Intel Semifinalists
On Jan. 7, two Wheatley seniors, Kuan Yu and Arjun Kapoor, were named semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search.
This rigorous competition, a program of the Society for Science & the Public, recognizes the most promising young scientists and awards them for their innovative science research.
Of the more than 1800 applicants, Kuan and Arjun were among 300 student-semifinalists, nationwide and among the 43 Long Island student-semifinalists.
Arjun’s project “The Construction of Low Entropy Quasi-Optimal Interconnection Network Topologies” was completed at Stony Brook University, under the supervision of Dr. Yuefan Deng.
Kuan conducted his work at the Neuroscience Research Institute at SUNY at Old Westbury, with Dr. Wei Zhu, on the “Purification, Assessment, and Structural Analysis of Anti-Oxidative Compounds from the Mushroom Hericium erinaceus that Mitigate Rotenone Induced Parkinson’s Disease”.
Well-deserved congratulations to Kuan and Arjun on all of their hard work and continued success!
Computer Coding
By now many of you may have heard about the hour of code program, sponsored by Code.org.
Code.org is a national organization dedicated to the idea that “Every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science.”
This past December, as they did in 2013, the organization sponsored the Hour of Code, a campaign aimed to demystify computer science and encourage millions to try just an hour of coding.
During the week of Dec. 8-12 many of our students once again celebrated an hour of code in grades K-7.
Our North Side students were registered on the code.org website.
Our kindergarteners and first graders used an iPad app called Kodable to program a little fuzzy “kodable” character to move through a maze. Our second and third graders moved through the various levels of logic, sequence, looping and ‘what if’ statements. (I had the opportunity, first hand, to see North Side technology teacher Rochelle Sroka work with second graders in the computer lab participating in these activities.
It was quite amazing to see how accomplished and confident the students were at their computer terminals.) Fourth grade students also logged into the Hour of Code activity, at a more advanced level.
Did you know that at Willets Road, students in grade 6 have actually been offered a coding class, Scratch, since 2010?
To celebrate the Hour of Code, Willets Road technology teacher Audra Beberman’s current Scratch students continued to work on their coded games. They took time to rotate around the computer lab to play one another’s games, providing constructive criticism to each other, as well as helping each other fix any coding errors. Our sixth graders also used the sites Code.org, Kodable and Google to investigate career possibilities for people who code.
They made public service-style videos to encourage younger students at North Side and Willets Road to sign up for Scratch when they get to grade 6. Several students also worked on Bitstrip cartoons, explaining why coding is important to our society and how coding is important to careers beyond just game and software development.
Many thanks to David Casamento, district director of Science and Technology and a special thanks to Mrs. Sroka and Mrs. Beberman our instructional technology teachers for such a successful “Hour of Code” experience.
Coding is one of the objectives in the three-year district technology plan and supports one of our Strategic Plan priorities STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and one of our 2014-15 district instructional goals (these goals can be found on the district website at www.ewsdonline.org > click on Our District on the red horizontal navigation bar > click on 14-15 District Goals > Goal #9 ) to increase coding into our elementary and middle school programs.
Even as our students participated in the international Hour of Code event, they continue to have many opportunities to be exposed to coding throughout their school years.
Update from the Educational Advisory Committee
The Educational Advisory Committee met this past Tuesday evening. The EAC is a board advisory committee consisting of parents and other community members, teachers, administrators, students and board representation.
Members of the Committee are: James Bloomgarden, Claudia Cafarelli, Barbara Creamer, Chintan Datt, Robert Fallarino, Melissa Farhangian, Meryl Fordin, Christine Hogg, Ellen Holzman, David Keefe, Tasneem Meghji, Sarah Mizrahi, Yenine Mohebban, Sharon Piscopia, Lydia Rosenbaum, Rose Scalera, Rich Sun and Dr. Elaine Kanas.
The meeting was devoted to a discussion of the Celebration of Cultural Diversity, a project the EAC adopted as a goal for this year. The goal of the Celebration of Cultural Diversity project is to involve our district families in a broad understanding and appreciation of the rich multicultural opportunities for learning and enrichment that membership in our community can provide.
Multicultural Festival – Saturday, May 30
As I’ve shared with you in previous newsletters, the major focus of this initiative for this school year is a multicultural fair to take place this spring, involving all grade levels and families from K-12, as well as any additional interested community members.
A steering committee of parents, teachers and student volunteers has already met to discuss the specifics of this event and those ideas were shared back with the EAC at this week’s meeting.
The festival has been set for Saturday, May 30 from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. to take place on the Wheatley grounds. Mark your calendars!
There will be scheduled performance events, including a refrain of the incredible multicultural musical and dance performances originally presented at Wheatley on Dec. 19 as part of the Intercultural Unity Club (ICU) Festival along with additional performances by our middle and elementary school students.
Taking a page from the December ICU event, we anticipate a family fashion show parade, where children and their parents can dress in representative or traditional costume.
In addition to the performances, it is anticipated that there will be themed booths representing holidays, food, games, etc.
At the EAC meeting, it was decided that these booths would center around themes, rather than around countries, so that family volunteers planning and working at the booths, as part of the very act of preparation, would get the chance to find out about other cultures and make new cross-cultural friends. From Ireland to India, we’re excited to learn about all our different heritages.
We also discussed adding a fund-raising element to the event, an idea that was raised at the steering committee meeting last month. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof’s recent book, which he co-authored with his wife, reporter Sheila WuDunn, “A Path Appears,” which outlines many ways that individuals and groups interested in a global community can reach out to make a difference, was mentioned as a source of inspiration.
Leading up to the May 30 Festival
Each of the three buildings will survey students and families over the next several weeks to determine the number of cultural and ethnic backgrounds represented in our district.
Once gathered, each building will find ways to acknowledge and visually celebrate that information. District-wide, the website will display flags from all of the countries of origin that make up our East Williston School District.
A role for all/Volunteers needed!
The multicultural steering committee will be meeting on Jan. 29 to develop final plans to bring to the EAC for approval at its February meeting.
A call for parent and student volunteers to work on the many activities in preparation for the May 30 Festival will be made at that time.
Members of the multicultural steering committee are: Bachir and Zahra Al-Okla, Joan Anderson, Karen Bartscherer, Barbara Creamer, Meryl Fordin, Dr. Elaine Kanas, Janice Luu, Qin Ma, Sharon Piscopia, Jordan Pollack, Neha Shah, Isobel Simoes, Joy Bestourous, Krista Chen, Aileen Chowdhury, Jessica Chu, Lexi Dafgard, Chintan Datt, Melissa Farhangian, Lianna Golden, Arihant Jain, Andrew Jin, Gretchen Keller, Erica Kim, Jane Kim, Samrah Mitha, Lavanya Reddy, Keval Shah, Nick Vazquez and Sara Zulfiqar.
If you have any ideas, please don’t hesitate to call or email me, or any member of the Educational Advisory Committee, or any member of the multicultural steering committee. Thanks!
Beyond this year’s event and activities
The EAC also discussed the celebration of our diversity and the enrichment it provides as an ongoing district initiative, with this year as a starting point.
Ongoing efforts include the possibility of identifying cultural ambassadors among us who are able to reach out to support parents either new to the country, or new to the language.
It was further discussed that we should build on and continue a project started by Wheatley English teacher Karen Bartscherer and ESL teacher Gail Leibert last year.
Their initial effort was to reach out to the East Williston community to identify both adults and students in our community who are bilingual and who would be willing to help our schools to offer assistance to and improve communication with East Williston parents who are not entirely comfortable with English as their primary language.
Do You Know About Wheatley’s School Within a School – SWS?
At the Jan. 7 work session, the board and public were treated to a very informative and exciting presentation by Wheatley social studies teacher Patrick Clarke and SWS students Jared Bassmann and Brianna Clarfield.
This is a very special program that Wheatley runs and one that is unique to most high schools today. SWS has a long history at Wheatley, originally founded over forty years ago.
The vision of SWS remains the same today as at its inception. In the words of the original founders, teachers Ted Tchack and Stew Doig, in March 1972, stated that this program is founded on the concept that “people always give more value to those things they have a share in creating. It is the premise of our program that the democratic school will have the commitment of the people involved in it.”
While many things have changed about SWS over the years to reflect changes in educational programs and requirements, the major vision remains the same, as evidenced in the presentation on Wednesday. SWS is a democratic program for sophomores, juniors and seniors, which is run by students with the assistance of a faculty advisor.
“Students in SWS,” in the words of Patrick Clarke, their faculty advisor, “actually get to experience democracy, not just read about it in a text. Our students are leaders, citizens, activists and community members.”
As SWS elected student leaders, Brianna and Jared explained that SWS students make proposals for changes to the SWS constitution, they organize events and they help to develop the program’s academic offerings.
They also plan events to support further cohesion to their learning community. A key event is the annual SWS Weekend, where this year the SWS students spent two nights in Boston, visiting historic sites along the Freedom Trail and participating in interactive learning at the New England Aquarium and the Museum of Science.
SWS students engage in a rigorous academic program that allows them to meet all New York State graduation requirements. Two-thirds of the school day they attend regular Wheatley academic offerings, while periods 7, 8 and 9 are devoted to their “school within a school” program. During these periods they have the opportunity to expand their learning in a variety of English and Social Science Modules that offer a wide variety of electives.
SWS students help create a course schedule for each quarter, and they choose the courses they wish to participate in. Some recent examples include Fairy Tales, the New Yorker, History through Film, Philosophy of Interactions, Richard III, Intro to Journalism and Dilemmas of Foreign Aid. Because course modules are shorter than full term courses, students have the opportunity for a wide variety of experiences and guest instructors. Dr. Feeney is currently teaching an SWS course called Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences. As with all SWS courses, Dr. Feeney made a presentation to the students for their approval of its addition to their course roster.
Fifth Grade Visits
As you know, last year we moved our fifth grade program to more of an elementary model. This best supports our youngest students at the Willets Road building, taking a developmental approach and transitioning our students to a full middle school program in grade 6.
I recently had the chance to visit a “publishing party” in Jennifer Taggart’s Grade 5 Class.
The students had just completed the Fantasy Literacy Unit and they invited members of the school and district administration to hear and critique their final papers. These final papers were written about the fantasy motifs in the books they had just read in their reading workshop/book groups.
The papers were so well written and the children so articulate in talking about the genre. All of the students provided excellent supporting evidence to describe which of the five motifs that characterize the fantasy genre: magic, fantastic objects, universal themes, other worlds, heroic quest and special characters, e.g. wizards and elves, were found in the books they had read.
Congratulations to Class 5T and to their instructional team, Ms. Taggart, Allison Butler and Erin Campbell for a great event.
Speaking of Fifth Grade
I had the great pleasure of reading a chapter of a favorite book of mine when I was a fifth grader, “Half Magic,” by Edward Eager, to Lynn Flynn’s fifth grade class, this week.
After talking with the students about this book during an earlier visit where I had congratulated the students on the enormous amount of independent reading they were emailing me about each month, it turned out that they chose this title for their next class read-aloud and invited me to read a chapter.
I was very excited! Speaking of read-aloud, yesterday a New York Times article reported on the benefits of reading aloud to children, even after they are able to read on their own. The article encourages parents to continue to read to their children even after the primary years.
According to the report, 41 percent of frequent readers ages 6 to 10 were read aloud to at home, while only 13 percent of infrequent readers were being read to. To read the full article go to https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/us/study-finds-reading-to-children-of-all-ages-grooms-them-to-read-more-on-their-own.html.
Check the Website When Something is Out of the Ordinary
As you know, last year we revamped our website, and with your input, continue to make it as up-to-date and helpful a tool as possible.
Just a reminder for you that we try to post timely events and up-to-date information on the home page of our district website. For example, earlier this week our phone system was working intermittently and sometimes required a few tries to get through to us.
The information was posted on our website so you would understand that it might take a couple of tries to get through while the service people were working on fixing it and to allay any concerns about not getting through on the first try.
Speaking of Websites – Athletic Website
We’ve recently revised our athletic website and it is now live for your viewing, although please note that some pages may still be under construction. Thanks, as always, for your input in the development of this updated site.
The home page of the athletic site sets out general information about the program including current news. The current news column will provide news items about our interscholastic teams as well as recent updates or changes to schedules.
Practice schedules are posted for each team. As the athletic office becomes aware of changes, these individual team practice calendars will be updated.
Weekly schedule posts the most current information for games, matches and meets for the upcoming week. If changes occur to the game schedule during the week, the calendar will be updated as well.
Athletic Schedules links the Section 8 Sportspak website which is the most up-to-date listing of sporting events for public schools in Nassau County.
Please review the directions on this page to help you locate the specific team schedule/game you are searching for. You can contact Susan Checkla, public information officer at 516-333-1693 if you need help with this site.
The rest of the site tabs are self-explanatory.
Please note, if you are a team parent you will still be getting emails directly from the athletic office.
Thank you to athletic director Tom Fitzpatrick, Patrice Morisco, Physical Education secretary and Public Information Officer Susan Checkla for their contribution and expertise in further developing the site.
Beautiful Music
What a nice way to end the year and welcome in the holiday season, with our very talented musicians. Wheatley’s Concerts Parts 1 and 2, under the direction of music teachers Dr. Peggy Ho, Angela Luftig and Stan Orlovsky, was surely inspirational.
The Wheatley Honors String Ensemble concert, under the direction of Mrs. Luftig, at Old Westbury Gardens is always a delight with its mixture of holiday music. The Willets Road Chamber Orchestra’s Holiday Concert, under the direction of Willets Road music teacher Denise Giuliano, at Reckson Plaza in Uniondale and the Willets Road Wind Ensemble holiday performance at the Hay Barn at the Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay, under the direction of Scott Hoefling, were both just what we needed to put us in the holiday spirit with the students playing beautifully.
Congratulations to all our students and Dr. Ho, Mrs. Luftig, Mr. Orlovsky, Mrs. Giuliano and Mr. Hoefling for all their hard work and excellent guidance and instruction that support our students in such fine performances.
Congratulations and Commendations
Town of North Hempstead 2014 Recycled Artwork Contest
The Willets Road Art Club received first place recognition in the Environmental Message – Group Category for their depiction of Rosie the Riveter with the environmental message “We Can Do It! RECYCLE.”
The project used a variety of recycled materials, including old foam core, newspapers, magazines, cardboard food packaging and boxes, styrofoam, ribbon, Legos, small toys, plastic, paper, yarn and bottle caps, all donated by Willets Road families.
Congratulations to art teacher and Willets Road Art Club advisor Melinda Gomez and club members Abigail Advocate-Ross, Marjan Alagheband, Christopher Alessandri, Patrick Barrera, Karen Chu, Gabriela D’Ayala, Rachel Fasulo, Kaileigh Fiorillo, Ainsley Forrest, Kayla Gray, Frances Kalpakis, Marcella Kanes, Emma Khafif, Kelvin Lee, Emma Leng, Thomas Lew, James Li, Federick Lin, Ya Jun Lin, Melissa Lucio,
Anika Mittle, Aaron Mizrahi, Carmela Nardo, Evan Pereira, Lukas Prince, Avani Rambharose, Skylar Ribotsky, Jaiden Riezgo, Samar Saleem, Dalia Savy, Abigail Schiesser, Astha Singh, Daniel Solomon, Evan Wang, Ryan Wu, Jace Yagoda, Emily Yagoda, Kristin Zachariah, Alyson Zeller, Catherine Zhang and Sharon Zhong,. Each student received a Certificate of Achievement and Recognition from TONH and a Certificate of Merit from the New York State Assembly.
A Wheatley Art and Technology class was also honored with a Best Use of Recycled Materials in the group category for “We Love Earth We Recycle.” The students worked with recycled canvas stretches, chicken wire and newspaper. The newspaper was painted, cut and rolled to create a relief sculpture that was made up of approximately 3200 pieces of newspaper.
Congratulations to Wheatley teacher Liza Laurino, art teacher Julia Donovan and technology teacher Paul Chisholm and students Daniel Albeg, William Costello, Sara Creamer, Colin Douglas, James Garfield, Fiona Kachar, Taliah Lipetz and Benjamin Mathew. Each student received a Certificate of Achievement and Recognition from Town of North Hempstead and a Certificate of Merit from the New York State Assembly.
The recycled art will be on exhibit at the Legislative Building in Albany.
Lost In Wonderland Selected for Drexel University Contest
Wheatley junior Alexa Georgeton’s photograph titled “Lost In Wonderland,” was selected to be included in the 2014 Drexel University High School Contest Exhibition.
The photograph will be on display at the University Gallery at the Photography Facility at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Congratulations Alexa.
Willets Road Scrabble Tournament Results
Once again our Willets Road Scrabble Tournament team has shined. At the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County, HANC, South Side Middle School and Willets Road competed with 10 teams. The Willets Road team of Emily Yagoda and Manav Bansal came in second place and the Willets Road team of Alex Horowitz and Madeline Lindenauer took home third place. Congratulations to all who competed.
Have a Good Weekend
As always, please email me at kanase@ewsdonline.org or call me at 333-3758 with any questions, suggestions and/or any topics you would like to see in this newsletter.
