and depression. Nationwide there has been an increase in mental health challenges our youth are facing. We are here to provide resources to help meet this increased need.
We wish you all a wonderful year ahead!
As always feel free to contact a member of Student Services for support.
Adrienne Marquis Social Worker, K-5 amarquis@grotoncs.org
Allyson Wilkins School Psychologist, K-5 awilkins@grotoncs.org
Caitlin Higgins School Counselor, 6-9 chiggins@grotoncs.org
Kerin Schmid School Counselor, 10-12 kschmid@grotoncs.org
Laura May Counselor, 6-12 lmay@grotoncs.org Erin Pericozzi School Psychologist, 6-12 epericozzi@grotoncs.org
| | |
|
COLLEGE INFO
Financial Aid Night - October 20 - 5-7:00pm
PSAT (juniors) - Wednesday Oct. 12 - 8-11am
ASVAB (sophomores) - December 8 - 8-11:30am
College representatives will be visiting, sign up with Ms. Schmid:
- October 4 - SUNY Oneonta (11:30 - 12:45)
- October 11 - Elmira College (11:48am)
- October 14 - SUNY Canton (12:15pm)
- October 18 - SUNY Potsdam (10:00am)
- October 21 - Keuka College (11:00am)
- October 24 - SUNY Brockport (12:30pm)
FAFSA
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) College is expensive. Aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis so be sure to complete your application today!
Visit www.studentaid.gov to find out more about how to apply. Also, check out Ms. Schmid, our high school counselor's, Google Classroom for more resources: ecocrel.
| |
GROTON CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
WWW.GROTONCS.ORG
400 PERU ROAD, GROTON, NY 13073
(607) 898-5301
| | | | | |
