Pawling High School Principal Helen Callan stood near a salad bar bursting with pops of color. Crisp green lettuce and fresh grape tomatoes sat next to grilled chicken and jewel-toned cranberries. She smiled widely as she picked up a bottle with a homemade label: “Ginger Dressing.”

“We made that,” Berney B. piped up from further down the table as he carefully organized a tray of fruit.

“Really, Berney?” said Callan. “Well, I’m going to have to try it then!”

Pawling High School’s faculty room transformed into a salad bar on January 18 as students in the school’s Preparing Responsible Individuals for Daily Experiences (PRIDE) program served up a nutritious meal at their “Healthy Eating Sunshine” event. Just one of many events scheduled throughout the year, the meal was entirely planned and executed by the students through their “PRIDE Perk Cafe” initiative.

PRIDE is a special education program that aims to help students develop practical and social skills, healthy habits, financial literacy and community engagement through real-world experiences. The program also encourages students to interact with their peers, take responsibility for their work and explore their post-secondary options.

Special education teacher Stacy Dumont said that though the PRIDE Perks Cafe is their largest initiative, it is just one facet of the diverse enterprises within the program.

“We run a bunch of different businesses and the cafe is one example, but we also do weaving, crafting, landscaping and more,” she said. “All of these things generate income that the students reinvest into new materials, and the whole experience offers opportunities to develop a range of practical and social skills.”

Not only do their undertakings provide a chance to exercise these skills, but they also offer flexible experiences that are easily altered to incorporate classroom lessons. For example, students applied their studies about sustainability and environmental issues to the “Healthy Eating Sunshine” cafe by using only reusable plates, bowls and utensils, bringing the dishes back to their classroom to wash afterward. They also used their unit about healthy eating and the food groups to inform their choices about what to prepare for the meal.

“We had to categorize the food,” said Berney. “We have to make sure we have a good balance.”

“My favorite part was making the vegetables for the pasta,” added Brandon N. “It was healthier because it was whole wheat, too.”

“We’ve been learning about the food groups,” explained Dumont. “You can see how it synthesizes everything they learn separately.”

Callan praised events like “Healthy Eating Sunshine” as an opportunity for the PRIDE students to engage with the school community and showcase their talents, explaining how they align with the program's mission of fostering inclusion and connection among students and staff.

“Having PRIDE in our school puts the whole idea of inclusivity into action,” Callan said. “This program was put together in part to make sure these students can play a vibrant role in our community, which is something extremely important to us.

“It also lets students who aren’t in the program interact with them,” she continued. “They learn that they’re more alike than different and have more in common than they might think.”

This year the PRIDE program will learn about public transportation by planning train and Loop bus trips. They are also looking to expand their enterprises by working with Career and Technical Education Teacher Zsolt Vass, who is helping them to develop plant skills to grow vegetables and herbs as well as beautify the school courtyard.

PRIDE students are also currently preparing to present their work at a Board of Education meeting for the first time, where they will gain experience with public speaking and use their social-emotional skills to adapt to any challenges.

“We’re always looking for new things to expose them to – and new ways to expose them to familiar concepts,” said Dumont.

Director of Pupil Personnel Services Scott Rice said that witnessing student growth is one of the most rewarding parts of his position – and the PRIDE program is a big part of that.

“The high school PRIDE class provides the kind of nurturing support that serves as a catalyst for student growth and achievement,” he said. “The classroom staff, related service providers and building leader Helen Callan should be applauded for their creativity and flexibility in providing such a rich and varied program for our students.”

Callan emphasized that the PRIDE program owes its success to the numerous individuals who have supported it through the years, including Dumont, Occupational Therapist Caroline Bennett and retired Speech Language Pathologist Terie Konchan who conceived the program in 2014 as well as the following dedicated Pawling staff members:

Talia Mariella (Teaching Assistant)

Theresa Walsh (Teacher’s Aide)

Barbara Schiavone (Teacher’s Aide)

Karen Wolf (Speech and Language Pathologist)

Carrie Gebbie (School Psychologist)

Sharnee Morales-Kelly (Social Worker)

Stephanie Mangano (Physical Therapist)

“The entire team constantly works to develop meaningful experiences that mimic the real world and help prepare our students for post-secondary life,” she said. “These dedicated professionals are always seeking new experiences, and we are so grateful for them.”

Pawling Elementary School echoed with stories of heroes, villains, and adventurers on December 21 when ninth graders visited third and fourth grade classrooms to share their original children’s books with the students.

An annual tradition, Pawling High School’s ninth grade English Language Arts (ELA) students’ visit to the elementary school was based on their most recent unit: “the hero’s journey.” Also known as the monomyth, this storytelling template shows how a character becomes a hero through trials and teachings as inspired by the universal patterns of myths throughout history outlined by Joseph Campbell. 

Ninth grade ELA teacher Carolyn Herman explained that the hero's journey unit is taught in a way that connects the students' reading and writing skills with an understanding of themselves and the world – and writing a children’s book fits in perfectly.

“Rather than writing a paper or taking a test, I’d rather focus on how the concepts are adaptable and valuable in different ways both historic and modern,” said Herman. “It’s more fun to apply the monomyth to original children’s stories – and it ties into elementary literacy goals, too.”

The ninth graders created and illustrated their own stories based on the hero's journey, tailoring their stories to their audience. The books focused on child-friendly topics such as kindness, loyalty and courage. Herman said that her students were especially motivated by the fact that their project culminated in a read aloud.

"Writing for your teacher is way different than for an eight year old who will hang on your every word," she said. “They thought about their audience way more than they usually do. Even though I had already graded their work, some of them were editing their stories just before we got to the school because they wanted the kids to like them.

“That was actually great to see, because good education is inspiring intrinsic motivation and they definitely demonstrated that.”

Ninth grade student Genevieve Jan said that she was inspired to edit her story even after the visit with the elementary students.

"Some of the kids were really intrigued but others seemed bored," she said. "It made me think even more about whether I had been writing for the right audience."

The benefits of the project also extend beyond ELA learning. Students not only read their work aloud, they illustrated their books in Google Slides. This enabled them to hone technological skills as well as practice a version of public speaking by using inflection and expression as they read aloud.

“Public speaking is actually listed as the number one fear for humans so anything I can do to ease that fear and make it easier is great,” said Herman.

Another of her hopes for the project is to inspire a trickle-down effect for the younger kids, who may be inspired to read and write more after enjoying a story written by a “cool big kid.” She was able to experience that firsthand this year – this year’s ninth graders were the first students to enjoy the project from an elementary schooler’s perspective six years ago.

“I’d been waiting for that,” she said. “Some of them remembered the experience and were excited to see it from the other side.”

“It was really fun to finally see it come full circle.”

Sledding is not just a snow day activity for Pawling Middle School students; thanks to physical education teacher Nick Grippo, they also have fun sliding down the hill right outside the gym during their physical education classes.

In his fourth year teaching at Pawling, Grippo said that he started this initiative to "mix it up" and make use of the natural terrain on the school grounds. 

“There’s a perfect hill right next to the gym and as soon as I saw it I knew that we had to take advantage of it,” he said. "Kids do it on the weekend so why not do it during the school day?"

To ensure a safe experience Grippo tracks weather conditions and reaches out to families in advance, asking them to send their children in with snow gear on days. Thanks to donations from the Pawling Rotary Club and the Pawling Resource Center as well as visits to local thrift stores, he has also stockpiled a collection of spare gear that students can borrow. 

Grippo said the students look forward to hitting the slopes on days when they have physical education classes.

"The fifth and sixth graders especially are always like, are we going to do this again next week?" he said. “Some of the older kids act like they’re too cool for sledding but a lot of times they get into it, too.”

As exciting as it is to rocket down a snowy hill during the school day, Grippo’s primary motive is to get the students extra outdoor time and exposure to fresh air. 

“A lot of people are deterred by the cold but Pawling has tons of recreation in the cold winter months,” he said. “Being outdoors is so important for wellness. The more time these kids spend outside, the better.”

Digital Backpack

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We Are Hiring!

The Pawling Central School District is a great place to work. We have positions open for full-time permanent building substitute teachers, typists and custodial workers. We also have substitute positions open in many other job categories: certified teacher, uncertified teacher, teaching assistant, teacher aide, monitor, bus driver and food service worker. We also have part-time positions open, such as school monitor. Full-time positions earn excellent benefits. As a team of educators, we never doubt that we are making a difference for our community. PCSD offers walk-throughs and orientations for those thinking about working in schools. Our very best employees are often people who live in our community. Diverse and bilingual candidates are encouraged to apply. See the link below to reach our friendly and helpful Human Resources Team.

https://www.pawlingschools.org/human_resources