North Side Field Day Fun!
What a highlight of the day it was for me to visit North Side’s Field Day! Congratulations to the North Side physical education teachers, Meryl Fordin, Tom Greeley and Herman Lim, for organizing such a wonderful experience for our children and to the staff whose enthusiasm and energy clearly made this a special day. All the events were such fun and the children were clearly immersed in the fun. The spirit of cooperation and team work clearly emanated from all the activities. Many of them involved relays … and the most extraordinarily creative relays! For example, the rubber chicken stir fry event, involved children running a relay race balancing a rubber chicken between two sticks. The restaurant relay involved children running relays holding trays filled with food “stuff.” Besides relays, there were many other fun events. The Super Soaker event involved children aiming water super soakers at a display with pictures of their wonderful PE teachers and no less other luminaries, Mr. Bloomgarden and Mr. Foy, causing great shouts of glee and delight among the children when they hit a “bull’s eye.” In addition to the all-important goal of fun and camaraderie the whole event inspired, there was even some “academics” thrown into the midst. The Treasure Hunt was a very popular event where students searched for coins in the field, matched them up to coin boards and then added up the coins to determine who had found the most money. My parting view as I returned to the District office was a line of students, at the “Just Dance Station,” dancing their hearts out. How terrific that the weather cooperated so beautifully. Congratulations to all the North Side staff and students on such a special, fun event.
Honoring our Wonderful Retirees
At the Monday, June 16 Board of Education Monthly Business Meeting, our 13 district retirees were all honored. Congratulations to Betsy Amira, Dr. Joyce Bernstein, Antoinette Bonetti, Ann Marie Cortina, Camille Doherty, Gerard Gatti, Clare Hayes, Andrea Kaufman, Jill Mooney, Gerardo Romeo, Muriel Delabar Ryan, Josephine Sdao and Diane Southard, who between them have dedicated 233 years of service to the district.
Each retiree received a hand-made key chain as a small token of the District’s vast appreciation for all the years of service and commitment to our students. Stamped on each key chain was the longitude and latitude of the school from which the staff member was retiring. The note accompanying the little present read:
As you venture near and far in your new adventures, may the longitude and latitude stamped on this little gift ensure that you can find your way home to the place where we keep you dear in our hearts.
With gratitude for always pointing our students in the right direction. All best wishes, the East Williston School District.
Thank you PTOS
Also recognized at Monday’s Board of Education Meeting were the PTOs from the three schools together with the Special Education Parents Council (SEPC) and the PTO Coordinating Council. A huge thank you was given to North Side, Willets Road and Wheatley PTOs for the immense contributions they provide to our students. This year the PTOs gave back approximately $78,755 in support of our schools! At the meeting I had the chance to highlight just some of the many events the PTO sponsored for our schools this year. They are too numerous to mention here but you can read the thank you brochure that lists them on our website at www.ewsdonline.org > click on School Board on left navigation bar > click on BOE Meeting Presentations on left navigation bar > click on 13-14 BOE Presentations > click on PTO Pamphlet under June 16 BOE Meeting.
Many thanks to the Executive Board of North Side: Presidents – Lauren Shannon & Lori Asaro, Vice President – Marion Lindenauer, Treasurer – Allyson Moyal, Secretary – Michelle Janicek, Board of Ed Observer – Lidia Liparoto and Past President – Sarah Testani; of Willets Road: Presidents – Diane Cumming & Debbie Soleimani, Vice President – Kathy Jozef, Treasurer – Tara McCleary, Secretary – Brenda Avila, Board of Ed Observer – Tasneem Meghji and Past President – Nancy Williams; of Wheatley: President – Bonnie Brensilber & Stacey Ribotsky, Vice President – Susan Chorost, Treasurer – Alayne Serle Cohn, Secretary – Denise Deodato, Board of Ed Observer – Mary Salvatore and Past President – Kathy Tsakonas; of Special Education Parent Council: Chairpersons – Christine Conte & Marion Lindenauer, Secretary – Margarita Daskalakis, BOE Observer – Barbara Creamer, Past Chair – Colleen Cahill; PTO Liasons – North Side – Denise Deodato & Sarah Mizrahi, Willets Road – Michelle Klee & Jo Futerman and Wheatley – Christine Conte; and of the PTO Coordinating Council Executive Board: President – Kathy Tsakonas, Vice President/Treasurer – Diane Cumming, Secretary – Sarah Testani and Past President – Jo Ann Schiesser.
In addition to the PTO Executive Boards, thank you to all the parent volunteers who have worked so hard and give of their time to support the many wonderful PTO events and to all our PTO members.
College Admissions Report
Also at Monday’s Board of Education Meeting, Director of Guidance Greg Wasserman presented the 2014 College Admissions Report. He reported on our district initiatives for 2013-14 related to the college admissions process as well as an overview of the college admissions process nationally in relation to the Ivy Leagues and Tier 1 Colleges. He provided a profile of the Wheatley Class of 2014 and also, similar to last year’s presentation, presented a comparison between Wheatley’s acceptance rate and that of a neighboring school district. For the Ivy and Tier 1 schools to which both districts had applicants, Wheatley had a better acceptance rate 17 times including Boston College, Brown, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, GW, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, Vanderbilt, University of Virgina, Wash U. Our neighboring district had a better acceptance rate 17 times including Amherst, Carnegie Mellon, University of Chicago, Harvard, MIT, University of North Carolina, Northwestern, Princeton, Williams and Yale. The districts had the same acceptance rate at Georgetown and Notre Dame. For all schools to which both districts had students apply (163 in total), Wheatley had a better acceptance rate 107 times (66%). The neighboring district had a better acceptance rate 38 times (23%). The districts had the same acceptance rate for 18 schools (11%).
Further initiatives to support our college admissions process highlighted in the report included continued visits by our counselors to colleges, to expand the geographic reach of our college relationships. This summer, Mr. Wasserman will make visits to Stanford, UCLA, USC and UC Berkeley Additional Wheatley college events will include hosting the Colleges that Change Lives college fair. To view the presentation, go to our website at www.ewsdonline.org > click on School Board on left navigation bar > click on BOE Meeting Presentations on left navigation bar > click on 13-14 BOE Presentations > click on 2014 College Admissions Comparative Report under June 16 BOE Meeting.
In Recognition of Excellence Dinner
I have to say, among all the wonderful l events our school district sponsors, this is one of the most special. It honors both our students and the teachers who have inspired them, in one unified moment in time. This honor is given to 10 seniors who have demonstrated outstanding service to school and community, demonstrated respect and concern for fellow students and set high expectations for themselves as they have achieved their goals. Dr. Feeney emceed this event which involved him speaking about each student recognized and the special qualities and accomplishments that mark their recognition. Each of the seniors recognized honors three teachers, each from their time at North Side, Willets Road and Wheatley that have had a special, positive impact on their lives, all speaking eloquently of their memories. Teachers recognized also include retired staff that came back for this very special occasion.
Congratulations to our recognized students and the teachers they chose to celebrate:
Senior Lauren BennisAdam PlanaWheatley
Matthew HaigWheatley
Senior Dana CalabreseJill WidynNorth Side
Rosa ChiarenzaWillets Road
Brian McConaghyWheatley
Senior Jacob Dinetz
Allison MaddenNorth Side
Linda LinickWillets Road
Steve CadetWheatley
Senior Leah Dwyer
Kelly PowersNorth SideRosa ChiarenzaWillets Road
Timothy SchwalmWheatley
Senior Thomas GilletteFrancis BeltraniNorth Side
Kristina RoaldsenWillets Road
Dr. John StaudtWheatley
Senior Brooke GoldfarbJohn CoyneNorth Side
Sharon NicholsonWillets Road
Greg WassermanWheatley
Senior Zachary KochGail HarrisonNorth Side
David BurkeWillets Road
Jean-François HenleyWheatley
Senior Jessica Perry
Scott HoeflingWillets Road
Birthe SeferianWheatley
Maryrose AmbroseWheatley
Senior Thomas StroudJohn Lore, retiredNorth Side
Jaroslaw PokrywkaWillets Road
Patrick HurleyWheatley
Senior Jonathan ZuckermanHenry KupstasNorth Side
Joseph ColadonatoWillets Road
Kevin MeyersWheatley
National History Day Winners
Congratulations again to our New York State first place National History Day winners in the group website category Harris Wekselblatt, Jared Rothstein, Seung Min Yi and Donna Nazarian for their website on the Central Park Five. Congratulations again to Madison D’Ambrosio our New York State second place National History Day winner in the individual website category for her website on the Pentagon Papers. These students, accompanied by Wheatley teachers, Dr. John Staudt and Jo Beth Roberts, had the honor of representing our state in the National History Day Competition in College Park, Maryland this past week. In a tribute to their wonderful work on the Central Park Five website, Harris, Jared, Seung Min and Donna placed 5th in the nation (out of 100 entries) and their work on the website was also selected as the most outstanding project submitted by New York State students in any category. Congratulations to Madison, as well, who placed 11th in the nation (out of 100 entries) for her Pentagon Papers website. All of our Wheatley students who participated in the National History Day writing project developed and applied many strong research and writing skills that will, as Brian McConaghy, Secondary Chair for Social Studies, has said, “benefit them in future endeavors, as will the confidence they gained as they spoke with historical figures and successful adults in areas of the law, journalism and politics.”
The Central Park Five website project which centers on the five young men whose convictions for the rape of the “Central Park
