schools

From Genesee Community College:

It's that time of year again, as the holiday season is now upon us. Genesee Community College is once again sponsoring their annual holiday community events with a Holiday Shopping Bazaar on December 12th as well as the annual Breakfast with Santa on December 14th.

Beat the crowds at the mall and shop Friday, December 12, 2008 at Genesee Community College's annual Holiday Shopping Bazaar. From 9:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., merchants will be set up in the Forum at Genesee's Batavia Campus. A variety of items will be available, including: wool sweaters, hats and gloves, candles, jewelry and watches, sportswear, cosmetics, and homemade crafts. With a wide assortment of gifts, shoppers can find a little something for everyone on their list. This event is free and open to the public.

Bring the family to the annual Breakfast with Santa on Sunday, December 14th in the cafeteria at the Batavia Campus, from 9:30a.m. until 11:00 a.m. The cost is $6 for adults, $4 for kids under 12 and kids under five are free. Children and adults of all ages are welcomed to dine on French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and pastries. Breakfast will be served from 9:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. Santa will be arriving at 10:00 a.m. and pictures with Santa are free. Activities and gifts for children will be provided. Tickets for this event are available in the Student Activities office at Genesee or at the door. Checks can be made to GCCA.

For further information on the holiday events provided by Genesee Community College's Office of Student Activities, please call 585-343-0055 ext. 6261.

From Genesee Community College:

Genesee Community College students received $16.7 million in student financial assistance last year, according to Joseph Bailey, Associate Dean for Enrollment Services.

Mr. Bailey told trustees at Monday's Board of Trustees meeting that Genesee students received aid to help defray their education from a variety of sources, including federal PELL grants ($5.5 million); New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) grants ($3.6 million); and Stafford loans ($7 million).

Student aid is on the increase, Mr. Bailey reported. Next year, the maximum PELL award will increase. Despite problems with national credit markets, Genesee Community College has access to enough private lenders to make educational loans possible. Genesee has also been declared eligible as a federal direct loan college, meaning that students could borrow directly from the federal government for educational expenses if they needed to do so.

"We have a wide range of financial resources available to help students pursue their college education," Mr. Bailey said.

Students may contact Genesee's Office of Financial Assistance at 585-345-6900 for more information about financial assistance and veterans services programs, and for help in completing financial assistance applications.

Genesee Region All Stars: L to R: Volleyball – Liz Geandreau ’11 and Brittany Morelli ’09; Cross Country – Ashley Calarco ’09 [4^th straight year!] and Jill Marshall ’09. Jill also earned a Sectional patch for a 7^th place finish in this year’s Section V Class D meet in this her first year of Cross Country competition!

Nicole Mickey ’09 represented ND on the Genesee Region team vs. the Livingston County II team at Cal-Mum on Sunday, 11-9-08 in the Exceptional Senior Soccer game.

2008 GR League All Star selections from ND - L to R: Rick Lair ’09 [Lineman], Matt Thompson ‘10 [Kicker], Kevin Francis ’09 [Receiver] Craig Houseknecht ’09 [Lineman].

2008 Section V Class D Individual Awards earned during the 11-1-08 Class D Final Football game vs. Dundee – L to R: Justin Shenck ’09 [Sportsmanship Award], Rick Lair ’09 [Outstanding Offensive Lineman] and Craig Houseknecht ’09 [Outstanding Defensive Lineman].

From Genesee Community College:

Genesee Community College is pleased to announce that Annette Zuber has been named Employee of the Month for November 2008. Annette has worked at Genesee for nine years and is currently a Technical Specialist in Institution Research and Assessment. While working at Genesee, she has completed two Associate's degrees and is on her way to completing a Master's Degree.

Before coming to Genesee, Annette was a stay-at-home mom to her three children when she came to Genesee to update her business skills to get a job. Her first position at the College was a math mentor and she assumed her present position in Institutional Research and Assessment in 2004. She has made great contributions to the College's ability to track students and graduates by creating and maintaining databases. She is a self -starter who repeatedly demonstrates the capacity to organize complex tasks, gather and interpret information, and to research and understand complicated regulations and directions from external agencies.

Annette began her educational career at Cornell University where she received a Bachelor's degree in Food and Nutrition in 1972. While working at the College, she found time to obtain an Associate's Degree in Accounting in 2000 and an additional Associate's Degree in Computer Information Systems in 2002. Annette is currently working on a Master's degree in Mathematics at SUNY Brockport.

A resident of Wyoming, NY, she enjoys gardening, crafts and photography, as well as raising puppies for Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

"I like the fact that I am allowed to work with my own style in a very supportive environment," Annette said. "I have many different projects, so the job is always interesting."

From Genesee Community College:

Genesee Community College is pleased to name Emily Voss Student of the Month for November. Emily, a 2007 graduate of Fillmore High School, is in the Elementary Education Transfer Program at Genesee. She is a very active student and was named to the Dean's List in the Spring of 2008. She participates in many activities on campus and at College Village, all while maintaining an excellent academic record.

Emily is a work study student in the Accelerated College Enrollment (ACE) programs office where she is punctual and completes her work with responsibility and efficiency. She is a dedicated worker that even goes the extra distance to help out with the multitude of applications for ACE courses.

Emily, 19, a resident of Short Tract, NY plans on attending Roberts Wesleyan upon completing her studies at Genesee to pursue a Bachelor's and Master's Degree. She says her dream job would be to teach the first grade at her hometown school district, Fillmore Central School.

Emily chose Genesee Community College for its small community feel and its low cost of tuition. "My favorite aspect of Genesee is how small it is," said Emily. "This allows you to grow closer to your classmates and your professors, while getting a hands-on education."

From Genesee Community College:

Residents in College Village have something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday. Beginning at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, November 25, the Resident Assistants and College Village staff at Genesee Community College will prepare a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for students in the Village Hall of College Village. The meal is free to residents and will include turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and of course, pumpkin pie.

On average, 100 to 150 students attend the annual dinner. For many, this will be their only Thanksgiving celebration. And for international students, this may be the first time they've experienced the holiday or tasted the traditional fare.

"The RA's and staff get to cook all day for this event and we definitely have fun along the way," said Ellen Brokaw, Assistant Director of Residence Life at College Village. "For some, this is their first try at cooking a full Thanksgiving meal. We hope to have a good turnout of students participating and are looking forward to a fun evening."

This is the fourth year that College Village has provided a free Thanksgiving dinner to students.

For further information, please contact Ellen Brokaw, Assistant Director of Residence Life at Genesee's College Village at 585-343-0163 or by email ecbrokaw@genesee.edu.

The parent group at Robert Morris Elementary has completed three of six workshops that are being presented to parents. These workshops are designed to reach out to parents in our community. Workshop topics already covered included a Math Night, Internet Safety Workshop, and Study Skills and the Home Environment.  Future topics include Practical Financial Hints to Help Save on January 27, 2009, Anxiety in Children on February 24, 2009, and Communicating with Your Child on March 31, 2009. All workshops are from 6:30p.m.until 8:00p.m. These presentations are open to all parents and the materials are sent to each principal. F.O.R.M. provides refreshments for each workshop and the parents put forth a great deal of effort to ensure that these workshops are a success. Reaching out to parents and providing opportunities for involvement is the goal of this year's workshops.

Information provided by Allison Chua

We received this notice for parents of Batavia City school students:

Our school district will soon be able to contact you by an automated telephone/voice messaging system to notify you of emergency closings, important notifications, and specific school events.

We believe that this notification system is important as it will help to:
• Support safety and security in our schools
• Improve communication among our students, their families and the school district
• Contact our families and community about important events in a timely manner
• Increase family involvement in school activities and programs

In order to ensure that you receive these vital messages, it is necessary that we have your current phone number(s) on file. If you have already provided us with your revised phone numbers, we thank you. If you would like to update your telephone number(s), please contact the Main Office of the building your child attends.  If you have children in multiple buildings, you will only need to call one building to update your parent contact information for all your children’s records. Please contact us at 585-343-2480.

Ext. 2000 – High School
Ext. 3000 – Middle School
Ext. 4000 – Jackson Elementary
Ext. 5000 – John Kennedy Elementary
Ext. 6000 – Robert Morris Elementary

Please also let us know if you have any special needs to help us better communicate with you using this messaging system.  We thank you for your efforts to develop a strong partnership for our students.

Information submitted by Pam Buresch

It’s been just about a year since members of Miss Betsey Bodine's ND Environmental Awareness Club started actively filling up the large, green and yellow Abitibi recycling container which is located in the parking lot behind Notre Dame! Who says every little piece of paper doesn't add up!

Members of the ND family -faculty and staff, students, parents and friends of ND - can be proud of the fact that 25.27 tons - yes, tons!!! - of paper have been recycled during the past year through our Abitibi!

Congratulations on a job well done and keep up the good work!

Please pass the word . . . you do not have to be a member of the ND family to recycle in our recycling bin! Please encourage your friends, neighbors and relatives to use our Abitibi for recycling their papers and magazines and join us in our attempt to keep our campus - and our little bit of the world - GREEN!

Picture caption:  Student recyclers pose next to the Abitibi pickup truck on Friday, October 3, 2008. (L to R):  Haley Alexander '10, Alex Sandra Morgan '10, Sidney Moag '11, Sophia DelPlato '11 and Paul Teresi '11.

Item submitted by Notre Dame.

Elizabeth Fischer, daughter of Michael and Mary Anne Fischer of Medina, and a member of the ND Class of 2009 has been designated a Commended Student in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program.  Commended students are recognized for having demonstrated outstanding academic potential by their strong performance on the PSAT/NMSQT (Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) which our current Juniors and Seniors took last October.  Our current Sophomores and Juniors will take the 2008 version of the NMSQT on Wednesday, October 15, 2008. 

Beth’s high Selection Index score on the PSAT exam last October places her among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students in over 21,000 high schools who entered the 2009 competition.  Commended students are named on the basis of a national selection index of 200 which is applicable to all participants, without regard to state-by-state distribution.

A member in good standing of the ND Chapter of the National Honor Society since her Sophomore year, Beth has earned High Honor roll status in each quarter of her ND career, as well as highest average recognition in Biology and Global Studies 9 (2005-2006); Chemistry, Math 10, and Global 10 (2006-2007), and Physics, Math 11, AP US History, Spanish III and Theology (2007-2008).  She has also been an active member of the ND Student Senate, Science Club, and Mission Club and also currently serves as a morning PA announcer.

Beth is also very active in her parish (Holy Family) where she serves as a lector, Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and altar server.

Beth plans on pursuing a career in Biomedical Engineering and lists Cornell University, RIT, and Roberts Wesleyan as possible college choices. She will receive recognition for her Commended Student achievement at Notre Dame’s annual end-of-the-year Celebration of Gifts and Talent in May 2009.

Congratulations, Beth on this noteworthy achievement!

Information submitted by Notre Dame

This year's ND graduating class stands forty-two strong. Thirteen members of the Class of 2009 were commissioned as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion at our Opening Day Mass on Friday, September 5, 2008. Father Michael Rock, OdeM., Pastor of Our Lady of Mercy in Le Roy, New York and a member of the ND Board of Trustees, performed the commissioning ceremony as part of the first mass of the year at ND.

Eleven of the students were trained at ND last spring by Deacon Tom Casey.  The remaining two were trained at their parish.  We look forward to their service to our community.

Caption:  L to R – Row #1: Henri Burdett, Eric Shormann, Melissa Smith, Brad Cohen, Kristen Francis and Beth Fischer

L to R – Row #2:  Craig Houseknecht, Stacy Squire, Paige Scofield, Kate Spadaccia, Matt Jackson, Ashley Calarco, Sean Zawicki

Information submitted by Notre Dame

The Notre Dame Volleyball Teams are fundraising to defray costs for Notre Dame students who will be participating in this year’s missionary experience to Camden, New Jersey.  The girls have been bicycling in the “Ride for Camden” effort for the last couple of weeks.  Each girl is riding fifty miles and asking for sponsorships per mile.  If anyone would like to sponsor one of these athletes please contact Rhonda DiCasolo, Carolyn Babcock, or any of the Notre Dame volleyball players.  Pledges from a penny to a dollar per mile are welcome as are donations in any amount.  We hope to provide an opportunity for more Notre Dame students to attend the life-altering experience of a week at Camden’s Romero Center.  Our trips in the past have always had such a tremendous impact on our students and staff.  Thank you to all who have already sponsored a volleyball player.