Guidance
News
Seniors planning on
attending college need to remember to file their financial aid forms (FAFSA) as
soon after January 1st as possible.
They have received and should also be returning to me completed
applications for the Klue and Colburn Foundations
Scholarships.
Juniors – Juniors have received test scores for the ASVAB and the
PSAT exams. The ASVAB exam is an
aptitude test given to schools for free by the military. It is a requirement for students interested
in joining the military, but it can also be useful to other students in giving
them information about their strengths and weaknesses with regard to career
planning. The PSAT is a practice exam
for the SAT I (a required college entrance exam for most colleges.) I have encouraged all juniors to register for
either the SAT I or the ACT for the Spring. They were given the registration forms
earlier this year. Juniors also need to
begin college research in earnest. They
will need to narrow their list of colleges this year to 5 or less and do all
their college visits in the Spring. The Discover program can be essential in helping
students with their college research.
All juniors have received user ID’s and directions on using our online
Discover program. If students need help
and direction in using the program effectively, I can meet with them
individually to do this.
Juniors will be
attending the annual shadow day in the
Sophomores – Sophomores were given information about
a leadership conference (Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Seminar), which is
offered every year for 10th graders.
Alex Holton expressed interest in definitely going and has registered to
attend in the Spring.
Elementary Guidance Classes – In Grades K-2, we have been using games and puzzles to
discuss working as a team, being cooperative and supportive of others, understanding
the importance of helpers around us, good sportsmanship and using good
manners. Grades 3-5 continue to explore
information about different careers.
They have discussed identifying and dealing with their own strengths and
weaknesses as well as using constructive criticism with others. We have discussed the dangers of bullying and
rumor spreading, how others can contribute and make the problem worse and what
we can do to stop others who bully. The
5th grade has been introduced to using the Discover program for
career and college investigation.
I
am continuing to use homeroom time to distribute articles to students on
various issues regarding careers, college and financial aid. At times, I will send home copies of some of
these articles to make sure that parents receive the information.
If you have any
questions about guidance or academic services, please call me at 624-5330. You can also reach me by email at twhite@mail.fehb.org.
It’s hard to believe that we’re halfway through the school year. Here’s a run down of what’s been going on in science.
The Earth Science classes have covered several major topics including mapping, energy in the atmosphere, astronomy and meteorology. In October, we continued our participation in the River Watch Network and sampled three sites of the Hudson River Headwaters. Dissolved oxygen tests were conducted by Heather Black, Alex Holton and David Andrews. Alkalinity and PH tests were conducted by Joel Hart-DeLoria, Chelsey Wallace and Andy Snide. Kodee Olbert braved the cold waters and collected our samples. Kodee also found the river depth profile assisted by Leah Lamos. Emily Powers, Amelia Powers and Cheyennea Huntley were in charge of finding the river velocity.
During our astronomy unit, we had some special treats. Mrs. Barbara Hollenbeck gave us a tour of the constellations in the Star Lab and Mr. Tim Holliman and Mr. Steve Durham of the Adirondack Public Observatory Inc. came to show us the sun. Mr. Holliman first presented a powerpoint demonstration on the sun. Then, we proceeded outside to look at sunspots through telescopes with special filters. Mr. Durham assisted us at the telescopes and some of the earlier classes were treated to a view of Venus. Thank you Tim and Steve for bringing astronomy “down to earth”.
Chemistry classes have been very busy this year. We’ve covered many topics including atomic structure, bonding, physical and chemical changes, equation writing and the periodic table.
In November, the students presented their powerpoint element projects. Each student researched an element, put together a powerpoint demonstration and made a “stuffed mole” (a mole is a unit of measurement). Kyle Austin researched the element germanium; Tim Helms, plutonium; Nicole Andrews, Radon; Brooke Armstrong, potassium; Alex Olbert, sulfur; Caleb Austin, indium; Nick Luxford, titanium and Noah Beardsley, neon. The “moles” are now hanging happily in the classroom.
As Christmas approached all chemistry students eagerly awaited the arrival of Santa Chlorine. We put up our Chemistree and sang the traditional chemistry carols. We then serenaded other classes with chemistry carol classics such as “Deck the Halls with Rubber Tubing”.
The eighth grade students have been busy too. We covered topics such as measurement, atoms, phases of matter and the periodic table. We have also been preparing for the NYS Science Assessment test.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
The Scholastic
Book Fair will be at LLCS from March 11-21.
Plan to stock-up on books and other reading and
writing materials during the Book Fair.
All sales of materials help support the school libraries and our annual
PARP program. The fair will be open from
CHINESE NEW YEAR IN THE ELEMENTARY LIBRARY
In conjunction with the celebration of Chinese New Year, we will be reading Chinese stories and folktales during library skills classes. We will explore the culture and customs related to the 15-day celebration of Chinese New Year. Preparations for the holiday begin before their New Year’s day. Homes, storefronts, public places and streets are cleaned and decorated. Families decorate their living rooms with vases of flowers, platters of oranges and tangerines and a candy tray with eight varieties of dried sweet fruit. Brilliantly colored paper flowers, chains, streamers, fans and lanterns can be seen everywhere. Favors, presents and noisemakers are made ahead of time to be presented later to family and friends. Many people visit family and friends, join in parades, present gifts and enjoy food, laughter, dancing and fireworks displays during the celebration. Because the color red is believed to be a lucky color, many red and gold scrolls, banners and lanterns are used during the celebration. The elementary library will be filled with items to help us explore Chinese New Year. In addition, Mr. Geiger is offering a traditional Chinese entrée on February 9. Bring your chopsticks!
BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING IN REVIEW –
The Board of Education at its
Approval
Ø A request from Ms. Burnham
to hold a Zen-Do-Kai program and a self defense program for juniors and seniors
as part of the physical education program.
Ø A request from Ms. Burnham
for the 5th grade to participate in the Eckerd Drug Quiz program to
be held at Piseco.
Ø The minutes of the
Ø The Business Reports as
presented.
Ø Appointments of Rita DeGuisto and Stephanie Howe as inspectors for the Annual
Budget/Board Member vote.
Ø Appointment of Karin Cook as
the mentor for Tom Gegenheimer.
Ø The CSE recommendations for
two students.
Ø Attendance of Tony Clark and
Pat Skerrett at a Boiler Workshop.
Ø Permanent appointments for
Kristen Lance, Treasurer and Victoria Snide, Business Manager.
Ø Substitutes Suzanne Mills
and Louisa Wright.
Ø Guidelines for the
distribution of funds for student requests to attend education conference and
program. 50% of the cost up to a maximum
of $1,000.00.
Ø Heather Black’s request for
ACE funds to attend an educational program in
Ø Alex Holton’s request for
ACE funds to attend the National Student Leadership Conference - $950.00.
Ø Contract with Bernier/Carr
to complete the District’s Building Condition Survey.
Ø A Children’s Identification
program to be held on
Ø An adult education course in
Bookkeeping for March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, April 5 & 12 to be taught by David
Snide.
Ø The request of Dan Ziehm to provide a scholarship for a graduating senior.
Other Business
Ø Accept resignation of
Rose-Marie Ordway as mentor.
Ø Denied Mr. Gegenheimer’s request for Jazz Ensemble and Brass,
Percussion and Select Wind Ensembles.
Ø Mr. Patzwald
and Mrs. Snide presented the first draft of the 2005-2006 school budget.
Ø Mr. Patzwald
discussed the preliminary request for BOCES services.
Ø The Board requested that Mr.
Patzwald get cost estimates for the following items:
tennis court replacement, bleacher repair/replacement, phone/intercom system,
and generator.
Ø The Board reviewed the
reports from Ms. White and Mr. Patzwald regarding the
distance learning system.
Ø Mr. Patzwald
discussed the removal of the drinking fountain outside the ladies room on the
second floor. It was decided not to
replace the fountain.
Outing Club (A.K.A.
The unusually wet winter
weather we are experiencing, leaves little outing news
to share for the month of December. Our Goodnow Mt.
Snowshoe/Hike was cancelled due to stormy conditions. Mrs. Hall reported that
Colleen Nerney and her father ventured out in the
stormy weather and joined her at the Natural Ornaments Workshop before
Christmas. The Oak Mt. Ski Day after Christmas was postponed to Martin Luther
King Day because of a lack of snow at that time. Hopefully, the Trekkers will
have had a good day of skiing by the time this newsletter hits the press.
2005 looks to be off to a wet start also. Despite such,
there are still plenty of opportunities planned for people of all ages to get
together and have some fun. If you think there is nothing to do if you live in
Following is information
about outings being offered through the Adirondack Trekkers and Newcomb VIC
Programs for the months of January and February. The end of this newsletter
includes information and activities that are offered to students in grades 6-12
(or the equivalent) through a Hamilton County Community Services program.
Sat. January 22nd
– “Last Minute” Snowshoe or Hike (open to
anyone)
This winter’s weather has prompted Mrs. Malerba to try a new type of event – “Last Minute”
Activities. Permission slips will not be necessary for these outings. They will
be “local” activities, which will not require the school to provide
transportation. This particular one is open to anyone who would like to get out
for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon. There’s no telling how much snow we
will have so this may be a snowshoe or hike. The actual get-together time,
destination and transportation arrangements (if necessary) will be determined
on Friday, Jan. 21st. If you
are interested in joining us, contact Mrs. Malerba by
any one of the methods mentioned above. Snowshoes can be provided if necessary.
Sat. January 29th
– (
This snowshoe trip is being offered through the
Sat. February 5th
– (
We will try to get in a couple of X-C ski and/or
snowshoe trips this year. This trip can be done on skis or snowshoes. The trip
distance will be 4-5 miles. We will stop for lunch at Indian Pass Lean-to. More
information will be distributed in late January.
Sat. February 12th
– (
Back by popular demand… Come spend an afternoon
enjoying the facilities at St. Lawrence University. We will have access to the
climbing wall, pool, indoor track, indoor soccer field, squash and tennis
courts (provided there are no practices being conducted on them). There is a $5
per person fee for the use of the facilities for 5 hours in the afternoon. This
outing is open to all students, parents, faculty, staff & community
members. Fifth graders and younger must be accompanied by 1 adult for
every 3 students. Non-LLCS children must have a parent with them. A bus will
leave from school at
In regards to the Climbing Wall, SLU can
accommodate a group of 20. (This group will be determined by the order in which
permission slips and money are received.) SLU staff provides an Introduction to
Climbing and Belaying clinic, equipment and climbing supervision. We need to
provide one chaperone for every 6 or so kids. All participants under age
18 must have a waiver filled out by a parent or legal guardian. This waiver
will be sent home when permission slips are made available for this trip.
A Message from Mrs. Malerba…
I hope your New Year is
off to a bright start… despite our not-so-bright weather conditions. For many,
the New Year is a time of “new beginnings.” For others, it’s a time of
implementing positive changes in our lives. Whatever the New Year means to you,
I wish you the best of everything in 2005.
In appreciation…
Thank-you Mrs. Lance, Mrs. Hall and Mrs. Virostek, for helping with the organizational tasks associated with conducting various outings. Thank-you parents and grandparents, for volunteer your time so our students can partake in activities of this nature. I’d like you to know how much you are appreciated! Without your participation, many of the outings we plan would not be possible. Thank you PTSA, for the donation toward student lift tickets on the Oak Mt. Ski Trip.
Bowling anyone?
Our unpredictable
TRAILBLAZERS
program information…
Hamilton County Community Services offers more activities
and events for our children to partake in through a program called
TRAILBLAZERS. This program is open to children in grades 6-12, or the
equivalent. Kevin Elkin, from the Drug & Alcohol Prevention Education
Department, came to
In hopes of getting information about the TRAILBLAZERS
program out to the community, I have included some of the information Kevin
left with us at school in this newsletter.
There is also a schedule of the activities he has planned through March.
This is a wonderful opportunity for our children to mingle with children in
other
First grade news
Joao is the keeper of a new addition to
our classroom. Mrs. Hall purchased a train set just before Christmas and Joao
has been busy creating a Christmas village for the train to go around. Since
Christmas he changes the town daily to have different buildings, etc. He also
brought in some of his new matchbox cars so he can create “traffic jams” on
some of the roads through the town. We invite everyone to come in and Joao will
gladly give you a tour of his train set and show you how it works.
We have also been busy learning all kinds of
new words. Joao has proven to be a master of the words practiced to date and
beats Mrs. Hall regularly in games of “Vocabulary Memory”. He is also proving
to be quite the artist as can be witnessed on our daily “Artist of the Moment”
board outside our classroom door. He will be doing daily drawings to illustrate
one of the sentences we read during our Bradley Reading program.
First and Second grade science has been busy too. We have studied magnets, a bit about the weather and are now working on our 5 senses. We will be moving into a unit on properties next using some of the kits from Monroe BOCES. We will be having lots of fun with those.
Joao and Mrs. Hall will be
starting a volunteering session with the VIC in Newcomb soon. While at the VIC
one day a week we will be helping with the “bird watch” program, helping to
pack the snowshoe trails, and helping with wildlife watch by studying the
tracks left in the snow. We will be wearing our official VIC name tags while we
are “on the job” so if you are at the VIC and see us on the trails be sure to say hi.
By the next newsletter we hope to have
completed a story that Joao is writing. We hope to be able to include it with
the next issue. Be watching for that…
BOOKKEEPING CLASS/OPEN
COMPUTER LAB
A beginning bookkeeping class will be offered at
Along with the bookkeeping class, the computer lab will be open for public use during the above time. Please come and make use of the school’s high speed internet connection, as well as other programs.
Please call the school at 624-2221 to sign up for the bookkeeping class. There is no sign up required for the open computer lab. For more information, please call David Snide at 624-3858.
FAMILY AND
CONSUMER SCIENCE
Before Christmas, Family and Consumer Science classes were quite busy with numerous projects. Here’s what they were up to.
In high school, the Child Development class explored Origami and created mobiles for infants which they proudly carried home. Vegetarian Cooking took on the challenge of making a vegetarian quiche complete with homemade crust. That was followed by their making a vegetarian lasagne which tasted sooooo good! Mr. Eric Hample was our guest in Advanced Foods and shared with us his expertise in making pasta. Afterwards, we used the left-over dough to make feticcini and homemade ravioli. What fun! Introduction to Gourmet Cooking spent time making and shaping homemade rolls. They created crescent rolls, cloverleaf rolls, and knot rolls. They turned out yummie! Grade 8 finished their pillow project after much intensified embroidery. Then they each made their own individual gingerbread house. The glueing took a lot of patience! The houses were put on display for all to see.
All high school FCS classes took part in a Cookie Exchange before Christmas. We had Husar Czoks, Bon Bon Christmas Cookies,Yoyos, red and green Cream Cheese Brownies, Peanut Butter Blossoms, Linzer Roll, Taralli Dolci Di Pasque and Two Tone Peanut Butter Thins. We went away with plates comprised of various cookies to take home after we spent time tasting and sharing. Copies of the recipes of each kind of cookie were made available for teachers and staff who attended. A good time was had by all.
Before Christmas projects for elementary were: sewing snowmen and trees (K/1/2), sewing felt puppets (3), designing and stitching cedar pillows (4), and learning about and cooking with whole grains (5). Some units are continuing after Christmas.
Wow! Now second semester is upon us and we’re off!!
By Deborah Havas
