This morning the Class of 2029 participated in their “Moving Up” ceremony. This celebrated the young classes completing Pre-K to first grade at Jackson Primary and moving up to second grade at John Kennedy School.
Kia Evens, principal of Jackson primary, was host for the event that took place in Batavia HS auditorium and was attended by the Class of 2029's parents, guardians and family members.
Carson Watts -- Outstanding Student Award
Carson had a phenomenal year of growth in kindergarten. From September to May, Carson improved in English Language Arts skills, growing 77.46 percent, to an astounding score of 94.8 percent on the regional assessment. Not only are Carson’s academic achievements impressive but he is a caring, hard-working student, who is a good friend to others, offers help, and compliments his peers. We are so proud of Carson!
Nominated by Mrs. Amerine.
Chase Turner -- Outstanding Student Award
Chase had a phenomenal year of growth in kindergarten. From September to May, Chase showed growth in English Language Arts skills, growing 45.08 percent! Chase is hard-working and pays close attention to details. He has grown as a reader and writer, and shows that he really cares to always do his best. His handwriting is among the nicest in the classroom, and he is always trying to improve. He loves learning, and we love seeing him grow!
Nominated by Mrs. Amerine.
Casey Richardson -- Outstanding Student Award (no photograph available)
Casey also had a phenomenal year of growth in kindergarten. From September to May, Casey showed growth in English Language Arts skills, growing 57.81 percent! Casey has worked very hard this year to learn all her letters and sounds, and just recently became the newest member of the classroom Alphabet All-Stars. She continues to work hard, is determined, and loves learning. We are proud of you, Casey!
Nominated by Mrs. Amerine.
Clara Pierce -- Outstanding Student Award
Clara has also had a phenomenal year of growth in kindergarten. From September to May, Clara showed growth in English Language Arts skills, growing 60.11 percent! Clara is a very caring and is a good friend to others. She works hard and is an eager learner. We are excited to see her grow. Good job, Clara!
Nominated by Mrs. Amerine.
Myloh Kemp -- Outstanding Student Award
Myloh had a phenomenal year of growth in kindergarten. From September to May, Myloh showed growth in English Language Arts skills, growing 52.02 percent! Myloh has worked very hard this year to learn all his letters and sounds, and is becoming a good reader, and even better writer! He pays attention to details, and ensures that he takes the time to listen to and produce each sound he hears as he writes, and is learning more and more sight words. He is a good friend to others, and he really loves learning. We are proud of you, Myloh!
Nominated by Mrs. Amerine.
Superintendent Chris Dailey read the following letter for senior Michal Lullo, who finished her term as student ex-officio member of the school board:
Dear Mikey:
It has been a pleasure to have you serve as the Ex-Officio Student Representative on the school board for the 2017-18 school year. On behalf of the Board of Education Members and the Batavia City School District, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you.
The input you brought to the meetings was a true expression of your professionalism, care and knowledge in regard to the student activities. Your high regard for the welfare of the student population is a sure sign of your support for our schools and community. You have strong presentation skills evident through good articulation and explanation of the topics discussed.
Thank you for the time you devoted to the district. It is my hope that you will consider continuing to serve your community after graduation. Good luck with college and your future endeavors.
Take Care of BCSD!
This is a transcript of an interview conducted with Catherine Huber, Ed.D., superintendent of the Alexander Central School District, on May 15. It's taken us some time to prepare the transcript for publication. It's been lightly edited for clarity.
The interview came about following publication of a story published April 25, Group of Alexander parents express frustration at how the school is handling discipline, student safety. Shortly after publication, the attorney for ACSD, Jennifer Schwartzott, e-mailed The Batavian and demanded a retraction. The Batavian did not retract the story, and the school district eventually dropped its demand for a retraction and agreed to an interview with Huber.
Context for the interview also includes the stories: Five school districts in Genesee County restrict speech for board members and NYSSBA deputy director addresses confusion about free speech rights of school board members.
Huber became superintendent of Alexander in December 2016.
THE BATAVIAN: We've heard from several parents, especially after our story a few weeks ago, who express frustration with the school district. They feel they are not being heard and they're powerless. This is more than just a few disgruntled parents. Why is this so pervasive? How did it become this way, and what changes are you making sure the parents are empowered?
CATHERINE HUBER: I just want to respond to that we listen to all concerns, questions that are brought to our attention. When I say we, I mean me, I mean teachers, building administrators, and our Board of Education. We deal with every situation that's brought to our attention and while sometimes there might not seem to be a resolution or might not be a resolution that people have all the details about does not mean that we're not responding.
TB: Is there anything you need to review that parents aren't getting -- how can you help parents feel more empowered, that they are being listened to?
CH: Do you have a specific situation that you --.
TB: Well, we're not supposed to discuss specific situations --.
CH: Correct.
TB: And, you know, there was the parents with the two meetings that had come up and then after a story posted we got so much feedback and social media emailed to me of like, "right on, finally somebody standing up for us." So, there is definitely a feeling out there that parents don't feel empowered and don't feel like they're being listened to. So, I'm wondering if there is a self-reflection of anything, anything you can do differently?
CH: I can assure you that we're always reviewing our processes and reflecting on how we conduct our business.
TB: Does it concern you to have this pop up like this?
CH: So, one of the things that is so fantastic about Alexander is that this school is the heart of the community and there is nothing like this community. This community loves its schools and there are so many outstanding things that are happening in this school every day. We have students who are successful on the stage, on the field, academically. We have community members, faculty, and staff who are engaged in all sorts of processes around the school all to make sure that people know that they have a voice in this school.
CH: One of the things that I'm most proud of, and I know that you were privy to some of this during your budget presentation last week, is that we've set up a whole system of committees. They are open to anybody -- community members, faculty, staff. We have student representatives on our committees. Some of the committees that we're working on right now, we have a capital project committee, we have members of our community, We have people from our transportation department, our administrators, our teachers, our staff, we have a student representative, who are not only talking about what we're going to be doing moving forward with our next project -- and I think you walked in through our last project, our beautiful new foyer -- but we're also talking about what's our vision for what Alexander will be in the next five or 10 years and then how our facilities can match up with that.
CH: We have community members and faculty and staff and students involved and all our hiring committees so we're about to start hiring for two of our retirements and those committees are important things that we're doing. We have our safety committee that has community members on it as well. We have a wellness committee. Again, representatives from across our community. Tim and I actually once a month meet with the mayor and the town supervisor in Alexander, again, as an opportunity to reach out to the community and to make sure that we always stay focused on the fact that this school is the heart of the community.
CH: That's what I want us to be focusing on. Our practices and the way that we communicate, the way that we are available -- those are all things that as any good professional will do. We're reflecting on all the time but what I'd really love to do is to get back to the conversation about all the great things that are happening at Alexander.
TB: I appreciate that. If there is any parent out there who feels that they haven't been heard, what would you encourage them to do?
CH: I would encourage them to follow the chain of command and the chain of command would be that you start with the classroom teacher. You move to the building administrator. If you still don't feel satisfied, you would move to the superintendent. And then, as appropriate, I could refer that to the Board of Education. That's in our policy.
CH: Being heard is not the same necessarily as getting the answer that you expect. We all know that. But I can assure you that parents are heard. Community members are heard when they reach out.
TB: Moving on, why should the board speak with one voice?
CH: The board should speak with one voice for several different reasons. The board by policy designates a spokesperson for the school district. We have that policy for you and I know that you've gathered those policies from other school districts as well and the board by policy has designated the superintendent as the spokesperson. Our board has also gone a step further. Recently we did a board retreat and the board established norms, which you also probably saw on our website, and one of the norms that the board established was that they would speak with one voice. They would speak with one voice on matters related to the school district. Board members individually don't have power on their own. They have power and they come together around the board table. That is not the same as their inability to express an opinion. Anybody has the ability to express an opinion. But in terms of commenting on district business, the board members only can speak with that same one voice as a board and not as individuals and they've designated the superintendent, as they probably have in most school districts, as the spokesperson for the district.
TB: Before this whole issue came up, I never, in 30 years of journalism come across agencies that said we must speak as one voice, that individual people are not their own independent agents who are responsible to their constituents. What you describe sounds like the kind of thing we would expect in Communist China where we all must be on the same page, people aren't allowed to dissent.
CH: You have the policies and I know you have the policies from the other school districts as well.
TB: Do your members have a right to dissent?
CH: Absolutely, they do.
TB: So why are they not allowed to speak those opinions if asked?
JENNIFER SCHWARTZOTT: That isn't what she said. She didn't say --
TB: I'm asking this, this because this has been my experience. Nobody can speak their opinions individually, from my experience in dealing with this school district. So I don't know, why that is?
CH: Can you maybe use a different word than allowed? Where are you finding that nobody can speak?
TB: That's comes from your statements and her statements to me.
JS: That is certainly not my statements as we've -- I'm not part of this interview, so if you want to ask Dr. Huber what her statements are you certainly can but she can't speak for me --
(NOTE: Since this interview, The Batavian has twice emailed Schwartzott offering her an opportunity to clarify her position. She hasn't acknowledged the emails.)
TB: When the first time I tried to talk to you the clear message as we speak with only one voice.
CH: Correct.
TB: Which is negating dissent or individuals’ views.
CH: It's in keeping with our policy. An important thing to keep in mind, too, is that one of the central jobs of a Board of Education is that they get to approve a policy. So, Boards of Education approve the policy that talks about things like who is the spokesperson for the board.
Continued after the jump (click "read more" below or the headline):
TB: Moving on. This gets to some Special Ed stuff. So, parents have complained that there are not enough trained personnel for Special Education and that the Special Ed room aides have no training. Are you doing anything to address this?
CH: We have outstanding faculty and staff. We have regular and robust professional development in our school district.
TB: Are the aides in Special Ed trained for dealing with Special Ed?
CH: Aides and all our staff, faculty and staff, are providing professional development.
TB: For what they're doing?
CH: They're provided professional development, yes.
TB: When there's a threat of violence at the school, how's that handled and when is it appropriate to communicate that to parents and the community?
CH: Every situation that's brought to our attention is investigated as necessary. We bring in our partners in law enforcement and when it's appropriate we certainly communicate that as appropriate.
TB: Are there any examples of when you think that might be appropriate, that the whole community should know?
CH: I'll have to think about that a little bit.
TB: When a student makes a threat of violence is law enforcement always called to investigate and document?
CH: Every situation is situation-dependent and situations are complex and they are different. When it's appropriate, law enforcement is brought into place and as you know we have a great relationship with the Genesee County Sheriff's Office. Part of our budget that's up before the voters today has to do with bringing in an SRO (School Resource Officer) as a full-time person to Alexander. We also take very seriously our commitment to safety. We have a very active safety team. Our safety committee not only reviews the code of conduct every year but they talk about safety issues in general in the district.
CH: Some of the things that came out of the safety committee and our leadership team were making our parking lot safer, for example, so we have a different traffic flow this year just to make sure that everybody's safe. We also have developed a single point of entry system. We have invested in an ID system, you're wearing the ID badge right now. We are always doing our mandated drills to make sure that when and if anything does happen, we're always available. We are grateful for the opportunity to put up to our voters bringing an SRO on staff to just add an additional layer of safety.
TB: Your code of conduct, I believe, states that, in following with state law in regard to punishment for Special Ed students -- when a child in the general population brings weapons school the student can be suspended for one year. A Special Ed student can be suspended for 45 days. In the wake of what happened in Parkland, do you feel this is sufficient? Are there any changes that should be made to the law?
CH: I'm not going to comment on the law. I can tell you that our Code of Conduct is updated every year and by a committee of teachers and administrators and it's reviewed by a parent and a student. So our Code of Conduct is a living document that we follow, understanding that every situation is complex and unique.
TB: Do you feel like the state or the authorities are given enough tools and resources to deal with unique circumstances that hit these safety issues, considering what we're seeing now?
CH: We have highly trained administrators in this school district. We have highly trained faculty and staff. We do everything we need to do in terms of safety protocols including the review of our Code of Conduct. And again, we are asking our voters to approve the additional position of an SRO in our school district.
TB: What is your authority, or do you have an authority, if there's a child who has repeatedly shown violent tendencies or threats to remove them from the population or get them out of the school?
CH: I have the legal authority to follow what we are legally bound to do. And part of that is making sure that we never forget our commitment to educating all children, providing appropriate supports and creating a safe environment for all our learners. If you'd like me to go into the process of what happens when a student doesn't behave in alignment with the Code of Conduct and how that goes, I would be happy to fill you in on all those details.
TB: Well, I think what I want to kind of assure people is, if there was a student who was a repeated problem, and it would probably a Special Ed student, that you have the processes in place and you have the authority to make sure that that threat is mitigated.
CH: I disagree with the premise that it's likely a Special Education student. I think that that's --
TB: I think that's where a public concern is now, that's why I'm phrasing it that way.
CH: OK. But I'm disagreeing with your premise.
TB: I appreciate that.
CH: We certainly have support in place for our students. We certainly have the authority to do what it is that we need to do. We have processes that we need to follow and we keep student safety and well-being as our top priority. What I'd like to share with you as well is that we very proactively added a school social worker to our elementary building this year. We did that because we understand that students are coming to us with more and more complex needs and we know that we need to provide additional layers of support. So, in addition to our school psychologists and in addition to our classroom teachers and our aides, we added a school social worker to provide all of those different levels of support.
CH: The other thing that we're doing right now is, and you heard this as well, at the budget presentation, we have a group of teachers and administrators who are working together on our Response to Intervention model. Now that might sound completely academic in terms of meeting students’ needs, but it's not because we know that students need to feel safe and have their well-being in mind before they can really achieve academically. This team has come together to study models and best practice for Response to Intervention and are developing a plan so that we can implement a K-12 system of Response to Intervention. How to meet the needs, the very diverse needs, of all our students beginning in September. That's not to say we haven't been doing that before. We have lots of systems in place. We are really focused in the school district, and to use the language that you used in an article last week, I believe, when we're talking about the budget, this really is about building capacity.* It's about building systems. It's about making sure that all our community members both internal and external feel like they're part of this school district. (*NOTE: That was Huber's language that The Batavian reported.)
CH: That RTI (Response to Intervention) model is a partner to the work that our school psychologists, our social workers, our counselors did with their comprehensive school counseling plan that's mandated by New York State and that the team presented to the board several months ago. So we are doing many things to make sure that all of our students' needs are being taken care of on a daily basis because students safety and well-being is our top priority.
TB: One thing I want to clarify, another reason I asked the question the way I did, with Special Ed there are different state mandates; how you deal with (those students), so that's also why I phrased the question earlier the way I did.
CH: And, again, I'm happy to take you through what happens when a student, Special Ed or otherwise, does not act in alignment with the Code of Conduct. I'm happy to take you through all of that because I think actually that might help just in terms of background --
TB: I'm not opposed to that, - -
CH: OK --
TB: I just recognize your time limit so I'm not sure how much that would take. If you think that would take five minutes or whatever --.
CH: I think it's important to keep in mind that when a student acts in a way that we move toward the Code of Conduct that everything is thoroughly investigated. The school principals can, if warranted, suspend a student for up to five days. There are of course many other things that could happen other than putting a student out of school. There are things like in-school suspension, detention. There also might be bringing some of our supports like I just talked about, social workers, counselors, school psychologists, in to help those children. If the principal recommends a five-day suspension, they can do that. They also can say you know what this is serious enough that maybe we'll do the five-day suspension and we'd like to recommend a superintendent's hearing.
CH: When the superintendent's hearing process gets put into play, we appoint an outside hearing officer. That person comes in. They hear what the district's take is on this particular incident. The parent can bring an attorney and if they don't have an attorney they can present their case and then the hearing officer makes a recommendation to me about if the suspension should be longer than the five days. I either agree with that, disagree with that. Ultimately, the superintendent in any school district is the one that makes that decision. If a child is a child who has a disability, there's also part of that process called a manifestation hearing, where a team comes together with teachers, administrators, parents are part of that team, the student is often part of that team, and the question really is, 'Is this child's disability, is that the reason for, perhaps, this conduct?'
CH: That's another layer of protection for students, because all of these layers when we do implement the Code of Conduct, are all to protect the students. They're all to make sure that their due process rights are maintained. But also, to make sure that we're able to give disciplinary consequences when appropriate.
CH: That's a long answer but it's important for you to know that everything, not only this school district but every school district, is done deliberately. It's done thoughtfully. It's also done within the legal framework that we have and that we must operate under. And I also hope that just that small explanation to you underlines the fact that these situations are complex and unique and they certainly are not something that everybody has access to all the information except for the people who are involved in those situations.
CH: I know that you know that I take student confidentiality very seriously. It's not only just for every student but it's also especially for those students who maybe aren't acting in alignment with the Code of Conduct. I'm going to defend that child's right to have their matter be confidential just as much as any other student and that's something that I take very seriously.
TB: It occurs to me, when a child has gone through a discipline process, especially if they've been removed from school for a time and there are perhaps some ongoing behavior issues, what kind of support can the parents expect from the school in dealing with that situation, and to be sure and continue the (child's education) during that period?
CH: We are lucky enough to be in the Genesee Valley BOCES and we partner with BOCES to provide tutoring services, so if there is ever an extended suspension, tutoring services are set up for that family immediately.
TB: I've never thought about it before, but is there support a parent that is having a hard time with a child can get through the school district? Counseling? Is there any other support they can get? I've never thought of asking that question before ...
CH: Yes, we have as I mentioned before we have lots of different supports. The other thing we do is we have lots of connections in the community. So, one of the things that we tend to do is reach out to community agencies to help families. We're here every day to make sure that students are safe and their well-being is taken care of and part of that role is really taking care of the families as well. That's something that we take really seriously.
TB: There's a couple of questions I'm looking at that I think you've already answered so let me just take a second here.
TB: If a child is feeling stressed because of the situation in the classroom with the doctors concerned about anxiety disorder is there an opportunity for that child to be moved to another classroom because of the issue in a classroom.
CH: I'm not going to respond to that question because you know that that's about a specific student and I'm not going to talk about a specific student.
(The conversation switches for a few questions to a topic of another possible story.)
TB: How many new positions were added 2017 and 2018 and you're planning for 2018-19?
CH: I am thrilled that you asked that question because it's time really; I want to make a point of the fact that we're here about the students and we're here about our programs and we're here about teaching and learning every day. And during those 16-17 school year, we offered an incentive, and districts often offer incentives to reduce staff and reduce cost. We all recognized that there were some areas that we needed to shore up a bit. There were different levels of support that our teachers needed, that our students needed. Rather than not replace the few positions that went out through this incentive we, in fact, added seven positions last year, in the 17-18 school year. We added a second-grade teacher. We added a third-grade teacher. We added a Spanish teacher full time. We added a school social worker. We added a full-time ESL teacher. That the social worker and the ESL teacher were positions that were added in the spirit of building capacity and building systems and building levels of support.
CH: We also added a Special Education teacher at the high school level. In addition to those things, we brought back classes from BOCES. Oftentimes in Special Education, districts can't sustain the level of programs by themselves that they can we all partnered together in BOCES. We brought back two specialized classes, one in our elementary building and one in our high school, so that we not only could keep our students in our district but also, we had the opportunity to tuition-in students from other school districts so then we provided that level of support. In addition to all those positions. We invested in a reading series to develop consistency in our literacy program.
CH: One of our four-year district goals right now is that all our students will be reading at grade level by the end of third grade. The elementary literacy team the year before last, so that would be 16 and 17, did a study of what needs to happen for our program to be even more responsive to the needs of all our learners, and that was before we even set the goal of everybody reading at grade level by the end of third grade. Their recommendation was to adopt a reading series. The district invested over $65,000 in their reading series. We also moved to classroom teacher from the classroom into a literacy specialist position. That position is specifically designed to help teachers and to support teachers with the implementation of this new reading series. That teacher is in classrooms doing model lessons. She's coaching teachers. She's making sure everybody has the resources that they need. She's gathering the data. She's leading data meetings. And she also is working with students. So, we added that position in. We also added in -- this was last minute -- we got an influx of kindergartners last June and we had one of our teachers who is on our payroll moved into our UPK (Universal Prekindergarten) position. But we had these kindergartners come in and so we had to make the decision about what do we do with this? Do we have class sizes that are not really acceptable to our standards in terms of class size? Do we bring in an aide into each of those classrooms? What do we do?
CH: We decided, the board was in support of this as well, that we would partner with the YMCA. They took our UPK program. We could then move that teacher who we had designated as UPK into kindergarten, which then further reduced class sizes. I believe our class size in kindergarten is 14 students. Our average class size in our elementary building this year is 17 students per class.
CH: In Addition to all of those -- I mean that's a lot, right, for the 17-18 school year. And I want to go back to the things that we were talking about earlier. This is about building capacity. This is about building systems. This is about building the type of school district that creates the conditions for all our students to be those confident learners that our mission statement talks about in that safe environment. It's from that mission statement that we developed our four goals. We have for teaching and learning goals. We have for learning environment goals. Again, these are all about collaborative structures. It's all about student engagement. But to get to student engagement we need to have that overall community support. That's what we're building in Alexander.
CH: For this year, we actually have two retirements. We are going to replace both of those positions and we're also adding in, if the voters vote for this, an Instrumental Music person. The reason that we're adding and growing our Instrumental Music program is that we have over 370 students in our school district of 850 who participate in either vocal or instrumental music. That's not counting all our students in general music classes nor is it counting our third-graders who take recorder lessons. That type of activity for our students not only speaks to the level of engagement, but speaks to something that we're proud of. Our vocal and instrumental music bands just went to a festival in Boston. They came away with seven big huge trophies, sort of Best-of-Show types of trophies.
CH: We also just had 22 students participate in the vocal all-state event that happened in Pioneer. I'm telling you all of this because our commitment to student engagement is our top priority. Our commitment to our mission is our top priority. We're not just saying that we're building systems. I came on board in December 2016. So, I haven't been here for long. But I can tell you that in the time that I have been here we have done deliberate work to build on the great foundation that has always been Alexander. This has always been a school district that is proud of its schools. This school is the heart of the community. There's great stuff happening here. Our work is just continuing on, building capacity, building these structures, and building systems.
TB: You have several how many staff have been added over that period time?
CH: We added seven people last year. We're adding one this year. (Also, replacing two retirees).
TB: Have there been any positions that have been proposed that have turned down, decided not to fund?
CH: Not that I'm aware of.
TB: OK.
CH: Are you aware of a position?
TB: No. I'll tell you the reason I'm asking is when you're doing your proposal, and I have the same thought here, is it seems that any time position is proposed and you can define it as below capacity, you added it. We've lived in New York for 12 years now, moving from California, I've had this discussion with lots of New Yorkers -- school districts seem to -- there is no regulation on spending. There's no regulator on it. You have these palaces for schools. Everything they want to get funded, seems to get funded. You talked about fiscal responsibility at the public hearing and I'm trying to look for where there is an example of fiscal responsibility.
CH: There is fiscal responsibility in the school district and to suggest otherwise is just not accurate. One of our goals right now, again we've developed those four-year goals, is that we will consistently continue to create fiscally responsible budgets and Tim has done a masterful job in making sure that we have a great foundation here. We take very seriously our commitment to the taxpayers. To suggest otherwise is a mischaracterization of this work. We don't go out on just because I'm able to make an argument for building capacity. We add on because of our commitment to our students and to our teachers and to our community to create the conditions in the school district that are the finest conditions that we can create.
CH: We, like every other school district in the State of New York, are up against some really difficult times. Around 2008, and with the Gap Elimination, this board and the school district, and this predates me, made a commitment to make sure that this school district had the best programs possible. That this school district had what students needed and that involved making some difficult choices because a penny only stretches so far. But I can guarantee that one of the things that the school does extraordinarily well, and I could list for you many other things that the school district does extraordinarily well, is to make sure that we're always being fiscally responsible. Certainly, adding teachers, I think that in this day and age adding staff to support teachers and students is actually something that should be celebrated. That school districts like ours, a small rural school district, is finding out a way to do that and to do that in a fiscally responsible way, and that our board is putting together budgets and supporting budgets that continue to support students is remarkable, and something that they should get a lot of credit for.
(The final part of the conversation dealt with questions about another potential story.)
Alexander Central School hosted its second annual Jazz Invitational on Thursday night, which featured performances of Alexander's brass band, the Alexander Jazz Cadets (photos), and the Alexander Jazz Experience, along with a performance by the Warsaw Jazz Ensemble.
Kayla Harding, with teacher Lorna Klotzbach, was named the seventh grade Citizen of the Year at Oakfield-Alabama Middle School during an awards ceremony in the auditorium yesterday.
Below, Jessica Brown, seventh-grade winner of the Citizen of the Year Award in 2017 with best friend with Victoria Kruppenbacher, the 2018 eighth-grade winner and Jonathan Boje, Social Studies teacher.
The high school held its awards ceremony earlier in the morning and named Justina Pruski valedictorian and Lauren Reding salutatorian.
The high school Citizens of the Year were:
Yesterday, Batavia fourth-graders got a chance to try out various track and field events and demonstrate their athletic skills.
This is Nolan Ball. He has a strong arm. Three times he threw the softball at least 138 feet.
Mike Pribanich from NYMAT Machine Tool Corporation, works with William Hammond, a Precision Machining student from Caledonia-Mumford High School, on the Haas TM-1P control machine in the Precision Machining shop at the Batavia Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center.
Submitted photo and press release:
Batavia Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center Precision Machining and Welding students celebrated the end of the school year with a visit with representatives from area manufacturing businesses.
The goal of the event was to introduce students to potential employers and for students to learn of the many career opportunities available in the manufacturing industry.
Lars Christensen, from Autodesk, a multinational software corporation that makes software for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, and entertainment industries, attended the event and spoke with students.
“I came to the United States in 1999 from Denmark and worked as a mold maker at a manufacturing facility in Rochester, New York," Christensen said. "I moved into the software industry and today I work for Autodesk, one of the biggest CAD-CAM companies in the world.
There are many prospects in this industry that students can pursue. I hope to encourage these students to do that.”
Erik Schwenzer works for NYMAT Machine Tool Corporation, a Haas Factory Outlet. He also attended and met with students.
“We are looking for summer employees as well as summer interns," Schwenzer said. "We like to be involved with the schools as much as possible because there is a real shortage of workers and many jobs are available in the manufacturing industry.
"Manufacturing is a great business that offers a host of opportunities. You make a very successful living and we need to show this to students.”
At the event, Christensen announced that he is funding a scholarship for Precision Machining and Welding students called the Master Manufacturing Scholarship. This scholarship will be presented tonight at the Batavia CTE Awards Night (June 5).
“This $500 scholarship will be presented to a student who is pursuing a career in the manufacturing industry or who is furthering his or her education. It can be used by the student for educational purposes or to purchase tools or whatever the student might need to be prepared for work,” Christensen said.
About CTE
The Batavia Career and Technical Education Center is a program of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership. The Partnership operates as a Board of Cooperative Educational Services offering shared programs and services to 22 component school districts located in Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston and Steuben counties in New York State.
The boys participating in this year's B Squad, a running group coached by Sarah Gahagan and other Batavia Middle School teachers, celebrated their first year as a team with a pizza party and individual recognition for their accomplishments.
Each boy was nominated for an award by a teacher or administrator based on improvements or contributions they made throughout the school year. There are 50 boys who participated this year.
The group runs as a team and often to locations where they learn about the community or local businesses.
Among the young artists with featured displays last night at Le Roy High School's Fine Arts Night was Austin Hampton.
Austin is a senior and plans to pursue a career in art, with a focus on fine art and perhaps becoming an art teacher.
He said he always loved art but the teachers at Le Roy helped that love bloom into a passion.
"They're great teachers," Austin said. "They always help me with hands-on activities. Their techniques help me with mine, as well."
He said when he's not at school, at home, his focus is art. He spends at least five hours a day of his own time on art.
"I’m always making art, doing something," Austin said. "I always have to have a pen in my hand."
Press release:
Beginning in the fall of 2018, the Batavia Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center will offer a new career and technical education program, which will be available to high school juniors and seniors.
A Diesel Mechanics Program will help students on their path to becoming college or career ready. The program is made possible through a partnership with Daimler Trucks North America.
Once the facility is completed, there will be a classroom and service bay located at Daimler’s facility next to the Batavia CTE Center on State Street in Batavia.
The Diesel Mechanics Program is a two-year certified program for juniors and seniors who are interested in working with machines in the construction and agriculture industries. Prospective students could also have an interest in auto/diesel machining, trucking, the lawn and garden industry, welding, and the Armed Forces.
"The Diesel Mechanics Program is a welcome addition to the diverse career and technical program offerings available at the Batavia Career and Technical Education Center," said Jon Sanfratello, executive principal, Genesee Valley Educational Partnership Batavia Campus. "Our region has a rich agricultural presence which offers many opportunities for students to be successful upon graduation. By offering this new program, it’s one more way we are providing our students with college and career readiness."
The program was first introduced at the Mount Morris CTE Center in September and is offered at Marquart Repair and Equipment Sales in Gainesville. Steve Jacoby is the instructor.
Students will work on trucks of varying sizes including, tractors, forklifts, backhoes, bulldozers, lawnmowers, and small engines.
Class work includes small group as well as individual instruction for engine and transmission teardown, and overhaul and failure analysis. The hands-on course work will require students to test and rebuild fuel system components and machine cylinder heads and blocks for rebuilding.
Additional program highlights include heavy-duty preventative maintenance, air and hydraulic brake systems, air conditioning and climate controls, and hydraulic hose and fitting identification.
For more information about the Diesel Mechanics Program contact: Sarah Luczak, Student Services coordinator, Batavia CTE Center at (585) 344-7716 or Jane Rahn, Student Services coordinator, Mount Morris CTE Center at (585) 658-7805.
About the Batavia Career and Technical Education Center
The Batavia Career and Technical Education Center is a program of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership. The Partnership operates as a Board of Cooperative Educational Services offering shared programs and services to 22 component school districts located in Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston and Steuben counties in New York state.
Gail Stevens, a past member of the Batavia City School District Board of Education, has been selected to speak at SUNY Empire State College’s commencement event at Rochester.
It will take place at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 31, at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center, 123 E. Main St..
Stevens was a longtime resident of Batavia, now residing in North Port, Fla.
She worked in the Batavia County Sheriff’s Office and then for Troop A of the New York State Police as a clerk for more than 20 years. Stevens remarried in 1998 and, in 2013, returned to Florida to work for Paychex Inc., her current employer.
She is an alumna of Genesee Community College, Class of 1980. The single mother of Michelle and Eric began work on her bachelor’s degree in 1991.
Twenty-seven years later, she has completed her Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Economics, with a 3.80 GPA, and graduates this spring.
As she studied long and hard to complete her degree, Stevens met significant challenges, including the death of both parents, divorce, a career change, a move from Florida to New York, then back to Florida, and a son who became addicted to heroin, and who now has recovered.
Her volunteer leadership experience in Genesee County includes serving as:
In Florida, she volunteers at San Pedro Catholic Church as an usher, serves on the City of North Port Parks and Recreation Committee and is helping to launch a Celebrate Recovery Group at the New Hope Community Church of North Port, as she continues her career at Paychex.
Photo of the 2018 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence winners, from left: Raymond A. Boucher, Raymond Strzelecki, Tara E. Conrad; Joseph L. Ziolkowski, Candice S. Vacin, David W. Johson, Carol E. Geiselmann, and Timothy P. Tomczak. Missing from the photo is Amy Masters.
Submitted photo and press release:
A new formal ceremony -- "SUNY GCC Employees Serving Beyond Expectations"
As Genesee Community College prepared for its 50th Commencement on May 20, a new ceremony was introduced reinforcing the spirit of achievement, hard work and dedication. Instead of GCC graduates walking across the platform stage, College officials recognized members of faculty and staff.
"The new SUNY GCC Employees Serving Beyond Expectations was a formal ceremony, yet a fun and festive way to recognize the quality of service and the hard work of our GCC family," GCC's President James M. Sunser, Ed.D., said.
"It is a new tradition that combines several different award programs, and gives us all a chance to celebrate our hard work and also decompress at the end of the academic year."
The new event collectively recognized:
Longevity Service Awards recognizing 38 employees who reached milestone years between 10 to 30 years of service, collectively serving 630 years!
SUNY Chancellor's Awards for Excellence
The new Cougar Awards honorees were awarded as a surprise to the honorees in the following categories: Rookie of the Year; Teamwork Award; Spirit and Community Award; Innovation Award; Cougar Salute; Inclusive Excellence Award, and President's Award.
A special congratulations was also given to nine employees who have or will soon be retiring from GCC.
At this special ceremony, in front of the GCC community, Sunser and GCC's Board of Trustees Chair Laura Bohm awarded nine prestigious 2018 State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor's Awards for Excellence.
Receiving the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Faculty Service,which recognizes consistently superior service contributions of teaching faculty over multiple years, was Professor and Director of Social Sciences, Timothy P. Tomczak.
Tomczak joined the faculty at GCC as an Instructor of Psychology in the fall semester of 1987. In that capacity his teaching load consisted primarily of courses in General, Abnormal, and Social Psychology. He expanded the range of his teaching subjects at the College to include Introduction to Logic and Child and Adolescent Development as well as Beginning Karate.
He has been a pioneer of the College's distance learning movement, first teaching "telecourses" and moving on to teaching online sections of psychology. Tomczak was also one of the first full-time faculty members to teach in GCC's ACE program at the program's inception.
In 1994, Tomczak received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. Tomczak was promoted to associate professor commencing with the fall 1996 semester, and to the rank of Professor effective fall 2007, the year that he received the Chancellor's Award for Scholarship and Creative Activities. Tomczak holds a B.A. in Psychology from Mercyhurst College and a M.A. in General Experimental Psychology from the State University of New York, College of Geneseo.
Recognizing consistently superior professional achievement, the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service was awarded to assistant registrar, Tara E. Conrad. Conrad came to GCC in 2007 as the records information specialist. She joined the highly productive Records Office which provided a great base of functional user knowledge of Ellucian Banner and that has been a central building block of her career.
Conrad has been a leader in developing technological solutions to complicated processes, creating time and cost efficiencies that support the mission of the college. She is recognized for her work both within the SUNY system and in other organizations and has been sought after to help in system-wide ways. Conrad's enthusiasm and flare for technology and her desire to work with software applications prevailed as her career unfolded at Genesee. She has lead several software implementation and has become an effective and essential functional resource for the college.
Conrad earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Merrimack College and a M.S. in Education from the State University of New York, College at Brockport. In addition, Conrad has received a one-year full-time appointment as a SUNY Provost Fellow, the first-ever at GCC. The focus of this fellowship is to perform research and develop recommendation for the implementation of Enrollment and Completion Infrastructure that would support SUNY's student access, completion and success initiatives with a particular focus on Re-enroll to Complete.
Technical specialist/ financial aid retention, Amy A. Masters, was also awarded the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service. Masters first joined the joined the College staff in the Business Office in 2008 and transferred to her current position in Financial Aid in 2012.
As she did in the Business Office, she has made significant contributions to the operations and procedures of the Financial Aid Office, particularly in the areas of scholarship awards and tracking and streamlining office processes and forms. She was instrumental in making the scholarship application process a smoother one for students, both for institutional scholarships and emergency scholarships for students in need.
Masters has a B.S in Psychology from Elmira College and she continued her education since she has been at Genesee, receiving her M.S. in Management from Keuka College.
President Sunser and Bohm awarded Assistant Professor of Photography and Art Joseph L. Ziolkowski the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Service for his consistently outstanding scholarly and creative productivity, conducted in addition to teaching.
Ziolkowski has been a member of GCC's Fine Arts faculty since August of 2012. Upon arriving, he immersed himself completely in the GCC classroom the college community, and in continuing his own professional development. Ziolkowski provides "applied learning" opportunities for his students by frequently organizing field trips to exhibits and museums to expose them to all types of art.
He uses technology and other teaching modalities to engage the students and encourage them in their own creative development. He has a passion for creating and sharing it with the world around him that benefits his students and the internal and external college community.
Ziolkowski received a B.A in Photography from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, a M.F.A. in Photography from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an M.S.Ed. in Art Education from Nazareth College of Rochester.
The fifth award at the ceremony, the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, which recognizes consistently superior teaching at the graduate, undergraduate, or professional level of the highest quality was received by Associate Professor of Psychology, Candice S. Vacin. Vacin has been teaching psychology for over sixteen years and joined the GCC faculty in 2007.
She is committed to providing a learning environment for her students that helps them to be successful in her class and beyond, and she creates an environment that encourages each student to express their individuality in a safe and respectful way. She brings much energy to the classroom in her teaching, and she not only makes herself available to students via office hours, but she also meets with each student individually at various points in the semester to provide feedback on their progress and assist them as she can.
She uses a great deal of creativity in presenting the subject matter, and does so in a way that students can relate it to "real life." Vacin holds an A.A. in Liberal Arts from Niagara County Community College, a B.A. in Psychology from the State University of New York at Geneseo and a M.A. in Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Also receiving the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching was David W. Johnson, instructor of Biology at GCC. Johnson joined the GCC faculty in 2014.
He is a strong advocate of the natural science program, bringing tremendous passion and enthusiasm for science, the teaching of science, and he values the role community colleges play in today's educational arena. The enjoyment that students get from his classes is evident by their enthusiasm in and out of class. He can often be found in the lab working with students and perfecting labs the students will be doing.
Johnson has spent a great deal of time reworking the General Biology sequence and bringing it into the new century with a modern focus. He belongs to several professional organizations in his field and has made several presentations both on campus and off.
Johnson received a B.S in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Oswego and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Rochester.
Similarly, the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching, recognizes consistently superior teaching at the graduate, undergraduate, or professional level of the highest quality. Receiving this award was adjunct instructors Carol E. Geiselmann and Raymond A. Boucher.
Geiselmann has been a member of the Genesee adjunct faculty since 2011 teaching several English courses. For 10 years prior to that, Geiselmann was an instructor in the College's Accelerated College Enrollment program. She provides her students with clear syllabi so they understand their responsibilities for the course.
She willingly comes to campus on her days off or stays after class to meet with students and she continually provides feedback and encouragement. Geiselmann is an instructor who meticulously and tenaciously provides students with a solid foundation for life success, and an opportunity for each to develop their own style and voice, simultaneously instilling confidence as students learn and develop writing skills.
Geiselmann earned an A.A. in Arts from SUNY's Orange County Community College, a B.A. in Education/English from the State University of New York at Geneseo and a M.S. in Education/English from Elmira College.
Boucher joined the adjunct faculty at Genesee in 2003 and has taught a variety of course in Theatre, English and Speech. A 2014 winner of the NISOD Award for Teaching Excellence, Boucher is a master teacher.
While he sets high expectations for his students, he is cognizant of the differences of learning styles and he varies his teaching methods to help students be as successful. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the classroom that students find intriguing, and a disciplined yet fun energy that keeps control of the classroom and invites students to explore. Boucher takes his teaching responsibilities very seriously and is a role model for faculty.
Boucher holds a B.S in Theatre Arts and in Literature from the State University of New York at Brockport, post-graduate classes in English Education from Buffalo State College, and a M.A. in Literature from the State University of New York at Cortland.
The final SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence was presented to Raymond J. Strzelecki, Building Maintenance supervisor, for Excellence in Classified Service. This award is a system-level award established to give recognition for superior performance and extraordinary achievement by employees in the Classified Service.
These awards demonstrate SUNY's commitment to individuals who provide superior service to its students and the community at large.
Strzelecki started his career at GCC as building maintenance mechanic in 1991 and went to building maintenance supervisor in 2002 and has been an outstanding employee ever since. He is a team player and demonstrates excellence by continuously going above and beyond in the scope of his job description.
He provides exemplary customer service to the entire College community and is highly respected by his colleagues. This recognition formally thanks Strzelecki for being a role model to everyone on campus.
For the newly established "Cougar Awards," nominations for each of these categories were collected throughout the last semester, and the selected honorees were a tightly keep secret until the moment the awards were announced catching all recipients as a complete surprise.
Recognizing Cougar Accomplishments
In the Cougar Awards segment, Director of Buildings and Grounds Levi T. Olsen was recognized as the Rookie of the Year for his outstanding accomplishments in his first six months on the job.
Fittingly, the entire Buildings and Grounds team, 37 members in all, were called to the stage next to receive the Teamwork Award. The field house audience came to their feet showing appreciation and gratitude for the tireless work of this group especially in light of the two new buildings that were brought online in the past year.
For her exemplary school spirit, secretary in the Financial Aid Office Rebecca S. Patterson received the Spirit and Community Award. Next, ACE Program specialist Karlyn M. Finucane was awarded the Innovation Award for the inception and implementation of the STEM Program that provides young students who are gifted in the math and sciences with the opportunity to pursue college credits while in middle and high school.
The Cougar Salute, which was presented to GCC's Dean for Distributed Learning and Learning Technologies Craig R. Lamb for consistently demonstrating the College's core values.
For embracing the diversity, equity and inclusiveness of the campus community, Director of Student Activities Clifford M. Scutella was awarded the Inclusive Excellence Award. The final Cougar Award, the President's Award, went to Director of Athletics Kristen E. Schuth for her distinguished efforts and services in support of the College's mission and strategic priorities.
Milestones of Service
Genesee Community College also used the "Serving Beyond Expectations" Ceremony to recognize employees' attainment of milestone service through the Longevity Awards.
Faculty and Staff: Quality & Compassion
Lastly, but no less important, the "Serving Beyond Expectations" Ceremony took a moment to share and admire the numerous accomplishments and contributions made by GCC's faculty and staff throughout the past academic year.
The number and breadth of these achievements exemplify the quality and compassion that seems near endemic across all departments and divisions at GCC.
From professional presentations to serving as a panelist, board member, keynote speaker, juror, volunteer, evaluator, singer, exhibitor and even earning a certified drone piloting license, 44 members of GCC's staff illustrated their dedication and top-notch professionalism, as well as their passion, patriotism and the idea of making the GLOW community a better place to live and work and flourish.
The fifth-grader was one of the first students in the district to use double robotics to attend classes from home for the last three years.
Hailey said it is fun learning through the robot, and she doesn’t feel like she is missing out anymore, not being at school.
“I get to be with my friends,” Hailey said.
Hailey was diagnosed with Stage 4 Adrenal Cortical Carcinoma in 2009 and is currently being treated at Golisano Children’s Hospital in Rochester. Due to weekly clinic appointments and 27 daily doses of medication, Hailey needs to attend school from home.
In Hailey’s treatment, her mother, Missy Coniber, said she doesn’t see a near future where Hailey can attend school in person.
“The doctors would like the scans to be clear for five years, and we haven’t reached anything near that point,” Coniber said.
That's where double robotics comes in.
Double robotics is a term -- also the name of the company that makes the devices -- for a robot that is on wheels, has a camera and display screen, allowing it to travel through a remote space from the robot's user to allow that user to virtually be in that location. Hailey is using it for school but double robotics are also used by remote workers to connect with the home office.
As long as Hailey's robot is turned on, Hailey can control everything from her laptop.
“I control it with the keypad,” Hailey said.
Hailey signs into an app which allows her to control the robot’s movements.
Not only can she control the movements with the arrow keys, but if Hailey has a question, the robot itself can be raised up, like she would be raising her hand.
Lenny has changed Hailey’s schooling drastically, Coniber said.
“Before the robot, we did two years of tutoring, and we were only getting six hours a week of tutoring and she was falling behind,” Coniber said. “We knew her medical treatments could be a long process.”
The idea came from the WSS principal, Carol Messura, who heard of double robotics and reached out to EduTech to learn more.
The Coniber family offered to pay for a robot because it was a test and they weren’t sure how well it would work, and the school system got it approved through the Board of Education and purchased the robot.
“We’re very fortunate to have the school system that we do,” Coniber said.
The summer before Hailey started using the robot, associates from EduTech tested it to make sure they fully understood how it operated.
“There were some quirks at the beginning that we had to work out, and once we got that worked out, it has become a smooth transition,” Coniber said.
Once the robot was put into the classroom, teachers, students, and the robot adapted well, Coniber said.
“The students don’t see it as a robot anymore,” Coniber said. “They see it as just Hailey.”
Coniber said she would highly recommend the robots for other families in similar situations, as a cost-effective alternative for school systems.
“Now she’s getting a full day of school,” Coniber said. “We can take the laptop or iPad to the hospital and she can attend school from the hospital if she is in-patient, so it has cut down on the number of absences.”
Photo courtesy our news partner, 13WHAM. For 13WHAM's story on Hailey, click here.
The Family Consumer Science students at Pavilion Senior High School and Middle School have been recognized for the creativity and hard work in coming up with a beef-based food product.
The competition was sponsored by the NY Beef Council and New York Agriculture in the Classroom.
The middle school students competed with students from eight other middle schools and took first place and the two, just two, seniors in the class, came in second in a competition among 21 high schools.
The $350 total in prize money was used to purchase a new Weber grill from Crocker's Ace Hardware in Le Roy.
The middle school students came up with a product they called Grabbables. It consisted of a meatball, Hawaiian roll, and mozzarella.
"It was really fun," said eighth-grader Alexa Wolcott, who was in charge of quality control for the middle school students.
"Well," added the group's CEO, Adeline Milligan, "you get food in the end."
The two classes were served a catered lunch yesterday of BBQ beef, baked beans, potato salad, and salad, courtesy the Beef Council.
The competition required the students to develop a recipe, determine a target market, come up with a marketing campaign and cost out their expenses and anticipated revenue.
"There's a lot to manage," Milligan said. "You learn what actually goes into running a business."
The competition is meant to be demanding, said Cindy Phillips, director of nutritional education for the Beef Council.
"This is a project that really challenges them to apply all of their classroom learning, from math to critical thinking, social studies, into an experiential project," she said.
Catherine Johnston, AKA "Miss J," is Pavilion's Consumer Family Science teacher. She said it was important to her to get her students involved in the competition because of the lessons they would learn.
"I really want to promote the fact that Family Consumer Science is the next step from ag," Miss J said. "We are the processors. We freeze things. We dry things. We can things. We learn all about food science in my class.
"I'm hoping students want to go into the new factories that are around here and become lab techs. There are a lot of job opportunities that go into this besides being a chef."
Photos and statement submitted by Tim McArdle, principal at Le Roy HS.
Today was an amazing morning for our seniors! The day began with our annual Senior Yearbook Breakfast where the Class of 2018 received their yearbooks and enjoyed a breakfast. Seniors enjoyed many laughs and conversations looking over the Oatkan!Big kudos to yearbook advisors Ms. Castro and Mrs. Curtis and our student staff for an awesome job on this year’s yearbook! The senior dedication went to Mr. Crowe & Mrs. Brotherton!
Next, we boarded the bus and traveled to Wolcott Street School for our third annual “Decision Walk.” Seniors wore T-shirts or sweatshirts representing the college or career they are going into next year and created a poster showing a visual of their chosen career. The elementary staff and students lined the hallways and sidewalks as the seniors paraded past all grade levels.
It was a very powerful experience as it represents one of the major reasons we do what we do; guiding students through years of education and creating a launching pad for them to use for the rest of their lives. It was great for the elementary staff to see their former students and the directions they are taking in the future. We also had our staff wear their own college gear representing their alma mater!
It was a great way to celebrate the future of the Class of 2018! Check out @LeRoy_Knights on Twitter and Instagram for more videos and pics!
This year's Class of 2018 fundraiser that allowed seniors to paint their own personal parking spaces at Batavia High School was a huge hit, the Board of Education was told Tuesday night, and representatives of the junior class pitched the board on continuing the project next year but with some additional features.
The juniors would like next year's seniors to pay $20 per space and allow juniors (who previously could only reserve an unpainted space) to paint theirs for $30.
They would also like to come up with an employee of the month space that is painted by students as well as sell reserved spaces for teachers, at higher prices, that would be painted by students.
The 2018 class raised more than $700 with its project and there were no problems reported in the student parking lot throughout the year.
There were 35 spaces painted and another 19 spaces reserved.
"It is probably one of the easiest fundraisers that the officers have ever had to do," said senior Mikey Lullo. "We would call it a very big success."
The proposal for the 2018-19 project was presented by Madison Dedman and Brianna Bromley.
Based on feedback from the 2018 class, they would start to start painting in July, get five days instead of two to complete the painting, and be able to paint at night when it's cooler.
The board will vote on the proposal at its next meeting.
The Board of Education meeting Tuesday night included a department review from Amanda Antonucci, art teacher at Batavia High School.
Antonucci shared the art accomplishments and progress for Jackson, John Kennedy, Batavia Middle and Batavia High schools.
At the elementary level, first- and second-graders held their annual monster swap. The first-graders draw monsters and the second-graders re-draw them. She said the project is so popular the teachers are thinking of expanding it for next year to include middle school students, who will make monster sculptures from the drawings.
Jackson just held its annual Fine Arts Night, which gives the students a chance to see their art displayed as if in a gallery.
The middle school was engaged in several cross-curriculum projects, including students drawing their portraits with adjectives describing themselves instead of regular lines. They also looked at cells under a microscope and painted pictures of what they saw.
Once again, this year, on May 30 and 31, the middle school will hold its Human Rights Heroes project.
At the high school level, there were two new electives, both very popular: Digital Photography and Graphic Design.
The students also had a number of electives to choose from, including Drawing, Printmaking, Studio Design, Portfolio, and Sculpture.
"We have great electives," Antonucci said. "For a school our size, it is really outstanding. I really appreciate it."
One of the guest artists who visited the school this year was a 1969 graduate of BHS who is a sculptor.
A popular new activity was mARTch Madness. Antonucci said in March, all the kids can talk about is basketball so the teachers set up a bracket of 16 contemporary artists and the students discussed and debated their work.
"There was a lot of great commentary and discussion," Antonucci said. "We're going to do this forever now because it was such a big hit."
She encouraged her students to enter work into a 6x6 show in Rochester. Antonucci herself entered a solo show featuring portraits she painted of students; and she and student Sophia Dinehart entered a show just for an art teacher and an art student to share a gallery space.
BHS will host its Art Appreciation Night May 30.
Below are photos of student-created and painted murals that are being completed in the hallway of the district administration building.
The Board of Education for City Schools handed out their monthly awards to start last night's meeting. Below are pictures of the winners with write-ups supplied by the school district.
Valle Jewelers invited Mrs. Torrey’s first-grade classroom to their store to further their study of gemstones and minerals in their History of the Earth Unit.
Students were able to see equipment discussed in lessons that jewelers use, find their birthstones and look at them under a microscope!
This was a hands-on way for first graders to learn and we appreciate Valle Jewelers for opening their doors to our students. What a great experience for them!
Photo: Stephen Valle, Pat Burk, Carrie Lawrence and her daughter, Sophia.
Jaheim Dana had a rocky start to his high school career and did not earn enough credits to progress to the 10th grade. He struggled academically, lacked motivation, and even talked about dropping out of high school.
When students have to repeat the ninth grade, we often see them lose their desire to graduate, and we struggle to get them back on track to graduate on time. This was not the case with Jaheim.
Over the last year, we have seen him make an incredible transformation! He has passed every class, is planning to study Auto Technology at BOCES in his senior year, and is right on track to graduate in 2019 with his class.
He plans to enter the military after graduation. Mrs. Garner is continually impressed with Jaheim's ability to shut out negative peer pressure and keep his eye on his goal of graduation.
We are so proud of his accomplishments at BHS and can't wait to see him walk the stage next June!
Lauren Leone is an extremely self-motivated, hard-working, and flexible graduating senior who can be depended upon to get a job done and done well.
At the beginning of this school year, she took the initiative to follow up on my invitation (given at the end of her junior year) to do some writing for the District’s A+ Community Newsletter.
She then proceeded to contribute a quality article, on time, for each issue. In addition, she was flexible in what she wrote about, giving equal care to a topic she generated on her own or one that was suggested to her. Throughout the year, she could be counted on to deliver what was needed by the deadline of when it was needed.
This was no small feat for someone who was also busy with so, so many other activities and responsibilities as a class officer, athlete, volunteer extraordinaire, as well as a dedicated student taking many demanding classes, including college-level courses, all while maintaining a grade-point average that puts her at the very top of her class.
Riley Gonzalez works hard every day. He sets a great example of how other classmates should be and act.
He has been on GREEN or ABOVE every single month this year. This is over 130 days of EXCELLENT BEHAVIOR. Over 130 days of being respectful, responsible, safe and following all of the Whole Brain Teaching rules (following directions quickly, raising hand for permission to speak, participate, and leave seat, making smart choices, and making your teachers happy.)
Riley follows all of these, as well as being a polite, caring individual. We are proud to recognize his efforts.
Five Nazareth College undergraduate students who are from Genesee County earned their bachelor's degrees at the 91st Annual Commencement ceremony that took place at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester on May 13.
In addition, three Genesee County students earned graduate degrees and were recognized at the May 13 Commencement. They are:
Nazareth College's academic strengths cross an unusually broad spectrum of 60 majors, including education, health and human services, management, the fine arts, music, theater, math and science, foreign languages, and the liberal arts.
The coeducational, religiously independent, classic campus in Pittsford, a charming suburb of Rochester, N.Y., challenges and supports 2,000 undergrads and 800 graduate students. Nazareth is recognized nationally for its Fulbright global student scholars and commitment to civic engagement. Rigorous programs, an uncommon core, experiential learning, career skills, and a global focus prepare graduates for not just one job, but for their life's work.
After reading Monday’s story in The Batavian about policies in five local school districts that prohibit individual school board members from sharing their views in public forums, such as news stories, the attorney for the New York State School Boards Association suggested that maybe something has been lost in the translation.
The NYSSBA’s policy recommendation seems clear: “ … whenever communicating about issues related to the district, each board member should clearly state that he or she is communicating a personal opinion and is not speaking for the board.”
Somewhere along the line, some school districts have turned this into a restriction on speech even by individual board members.
The fact that individuals don’t give up their First Amendment rights when elected to any public office, including school boards, could perhaps be more clearly communicated, suggested Jay Worona, deputy executive director and general counsel for the NYSSBA.
“We’re the glad that you wrote the story,” Worona said, “it helps to remind us what the perspective of the press is related to covering their respective stories. Although board members, in the absence of being specifically authorized to speak on behalf of the board, may not do so (speak for the board). They certainly are not precluded from providing the press with their individual perspectives if they choose to do so.”
Further research by The Batavian on the topic also reveals the NYS Board of Education, as expressed in nearly a dozen rulings since 1978 by education commissioners, clearly supports the right of board members to speak freely. Ruling after ruling states, “Individual board members are entitled to express their views about issues concerning the district and engage in partisan activity, provided school district funds are not used.”
In our research, The Batavian also found another document from the NYSSBA that more clearly states that individual board members retain their free speech rights.
“Individual school board members and other school officials, acting in their personal capacity, have the same right as any other member of the community to express their views on public issues,” the document states.
Yet, in Genesee County, there are five school districts – Alexander, Byron-Bergen, Le Roy, Oakfield-Alabama, Pavilion – that have articulated policies prohibiting individual board members from publicly stating their views outside of board meetings.
After reading The Batavian's story, Rick Blum, policy director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said he was baffled that elected bodies had such rules and the elected officials accepted such restrictions.
"I don’t understand how elected officials are not allowed to talk to their constituents," Blum said. "It doesn't make sense to me. If you are an elected representative, elected to run and administer a school board or any government agency or public office, you need to do it in a representative, democratic way."
Since the story appeared Monday, The Batavian has spoken with one local school official about speech restrictions.
Alexander Superintendent Catherine Huber, Ed.D., said -- in a single statement -- that board members both can and can't speak freely: They can't share their personal views on district business; and, they have the ability to express opinions. (NOTE: We will have more from this 45-minute interview in later stories.)
"Recently we did a board retreat and the board established norms, which you also probably saw on our website, and one of the norms that the board established was that they would speak with one voice," Huber said. "They would speak with one voice on matters related to the school district.
"Board members individually don't have power on their own. They have power and they come together around the board table. That is not the same as their inability to express an opinion. Anybody has the ability to express an opinion. But in terms of commenting on district business, the board members only can speak with that same one voice as a board and not as individuals and they've designated the superintendent, as they probably have in most school districts, as the spokesperson for the district."
In the interview, we compared the "one voice" policy to Communist China. Huber's only response, "You have the policies and I know you have the policies from the other school districts as well."
When The Batavian pointed out such a policy negates dissent or individual views, Huber responded, "It's in keeping with our policy. An important thing to keep in mind, too, is that one of the central jobs of a Board of Education is that they get to approve a policy. So Boards of Education approve the policy that talks about things like who is the spokesperson for the board."
When The Batavian tried to talk with Alexander board members after an April 23 meeting, Huber stepped in, and board members reiterated, that only she could speak to reporters, a communication transaction Huber confirmed during Wednesday's interview.
After that encounter and subsequent communications with the district, The Batavian decided to survey the seven other school district's in the county expecting to find Alexander's policy was an anomaly. What we found is, it is not. While the policies of Batavia, Pembroke, and Elba are, arguably, the anomaly, there are five districts willing to openly state board members can't speak freely.
There does seem to be some confusion in Elba about the policy. While Superintendent Keith Palmer said, "Board members should emphasize to the media when asked to speak as a board member that they can only speak as a private citizen," which is in keeping with NYSSBA guidelines. When, however, The Batavian attempted to send interview questions to Elba's lone school board candidate, Candy Bezon, she declined to answer citing board policy.
The story about board member speech restrictions seemed to surprise NYSSBA's Worona. He indicated he didn't know such policies existed at school districts in New York.
The NYSSBA serves 660 school boards in New York and provides information, training and advice on matters affecting school boards to its members.
Worona said if there is a lack of clarity among school boards, it something NYSSBA should address.
"We want to make sure our school boards are judged by what they do not how they do it," Worona said.
It's reasonable for school boards to have a designated spokesperson, whether that's the board president or the superintendent, because a spokesperson is likely to be the person with the most knowledge and information about a particular topic, but a board designating a spokesperson should not be confused with the right of individual board members to answer questions, or for reporters to ask them.
Board members, of course, have a right to decline interview requests for their own personal reasons.
“Some board member who wishes not to speak the press may not do so, not to be difficult, but because they don’t feel comfortable with that media," Worona said.
Some school district and board policies may not necessarily reflect that nuance, Worona said.
There's no nuance, however, in the decisions issued by NYS Board of Education commissioners going back to 1978 when a commissioner ruled on the appeal of Rita Wolfe.
Wolfe was a Cold Spring Harbor School Board member who sent letters to residents of Cold Spring Harbor encouraging them to vote against a proposed school budget, an action the commissioner ruled was not illegal since Wolfe lobbied residents at her own expense.
"Although an individual board member or those members holding a minority view are not entitled to have their opinions published at the district's expense in board publications, this does not mean that the individual board member may not communicate his views at his own expense."
The Wolfe decision (which, given it is from 1978, is not available online) is cited in several subsequent commissioner decisions. Decisions that either site Wolfe or state the same principle include the application of Katrina Dinan, application of Rhea Vogel, the appeal of Kevin R. Allen, the appeal of Jeremy J. Krantz (which also notes that school district employees enjoy the same right to publicly express their personal views), the appeal of Guilaine Leger-Vargas, the appeal of Dione Goldin (which involves comments Goldin made to a newspaper reporter), the application of Kaila Eisenkraft, the appeal of Glen W. Johnson, the appeal of Vincent Wallace, and the application of Julianne C. Gabryel.
What an individual reporter can do about government policies that prohibit free speech by elected officials may be limited; though courts have found, such as in Chicago Reader v. Sheahan that government agencies can't argue that alternative newsgathering resources are available as an excuse for refusing direct access to a primary source. Yet this is what Attorney Jennifer Schwartzott -- who represents Alexander, Byron-Bergen, and Pembroke -- suggested when defending school districts' speech policies.
"Community members who are interested in what the local board members have to say can attend board meetings when the members discuss issues, share their opinions, and make decisions," Schwartzott said in response to questions emailed to her last week about individual board member rights.
Speech restrictions, however, abridge the rights most directly of school board members.
David C. Bloomfield, J.D., professor of Education Law at Brooklyn College and The CUNY Grad Center, and author of a book on education law written for community members who wish to better keep tabs on their local school boards, said board members who wish to challenge the speech restrictions might best be served by going to the NYSSBA to get information to bring back to their fellow board members. If necessary, however, they might need to file an application or appeal with the education commissioner.
"The new information (the decisions mentioned above that we found since the last story, with the help of Bloomfield) seals the deal," Bloomfield said. "Rather than speculating, it’s right there, spelled out in black and white. A district shouldn’t even discourage board members from speaking out. The First Amendment should be exercised."
There is no specific state law, such as the Freedom of Information Law or the Open Meetings Law, that addresses directly a board member's right to speak freely but such a law shouldn't be necessary, said Robert Freeman, director of the state's Committee On Open Government. "We have the First Amendment.
“If a board member is speaking out, it’s up to the board to take action, and I don’t think a board would, if they thought about this, because I think a board would recognize the right of a board member to speak out, absent not representing himself or herself, as speaking for the board,” Freeman said.
Later he added, “If a board member wants to speak out then I think he or she should and challenge the policy.”
If board members won't protect themselves, it will be up to voters to make changes, said the Reporters Committee policy Director Blum.
"I think the public is going to have to elect people who are going to change school board policy," Blum said.
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