SPRING 2014
Well-rounded Albany High seniors move on, Student achievement
Albany High filmmaker
‘book smart and street smart’
has artist's eye, scientist's mind
English or science, said he learned imporThe pursuits of this year’s graduating
Albany High School seniors are as different as the seniors themselves.
Yet six who recently talked about their
four years at Albany High are uniform in
at least one regard: the thing they’ll miss
most about their soon-to-be alma mater
is its diversity.
“I’ll definitely miss the different people. It’s like our own little melting pot,”
said Freddie Boehrer, who heads off to the
College of the Holy Cross in September
and is undecided about his major.
Pace University-bound Tyaela Nieves,
who plans to study theater arts, said she
has formed strong bonds with Albany
High students with varied backgrounds
and interests. She said she wondered if
her college experience would be the
same and hoped so.
For Romario Barnes, the diversity included being in school with pregnant students and others grappling with difficult
personal situations. Barnes, who will attend Skidmore College this fall to study
tant life lessons from those experiences.
“We’ve definitely learned to be book
smart and street smart,” agreed Zilpa
Oduor, who heads off to Wellesley College this September to study international relations.
The students praised the wealth of academic opportunities available at Albany
High and the teachers and counselors
who devoted so much time to helping
them succeed.
“What I’ll miss most is the close relationship between the students and the
teachers,” said Elana Cohen, a National
Merit Scholarship Commended Student
who will pursue biomedical science at
Cornell University this fall.
Cohen is ranked second in the Class of
2014. Top-ranked Andrew Tarwerdi is a
National Merit Scholarship recipient and
will attend Fordham University.
Other things these seniors will miss:
(continued on page 3)
And they’re off …
Front row from left are
graduating seniors Zilpa
Oduor (Wellesley College),
Tyaela Nieves (Pace University) and Elana Cohen
(Cornell University). Back
row from left are Romario
Barnes (Skidmore College),
Freddie Boehrer (College
of the Holy Cross) and
Richard Opoku (University
at Albany).
The home-made camera stabilizer
made of PVC plastic piping is a clue that
award-winning filmmaker Brendan Bequette is, first and foremost, a scientist.
The Albany High School senior already has made more than 20 films and
has his own company, Clockwork Productions. One of his films won a Times
Union contest in June and another won
the Knickerbocker Film Festival Emerging Artist Award in April.
Not bad for a kid who works out of a
studio he cobbled together in his basement. Even more impressive is that his
work holds its own alongside a field of
grown-ups with more experience and
fancier equipment.
Bequette directed, filmed and edited
“Albany High Track,” a 30-second commercial that won the “Sell Us Your Best
Of ” contest sponsored by the Times
Union. A distance runner on the track and
cross-country teams – and the winner of
last fall’s inaugural Falcon 5K in Washington Park – he showcased Albany High
track because it’s meant so much to him.
“Track and cross-country taught me a
love of running, which will be a life-long
sport for me,” he said. “It made me
stronger physically and allowed me to
meet some great people on the team. It
also taught me self-discipline and perseverance, and to never give up.”
Bequette’s film “On the Rainy River”
was one of 12 films shown at the Knickerbocker Film Festival. Selected from 70 entrants, the film is based on the book “The
Things They Carried,” a collection of stories about American soldiers in Vietnam
Future Fellini, future Fermi or both? Albany
High School senior Brendan Bequette.
before, during and after the war.
He read the book in an English class at
Albany High.
“I thought it was a great story and
making a film seemed like another way
to let the audience experience the different emotions of the characters,” he said.
One of the top students in the Class of
2014, Bequette has the highest science
average of his classmates. Although he
enjoys filmmaking and clearly has a talent for it, his real passion is science.
“Even in film, I still feel like I’m a scientist,” he said. “I’m more concerned with
frame rates, focal lengths and depth of
field.”
Bequette will head to RPI this fall to
major in physics and chemistry and
minor in film. For now, engineering is the
career his has in mind.
But if that doesn’t work out, there’s always the big screen.
You can check out Bequette’s work online by going to YouTube and searching
Clockwork Productions.
Re-Imagining Albany High School
Remember your bus requests for the fall
A vision for the future of public
high school education in Albany is
beginning to take form.
The City School District of Albany’s design partners presented preliminary concepts for a renovated or
new high school to the Board of Education on June 5. The draft designs
followed more than a year of feedback from hundreds of people about
the programs and services students
will need in the coming decades.
Following the board presentation, nearly
100 students, parents, community members and staff members participated in a
Concept Design Forum at Albany High
School on June 18, reviewing and commenting on the drafts.
“We are still listening intently to what
our staff and our community have to say
about our shared vision for the future of
As one school year ends, it’s important to be planning your to-do list for the
school year to come.
Filling out and returning bus transportation forms is an important item on
that list for families. Aug. 15 is the
deadline to return your forms in order
to have bus transportation when the
2014-15 school year begins.
The City School District of Albany
transports all eligible students – those
who live 1.5 miles or more from their
schools – either by Durham yellow bus or
Capital District Transportation Authority.
If your child is eligible, you need to
fill out a transportation application that
was sent home with your child in late
spring. You also can pick one up at your
child’s school or at Central Registration,
located at 75 Watervliet Ave., or download one in the Transportation section at
www.albanyschools.org
Albany High School,” board President
Rose Brandon, Th.D., told forum participants. “Your input will be taken into account, as it has been throughout this
process, as we move ahead.”
Please visit the Re-Imagining
Albany High School section at
www.albanyschools.org, or
www.reimaginingalbanyhs.com, to
(continued on page 3)
S PR IN G 2014
www.albanyschools.org.
Applications must be returned to your
child’s school, even during the summer.
All Durham yellow-bus routes and
pick-up times are determined each year
from information submitted in the transportation applications. Your child cannot
be assigned a bus route until a completed application is received.
Generally, eligible students at all 12
elementary schools and at Stephen and
Harriet Myers Middle School ride
Durham yellow buses. CDTA transports
all other eligible students.
The district does not provide transportation to prekindergarten students.
For more information, contact the
Transportation Department at 475-6170.
The 2014-15 school year begins
Thursday, Sept. 4. Have a great summer!
1
From the superintendent
Looking back, looking ahead
If you’ve traveled in a
boat, you know that at first
you feel the motion and swell
of every wave. It can be uncomfortable. Yet at some
point on the trip the sensation fades and you enjoy the
ride.
Think of our school district as that moving boat.
As passengers, we want
Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard, Ph.D.
to arrive at our destination
Superintendent
– being the best urban
school district in America by 2020. But the journey – the
significant changes that are taking place that will get us
there – may feel rough at times.
To alleviate some of the discomfort, I want to share
progress we’ve made this year.
Strengthened leadership through learning walks:
Some 75 building leaders took part in 15 walks, visiting
each other’s schools, observing teaching and student learning, sharing effective strategies for giving feedback and developing consistent expectations for observations.
Bolstered teaching practice with studio classrooms,
peer coaching:
• Over several months, 50 teachers took part in three studio classrooms, where one teacher’s classroom became the
subject of intensive study for a group of teachers, principals
and educational coaches.
• Nineteen seasoned teachers from throughout the district served as hands-on mentors to 550 of their colleagues, addressing the needs of a teacher, classroom or
group of teachers.
Defined clear and consistent curriculum: Teams of
educators worked to line up elementary, middle and high
school lessons with Common Core standards.
We also collaborated with the community on several
initiatives.
Created a vision for the future of Albany High School:
The Board of Education adopted a vision for high school
education in Albany after a year of community input
(see related story, page 1).
Expanded community participation, partnerships:
• More than 40 meetings were held throughout budgetdevelopment process to seek family and community input
• Dozens of local businesses supported individual school
projects; YMCA after-school programs were sustained
thanks to partnerships with the Galesi Group and CAP
COM Federal Credit Union.
• We worked closely with The Albany Promise to distribute early learning targets to prekindergarten providers,
develop English language arts and math goals for thirdand fourth-graders, and create a college- and career-readiness team.
Over the summer, my team and I will concentrate on
moving forward and sustaining these programs into next
year and beyond.
For 2014-15, our work will include:
• Building community support for a new or renovated
high school;
• Alleviating overcrowding in our middle schools;
• Reducing elementary-school class size; and
• Developing a mentoring network for African-American
and Hispanic boys.
We’re doing the hard work of guiding change and our
boat is headed toward smoother waters. With your help, I am
committed to continuing these important initiatives. And I
truly believe they will lead us to our destination: Together
we will be the best urban district in America by 2020.
Have a fantastic summer and see you on the first day of
school – Sept. 4.
Capital Education is published by the
City School District of Albany.
Please direct comments about the newsletter,
story ideas and questions to
Ron Lesko at (518) 475-6065
or [email protected], or
Lisa Angerame at (518) 475-6066
or [email protected].
City School District of Albany
1 Academy Park
Albany, New York 12207
2
www.albanyschools.org
Voices
Q: If you could be any animal for a day, what
would you be and why?
I would be a butterfly because butterflies
have the ability to go through important
changes with grace and lightness.
Throughout life, I will experience many
important changes that I hope to go
through with grace and lightness. A butterfly also symbolizes a significant change in
the course of one’s life, personality or way of thinking. Butterflies
have taste sensors on their front legs, enabling them to experience
life through motion. All of us could learn from butterflies to live
life through motion and accept the changes we go through throughout life.
If I could be an animal for a day, I would
be a monkey because I could hang tree to
tree. I would be able to peel a banana
with my foot. I could eat a banana and
scratch my armpit at the same time. I
could be nice and furry and brown. I
would probably eat all different kinds of
fruit and leaves. I could hide behind the
leaves. I could sit in trees and eat bananas. I could live in the
rain forest. That’s why I would be a monkey.
– Mia Leger, second grade
North Albany Academy
–Armani Currie, eighth grade
William S. Hackett Middle School
I would want to be become a whale because whales are one of the largest mammals in the world. They are free to travel
the world without question, and aside
from the occasional whaler and large
sharks, they have no natural predators.
They have a unique method of communication and are graceful creatures.
If I could be any animal for a day, I
would be a dog, a golden retriever. I
would be a golden retriever because they
are easy to train. Also, golden retrievers
are very frisky, like me. In addition, I like
the color of their fur. As you can see if I
could be an animal for a day, I would be a
golden retriever for many reasons.
– Supreme Fitzgerald, fourth grade
Philip Schuyler Achievement Academy
If I could be an animal for a day I would
be a cheetah. The reason why I picked this
animal is because I would love to live in the
wild and I would be the fastest land animal
in the world. I would like to chase other animals. I like being fast so I can run from my
predators like lions, Nile crocodiles, leopards and hyenas. I would prefer to be a carnivore and this will make me an amazing and interesting animal.
–Jonathan Francis, fourth grade
Eagle Point Elementary School
I would be a cheetah because I would
be fast and I could run and win against all
the people who think they are faster than
me. I would have the best pattern, eat delicious dinners and have a wide place to run
and be free. I would not have to do work.
Being an animal would be the coolest thing
that has ever happened to me.
–Sheela Patel, senior
Albany High School
If I could be an animal, I would be a
dog because they are so cute and lovable.
They come in all different colors and
breeds. Also, I would be a dog because
they can be used to help people, like seeing-eye dogs for blind people. Finally, I
would be a dog because sometimes people
just need a friend to cuddle with or to tell
their secrets to. That is all the reasons why I want to be a dog.
– Nahki Richardson, fifth grade
Thomas O’Brien Academy of Science and Technology (TOAST)
I would want to be a kangaroo, because they hop and bop to the crocodile
rock. If kangaroos can box, that must
mean they are good with their hands and
would be able to play guitar. If they can
play guitar they’d be like Jason Mraz. If
they were like Jason Mraz then that’s the
animal I would want to be. That is, if I
wanted to be an animal.
– Patrick Tanner, junior
Albany High School
– James Hammond, seventh grade
Stephen and Harriet Myers Middle School
At a glance: Eagle Point Elementary School
Principal: Kendra Chaires | Grades served: Prekindergarten-6 | Address: 1044 Western Ave.
The former Public School 27 was built in 1925. By the end of the century, the beautiful historic building was too small
for the growing population of children in the neighborhood, and many students were taught in temporary trailers, converted closets or hallways.
P.S. 27 was renovated in 2005 as part of the City School District of Albany’s facilities project. The district added a
40,000-square-foot addition that included space for new classrooms, a new cafeteria and a new gym, as well as energyefficient heating, air-conditioning and lighting systems. At the same time, the building’s façade, marble-trimmed lobby
and other historic features were carefully preserved and updated.
Students: 385 | Teachers: 34 | Total employees: 53
Points of distinction:
• Full-day prekindergarten and kindergarten
• Extended school day programs with academic,
enrichment and recreational activities
• Mentoring
Programs and partners:
• Addictions Care Center of Albany substance-abuse
prevention
• Albany Institute of History and Art
• Basketball
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region
• Boy Scouts of America
• Caldecott Book Club
• Charles L. Touhey Foundation, Inc.
• Chess Club
• The College of Saint Rose Massry Center for the Arts
• First in Math
• Hebrew Academy
• Italian Club
• JustRun!
• Kidz Art
• Kung fu
• PTA
• Police Athletic League (PAL)
• Reclassifying All Children Equally (RACE) with University at Albany
• ROAR Reading Buddies
• Scholars’ Institute
• School banking with SEFCU
• Sisters with Pride mentoring with University at Albany
• Stewart’s Shops on Western Avenue
• Student Council
• University at Albany Reading Partners
• Yearbook
• YMCA
What makes our school special?
Our mission at Eagle Point Elementary is to provide a safe
and nurturing environment that develops and promotes a
diverse community of confident, life-long learners.
Did you know?
Eagle Point Elementary School was so named because of
its location near the highest point in the City of Albany.
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Book smart and street smart
(continued from page 1)
Hall monitors (“They’re great!” Boehrer
said.). Teachers who truly care about their
students. Random acts of kindness. And
the great friends, of course.
The students were silent for a moment
when asked what they wouldn’t miss. They
came up with a few things, though.
Standardized tests. Crowded hallways.
(“It’s like an obstacle course,” said University at Albany-bound Richard Opoku, who
plans to study computer science.). Concrete walls separating the cafeterias and
closed-off access to one of the towers. Not
being able to leave school at lunch.
Still, the conversation returned to the
best part of their experience.
“The people here are great. I’ll miss the
connections,” Oduor said wistfully.
Added Cohen, “But we’ll keep in
touch!”
Re-Imagining Albany High School
(continued from page 1)
review the draft designs as well as documents that informed the designs. There
also is a video about the project.
The three designs all would maintain
Albany High at its current location. One
option would renovate the existing facility with some additions, one would combine new construction with renovations
of the gym, and one envisions a completely new facility.
Cost estimates, and the amount of state
aid that would reduce the cost for taxpayers, are not yet available. That work will
be done as design options are updated.
The district is targeting a December
public vote on a final option, which the
board would need to approve by its Oct.
16 meeting.
The board will revisit the designs at its
July 17 meeting. Extensive community
engagement is planned through the late
summer and fall.
All three options include a lower
school for grades 9-10 with three small
learning communities, or SLCs, and a
completely separate upper school for
grades 11-12 with two SLCs.
That concept would provide younger
students with their own academic building that offers the supports and relationships necessary to succeed. It also would
allow academically advanced freshmen
access to sophomore-level courses within
their own academic building.
For juniors and seniors, a separate
upper school would provide more flexibility and freedom. It would provide an
academic experience that takes advantage
of Albany High’s wide range of advanced
courses as well as new opportunities
through partnerships with local colleges
and businesses.
“We want to start thinking of high
school as not just a place within our
walls, but also as a place beyond our
walls,” said Superintendent Marguerite
Vanden Wyngaard, Ph.D.
The programs currently offered several
blocks away at Albany High’s Abrookin
Career and Technical Center would move
into the new facility, emphasizing the importance of access for all students to
these unique opportunities.
New athletic facilities, including a
synthetic turf field or stadium, also could
be included.
Ticky Burden among 2014 Hall of Famers
Come October, a former pro basketball
player, a national TV producer and a
longtime volunteer athletic coach are
among the eight who will join the ranks
of those enshrined in the City School
District of Albany Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame was established in
2009 to recognize accomplished graduates, exceptional district staff people and
community people whose efforts support
Albany’s public schools. Each year, new
Hall of Famers are inducted after being
nominated by the public and selected by a
committee of district staff and community members.
The members of the Class of 2014 are:
Luther “Ticky” Burden, Philip
Schuyler High School Class of 1972 –
High school basketball standout who
went on to become a former college AllAmerican and NBA player on the New
York Knicks; longtime youth mentor and
basketball coach in his home of WinstonSalem, N.C.
Tanya Hansen, Albany High School
Class of 1988 – First member of the Albany High School girls’ basketball team
to reach 1,000 points in her career; went
on to play at Rutgers University from
1988-92, earning All-American status.
Laura Hotaling, Albany High School
Class of 2002 – As a senior, was state
champion in the 50-yard freestyle and
second-place state finisher in 100-yard
freestyle; was named state Most Valuable
Swimmer, which qualified her or a spot
in the U.S. Olympic trials.
Raymond Leigh, Albany High School
Class of 1970 – Longtime volunteer
coach on Albany High JV and varsity
football teams and longtime booster of
Albany High athletics; played football
and ran track at Albany High.
Paul Lyons – Former Albany High
School boys’ basketball coach; in his 31year career that began in 1971, he led Albany High to 515 wins, including eight
Section II titles and two regional titles;
2006 inductee into the New York State
Basketball Hall of Fame.
Temeko Richardson, Albany High
School Class of 1989 – CEO of two consulting businesses on the east and west
coasts; author and motivational speaker;
marathon runner.
Mike Sgambelluri, Albany High
School Class of 1968 – Physical education teacher at several district schools and
assistant director of health and physical
education; principal of the former P.S. 26
and assistant principal at the former Harriet Gibbons High School.
Ashley Velie, Albany High School
Class of 1986 – Producer, CBS Evening
News; two-time nominee for the 2013
News and Documentary Emmy Awards;
also has produced segments for “60 Minutes” and “48 Hours.”
Members of the 2014 Hall of Fame
will be honored at an induction ceremony
at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 10 at the ItalianAmerican Community Center. Visit
www.albanyschools.org for more
information.
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Grads off to impressive institutions
Brandeis. Cornell. Fordham. Holy Cross.
McGill. NYU. SUNY Binghamton.
And that’s just a start.
Members of Albany High School’s Class
Adelphi University
Albany College of Pharmacy
and Health Sciences
Alfred University
American University
Amherst College
Anna Maria College
The Art Institute of Tampa
Barnard College
Bay Path College
Becker College
Belmont Abbey College
Belmont University
Berkely College NYC
Midtown
Berklee College of Music
Bloomfield College
Boston College
Boston University
Brandeis University
Bryant and Stratton
Canisius College
Carleton College
Cazenovia College
Champlain College
City College of New York
City University of New
York/Baruch College
City University of New
York/Brooklyn College
City University of New
York/Hunter College
Clarkson University
Clemson University
Clinton Community College
Colby-Sawyer College
College of Charleston
College of the Holy Cross
College of Mount Saint
Vincent
The College of New Jersey
College of New Rochelle
The College of Saint Rose
Columbus State Community
College
Connecticut College
Cornell University
Daniel Webster College
Dean College
Delaware State University
Drexel University
Edinboro University of
Pennsylvania
Elmira College
Emerson College
Emmanuel College
Fisher College
Florida Institute of
Technology
Florida Southern College
Fordham University
Franklin Pierce University
Fulton-Montgomery
Community College
Gordon College
Green Mountain College
Grinnell College
Hartwick College
Herkimer County
Community College
Hofstra University
Howard University
Hudson Valley Community
College
Immaculata University
of 2014 have been accepted to more than
170 colleges and universities. Check out the
impressive list of institutions below – and
congratulations to this year’s graduates!
Iona College
Ithaca College
Johnson & Wales University
Johnston State College
Keene State College
King’s College
Lasell College
Le Moyne College
LIM College
Long Island University,
Brooklyn Campus
Long Island University, C.W.
Post Campus
Louisiana State University
Loyola University New
Orleans
Lyndon State College
Manhattan College
Maria College
Massachusetts College of
Art and Design
Massachusetts College of
Liberal Arts
McGill University
Mercy College
Middlebury College
Mohawk Valley Community
College
Monroe College
Monroe Community College
Morgan State University
Mount Saint Mary College
Nazareth College
New York University
Nichols College
Northeastern University
Onondaga Community
College
Pace University, New York
City
Pace University, Westchester
Pennsylvania State
University Altoona
Pennsylvania State
University University Park
Plymouth State University
Queen’s University
Quinnipiac University
Reed College
Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute
Riverside Community
College
Rochester Institute of
Technology
Rochester Institute of
Technology Croatia
Russell Sage College
Sage College of Albany
Saint Joseph’s College of
Maine
Saint Leo University
Saint Vincent College
Schenectady County
Community College
School of the Museum of
Fine Arts
Seattle University
Siena College
Skidmore College
Spelman College
Springfield College
St John Fisher College
St. John’s University,
Manhattan Campus
St. John’s University,
Queens Campus
St. John’s University,
Staten Island Campus
St. Joseph’s College
New York
St. Lawrence University
St. Thomas University
SUNY Albany
SUNY Binghamton
SUNY Buffalo
SUNY Stony Brook
SUNY Stony Brook Scholars
for Medicine Program
SUNY College at Brockport
SUNY College at Buffalo
SUNY College at Cobleskill
SUNY College at Cortland
SUNY College at Delhi
SUNY College of Environment Science and Forestry
SUNY College at Fredonia
SUNY College at Geneseo
SUNY College at New Paltz
SUNY College at Oneonta
SUNY College at Oswego
SUNY College Plattsburgh
SUNY College at Potsdam
SUNY College at Potsdam
Crane School of Music
SUNY College at Purchase
SUNY Institute of
Technology at Utica/Rome
Temple University
Towson University
Union College
University of Bridgeport
Univeristy of California,
Riverside
University of Connecticut
University of Hartford
University of Maine
University of Massachusetts
Amherst
Univeristy of Massachusette
Boston
University of Massachusetts
Lowell
University of New England
University of New
Hampshire
University of New Haven
University of Rochester
University of San Francisco
University of Scranton
University of Southern
Maine
The University of Tampa
University of Toronto,
St. George
University of Vermont
Utica College
Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology
Virginia State University
Wagner College
Wellesley College
Wells College
Wentworth Institute of
Technology
Western New England
University
Wheelock College
Williams College
Worcester Polytechnic
Institute
www.albanyschools.org
3
WE CHOOSE
As part of a community service project, third-graders at Pine Hills Elementary School spent six
weeks gathering donations to support construction of a fresh-water well in Tanzania. Among
other things, they collected and sorted more than 8,000 bottles and cans. Their work paid off:
They raised more than $5,000. Pictured here sorting on June 6 are Bryson Bethea, Zaire Pinto,
Andre Nicholson, Adam Sefadine Ismail, Destiny Pipino, Wendalis Colon-Ortiz and Joel Garcia.
From left, New Scotland Elementary School second-grader Kade Flynn and third-graders Jayden Brown and Charles Chandler showed elite runner Tera Moody their starting-line techniques
on May 30 on the school playground. Moody, one of the top runners in the country, is one of several athletes who visited area schools before racing in the Freihofer’s Run for Women on May 31.
And the New Scotland runners took part in the annual JustRun! track meet the following week.
These second-graders at Albany School of Humanities (ASH) on May 30 showed off their smarts
in a production of “Geology Rocks,” a musical about the study of the earth’s structure and substance. The actors, from left, are Victoria Penman, Zondaria Smith, Debron Eley-Jackson,
Jonathan Besong and Zakari Thompson. The play was part of ASH’s overall efforts to infuse arts
into teaching and learning. It happened through a partnership between the school and Cue the
Classroom, a pilot project of the Cue Theater in Albany.
Actors from Albany High School’s Theatre Ensemble on May 19 rehearsed for “The Identity
Project,” a multimedia performance of 14 stories that took shape in the hands of more than 300
student storytellers, playwrights, filmmakers, photographers and others through a unique collaboration with Capital Repertory Theatre. The project was part of Albany High’s 2014 Promising
Playwrights Festival, which ran May 29-31.
Members of the Albany
High School Class of ’63
decided to honor their
50th reunion by making a
gift to their alma mater.
On May 29, members of
the Reunion Committee
presented a check for
$1,500 to Albany High
Principal Cecily
Wilson, third from left,
for creation of a fund to
support student receptions.
The alums are, from left,
Paul Lamar, Carol
Marohn Zahurak, Marsha
Nadell Penrose, Diane
Lassi Ray and Larry
Becker. Committee
members not pictured are
Phyllis Ackerman
Morrison, David J. Smith
and David Ellenbogen.
Montessori Magnet School students made up this mosaic of faces during the school’s April 11
“Who We Are Celebration.” The annual multicultural event featured food, dance, art, activities
and more. Above, the students are lying on a pookalum – a carpet made of flower blossoms that
is a tradition from Kerala, India.
4
www.albanyschools.org
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Sheridan Preparatory Academy fifth-graders Zahir McQueen, Basilio Suriel, Sylvia NicholasPatterson and Zarriah Hendricks on May 21 put their speed and agility to the test – the math test,
that is. They were among 48 students at the school who took part in “Math Sprint,” a contest
designed to spark student enthusiasm for and interest in science, technology, engineering and
math. The event was sponsored by the Albany District Chapter of the Links, Inc.
Author Sandra Pinkney her husband, photographer Myles Pinkney, brainstormed to
write a poem with Giffen Memorial Elementary students and families at the school’s Author and Illustrator Day on April 5. The Pinkneys and three other authors were on hand
that day to explain their craft and encourage kids to embrace their inner writer.
Delaware Community School kindergarteners Kaylee Garcia Ramirez and Aaron Johnson on May
21 checked on the progress of the eggs in an incubator in their classroom, part of a science project
about the study of chickens. Once the eggs hatched, the chicks were returned to the Radix Ecological Sustainability Center in Albany to be raised there.
North Albany Academy kindergartners Shania Steadman, left, and Brionna Bennett
Holt showed off their talent in painting and their knowledge of colors and shapes during their June 3 art class.
ALBANY SCHOOLS
The skies have been fickle this spring, but the weather cooperated on June 6 for a Field Day at
Eagle Point Elementary School. Hula-hooping their hearts out, from left, were second-graders
Elena Rivera, Isabel Hypnarowski and Dillon Charland.
Mary Cade, an eighthgrader at Stephen and
Harriet Myers Middle
School, savored a
lunchtime salad consisting of veggies
grown in and harvested
from the school’s garden. Thanks to the Vegetable Project – the
group of student and
adult volunteers that
support the garden –
the produce was served
in the school cafeteria
on June 6.
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Members of the Albany High School boys’ lacrosse team, which played its first junior varsity
season this spring, horsed around before boarding a bus to an away game on May 13. The
City School District of Albany in 2012 added boys’ and girls’ lacrosse to its menu of sports
offerings in 2012.
www.albanyschools.org
5
S CH OOL NEW S
New vaccine rules effective for 2014-15
The New York State Health Department has changed the frequency and type
of immunizations that children must have
in order to attend school in 2014-15.
State law requires districts to deny admitting children to school if their family
cannot prove they received, or are in the
process of receiving, required immunizations. The state’s changes, effective July 1,
include these areas:
• Chicken pox and polio vaccines;
• Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis
(DTaP/DTP);
• Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR);
• “Student in process;”
• Proof of immunity; and
• Written medical exemptions for
immunizations.
Please visit www.albanyschools.org for
a complete list and descriptions of the new
state immunization requirements. You also
can contact your child’s school nurse.
AFE seeks instrument donations
From left, freshman James Jackson and sophomores Jesse VonWergers and Liam Owens practiced their CPR skills on May 16.
Lifesaving lesson with a disco beat
Strains of the iconic 1978 disco song
“Stayin’ Alive” and its accompanying beat
spilled out of Albany High School’s dance
studio all day May 15 and 16.
But this was no disco-dance revival.
Instead, Albany Fire Department paramedics trained almost 500 Albany High
students in lifesaving, hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation – CPR.
For people of a certain age, “Stayin’
Alive” evokes the memory of John Travolta in the movie “Saturday Night Fever.”
The American Heart Association has
adopted the song as a new, lifesaving
mantra.
At 103 beats a minute, the song’s
tempo nearly matches the recommended
rate for performing hands-only CPR –
100 chest compressions per minute.
The song – unfamiliar to most of the
students – greeted those who gathered in
the dance studio instead of their normal
health classroom. The students made their
way to seats encircling a bright blue gym
mat flanked by six adult-sized rubber torsos with heads.
Then the paramedics told them a sober-
ing statistic: Some 400,000 people have
heart attacks outside the hospital and nine
out of 10 die.
Students also got the good news that
they can save the life of a person who
suddenly drops by calling 911 and rapidly
pressing on the center of his or her chest.
This hands-only version is as effective as
conventional CPR, which combines
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with compression.
Doing either can double or triple the
chances of survival if started in the first
minutes after a heart attack.
After some coaching, they were ready.
Under the eye of the paramedics, and
with the background music pumping, students knelt on the blue mat. They took
turns pressing on the chests of CPR dummies until they got it right.
“This could be grandma,” one paramedic told a reluctant student. “You’re
saving her life.”
Hearing that, the student straightened
her arms and pushed in perfect, rapid
rhythm to the music. Indeed, grandma
was stayin’ alive.
Volunteer spotlight
Name
Susan DuBois
Age
60
Occupation
Retired from the New
York State Environmental
Conservation Department, where she conducted hearings on
environmental disputes.
Volunteers at
Delaware Community
School
Volunteer work
Every Thursday, she
Volunteer Susan DuBois spruced up one of the garden beds
teaches nature study
outside
Delaware Community School with the help of secondsubjects to students in
graders Amazhay Babb, left, and Justin Rattray.
Heidi Myers’ kindergarten class, which,
have opportunities to study the environweather permitting, uses the school’s garment
in situations ranging from university
den as a source of lessons in science and
classes
to Girl Scout camp to prowling
English. In the fall and spring, DuBois
around
in the woods near my family’s
volunteers with the after-school Garden
house.
I
enjoy being able to pass that inClub organized by second-grade teacher
terest
on.
Based on the students’ reactions
Susan Fowler. The club serves students in
to
being
in
the garden or to doing handsgrades 2-5.
on
nature
projects,
I think these activities
Why she volunteers
really
engage
them
in learning.”
“As a young person, I was fortunate to
6
www.albanyschools.org
Got a musical instrument your child (or
you) outgrew? Consider donating it to the
City School District of Albany.
The Albany Fund for Education (AFE),
with the help of music-loving Albany resident Aimee Allaud and John Keal Music,
is collecting new and used band and string
instruments for students in Albany’s public schools.
All donated instruments will be refurbished and restored to playing condition.
The program is the brainchild of Allaud, who also made the first donation to
the program – a clarinet her son played
when he was a student at the former P.S.
16, now Pine Hills Elementary School.
You also can donate funds that would
help refurbish an instrument. Your contribution is tax deductible, and someone
from AFE will pick up the instrument
from you.
For more information or to make a donation, call Onnolee Smith at 207-5572 or email [email protected]. You also can
make an online donation to the program at
www.TheAlbanyFundforEducation.org.
Top teachers receive ‘Golden Apples’
The City School District
of Albany celebrated 15 top
teachers June 10 at the 2014
Golden Apple Awards.
The Golden Apple is an
annual recognition of district
teachers who practice creative
and innovative methods that
significantly affect students’
grades, behaviors and motivation to learn.
This year’s winners, feted
at a reception in the district’s
Academy Park headquarters,
are:
Philip Schuyler Achievement Academy teacher Susan Lofru• Elisa Byrnes, Montesmento, right, is one of 15 top teachers who received Golden
sori Magnet School
Apple awards on June 10. She is pictured with Jalinda Soto,
• Wanda Carter, New
her principal, at the awards ceremony.
Scotland Elementary
School
• Paul Mance, Alternative Learning
• Ward Dales, Albany High School
Center
• Erin Erickson, Albany High School
• Lisa Mancini, North Albany Academy
• Danielle Faseun, Giffen Memorial
• Ann Paulsen, Eagle Point ElemenElementary School
tary School
• Sandra La, Thomas O’Brien Acad• Eileen Sunderhaft, Sheridan
emy of Science and Technology (TOAST) Preparatory Academy
• Tina Linden, Albany School of Hu• Tere Wislous, Delaware Community
manities (ASH)
School
• Susan Lofrumento, Schuyler
No teachers were nominated from
Achievement Academy
Abrookin Career and Technical Center,
• Deann Lynch, Pine Hills Elementary Arbor Hill Elementary School and Stephen
School
and Harriet Myers Middle School.
• Kelly MacNabb, William S. Hackett
Congratulations to this year’s Golden
Middle School
Apple winners!
Check us out online!
We have created an Online News Center to provide you as much news as possible about
the great people and programs of the City School District of Albany. Visit www.albanyschools.org and click the Online News Center link in the right-hand column to read
more about any of these stories and additional articles, including:
• Join us July 19 for our 2014 Summer Celebration!
• Class of 2014 – a photo essay
• The school year in photos
• Albany High seniors win Berkshire Bank Scholarship
• Albany Institute hosts art exhibit of elementary school work
• Congressman Tonko visits Albany in support of improved mental-health services
You also can check out our District News section!
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S CH OOL NEW S
AWAR DS & ACH IEV EM ENT S
Budding entrepreneur completes training
Student essays earn Russia trip
Albany High School senior Camara
Lewis knows the meaning of hard work.
In addition to graduating from high
school, she graduated June 10 from the
Young Entrepreneurs Academy at the University at Albany.
The academy is a year-long program
that teaches middle- and high-school students how to develop, launch and operate
their own businesses. Lewis not only was
accepted to the competitive program, she
won a $1,000 scholarship as well.
The program culminated with Lewis’
Future businesswoman Camara Lewis
plan for her business venture, “Fancy
Dough.” The project combined her business savvy with the culinary skills she learned
as a student at Albany High’s Abrookin Career and Technical Center.
Thanks to their persuasive words, two Albany High School students will go on a
10-day trip to Russia this summer.
Senior Atallah Benson and junior Michael Bangert-Drowns both won the 2014
essay contest sponsored by the Albany-Tula Alliance. The subject of the 1,500-word
essay each wrote was, “How has the use of social media impacted or changed modern
society in Russia, for better or worse?”
On their trip, slated for August, they will tour the sights of Moscow and Tula, visit
the home of writer Leo Tolstoy and stay with friends of the Albany-Tula Alliance.
The alliance promotes cultural exchange and business development between Albany and Tula, located 125 miles south of Moscow.
Albany High videos chosen for Proctor’s festival
Videos made by three pairs of Albany High School students made it to the big
screen on June 5 at the 2014 Media Arts Festival at Proctor’s Theatre in Schenectady.
The annual festival showcases the skills of young local artists working in media art.
The talented students and their projects are:
• Sophomores Kahmani Bennett and Jyasi Nagel made the video “Rage;”
• Junior Emily Andrews and sophomore Nina Rouse made the video “Nervous;” and
• Seniors Nyranda Cherry and Wisdom Johnson made the video “Exhaustion.”
Bennett, Nagel, Andrews and Rouse were students in Mark Sickler’s video production and television class. Cherry and Johnson took Sickler’s class in advanced video
production and television.
Tarwerdi earns National Merit Scholarship
Albany High School senior Andrew Tarwerdi has
earned a prestigious National Merit Scholarship.
The top-ranked student in Albany High’s Class of
2014, Tarwerdi ranks in the top 1 percent of the 1.5
million students nationwide who took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying
Test in October 2012. Because of his stellar scores,
he was named a National Merit Scholarship finalist
in March and was selected in May to receive a National Merit Fordham University Scholarship.
Tarwerdi was selected to receive Fordham’s
award after the college reviewed his academic
Andrew Tarwerdi: Fordhambound
record, information about Albany High’s curricula
and grading system, written recommendations and extracurricular activities, among
other things.
Fordham was his first choice for college, and he will head there this September.
Albany High trio named regional scholars
Three Albany High School students have been named in this year’s regional Scholars’ Recognition Program.
Harlan Ginsburg, Zilpa Oduor and Andrew Tarwerdi are among high school
seniors from 11 neighboring counties nominated by their schools for outstanding academic achievement, leadership skills and service to their community and school.
They were honored at a dinner May 14 and recognized in a special Times Union
section the following day.
Drive nets record blood donations
Once again, Albany
High School students
and staff donated lifesaving blood in record
amounts.
On May 8, the American Red Cross Northeastern New York
Region collected 103
pints of blood at the
school, the most ever
given in a single drive.
Those pints could save
up to 309 lives, according to the Red Cross.
Albany High School senior Oscar Cedeno donated his first pint
Under the direction
of blood at the school on May 8. His pint helped the school break
of seniors Zilpa
its one-day blood donation record.
Oduor and Oscar
Cedeno, the school topped 100 units for the first time. The duo orchestrated a total of
three successful blood drives this school year and each will receive scholarship
money from the Red Cross.
Congratulations to the students and the entire Albany High community – including
faculty advisors Alicia Abdul and Stacey Saracene – for a job bloody well done!
Albany musicians golden
The musical talent in Albany’s public schools shone particularly bright this year, with
two groups earning “gold” ratings from the New York State School Music Association.
Albany High School’s Select Choir, led by director Brendan Hoffman, earned a gold
rating at NYSSMA’s choral festival at Bethlehem High School. The choir performed at
competition Level VI – the highest degree of complexity – and sang “Shenandoah,”
arranged by James Erb, “Winter,” arranged Z. Randall Stroope, and “Witness,” arranged
by Jack Halloran.
This marks the third consecutive year the Select Choir has delivered a gold-rated performance.
The Stephen and Harriet Myers Middle School Wind Ensemble earned its first gold at
the NYSSMA majors competition held at Shaker High School. Under the direction of
John Prylo, the group performed three songs at Level II: “African Marching Song,”
arranged by John O’Reilly; “Music for the Royal Fireworks,” by George Frederic Handel; and “Scenes from Russia,” arranged by Elliot Del Borgo.
Performances are graded as bronze, silver and gold, with a gold rating going to performers who demonstrate outstanding technical and artistic skill.
76 inducted into National Honor Society
Summer school 2014
Seventy-six high-achieving
juniors were inducted into Albany High School’s Arista Chapter of the National Honor Society
on April 30.
To be eligible for induction,
students must maintain an overall
academic average of 89.5 or
higher.
The National Honor Society
was founded in 1921 to help create a better-rounded student who
would be willing to put his or her
talents to work serving others
Albany High School junior Klaudio Haxhillari was one of
in society. Albany High’s Arista
76 students inducted this spring into the school’s National
Chapter was formed in 1957
Honor Society chapter. He is pictured with Honor Society
and admitted 15 students in its
advisor Diann Scialdo.
first group of inductees.
City School District of Alspeak at this year’s induction ceremony.
bany Board of Education member C. AnVisit www.albanyschools.org for a list
thony Owens, a University of Pennsylvania of the 76 students.
and RPI graduate, delivered the keynote
Elementary school
Middle school
Dates: July 7-Aug. 1
Days: Monday-Friday
Time: 8 a.m.-1 p.m.
Location: Home elementary schools, with
three exceptions: Montessori Magnet
School program will be held at Eagle
Point Elementary School; Thomas
O’Brien Academy of Science and Technology (TOAST) program will be held at
Delaware Community School; Albany
School of Humanities (ASH) program
will be held at New Scotland Elementary
School.
Contact: Wanda Carter at 475-6774 or
Brigid Dodson at 475-6246
Dates: July 7-Aug. 8
Days: Monday-Friday
Time: 8:30-11:30 a.m.
Location: For current sixth- and seventhgraders – Stephen and Harriet Myers
Middle School; for current eighth-graders
– Albany High School
Contact: For sixth- and seventh-graders,
Lisa House, before July 7 at 475-6247
and after July 6 at 475-6425 then press #2;
for eighth-graders, Kandie Antonetti at
475-6247
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High school
Dates: July 7-Aug. 12
Days: Monday-Thursday
Times: 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Location: Albany High School
Contact: Janet Escoto-La Voie at 475-6308
www.albanyschools.org
7
Board of Education
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 149
Albany, NY
Rose Brandon, Th.D.
President
Dan Egan
Vice President
City School District of Albany
1 Academy Park
Albany, New York 12207
Ginnie Farrell
Secretary
Sue Adler
C. Anthony Owens
Alexandra Streznewski
Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard, Ph.D.
Superintendent
You can access all the
information in this newsletter
online at www.albanyschools.org
Communications Office, 1 Academy Park, Albany, N.Y. 12207 | (518) 475-6065 | Fax: 475-6069 | www.albanyschools.org
Leading the way
Brendan Hoffman
Q&A
Alumni achievement
Captain Maria McGarry Walker ’86
Music teacher and choral director, Albany High School
Under the direction of Brendan Hoffman, the choral program at Albany High School has flourished. He’s built
up the all-female Albanettes choir, which performed at Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2011 inauguration, and revitalized the school’s three other choral groups. This spring, he was one of 13 teachers in the region picked as
a top teacher by WNYT/Channel 13 (out of 200 nominated).
Q: The Albany High choral groups consistently compete at the highest levels and get the best
scores at regional and state competitions. To what do you attribute that success?
A: To the students and my colleagues. It’s truly a partnership of people who
share the same ideas and the same vision about creating opportunities for
transformative experiences such as performing Faure’s “Requiem” with Albany Pro Musica and Mount Sinai High School. We have something very
special here. We’re very much a community and a family.
Q: How do you get your students excited about different kinds of music?
A: If you’re passionate about something, people feel that. I’m the
biggest choral geek ever – I’m enthralled by choral music and can’t
get enough of it. So I get very motivated when I hear something
new and different, and I can’t wait to share it with
the kids. They get excited, too, and we
feed off each other.
Q: What role do music and the
arts play in a world increasingly driven by science and
technology?
A: There’s been a big push in education towards STEM (science, technology, engineering
and math), and as much as we recognize the
importance of that effort, it hasn’t resulted in
big gains in student performance. Recently
there’s been a movement from STEM to
STEAM – putting “Arts” at the center. When
the arts are integrated into all these areas, that’s
when you start to see real gains in student performance because it connects to meaningful
learning opportunities.
Q: This spring you played a lead role in a
production of “Les Miserables” at Cohoes
Music Hall. Did you ever aspire to make a
full-time career out of singing or musical
theater?
A: Musical theater was my first love. My high
school choir director told me I should think
about pursuing musical theater. I ran with that
and became involved in everything I could.
Through my experiences in college and beyond, I saw that performing and teaching are a
lot more similar than I realized. When you
perform, you’re creating and sharing an experience, being a part of something much bigger
than yourself. Teaching is the ultimate vehicle
for that because I get to create those opportunities to share with my students.
Q: Do you sing in the shower? If so, what
kind of music?
A: Of course. Everyone sings in the shower. I sing anything that
comes into my head – opera, pop music and any number of kids’
songs that run through my head endlessly because that’s what I hear in the car when I am with my two
boys, CJ and Nate.
8
www.albanyschools.org
Captain Maria McGarry Walker ’86
As a young woman, fighting fires and breaking the glass ceiling
were not part of Maria McGarry Walker’s career agenda.
Instead, the 1986 Albany High School alum – a tenacious member
of the school Mock Trial Team that placed third in the state championships her senior year – had her sights set on law school.
“I was always a defense witness because I argued and wouldn’t
back down,” Walker said.
She also took three years of Latin at Albany High with longtime
teacher Judith A. Greenwood and belonged to the school Latin Club
because she thought it would bolster her legal vocabulary.
The daughter and granddaughter of firefighters, Walker took the
firefighter exam in 1988 at her father’s suggestion. She was a student
at Hudson Valley Community College at the time, taking pre-law
classes.
“He said try it, and if you don’t like it, you can quit,” Walker said.
She aced the test.
A few months later, she was offered a job by the city and joined the
Albany Fire Department, the department’s fourth female firefighter.
She later became a paramedic and spent the next several years rushing
into burning buildings and patching up the wounded, in addition to
getting married and having a son.
She was promoted to lieutenant in 2006 and made captain in 2011,
becoming the highest-ranking female in the department’s history.
There, she heads up the training division, keeping her colleagues updated on emergency medical services training, and visiting fire scenes
to assure they’re keeping up with health and safety precautions.
Walker said most of her male colleagues accepted her from the
start.
“It wasn’t bad, the usual ribbing,” she said. “They gave me more
grief about the fact that my father worked in the [state] Office of Fire
Prevention and Control and made it out like he got me the job. Which
he did not.”
Walker, now 46, said the three women who preceded her in the department paved the path for her relatively smooth transition. She also
said she hadn’t really considered the import of becoming the department’s first female captain until it happened and people started asking
her about it.
“I’m proud of it and I get the significance, I really do,” she said.
“But it’s a job, and I’m just doing my job.”
Words of wisdom (on being a firefighter):
“If you’re looking to do something that’s different every day and
gives you a chance to help people, this is it,” Walker said.
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