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Photos: Basketball benefit at Byron Bergen School
Tonight at Byron-Bergen School faculty and staff played basketball against the New York State Troopers from Troop A for a benefit. All of the proceeds will go to the USO, to honor Byron-Bergen students who have served or are now serving in the military.
Many supporters from families of the school including law enforcement came out to support the event. The NY State Troopers were a bit too strong tonight and beat the faculty 52-39. However it was all for fun and entertainment for everyone to enjoy.
Byron-Bergen using 'Seven Habits' to nurture leaders of tomorrow
In the Byron-Bergen School District, students aren't just learning how to read, write and solve math problems. They're also being taught the basic skills of leadership.
"We want them to be confident individuals," said Brian Meister, the elementary school principal. "We want them to be self-sufficient individuals. We want them to be able to make good choices consistently."
The leadership course is based on Stephen R. Covey's acclaimed "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." Covey's company has developed "The Leader in Me," a program to teach students the seven habits in a format they can grasp.
In Byron-Bergen, the curriculum is part of a strategy to educate children in a well-rounded fashion. Yes, they learn academics, but they're also exposed to the arts and good citizenship.
At the Thursday evening board meeting (unusually packed with parents), a group of third-graders sang songs, recited their leadership pledge and showed off their leadership pictures.
"It's so important not to just teach them academics, but to teach them to be good citizens," Superintendent Casey Kosiorek said. "We can all agree that if one of these find young individuals moves next door to us, we want them to be good people and we also want them to be intelligent."
The seven habits:
- Habit 1: Be Proactive • You’re in Charge
- Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind • Have a Plan
- Habit 3: Put First Things First • Work First, Then Play
- Habit 4: Think Win-Win • Everyone Can Win
- Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood • Listen Before You Talk
- Habit 6: Synergize • Together Is Better
- Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw • Balance Feels Best
Meister said faculty and staff are really proud at how well students are responding to the course. He said it's rewarding to hear students talk about solving conflicts with a "win-win" attitude.
It's not easy, he said, for a child in elementary school to "seek first to understand," and put themselves in the shoes of the other person before trying to meet their own needs. But he said in fact, they're seeing child trying to learn to take exactly that approach.
During the school board meeting, Kosiorek noted a recent study that showed the vast majority of new patents are filed in the United States, not China. The iPad, he noted, was invented in this country, not overseas. He said the next generation of entrepreneurs will come out of today's schools, and it's Byron-Bergen's job to prepare the next generation of business leaders.
Meister agreed and said that as students move on from elementary school, into high school and then into college or careers they will be the self-confident individuals who are followed by their peers.
"We really believe here at Byron-Bergen that it’s not only our job to teach kids the academics, but also to make sure sure we provide the leaders of tomorrow," Meister said.
Elba Jazz Ensemble Jazz Dessert
Event Date and Time
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The Music Man
The ECS Drama Club presents The Music Man, February 24 and February 25 @ 7:00 each night. Cost is $6.00 for seniors and students, $8.00 for adults.
Elba Central School Auditorium
Event Date and Time
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Santa visits Alexander School
Santa took a break from his busy schedule to visit Alexander school tonight.
After reading two stories, it was time for Santa to hear what everyone wanted for Christmas.
Then everyone gathered in the cafeteria to frost and decorate cookies!
"Legacy of Love" Christmas Program & Bake Sale by St. Paul Lutheran School
"Legacy of Love"
A Christmas Program presented by
St. Paul Lutheran School
31 Washington Ave., Batavia
Wednesday, Dec. 21
7:00 p.m.
The Parent Group ( F.O.L.K.S.)
will host a Bake Sale, following the program to
benefit the School.
Event Date and Time
Annual Spagetti Dinner and Auction
Annual Spagetti Dinnner & Auction
St. Paul Lutheran Church & School
31 Washington Ave., Batavia, N.Y.
Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010
Dinner 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. / Tickets $5.00
Homemade desserts available
Auction 7:00 p.m.
All proceeds will benefit St. Paul Lutheran School
For more information call 585-343-0488
Event Date and Time
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Pembroke School Lunches
My name is Cameron Coles, I go to Pembroke High School, and I am in 11th grade. The other day (October 28th) I was eating lunch and I found a peice of plastic wrap in my soup. It was about half an inch wide, and 2 to 3 inches long. I believe this poses a choking hazard and could have also had countless bad bacteria on it, some of which may have caused someone to get H1N1. I think this issue needs to be adressed, and I really want to know what people think about it. My friend has a picture of it on his cell phone and I will try to get it to post it tomorrow. I did not however save the peice of plastic wrap, which I probably should have done maybe. Feedback would be wonderful.
Freedom of Choice vs Government Schools
Why is it that in the land of freedom and opportunity we are forced to pay school taxes?
This is not a rant on the taxes themselves but more on the lack of choice in where students can recieve an education. I understand that an educated society is a benefit to society itself. But when all we hear about is how government schools need more money and are failing our kids to the tune of over $10,000 a student per year, how can we keep funneling them money?
Institution a tax voucher program is the only way to break the control of teachers unions and the government in general.
People often complain about their children not being taught their values such as Intelligent design and abstinence only. With a voucher program that give parents back say 70% of the money that would have been spent on the child at a government school, educational freedom can be more readily exercised. The reason I say 70% is to cover overhead costs at the school that were necesarily spent to the individual students benefit.
Today that freedom is only open to those who have the economic means to pay both thier school taxes and tuition at a private school. Parents will literally get to choose what kind of education their children receive.
It will also break the hold of teachers unions by forcing public school to improve in order to keep the cash flow coming.
Home schooling should also be an option to voucher users. Home schooling has proven to provide quality educations at cheaper costs. Some worry about social interactions but that can handled by either joining with other home schooling parents in the area or ensuring your children have many after school activities.
This is a win-win solution to he debates about the problems are public schools, lets hope those in charge see this as well.
MAMMOTH Indoor Garage Sale
MAMMOTH Indoor Garage Sale
Saturday, April 18th 9AM-4PM
St. Joseph School
corner of Main (Route 5) & Summit
Batavia
* "It's a widely-acclaimed, super-enormous, ultra-gigantic quality sale!"
* Everything from A-to-Z (clothing excluded)
* New this year: a wide variety of quality, used furniture
Please call Kathy Stefani at 585-344-2701 with any questions.
Hope to see you there!
St. Joseph School Penny Carnival
St. Joseph School Penny Carnival!
Please join us for our 20th Annual St. Joseph School Penny Carnival. March 28th 11-4. Corner of Main and Summit in Batavia.
The fun includes: games and prizes; our famous "Cake Walk"; food and refreshments; baked goods sale; numerous raffles including: $1000 cash giveaway; $250 Toy-R-Us Shopping Spree, $100+ lottery-ticket basket, 13 different theme baskets. Please call the school at 343-6154 with any questions.
Hope to see you there!
Notre Dame graduate teaches hoops at YMCA in Greece
A story in the Democrat & Chronicle yesterday features Batavia Notre Dame graduate Tim Sullivan, now one of the country's best basketball shooting coaches. Sullivan, who graduated in 1978, then "walked onto the team at Canisius College in Buffalo," now puts on some 400 shooting clinics across the country each year.
This article, by John Boccacino, is a fun read, and there are more than a few great tips for any amateur basketball enthusiast looking to beef up his or her shot. It's clear that Sullivan knows his stuff.
After every shot attempt Sullivan preached that, as part of their follow through, the participants kiss the shoulder of their shooting side to guarantee a complete, accurate shot.
His wise words were met with confusion. "When he started talking about that, my friend Matt Noto and I looked at each other and said, 'OK, that won't work,'" said Steven Ciotti, 13, a seventh-grader at Greece Athena Middle School who plays for Greece Basketball Association's seventh-grade house team. "But then he started shooting and he just wasn't missing. I think he made almost 95 percent of his 200 shots and we were all amazed."
Text alert notifications for school closings
This is more of a public service annoucement or a FYI instead of a news story, but isn't any more or less important.
Two Rochester news stations, Channel 13 (WHAM) and Channel 10 (WHEC) offer a free (depending on your texting plan) service to send text messages to your cellphone, notifying you in the event of a school closing.
I'm not going to preach which service to use (or what cellphone carrier you should be using). I present the facts and let people decide for themselves, with the occasional two cents.
Off the bat, most schools/companies/churches/etc will notify Channel 13 first in the event of a closing and then Channel 10. Some organizations don't notify Channel 10 at all, and vice versa. However, both stations end up with the same closings. It's really just a matter of time.
To use Channel 13's service, you have to register an account which takes about five minutes. Then you have the option to subscribe to a maximum of five organizations, for lack of a bettter word. You can also choose times throughout the day when to receive or not to receive notifications.
With Channel 10's service, it's less customisable and more straightforward. You type in your device e-mail address, and your sent a confirmation code via text message. Type in the confirmation code, click submit and you have a list of all of the organizations you can choose from. There's no limit either.
Personally, I use Channel 10's service. I keep track of several different schools and hate the limit that Channel 13 has on their service.
The links are below. Take your pick.
Congratulations, Stephanie Lapple!!!
Stephanie Lapple ’10, daughter of Dr. William and Angela Lapple of Le Roy did it again!
Stephanie was recently selected [for the 2nd consecutive year] to the Democrat and Chronicle’s 2008 All-Greater Rochester’s Girls Golf Team!
She earned this prestigious recognition by recording the lowest scoring average in Section V competition this past Fall while averaging 39.75 during her eight regular season matches!
Stephanie repeated as City-Catholic champion for the 2nd straight year carding a 42 at Shadow Lake and finished tied for 6th at sectionals to earn her 2nd straight trip to the New York State Meet in Syracuse this coming June!
A member in good standing of the Notre Dame Chapter of the National Honor Society, Stephanie also qualified for New York State Scholar-Athlete recognition during the Fall season with a 97.47% classroom average! She is a class representative to Student Senate and a member of Concert Band and our Fighting Irish Varsity Girls Basketball team.
Stephanie lists LPGA professional Paula Creamer as her favorite golfer. At the rate she is going, she may be competing against her some day in the not too distant future!
Congratulations, again, on a job well done Stephanie, both on the course and in the classroom! We are all proud of your accomplishments at ND!
Notre Dame Second Honors - First Quarter
Class of 2009
Taylor Alexander
Christopher Bogan
Valerie DiSalvo
Kevin Francis
Kristen Francis
Michael Geer
Angela Jazwiecki
Christopher Kroh
Richard Lair
Amy Miller
Katie Spadaccia
Stacy Squire
Brianna Way
Class of 2010
Woodams Clark
Ashley Fix
Lyndie Gallo
Megan Hanley
Zackary Klein
Erik Miller
Thomas Rapone
Hannah Scott-McGrail
Class of 2011
Tia Arnold
Alexander Berardini
Rick Conklin
Jordan DiFilippo
Elizabeth Geandreau
Sean Kota
Johnathan Maye
Tyler Pingrey
Emily Pringle
Walter Richardson
Devin Sherman
Class of 2012
Patrick Aina
Brendan Brown
Luke Calla
Danielle Constantino
Jenna DiFilippo
Jared Midwick
Jack Nenni
Notre Dame Honor Roll - First Quarter
Class of 2009
James Barcomb
Gregory Barr
Henri Burdett
Ashley Calarco
Brad Cohen
Maura Cupicha
Elizabeth Fischer
Craig Houseknecht
Eric Houseknecht
Matthew Jackson
Jill Marshall
Brittany Morelli
Shea O'Connor
Emili Ripley
Kevin Schildwaster
Paige Scofield
Eric Shormann
Melissa Smith
Joy Snyder
Lee Ann Tindell
Nicholas Wetherwax
Sean Zawicki
Class of 2010
Michael Aina
Haley Alexander
Rachel Berggren
Nicholas Bochicchio
Katherine E. Cochrane
Jonathan Corona
Nathan Flumerfeldt
Daniel Follett
Jacob Griffin
Tawney Gustison
Nichole Hart
Erin Kruppner
Stephanie Lapple
Alex Sandra Morgan
Kevin Pawlak
Trisha Pike
Elizabeth Skalny
Elise Smith
Katherine Stewart
Matthew Thompson
David Wolcott
Gianni Zambito
Class of 2011
Kristen Antolos
Larry Bartlett
Anthony Bochicchio
Kaitlyn Coleman
Megan Condidorio
Tamara DePalmo
Douglas Decker
Sophia DelPlato
Conlan Edwards
Kyle Fancher
Nicholas Flumerfeldt
J. Mitchell Francis
Nicole Guilds
Katherine Hilburger
Allyson Kehl
Eric LoMonaco
Russell Marchese
Morgan Midwick
Syndey Moag
Lucy Norton
Akash Patel
Michael Pontillo
Justine Saraceni
Joshua Shenck
Vinzenz Stadler
Thomas Whelehan
Dalton Worgo
Class of 2012
Marshall Argenta
Natalie Brown
Steven Cochrane
Qurratul-Ain Dar
Mackenzie DeCarlo
Elaina Dickinson
Andrew Fischer
Benjamin Flumerfeldt
Beau Hassett
Teresa Jackson
Tyler Kessler
Kiarra King
Rosalie Mortellaro
Daniel Motz
Quincy O'Connor
Brett Perfitt
Brittany Perzia
Carly Pike
Emily Reese
Matthew Sausner
Lauren Stansberry
Kendra Wall
Meghan Zickl
