The Elba Central School Drama Club presents "The Little Mermaid" this weekend.

Show times are Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., and Saturday at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under and are available at the door.

Key roles are: 

• Ariel, Laina Casper
• Prince Eric, Emilio Rosales
• Sebastian, Sadee Dillon
• Ursula, Aerianna Cintorino
• Scuttle, Jocelyn Miller
• Flounder, Evan Armbrewster
• Triton, Bailey Brunner

Photos by Howard Owens.

The proposition read:

Authorize the Board of Education of the Elba Central School District be authorized to undertake certain capital improvements consisting of construction and reconstruction of the K-12 Main Campus school building and facilities, site improvements and the acquisition of certain original furnishings, equipment, and apparatus and other incidental improvements required in connection therewith for such construction and school use, all at an estimated maximum aggregate cost of $14,875,000; and to appropriate and expend from the existing capital reserve fund $900,000 for such costs, and that the balance of such cost, or so much thereof as may be necessary, shall be raised by the levy of a tax to be collected in annual installments, with such tax to be offset by state aid available therefor; and, in anticipation of such tax, debt obligations of the school district as may be necessary not to exceed $13,975,000 shall be issued.

Not only will the Elba community be hosting Rochester City Ballet for a seasonal treat of “The Nutcracker Suite” this weekend, but the students have already been able to nibble on portions of the professional troupe’s theatrics while preparing for its debut at Elba High School’s auditorium, Superintendent Gretchen Rosales says.

It may be summertime, but there’s no break from working on Elba Central School’s farm-to-school program, Superintendent Gretchen Rosales says.

In fact, much of the program’s produce is planted, harvested, and sold — via a farmers market added onto the campus this year — right now. Thanks to state and federal grants from the Department of Agriculture and Governor Hochul's office, Elba students have been able to plant, harvest, learn about, prepare, cook, and most deliciously, enjoy their own healthy foods.

“Agriculture is the backbone of Elba, of Genesee County, our state, and the nation.  This is a great way to see our interconnectedness as a community and as a whole,” Rosales said to The Batavian.  “Elba is a culturally rich community, and I am certain that as we embark upon this project, we will learn so much more from each other.”

Elba Central School was alive with the sound of music late Friday afternoon.

No, not Julie Andrews and the captain in the Sound of Music, but vocals and instrumentals from elementary, junior and senior high school students mostly from Genesee County and Attica.

And, after an unwelcome four-year interruption due to pandemic-related snafus, students and organizers were happy to get the show back on the road. The Genesee-Wyoming County Music Association All-County Festival will be performing this weekend.

The all-county elementary chorus, junior high band and senior high chorus was rehearsing Friday, to be continuing on Saturday and capping off all of that musical talent and energy with a concert at 2 p.m. in the school’s auditorium. Tickets are $5 at the door.

Pembroke sixth-grader Brynlee Amend (second photo) plays saxophone and sings, though she’s at the festival with the chorus. She’s been singing “all my life,” the 11-year-old said.

“I got into chorus as soon as I could,” she said with a big grin. “It just brings joy, I believe I have a good voice. I just enjoy it.”

She has put her voice to the test before all-county, including at Genesee County’s Fair talent contest. Brynlee took home two first-place prizes, one for her rendition of Taylor Swift’s “Our Song.” She has a piece of advice for making a song work.

“Sing things you enjoy singing,” she said.

There are four or five songs in the concert, and two of them are in different languages, French and Chinese, she said. The chorus director will help students with the words, Brynlee said, and overall, she’s good at remembering songs.

“I learn music words pretty fast, so hopefully, I’ll memorize them by tomorrow,” she said. “I think it’s going to go really well. My mom, dad, sisters and stepmom are coming, they’re my biggest supporters. It makes me feel happy that they came to see me.”

Stephanie Gietler, president of the G-W Music Association, said the event is "a great learning opportunity" that's outside of the kids' typical school district music program. And gathering them together has been a great experience.

"Oh, it's so nice to hear the kids making music and being with others," Gietler said. "All-county is a great opportunity because it gets the kids to push their limits of learning and gives them another opportunity. A lot of these kids in the instrumental world go audition on a solo. So they work hard, and it's an honor to be selected into All-County."

There are 11 schools and about 250 students involved in the event, she said. 

Musician Sean Pietrzykowski’s (third photo) reasons for choosing tuba might not have been so noble in the beginning — “my sister picked sax, and I wanted to be a little louder” — but he’s glad that he did. The Alexander eighth-grader has excelled with the brass instrument, playing in jazz and concert bands, qualifying for all-state and all-county.

“I really enjoy it, I enjoy the atmosphere,” he said. “It opened a lot for me, it’s one thing I can fall back to.”

A country music fan — George Strait and Riley Green top the list — Sean, 14, has also made solid connections through music with students and his teacher, Dan Klinczar, who’s also vice president of the G-W Music Educators Association.

Rehearsal was going well, and Sean was feeling confident about the final outcome.

“We’re sounding good,” he said.

It was hard to miss Evan Williams (fourth photo) on stage, both from his 6-foot-4-inch stature and tenor vocals. He said that sometimes he wishes he wasn’t quite so tall, as people expect him to have more baritone quality, though it hasn’t seemed to hurt him any.

The Le Roy High School senior has performed in many school musicals, being cast in a lead role as Jean Valjean for this year’s “Les Miserables,” and going to college with a Regents music scholarship.

Evan, 17, hasn’t yet nailed down which college he’ll go to, but his aspirations are concrete: musical theater. Given his upbringing, he really has no other choice. As a toddler, Evan would sit on the sidelines while his parents rehearsed with their band, Exit 27.

“I always saw the performance aspect of it,” Evan said. “In grades seven through 12, I joined the music department, It felt like home.”

He sang a lot in choir, in and out of school, and plays percussion in band. Music is about more than notes on a page, he said. Especially when it comes to his family.

“My dad (Justin Williams) still gigs out on his own solo. He has such an eclectic style, like performing country. And then he'll do some Aerosmith. And then he's just all over the place. But it's really cool. And it's cool to sort of have grown up in that because everyone in Le Roy is like, Le Roy is so small, and they're always like, Oh, I've seen your parents perform,” Evan said. “And then they'll come to see me. Which theater is completely different than what they perform. Choir is completely different from what they perform. And it's like, it's cool that we've got a little melting pot of voices in our family.”

Asking Evan for a favorite music genre wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Even the ones he thought he could rule out were reeled back in when he thought more about it. He would’ve cast away country, but then again, he likes Sam Smith.

“I feel like Sam Smith is not only an incredible performer in the pop industry realm, but I also think the way that they hold themselves as a person and just have always been true to themselves. And I think that's really important to have an industry. Because I think no matter where you end up, people are going to try to put you in a spot that isn't you, and I think it's always very important to just be who you are,” Evan said. “And if it's not working for you, do what's best for you. And I think that that's something that Sam Smith has really grown to do over the years.”

Evan is drawn to New York City and can see himself working there someday, hopefully on Broadway or filming a movie. He and his classmates have enjoyed being able to resume life after COVID and entertain an audience.

“I feel like we're finally coming back to full things after the pandemic, and it's sort of cool to see people fall in love with performance again,” he said. “And I think that that's really cool to be a part of.”

Top Photo of band rehearsal during the All-County Festival Friday at Elba Central School; Brynlee Amend, Sean Pietrzykowski, and Evan Williams,  rehearsal and choir and band groups being led by their music directors. Photos by Howard Owens.

For some students, it might just be a game, but for Elba senior Cameron Havens, Scholastic Bowl meant a whole lot more.

An avid fan of “Jeopardy,” first with Alex Trebeck and more currently familiar with host Ken Jennings, Havens was ready to take down the competition. The Bowl finals Thursday evening put Elba Central in the ring with contenders Batavia City and Pavilion Central schools.

“I thought that Pavilion had taken the lead, and so, when I saw one of our teammates, he put his hand over his mouth like, surprise, wait, hold up,” Havens said after the conclusion of the series at the BOCES Batavia campus. “And then I saw them draw the 300 there, then my heart just, I just relaxed. I’m a senior, it’s a nice way to go out.”

Elba took first place with 300, followed by Pavilion with 290, and Batavia in third with 240.

This was the 32nd year of Scholastic Bowl, and it began in January. Student teams verbally battle for that top position by answering a variety of questions about geography, history, music, literature, science, arts, current events and other assorted topics.

Aerianna Cintorino, an Elba sophomore and newcomer to the game, said that she learned a good piece of advice to use in these situations.

“I also do masterminds, so learning that it's okay to answer because you won't get points taken off. So even if you think it's incorrect, you might be correct. So just say it. Don't be afraid to push your buzzer,” she said. “You may get trigger-heavy at some point in time, but it's fine. There were a few times that I kind of shocked myself that I was right.”

Ian Keberle, a senior at Elba who plans to pursue agribusiness in college, admitted that his team had one major strategy. It began during practice sessions of questions with other school districts.

“Our strategy is to not answer any of them to kind of subvert expectations for the other team. And then we come into the actual competition, and we just hammer it,” Keberle said. “So that's probably our main strategy.”

You know the lightning round? That’s when a team gets to answer a series of questions all at once to pick up several points. That wasn’t Batavia’s strongest moment, senior Jack Pickard said.

“Definitely the lightning round, where it was all the bays and sounds like I don’t even know what the sound was. So that was definitely difficult. Sounds, like it’s like a body of water or something. So yeah, that definitely stumped us,” he said.

He and his fellow teammates wore black shirts and pants, topped off with black sunglasses.

“Really, our goal was to be as intimidating as we could be,” senior Noah Pickard said. “Obviously, that didn’t work. But now we had a lot of fun doing it. We did it last year, and I walked out, and it’s just a thing that we decided to do again. It’s a tradition, and hopefully, it carries on.”

Like many of his fellow students, Noah participates in other extracurriculars, including track and cross country, which he plans to continue at Oneonta State College this fall.

Each team of students is guided by at least one coach that works with them throughout the year to prepare for and get through the annual Bowl. Elba's coach was Aaron Balko, Andy Kiebala was coach for Batavia, and Timothy Mapes was coach at Pavilion. Mapes said he looks forward to seeing the progress of future teams.

“We had practice each week, varying students would show up. We actually have quite a few students who are part of the program. And then we kind of bring our top four, top three competitors to each of the competitions,” he said. “But overall, throughout the school year, I think, you know, I'm really proud of how we performed in each of the events, sometimes coming from behind to win, sometimes dealing with adversity from not winning, and then just, you look at the championship round, and it came down to the final question, only losing by one point.

“This is also the second year that we've come in second place. So we're going to try to keep building off of this momentum going forward,” Mapes said. “I think it's a great opportunity for them to show off their knowledge, show off the things that they have learned throughout the school year, both the school year and in previous school years, and also have a chance to interact with other students from other schools who have a common interest that they have.”

Steve Cole, coordinator of enrichment services, presented the first, second and third place plaques and emphasized to students that “you really do a great service by representing your school so well, so you should be proud of yourself.”

Organizers for Scholastic Bowl include Cathy Preston, Kathleen Jursted and Stephanie Groff.

Top Photo: Elba Central School was the champion team in this year's Scholastic Bowl, featuring students Aidan McClurg, Ian Keberle, Aerianna Cintorino, Tim Kilner and Cameron Havens; Batavia came in third place, with Elijah Abdella, Jack Pickard, Ian Harmon, and Noah Pickard; and photo above, second place team of Pavilion, with Coach Sydney Pelton, students Jordan Eggleston, Evan Sidhu, and Grace Slocum, and Coach Timothy Mapes. Photos by Joanne Beck.

There have been stories of rescue involving fire halls, a community center, hotels, a church, and now, one of the schools that stepped up to help people during Winter Storm Elliott.

As the storm invaded portions of Genesee County on Dec. 23, Elba Volunteer Fire Department member Mandy Esten contacted Elba Central School Superintendent Gretchen Rosales about using the school as a warming shelter.

“As the superintendent of Elba Central, I've firmly stood behind my belief that the school is the center of our small community and that it belongs to all of the people of Elba,” Rosales said to The Batavian Saturday. “If it can be used as a source of shelter and comfort during a treacherous storm, all the better. The systems that a school already has in place are a natural fit for dealing with a crisis; we already provide food, shelter, warmth, and comfort to our students.

“This was an easy decision,” she said. "I reached out to my leadership team, as well as the Board of Education, to inform them that the school would be used as a warming shelter for those who were stranded or in need of a warm place to stay due to loss of power.”

From that moment on, Rosales witnessed a barrage of generosity and leadership from school staff about the clothing closet, a collection of personal hygiene items, and blankets and wheelchairs in the school nurse’s station; from the Elba Betterment Committee which made food for the stranded travelers; and a tech-savvy student who streamed cartoons for children on a screen in the cafeteria.

“The Elba community is incredible, and I'm so thankful for the great relationship we have with the Elba Fire Department. Mandy is a rockstar and coordinated things inside the school,” Rosales said. “My phone was ringing non-stop with offers for help and supplies. Initially, the onset of the storm provided us with a challenge as we were unable to mobilize a big response.  But via phone messages, texts, and picture messages, I was able to help Mandy get the coffee going and to tell her where they could find additional coats and warm clothing.”

Kim Walczak, who is the district’s acting cafeteria manager, arrived the next morning and made breakfast while yet another student shared that the yoga mats in Mrs. Morgan's classroom would make great sleeping mats, Rosales said. 

“Teachers and other staff members, as well as parents, were texting and emailing constantly, asking how to help from afar,” she said. “It was really a collective effort, which is what our school and community is all about.”

City of Batavia Police staff brought more cots and blankets for the community by that Saturday, Christmas eve.  They also dropped off food “from so many businesses that wanted to help out,” she said.   

Rosales estimated that at least 50 travelers were hosted at the school. And as she, and many others, learned, it evolved into more than a place for education.

“A school is not just about the building where the learning happens; they offer comfort and care,” she said. “Even though the storm was a scary experience for so many, I'm glad that Elba Central was able to be a shelter for those who needed it.”

Although this storm has been cited as being worse than the dreaded blizzard of ’77, at least one online poster sees a positive difference.

“Wow, they never did that when I went to school in the 60s and 70s! Glad they are now!” he wrote on the district’s social media page.

Press Release

In October, the Elba FFA (Future Farmers of America) Chapter competed in the
National FFA Dairy Evaluation and Management Competition in Indianapolis, Indiana. The team put in many hours of hard work and effort to compete at the national level.

The competition consisted of an online multiple-choice test that tested their dairy knowledge at the end of September, then at the end of October, they traveled to the National FFA Convention to compete in multiple days of events which included a team activity as well as judging multiple classes of dairy cattle.

The Elba FFA Chapter was awarded the National Silver Award for Dairy Evaluation and Management. Ian Keberle and Bing Zuber were awarded national gold individually, and Amelia and Jillian Brewer
were awarded national silver individually.

Other members of the FFA that attended the national convention were Addison Keberle and Maggie Winspear. They participated in general convention sessions hosted at Lucas Oil Stadium, were inspired by their peers as they were recognized for their accomplishments, and heard from keynote speakers.

Those members that attended also explored various career paths at the National FFA Expo, participated in career success tours, and more. The FFA chapter is advised by Tracy Dahlhaus, Elba Central School’s
agriculture science teacher.

The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 850,000 student members as part of 8,995 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.

More than 69,500 FFA members and supporters from across the country celebrated agriculture and agricultural education during the 95th National FFA Convention Expo in Indianapolis. This time-honored tradition, hosted by the city of Indianapolis, was held Oct. 26-29.

Photo submitted by Elba Central School of Bing Zuber, left, Ian Keberle, Amelia Brewer, and Jillian Brewer.

Elba Central School may be the last district in Genesee County to bring a school resource officer on board, but it has been part of a post-pandemic plan for the district, Superintendent Gretchen Rosales says.

With an eye on priorities, Rosales felt this was the right time to add an officer as part of a deliberate process once she became superintendent in 2021. The district’s additional personnel — a social worker, school resource officer and prevention educator — are to not only ensure physical safety, but also that “our mental health needs were being met,” she said.

“All schools have to carefully watch spending, but small rural schools often carry an extra burden.  There are many mandates we need to cover, along with making sure that we have top-notch academic programs and well-rounded extracurricular activities. Elba has steadily built this strong foundation,” Rosales said in response to The Batavian’s questions about hiring a SRO. “When we began to come out on the other side of the pandemic, we first wanted our focus to be on a comprehensive mental health program. COVID really opened our eyes to the unique struggles that our students and their families were facing.  This became my focus in my first year as superintendent, and my first step was to hire a full-time social worker. 

"We have also contracted with GCASA to have a prevention educator on staff on a weekly basis," Rosales said. "Once we had these pieces in place, we were ready to consider moving toward hiring a school resource officer.”

Ally Terranova was hired for the social worker position this year, and she “has already made great strides in supporting the students and families,” Rosales said. Deputy Ryan Young was more recently hired through Genesee County Sheriff’s Office. Adding the extra supports began in late spring of this year, and the process included communicating with the community, teachers, staff, and students as “an important part of determining the need.”

The district sent out bilingual surveys to ensure the “considerable Spanish-speaking population” was included and able to respond. Interested parties were asked to join a related committee and there was “a lot of listening involved, and engaging in rich dialog about what our district really needed,” Rosales said. 

“We took our time with this process because we wanted to make the right decision and hire someone who would best support the Elba community,” she said. “My school community has been incredibly supportive.  I have had a steady stream of communication via phone, email, and in-person by family and community members who have expressed appreciation that the District has a fully dedicated law enforcement officer on staff.  To have a person with their eyes on security and safety is a critical part to ensuring that students can focus on learning.”

“Deputy Young has already fully integrated himself into the school community; he's visited all of the elementary classrooms as well as the secondary social studies classes,” she said. “He has lunch with the students, attends leadership meetings, chaperoned the homecoming dance, and has met the community at games. It is safe to say that our school resource officer is a full-fledged Lancer already.”

Elba now joins Alexander, Batavia, Byron-Bergen, Le Roy, Oakfield-Alabama, Pavilion and Pembroke school districts in having at least one school resource officer at the district. Batavia City Schools added a second officer this year. The positions add about $80,000 to $100,000 in salary and benefits each to a district budget.

Photo of Deputy Ryan Young, Elba's new school resource officer, submitted by Elba Central School.

Press release:

The students in the junior and senior high school at Elba Central have engaged in a rigorous program designed to qualify them for a 4+1 graduation pathway or a special stand-alone designation on their diploma upon graduation. 

The Elba Central School District was selected to be a pilot school for the Seal of Civic Readiness program, which is a new initiative designed by the New York State Department of Education. 

NYSED had already established the Seal of Biliteracy, which is awarded to students who demonstrate fluency in a second language, as determined by a series of benchmarks.  Similarly, the Seal of Civic Readiness was designed to provide recognition to students who go above and beyond the standard graduation requirements in social studies, history, and service-learning. 

Acceptance into the pilot program was granted to schools that demonstrated academic and civic learning opportunities robust enough to meet the program criteria. 

Elba Central was selected as a pilot school in the fall after completing the application and selection process.  Throughout the pilot period, the committee of educators met frequently to revise capstone projects, review the curriculum, design project-based learning, and refine teaching practices to align with the program.  Additionally, the Elba committee met with other pilot schools in the Monroe 2 BOCES region to collaborate on promising practices in alignment with the goals of the Seal of Civic Readiness. 

Members of the Elba Central School committee are Sean Bryant (ELA teacher); Mike Cintorino (social studies teacher); Laura Williams (social studies teacher and service-learning coordinator); Alison Riner (HS counselor), and Gretchen Rosales (Superintendent). 

Rosales led the application process and credits the teachers for their willingness to critically evaluate their own teaching and to provide robust opportunities for students to engage in project-based learning, both inside and outside of the classroom. 

“Our teachers have put in countless hours analyzing, revising, and reconceptualizing what they do in the classroom to reimagine education for today’s world," she said. "Students at Elba can critically apply social studies, history, and research skills to the issues that need to be addressed in their own communities.  This is what education should look like.”

Working with Mrs. Williams, students in the middle school have engaged in the planning and implementation of projects designed to improve their school and community. 

Students administered surveys to determine needs and then researched, planned, and implemented project-based learning activities to meet those needs. 

Projects have included campus-wide clean-up activities; determining a need for community seating areas at the school (which included designing and building picnic tables), researching pet abandonment and securing donations to a local shelter; and implementing a composting program at the school in conjunction with Porter Farms, a local and organically managed farm in Elba. 

The middle school students have even connected with the youngest children in the building; noting a need for some positivity, the 8th graders record kindergarteners reading happy messages. 

Throughout the week, anyone can call in to hear the happy pre-recorded communications. 

According to Laura Williams, service learning coordinator, “it became obvious that the skills needed to become civically engaged at all levels of adulthood have to be fostered and practiced at an earlier age. More important than executing a perfect service-learning project is their own reflection of what worked well, what didn’t work well, what obstacles were overcome, and what could be improved upon the next time. Watching these young adults practice reaching out to community members and following through with their plans is something they rarely get to practice in a traditional classroom setting.”

Christine Radez, an associate at the New York State Office of Curriculum and Instruction at the New York State Department of Education in Albany, congratulated Elba Central and stated, “On behalf of our Civic Readiness Task Force members, I extend gratitude for your efforts to support this important initiative. Our vision is that the Seal of Civic Readiness is available for all students across New York State in the future. The steps you have taken towards the development of a civic readiness program and student credential are advancing that goal.”

Submitted photos.