Sullivan West School Scene 2013

SCHOOLA S p e c i a l S u p p l e m e n t t o t h e S u l l i v a n C o u n t y D e m o c r a t

SCENE

SECTION W

DECEMBER, 2013

CALLICOON, NY

A look at activities in the

Sullivan West School District

2W SULLIVAN WEST ED TAB SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT DECEMBER, 2013

As she leaves her office at 7 or 8p.m. most nights, Dr. NancyHackett often glances up at the

lights still burning in numerous win-dows in the school building.

Teachers working long hours afterstudents go home is no anomaly,said Sullivan West Central SchoolDistrict Superintendent Hackett.

“You go into education for threereasons,” she reflected. “You lovekids. You have a big heart. You are ahard worker.”

With teachers challenged on manyfronts – by the changes of a newnationwide Common Core, by con-tinuing pressure over student test-taking, by a new system for judgingteachers’ work – even colleges areseeing a drop in new teacherrecruits.

But, Hackett noted, “education has

weathered storms in the past. Withthis one, I find we are all growingmuch closer here. Teachers, centraladministration, staff… we’re all inthis together.”

Together, the District is moving for-ward on a number of fronts.

Sullivan West High School ispreparing for its new TV broadcast-ing studio with accompanying stu-dent curriculum in broadcasting andjournalism. Construction of newbaseball, soccer and softball fields atthe Lake Huntington campus will

High-achieving Sullivan West teams up to meet the day’s challenges

This year, says Superintendent of Schools Dr.Nancy Hackett, Sullivan West is workingon its strategic plan and on adapting StateEducation Department mandates to meetthe District’s needs.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4W

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start in the spring, pending finalapproval from the State EducationDepartment.

At long last, the Delaware ValleySchool building in Callicoon willopen its doors once again to stu-dents in 2015, after its sale inSeptember to a private collegepreparatory school in Flushing,Queens. The Windsor School plansto open DV as a branch for its sevento 12th grade college preparatoryschool.

Last month, the District hosted ananniversary celebration and theofficial unveiling of the new roof atSullivan West Elementary inJeffersonville. Constructed in 1938,the school and its two later addi-tions today serve 545 students fromkindergarten through sixth grade.

Because the elementary schoolbuilding appears on the NationalRegister of Historic Places, theDistrict was required to replace the

leaky slate roof with historical accu-racy, replicating the original struc-ture.

“The building is a beautiful repre-sentation of our school district,”Hackett said.

And the District is still glowingfrom its high school’s designation asa silver medal award-winningschool by U.S. News and WorldReport. Ranked in three areas – aca-demic performance, disadvantagedstudents’ performance, and college-readiness – Sullivan West scored inthe top 8 percent of 21,000 publichigh schools across the nation.

“We are providing a very highquality education,” said the super-intendent.

Hackett spread that affirmativemessage at a breakfast meetinghosted by the District in October fortown officials, including supervi-sors, town clerks and highwaysuperintendents. Another get-together is planned for realtors inDecember.

“We want to know what they need

from us,” said Hackett, “and wewant their input.”

Still, the front lines of duty eachday remain the classrooms where1,138 students and their teachersare faced with a new set of CommonCore learning standards that rede-fine the knowledge, concepts andskills students must acquire.

“The Common Core roll-out isvery challenging,” said Hackett.“We’re trying to make it all stillenriching for students at the sametime as we are get them ready forassessments.”

Like other districts, Sullivan Westmust gather baseline data abouteach student at the beginning of theschool year. Then the students con-tinually undergo re-assessment todetermine if they are learning orwhere exactly they are strugglingand why.

The fact that districts must assesseven the very youngest child issometimes troubling. Recently Dr.Hackett found herself watching onekindergartner as, wearing a headset,he worked through problems on acomputer as part of a typical skillsassessment.

“He looked up at me and said, ‘Idon’t want to play this game any-more,’ ” recalled Hackett, “And I saidto him, ‘You don’t have to play thisgame anymore.’ ”

Luckily, she said, “our teachers aremasterful at trying to make this ascomfortable and stress-free as pos-sible for students. We have a greatcorps of people working together,an amazing staff who can do this.”

The District is still glowing

from its high school’s

designation as a silver medal

award-winning school by U.S.

News and World Report.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2W

Sullivan West High School seniorJosh Starkweather is sitting at acomputer with the world of per-

sonal finance at his fingertips.“I’m learning about investments

and real estate,” Starkweatherexplained. “I hadn’t made the con-nection that real estate is actuallyconsidered an investment.”

By means of a grant, the highschool in Lake Huntington is able tooffer a program much needed buthard to come by in these cash-strapped times. With the major focuson the core subjects of English, mathand the sciences, courses that teachreal world skills like budgeting andfinance tend to fall by the wayside.

But in Financial Math class at Sulli-van West – powered by the onlineinteractive learning system calledAcellus – students gain the financialknowledge they will need later inadult life.

“Financial Math is a self-paced pro-gram, a practical life course in finan-cial management skills, that reviewscredit, budgeting, tax forms, mort-gages, credit cards,” related teacherKayla Peters. She serves as the facili-tator for Financial Math in additionto teaching technology courses in

Word, Excel, and keyboarding and aclass in Career and Financial Man-agement for sophomores.

Using the Acellus Learning System,students log on, and Acellus takesthem to their current position in thecourse. The system automaticallymarks their attendance for the class.Students then watch five-to-six-minute videos taught by real teach-ers on particular financial conceptsand answer questions that assesstheir understanding of what theyhave just seen and heard.

They work at their own pace andhave the ability to go back and re-watch the video, which removes thepressure on the student who mightneed more time to grasp the con-cept.

Acellus also assesses overall areasof student weakness and gives thepupils more help and practice inthose areas, customizing the learn-ing process and filling in holes in stu-dent understanding.

When a student demonstratesmastery of the concept presented, heor she is permitted to move forward,said Peters.

Should a student struggle with aconcept, additional videos explain

the topic in simpler terms.At the completion of each unit, the

student is given a review and anexam. If he or she scores poorly, theyrepeat lessons and re-take the exam.

Creating graduates who are “finan-cially literate” should be the goal ofevery school district, according to arecent story in USA Today.

On Nov. 14, the newspaper quoted

experts who said the U.S. continuesto receive failing grades in economicand personal finance knowledge.Schools must adopt personal financestandards as part of overall curricu-lum requirements, they said.

Sullivan West is doing its part.“Students,” said Peters, “are

absolutely learning the things theywill need when they leave here.”


Teaching the ABCs of money management

Teacher Kayla Peters supervises high school senior Josh Starkweather in an online Finan-cial Math lesson.

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Sometimes teacher Melissa Bertafinds students poking theirheads into her room and asking

plaintively “Why aren’t I coming hereanymore?”

Berta responds that she’s glad – “Iwant you to not need me,” she says.

Not that Berta is uncaring – far fromit. But as one of Sullivan WestElementary School’s AcademicIntervention Service (AIS) profes-sionals, she’s delighted to see her stu-dents go back and succeed in theirown classrooms.

“It’s exciting to see them grow andbuild confidence,” said Berta. “I wantthem to feel confident in them-selves.”

Berta and a group of other teachersprovide the critically important AIS atthe K-6 grade school.

“We give extra support where need-ed in English Language Arts, Math,Social Studies and Science,”explained AIS teacher Kelly Erlwein.

Students get the extra academicboost in sessions during their regularschool day, and they are either taughtby an AIS teacher in their regularclassroom or they report to the AISteacher’s own room.

New York State determines whichstudents in grades 4, 5 and 6 need AISafter the kids undergo the stateassessment exams each spring.Anyone who scores at the lower half

of the four-tiered scoring system ben-efits from AIS.

In the younger grades, kindergartenthrough third grade teachers ask forAIS help when they see a child not

able to keep up, or when in-schooltesting reveals certain weaknesses inthe child’s grasp of core subjects.

“For example, a student might beslow with handwriting, or have read-ing difficulty or might be weak innumbers recognition,” said Erlwein.

Liz Cormier, an AIS teacher assis-tant in her fifth year teaching AISmathematics, says the services are allgeared at being engaging.

“We do activities that are hands onand fun,” she said.

This year, an emphasis on nature-related learning projects invites stu-dents to polish their math and sci-ence skills by raising live baby troutfrom eggs in a fish tank and by study-ing the connection between a toma-to’s circumference and the number ofseeds inside.

In another project, students har-vested fresh carrots from a schoolgarden and compared measurementsof the vegetable’s root and green topin order to determine which percent-age of the carrot is edible.

“Instead of their just doing mathand asking why they have to learnthis, they can relate to somethingthey see,” said Cormier.

About 25 students on each gradelevel utilize AIS.

Why are such services so effective?“We are able to work in smaller

groups” than is possible for the regu-lar classroom teachers, said Cormier.“Children (with academic problems)in the regular classroom can slide bybecause they’re quiet, they can beinvisible.”

In AIS, by contrast, “We can seefirsthand where they’re going wrong,”she added.

AIS teachers coordinate their les-sons with what is being taught inclassrooms.

Linda Schaefer, who each weekteaches about 70 students in grades 4to 6 in her English Language Arts AISroom, notes that students find thesmall groupings more conducive tospeaking up.

“It’s a self esteem thing,” saidSchaefer. “In the classroom, theymight feel if they say something

AIS – The boost kids need to s

AIS teacher Melissa Berta works with Veronica Birzescu and Aliya Rivas on reading skills such as sounding out words and comprehension.

Student Michael Babcock benefits from AISexpertise offered by English Language Artsteacher Linda Schaefer.

they’d be perceived as stupid.”Also, AIS teachers can work at a

slower pace.

“We can go back and work on spe-cific areas where the student is weak,”said Cormier.

AIS teachers might see some stu-dents daily, others three times eachweek and still others once a week.

“I get to know the kids really well,”said Berta.

“I enjoy seeing so many differentfaces each day,” adds Cormier.“When you see a student come alongand be successful, it’s very gratifying.”

Linda Schaefer said the students’moms and dads are grateful as well.

“I’ve had parents say ‘thank you somuch,’” Schaefer said. “’Thanks forfor your help – my son (or daughter)is doing so much better.’”


succeed to the max At right: Sixth grader Michael Krentz isworking on vocabulary, learning words like“confer” in AIS taught by Linda Schaefer.‘You can get more information here than inthe regular classroom, and the smaller grouphelps,’ Michael said.

At left: Academic Intervention Serviceteacher Kelly Erlwein works with studentsMadison Strong, Mya Barca and KevinO’Connor as they measure the circumferenceof objects from nature.


All important college essays take shape in writing labWho inspires you? Where is a

place you feel most con-tent? What was your biggest

failure and what did it teach you?Those are the weighty questions

that seniors in high school must pon-der and then write about as theyapply to colleges and submit therequired essay or personal statement.

“I tell my students that the collegeessay is one of the few ways they cantruly express who they are to anadmissions committee that just does-n’t know them yet,” says teacherDorothy Grecco. “They have to makethemselves stand out.”

An English teacher at Sullivan WestHigh School, Grecco also supervisesSenior Writing Lab, a class that pro-vides the time, space and expertise

students need to compose their col-lege essays and personal statements.

Students also use Writing Lab toeffectively apply for college scholar-ships and to work on academic or jobresumes. Or if they are planning on acareer in the military, students mayuse the time to research whichbranch they might be interested inand what’s required.

“Writing Lab is my time to help medecide what I want to go into in themilitary,” said senior Chris Colton. “Iam exploring all the jobs at the vari-ous branches – engineering, infantry,being a pilot, manning guns on ships,or working a desk job.”

The course is required for all sen-iors and takes place in the schoollibrary’s computer lab. Studentsattend Writing Lab either once everysix days all year long, or every otherday for half the year.

“Senior Writing Lab is a 41 minuteclass like the rest,” explained Grecco.

“If I am beginning a new unit or skill,I use a lecture format. Once we beginassignments, I spend most daysworking with small groups or individ-ual students.”

College admissions committeesconcentrate mostly on a student’shigh school grades and test scores.But colleges receive so many applica-tions that the college essay enablesthem to find out what sets a studentapart. Students write about whatdrives them, what they are passionateabout, and why a particular collegemight suit them.

As they compose their essays, saidGrecco, “If they get tired of talkingabout themselves, which inevitablythey do, I remind them that a bunchof seniors in the schools all around usare doing the same thing for their col-lege applications right now.”

“All my college essays are wonderfulbecause of Grecco,” said seniorMegan Yelekli. “I wrote an essay that

Sullivan West senior Chris Cotton uses the class to research careers in the Armed Forces.

Hayley Puerschner values the time in Senior Writing Lab as she works on college essays, per-sonal statements and scholarship applications.


was 600 words long and she got itdown to 300 words – so much better.”

Kelsey Brockner says she appreci-ates that “there is someone – Mrs.Grecco – right there with you, givingyou input all the time.”

With Grecco’s help, Hayley Puer-schner worked on her Personal State-ment “that describes how I want mylife to go,” the student said. “The pointI made was that I want to be a schoolteacher and I also want to train kidshow to ride horses.”

Joe Moran worked on a college essaythat required him to speak about hisbiggest failure and its life lesson.

“At the second day of the World

Championship for archery, I blew it,”recalled the student athlete, whowrote about that painful experience.

Upon reflection, Moran wrote, thereal satisfaction in playing archerymight be more about enjoying theexperience than the outcome.

Those insights provide rich experi-ences for students, and for teacherGrecco herself.

“It is a pleasure teaching SeniorWriting Lab,” she said. “The studentsare excited about careers, collegechoices, military prospects and pro-fessional trades. To be able to be a partof that excitement and help theprocess along is a lot of fun.”

Dorothy Grecco’s SeniorWriting Lab offers valu-able assistance to stu-dents as they apply forcolleges, or prepare forentry into the workforce of the military.

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Published byCatskill-Delaware Publications, Inc.

Publishers of the

(845) 887-5200 Callicoon, NY 12723

December 17, 2013 • Vol. CXXIII, No. 52

Publisher: Fred W. Stabbert IIISenior Editor: Dan Hust

Editor: Frank Rizzo

Editorial Assistants: Kathy Daley, Jeanne Sager, Eli Ruiz,

Kaitlin Carney

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National Newspaper Association

‘A Look at Activities in theSullivan West School District’

Energy and eagerness coupledwith increasing independenceand tougher academic expecta-

tions characterize the academic livesof fourth graders.

“Fourth grade is the year they startto dig in deeper and buckle downabout learning,” said veteran fourthgrade teacher Meg Armstrong. “Theytake responsibility for their learn-ing.”

“It’s a transition year for them,”adds brand new fourth gradeteacher Yuliya Schumacher. “Thelevel of thinking and expectations ishigher.”

With the Common Core ratchetingup expectations for both studentlearning and teacher instruction, the“team” of fourth grade teachers atSullivan West Elementary Schooloffers valuable support to oneanother.

“Our fourth grade ‘crew’ meetsinformally on a daily basis and for-mally every Friday at 8:15 a.m.,”

related Schumacher. “Our meetingsare geared towards discussing andplanning lessons, and evaluatingresources and assessments. We shareideas, successes, challenges andmaterials.”

The teachers – Armstrong andSchumacher, Michele Brockner andRandi Strouse – work on new ideas to

help motivate students and developin them a the sense of responsibilityfor their own success in school.

The underpinning for all learning isthe Common Core which “is definite-ly a step up – I use the word ‘rigor’ inmy classroom,” said Armstrong.

As compared to their kindergartenthrough third grade years, fourth

graders are reading across the cur-riculum in all subjects and areexpected to have a deep understand-ing of what they read.

They are faced with more difficultvocabulary words, studying thewords, how they are spelled and howthey are used.

In Randi Strouse’s class, for exam-

Energetic kids andhigher expectationsmake fourth grade a

pivotal year

Keegan McGraw works on vocabulary words in Michele Brockner’s class, learning the meaning of a word, how it is spelled and how it’s used.


Credits:All photographs and stories forthis special School Scene are bySul livan County Demo crat

Photo grapher/Reporter Kathy Daley.

The Democrat would also like to thank the

Sullivan West Central SchoolDistrict for all its cooperation in

this project.

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ple, the nine year olds are encoun-tering words like “transact” and“confederate” as they study theIroquois people and the constitutionof their confederacy called the GreatLaw of Peace.

They are also learning how critical-ly important reading is to success inlife, which is a motivating factor inthe Common Core’s emphasis onEnglish Language Arts (reading,writing, listening and speaking).

Fourth grader Annika Berman inMichele Brockner’s class puts it thisway: “If you can’t read, you can’tspeak or do your job very well.”

Teacher Brockner and her col-leagues use various methods to

instill good reading habits. Guided Reading has the class divid-

ed into small groups according tostudent reading level. Students delveinto a novel’s character, motivationand thinking, and they predict whatthe character might say and do laterin the story.

“We make inferences, we see prob-lems and possible solutions in sto-ries,” said Meg Armstrong.

The technique called Reading toSelf in the classroom allows studentsto enjoy a book on their own. ReadAlouds has the teacher reading to theentire class, pointing things outabout the book and encouraging dis-cussions.

MAKING MATH ADD UPMath in general has the nine year

olds adding, subtracting, multiplyingand dividing large whole numbers.They are working with decimals andfractions.

Recently Brockner taught metricunits to her class, along with the con-cepts of “rounding” and “placevalue.”

Fourth grade math gives studentsopportunities to work independentlyand in groups.Brockner invites herstudents to keep math journals.Strouse encourages collaboration.

“We have math partners,”explained Strouse, “where a studentwith great math skills teams up with

one who is struggling. It’s a successful strategy, she said,

with both students gaining – perhaps,in part, because fourth graders arebeginning to develop the concepts ofempathy, fairness and responsibility.

Trading such insights among theteacher team members is so helpful,said Schumacher. She said she isgrateful for the ability to reach hercolleagues at any time, includingweekends, for support.

“My first year of teaching comeswith lots of challenges and learningadventures,” said Schumacher.“Their knowledge and expertise areessential to my professional develop-ment.”

At left: “I love thisage,” says fourthgrade teacher RandiStrouse. Her nine-year-olds are enthu-siastic about learn-ing and open todeveloping personalcharacter traits likeresponsibility andcompassion.

At right: TeacherYuliya Schumacherworks with studentNikolas Karadontesin a math lesson toher class.


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Certifi ed Pre-Owned 2010 Ford Flex AWD LimitedV6, Navigation, Heated Leather,63K Miles

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Deal of the Holidays

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Documents

Sullivan West School Scene 2013