schools

At the end of the school year of pandemic, Pavilion High School graduated 29 seniors at the Silver Lake Drive-in Perry on Sunday.

Owen Kane Sidhu was the Salutatorian and Brett Lubberts was the Valedictorian. The commencement address was delivered by Superintendent Kenneth Ellison, who will retire in the fall.

Country music artist Brew Baldridge sang "Senior Year" and "Middle of Nowhere Kids."

Video by Le Roy High School Principal Tim McArdle.

Music class students, current and former, came together yesterday afternoon under direction of teacher Jane Haggett to honor their fellow music students who are graduating this year.

The musicians visited students at their home or work and played "Pomp and Circumstance" for them.

This video is of Erick Chugg receiving the surprise visit at McDonald's, where he works.

Also honored: Lydia Geiger, Maggie Andersen, Macayla Burke, Gloria Adams, Sarah Adams, Maddie Taggart, and Derrick Fedus.

Not available for a visit: Garrick Havens, Courtnee Yasses, and Charissa Waldmiller.

Parents, students, teachers, and administration at Jackson Primary School in Batavia celebrated the end of the year and promotion day with a parade on Friday.

Press release:

Jackson Primary School Parent Teacher Group is hosting a celebration parade for all Jackson families on Friday at noon.

The parade will begin at Ascension Parish / Sacred Heart parking lot, located at 19 Sumner St.

The parade will proceed up Hutchins Street to South Jackson Street and through the front bus loop at Jackson Primary (411 S. Jackson St.) where teachers will line the sidewalk. There will also be a safe walking zone that will be roped off for those who wish to walk the parade.

The parade will be lead by SRO Jason Davis from the Batavia Police Department. Jackson Primary would like to thank the Batavia Police Department, the Batavia Fire Department and the Jackson Primary Parent Teacher Group for support Jackson Primary.

We look forward to seeing everyone there!

If you have any questions, please call Mrs. Notaro, principal of Jackson Primary at (585) 343-2480, ext. 4000.

Teachers and administrators drove house-to-house in Batavia on Wednesday to deliver awards and presents to the school's 8th graders who are moving onto high school in the fall.

Chua has earned a bachelor's degree in Music Composition from Syracuse University and is working on his master's degree in Audio Sound. 

His primary instrument is voice. Secondary instruments are trumpet, piano and guitar.

When asked for his favorite high school/college music memory he responded: I have come to know such a vast array of humans throughout my time both in Batavia and Syracuse, and I am blessed to have spent time with so many wonderful friends and colleagues. One of my favorite musical experiences was my first tour with SU's university singers. Setnor School of Music has a wonderful choral program full of amazing and dedicated vocalists, and singers have always been a particularly enriching experience for me. In the fall of my sophomore year, the first semester I joined, we went to perform for the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO) conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was incredibly exciting to tour the city and take in the rich musical culture of the area, and this was made even better by being able to share the experience with some of my closest friends. Perhaps the most impactful part of the trip, though, was our final performance at the conference. We had prepared some intense repertoire, including Francis Poulenc's "Sept Chansons," ("Seven Songs") which was especially difficult. As mentioned, though, the work ethic of the choir was palpable, and the culmination of our work performing for the NCCO is something that still fills me with immense pride. It was a powerful reminder of how satisfying singing can be, especially when: a. You challenge yourself and work to meet that challenge; and b.You collaborate with people you respect and admire.

When asked what ensembles/ performance opportunities do you aspire to be a part of: I've participated in several choirs while in college and was music director of my tenor/bass a cappella group, orange appeal. I'd like to continue being involved with vocal groups because there's something magical about creating music using nothing but what God gave you.

Where is your favorite performance venue you have performed at?: Last fall, I brought my a cappella group orange appeal to Batavia to sing at Richmond Memorial Library. It was really fun to have my college life and my home life cross paths.

Who are your main musical influences and/or role models? Andrew Huang is a producer/YouTuber who has an insanely massive body of work, both in variety and sheer quantity of releases. He also has been a part of many collaborations, small scale and large scale, with other musicians and YouTubers. I aspire to have his commitment on his mission statement, which is simply "make music everywhere."

What is your ultimate music goal or music dream? My favorite aspect of music is the way it naturally vitalizes a community experience. I am constantly seeking opportunities to connect with people, and often those overlap with musical opportunities. I'd like to continue collaborating with other musicians as much as possible, and the career paths I think are most conducive to that are working at a recording studio and managing a performance venue. Both career paths seem like promising sources of social interaction!

Do you have any music side projects that you enjoy? I try to create regular content for my Instagram (@ross_chua) and my YouTube channel (Ross Chua music). Be sure to follow if you're interested in seeing my content!

Notre Dame High School will honor its Class of 2020 graduates today in a socially distanced ceremony on its football field.

The school asked me to livestream it for them and, although I've never livestreamed an event remotely before, I'm giving it a try.

Teachers at Batavia Middle School volunteered to hand deliver end-of-the-year academic awards to their fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-grade students.

More than three weeks ago, I asked a few of our local school districts to shoot their own videos about their cafeteria workers and to send me the clips to put together in a single video. For various reasons, it's taken me some time to complete but here it is.

Lydia Geiger is the second winner of a 2020 John Mikulski Scholarship announced by the Genesee Wyoming Music Educators Association. 

Geiger is a senior at Batavia High School. Her primary interest is flute.

Press release:

When asked what her greatest HS memory was Lydia responded: 
College visits and auditions, masterclasses, lessons, and playing in orchestras.

Lydia's goal is to become a music educator and performer.

When asked what her favorite performance venue she had performed at she responded: 
The Musical Arts Center at The Jacobs School of Music in 2018 with the Indiana University Summer Music Clinic Orchestra. We performed Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5.

Lydia's main influences are her music teachers.

Lydia is undecided as to where she will be attending school for Music however she has these amazing colleges to choose from: 
Schulich School of Music at McGill University, Ithaca College, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, or SUNY Potsdam.

Lydia is very excited to be performing at the Wiener Musikverein in Vienna, Austria with the Honors Performance Series in 2021.

Students at St. Joseph Regional School helped produced this video for their teachers as part of Teacher Appreciation Week. 

His primary instrument is guitar. He also plays tenor sax, trombone and bass guitar.

Press release:

WHEN ASKED WHAT HIS GREATEST HS MUSICAL MEMORY IS, LOWELL RESPONDED:

"Being a part of the Alexander Jazz Experience was not only the most wholesome and fulfilling introduction to Jazz, but it also left me with a gratitude and sense of preparedness for performing in ensembles."

Lowell's goal is to work in the music industry as a composer/arranger, and songwriter. He currently enjoys spending time composing and producing using Abelton Live.

WHEN ASKED WHAT HIS FAVORITE PERFORMANCE AND VENUE WAS HE RESPONDED:

"The Riviera Theater in Buffalo in 2017 for the Music is Arts Festival with the Alexander Jazz Experience. We played a combination of jazz standards such as Cold Duck Time and St. Thomas as well as some Funk/Fusion jams such as Chameleon and Watermelon Man."

Lowell's main influences are: His teacher Dan Klinczar, Michael League of Snarky Puppy, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Stephen Sondheim.

Lowell will be attending SUNY Purchase in the fall where he will be studying Studio Composition! We wish him luck and are so proud of all of his accomplishments.

Submitted by Principal Tim McArdle.

We interviewed Merritt Holly, superintendent of the Le Roy Central School District, live and this video is a replay of that stream.

We'll get an update on how the district is dealing with the closure, what's available for students, and families, and how things are going in Le Roy.

If you're unable to view the stream on our home page, click here.  Also, if you follow that link, there is a live chat on YouTube where you can ask questions that I will try to incorporate into the interview.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, and I don't know why, the interview cuts off a minute or so early, a problem on YouTube's end I imagine.

Press release:

“Over the past week, COVID-19 has evolved rapidly. While Genesee County has no confirmed cases, there are confirmed cases in neighboring counties and increased local testing. I believe it is inevitable we will see cases here in Genesee County,” said Rochelle Stein, chair of the Genesee County Legislature.

“With this in mind and after discussion with Paul Pettit, director of the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments, I am declaring a state of emergency for Genesee County. This declaration allows us to procure goods and services as well as required and available assistance to municipalities and school districts. I am recommending that all schools in Genesee County close to students effective immediately for an undetermined amount of time.”

“We want to remind people the risk in our community still remains relatively low and these decisions are based on the need to slow transmission in our communities,” Pettit said. “Through ongoing discussions with all 10 school districts and county administration, this unified decision is based on the increased activity in our county and has led to these preventive measures.”

A statement from Kevin MacDonald, district superintendent of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership: “In collaboration with the New York State and local Departments of Health, the component districts of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership will be closed to students effective Monday, March 16, 2020 until further notice. Component districts will be sharing messages to their respective communities regarding details of their closures. We ask all our community members to take care of each other as we navigate this public health matter.”

Batavia Middle School hosted a Health and Wellness Day for students at the school yesterday. The event was the brainchild of Assistant Principal Brian Sutton.

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As part of Catholic Schools Week on Sunday, St. Joe's held it's third annual "Slime Off."

In Thursday's Scholastic Bowl matches, Batavia and Attica picked up victories.

Batavia scored 230, while Oakfield-Alabama scored 120 and Elba 50.

In the second match, Attica beat Notre Dame 330 to 220.

In Wednesday's Scholastic Bowl matches, Pembroke and Alden came out on top.

In the first match, Alden scored 240 points to 230 for Le Roy and 140 for Pavilion.

In the second match, Pembroke scored 260 points to 160 for Alexander and 110 for Akron.