Greetings!
June has been a busy month at Lexington as we wrapped up the year with field days, special events, and graduation ceremonies.
The month began with our preschool dance show and a special visit from John and Mark Cronin of John's Crazy Socks (pictured). I encourage you to support Lexington by buying a pair of their new ASL I Love You socks.
Students at all grade levels had fun at field days, picnics and barbeques, and other special events throughout the month. While the school year was ending, faculty and staff prepared for our extended school year program (summer school), which begins July 5th.
The High School's career education program was busy enrolling students in the NYC Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), where students receive six-weeks of real world employment while collecting a paycheck. A total of thirty-seven Lexington students will be participating in the SYEP program this summer. I'm especially pleased about a new program, created by the NYPD's Community Affairs Bureau, that will place Deaf and Hard of Hearing teens in summer jobs at precincts throughout the city.
Sincerely,
Russell O. West
CEO/Superintendent
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John's Crazy Socks Announces Charity Partnership with Lexington |
The Bluejays were honored by a special visit from John and Mark Cronin, owners of John's Crazy Socks, on June 2nd. John and Mark spoke to our high school students about the challenges of running the world's largest online sock company. They also attended the preschool dance show, where they announced a charity partnership with the school. John's Crazy Socks will donate 10% of the profits from sales of their new ASL I Love You sock to Lexington. The first batch of socks sold out quickly, but a new shipment of ASL socks will be available in mid-July. You can set up a notification for when the socks arrive by clicking on this link!
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Showing their admiration for the new ASL socks are (l-r): CEO/Superintendent Russell O. West, dance teacher Patricia Mazorra-Melgar, Mark Cronin, John Cronin, Lower School Principal Catrina Zowak, and CFO Maria Noto. |
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Twenty-five seniors graduated at Lexington's 158th High School Commencement ceremony on June 22th. The ceremony began with a special ASL rendition of the National Anthem. Speakers included Valedictorian Alexandra Quiroz and Salutatorian Alisa Tran. Melani Diaz presented the Senior Gift and Ralph Reiser, Esq., First Vice President, offered remarks on behalf of the Board of Trustees. The commencement speaker was Shiran Zhavian, Lexington Class of 2005. Ms. Zhavian is a chemical engineer and the first Deaf female forensic chemist to work for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). |
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The Class of 2022 poses with CEO/Superintendent Russell O. West (seated, far left), Upper School Principal Frank Dattolo (standing, far left), Executive Director of Curriculum & Instruction Jane Moran (standing, second from left), and senior class advisors Shaunina Young and Melissa Vigilante (standing, far right). |
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Congratulations to Valedictorian Alexandra Quiroz! |
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Alisa Tran was honored as the Salutatorian. |
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Forensic chemist Shiran Zhavian, Lex '05, encouraged graduates to follow their dreams and embrace challenges as a chance to grow. |
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Jacque Fresolo, Dorm Director (second from left), congratulates the three Dorm graduates! |
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NYPD Hosts Summer Jobs for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Teens |
The New York Police Department's (NYPD) Community Affairs Bureau is sponsoring a special summer jobs program for Deaf and Hard of Hearing teens as part of the NYC Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). On June 9th, Lexington hosted a special orientation program for NYPD officers and staff who will serve as mentors during the six-week program. Presenters included Lexington's career education program and NYC School's TCAC, District 75, and Hearing Education Services. |
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The ASL/English Bowl is a competition in which students showcase creative uses of language. This year, 26 students participated in Lexington's competition. Some submitted works of ABC or number stories in American Sign Language (ASL) using a specific range of handshapes that represented either the letters of the English alphabet or the numbers. Their stories had to be creative, coherent, and engaging. Others translated a quote from Michele Obama from English into ASL. Their translations had to capture the message of the quote – taking into account abstract and complex concepts – and present the same content in ASL using ASL grammar and lexicon. The entries were judged by members of the Bilingual Educational Committee. The winning entries are shown in the video at this link. Special thanks to all of the students who participated and the teachers who assisted students with their submissions: Martin Breiter, Whitney Chesser, Tobi Haberstroh, Shira Harris, and Donna Penn.
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The special needs classes hosted an Autism Awareness table, sold handmade crafts, and created raffle baskets in recognition of Autism Awareness month in April. High School Special Needs Class #1, with help from teacher Connie Aronson (standing right) and instructional assistants Nicholas Pucciarelli and Evan Dach (standing left), was one of three classes that participated in the event. |
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Lexington's Dorm hosted several special end-of-year activities for students. On June 9th, the annual Dorm BBQ featured delicious kabobs and corn on the cob followed by games of basketball, "Spoon", and a small water fight. On June 23rd, Dorm students and staff enjoyed a trip to Six Flags amusement park before the Dorm seniors departed from the Dorm Family Nest. |
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Ms. Whitney Chesser (4th & 5th grade teacher) from Lexington School for the Deaf and Ms. Sharon Halscheid (4th & 5th grade teacher) from American School for the Deaf started the "Pen Pals Project" in the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. They used "Flipgrid", the video tool, and letter writing to make connections between students from the two schools. Both communication modes improve students' communication, social, reading, writing, and social studies (geography and culture) skills while using a bilingual education approach. On June 10th, students finally met each other virtually on Zoom. It was a great experience for the students and they are looking forward to continuing the Pen Pals Project next year. |
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The 20th Annual Pre-School Dance Show on June 2nd was a smashing success thanks to the efforts of dance teacher and choreographer Patricia Mazorra-Melgar and the preschool teachers and IAs. Parents enjoyed watching dancing robots, stomping dinosaurs, blooming flowers, chugging train engineers, and rocking students showing off their best dance moves. |
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Special thanks to senior Julianna Vitucci (second from left), high school dance intern, for helping students rehearse for the show. |
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High school graduates were treated to a special graduation dinner prior to the formal graduation ceremony. Several students received special recognition during the dinner while others were honored during the graduation ceremony. |
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David Perez received the Friends of Montfort: Maryse Chrispin Award from Florence Marc-Charles. |
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Shaunina Young (left) and Melissa Vigilante (right) presented the Lexington Alumni Association's Graduating Senior Award to Alexandra Quiroz. |
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Ralph Reiser, Esq., First Vice President of the Lexington Board of Trustees, presented The Alan E. Mansfield, Esq., Scholarship for Excellence in Civics, Social Studies, and Related Activities to Alexandra Quiroz. |
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Ilhum Haque received The Alan E. Mansfield, Esq., Scholarship for Effort and Achievement from Ralph Reiser, Esq. The award is named for a dedicated board member who passed away in 2021. |
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Class of 2022 Senior Video |
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Lexington's seniors created as ASL version of Vitamin C's song Graduation (Friends Forever) as a farewell gift to the school. Don't be surprised if you shed a few tears as you watch! Thanks to the teachers and staff who helped with the video and Shira Harris for video editing.
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Seventeen eighth-graders were recognized at the middle school graduation ceremony on June 23rd. Nicole Mendoza was honored as class valedictorian and Rita Lin and Kelly Sanaicela were honored as co-salutatorians. Middle school teachers and staff created a special multi-media presentation as part of the ceremony. Students also had a special graduation breakfast the day before the event. Congratulations to Michael, Renad, Eshal, Parker, Gabriella, Skylin, Osaffa, Rita, Shania, Heather, Nicole, Nina, Joycelin, Miguel, Kelly, Angel, and Jordan! |
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Fifth-grade students celebrated the completion of elementary school with a special graduation ceremony on June 24th. The event included a special slideshow created by the fifth grade staff. Congratulations to Sophie, Anselmo, Jayla, Jaylyn, Pearl, Emelia, Michelle, & MD Anher. |
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Our kindergarten students were all smiles during their preschool graduation ceremony on June 22nd. Each student shared their favorite school memories and a personalized poster prior to receiving their kindergarten certificate. |
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Instructional assistant Nahed Ellakis (left) and teacher MaryJo Lo Piccolo Maguire (right) pose with some of the proud graduates. |
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Instructional assistant Wayne Stelmach (left) and teacher Jane Kim (right) helped students create kindergarten memory posters for the ceremony. |
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Preschool, elementary, middle school, high school, and special needs classes each had a special field day during the month of June. Students enjoyed water games, kick ball, beach volley ball, chalk drawings, parachute play, and many other activities. Middle school students were treated to a tasty barbecue as part of their field day event. |
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Elementary students used the tennis courts to create chalk art masterpieces during field day. |
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Middle school field day included competitive games of kickball, Steal the Bacon, and Ghost. |
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Water relays helped to keep everyone cool during preschool field day. |
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Special needs students enjoyed parachute games, sack races, and egg & spoon races as part of their field day. |
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The sun was out and the barbecue sizzled during the annual Junior/Senior Tea Party! The event was hosted by Lexington's Junior class under the supervision of Core Advisors Yvette Brown and Dolly Dominguez. Members of the Class of '22 and their advisors, Melissa Vigilante and Shaunina Young, previewed their tie-died, senior class t-shirts at the event. |
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The junior class, under the supervision of Core Advisors Yvette Brown (left) and Dolly Dominguez, hosted the tea party. |
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Senior class advisors Melissa Vigilante (left) and Shaunina Young (right) and senior Julianna Vitucci in their 2022 class shirts. |
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