Our District is Hard At Work All Summer

Jeffrey P. Simons, Superintendent of Schools

Garage Band. iMovie. iP-hoto. Safari. This isn’t some-one goofi ng off – this is class at Strough Middle School.

The Rome school district re-ceived a three-year, $150,000 Learning Technology Grant from the state Education Department this year that is putting MacBooks and other Apple technology into class-rooms at Strough. The grant emphasizes using instruc-tional technology to develop 21st century skills, including digital literacy, higher-order thinking, and collaboration. It also focuses on project-based, interdisciplinary learning; improving test scores in English lan-guage arts, math and science; and encouraging technology train-ing for and collaboration between teachers.

The grant, received in conjunction with Rome Catholic School, was written with help from Madison-Oneida BOCES.

Six teachers at Strough are using a MacBook cart with 28 com-puters and integrating Apple software-based projects into their

lessons, such as making movies and incorporating sound into presenta-tions. Teachers said they are able to teach and present curriculum in dif-ferent and more effective ways.

“You get to reach kids who are maybe not so strong academically and aren’t interested in a lecture or a textbook, but they play video games for hours at home and they know technology,” science teacher Chris-tina Steurrys said. “They’re more motivated to do the work and to help each other.”

Science teacher Sal Carollo said the grant could impact about 700 students in seventh and eighth grade. Although most of them had not used MacBooks

before this year, Carollo said they have learned quickly during the past few months.

“They’ve fi gured out things I haven’t yet, and you can see that spread through a class,” he said. “When one student says they found something new, everyone’s trying it.”

State Technology Grant to Benefit

Strough Students, Teachers

. . . Continued on Page 4

It’s a busy time of year as we wrap up activities, com-pete in sports fi nals, complete testing, and say farewell to our high school graduates. We have a lot to be proud of in this district. Dur-ing this year alone,

we had students competing at the state and national levels of track and fi eld, ar-chery, music, French, Junior ROTC and so many other programs. We had students and staff reaching out to help not only the local community but the internation-

al community as well. We’ve received grants to move our students, teachers and curriculum in innovative directions.

But even before this school year comes to a close, we are already preparing for next year – and next year begins July 1. Our administrators, teachers, staff and students are working all summer to make sure the next year is even better than the last one.

Students of all ages have a variety of summer school options, both for credit recovery and for enrichment. We want to make sure students who may have fallen behind during the year use the summer to catch up and remain on track in the fall. We also want to help students who want

to get ahead or learn a little bit extra to do that as well.

Many of our teachers are also here dur-ing the summer. Some of them are teach-ing summer school. Others are taking part in professional development courses that will improve their teaching strategies and curriculum planning for the upcoming school year. Professional development is an important part of being an educator, and our teachers take it seriously.

Summer is the time of year our Build-ings and Grounds crews are maintain-ing our buildings and taking care of our

. . . Continued on Page 7

Bellamy Joins ‘One School, One Book’

Spring 2010 • Page Two

Denti Students Enjoy New Playground

Bellamy Elementary School partic-ipated in a new school-wide literacy program this spring that encouraged families to read together.

The "One School, One Book" pro-gram is a nationwide initiative that involves every child in an elementary school reading the same book at the same time to create a shared read-ing experience. At Bellamy, students read Because of Winn-Dixie, a chap-ter book about a 10-year-old girl in Florida who meets a dog that helps her learn about the power of family and friends.

The Bellamy Parent Teacher Orga-nization purchased more than 400 copies of the book so each family could have one to keep at home.

During a kickoff assembly, Principal Nancy Opperman gave each student a reading schedule to take home so they could read

with their parents each night. Each student also received a bookmark de-signed by Bellamy teaching assistant Meghan DePaul and purchased for the school by Jeff and Cindy Catello, parents of Bellamy fi rst-grader Grif-fi n Catello.

Former Rome school psychologist Sylvia Diamond brought two of her long-haired dachshunds, Souzie and Freddie, to the assembly to show off their tricks.

Throughout the month, teachers asked students trivia questions about their reading from the previous night, and students who answered correctly

won prizes. At the end of the month, students watched the mov-ie "Because of Winn-Dixie."

For more on the national "One School, One Book" program, visit www.readtothem.org.

Students at Denti Elementary School tackle their new playground equipment during recess last month. The new playground has improved child safety and is handicapped-accessible so all Denti students can enjoy their free time.

Spring 2010 • Page Three

Denti Students Raise Brook Trout

Fourth-graders in Rochelle Annarino’s class at Denti Ele-mentary School raised and released trout this year through an innovative project called Trout in the Classroom. The inter-disciplinary project provides students with hands-on learning of science, technology, language arts, math, social studies, art and the environment.

In the fall, students visited Morrisville State College, where they learned to spawn fi sh. They brought back eggs, which they placed in a fi sh tank in their classroom at Denti and were able to watch during the hatching and growing phases. During the winter, students dissected trout in their classroom. This spring, they released the trout behind Staley Upper Elemen-tary School.

Throughout the year, Annarino talked to her students about different fi sh species and habits, caring for the Earth, water quality, wildlife issues and developing solutions to environ-mental problems. Students created presentations on Trout in the Classroom for the Denti science fair in March. She also had students create a Web page and video on the project.

The brook trout eggs were provided to the school at no charge by the New York State Division of Fish and Wildlife.This is the second year Annarino has run the Trout in the Classroom project. To see photos and information about both last

year’s and this year’s project, visit www.romecsd.org. And check out the Denti Fish Cam, posted on Annarino’s Web page (Denti, Classrooms, 4th grade, Annarino).

Learn more about Trout in the Classroom by visiting www.troutintheclassroom.com.

Ridge Mills physical education teacher Larry Bevilacqua launched a new fi tness initiative called “Healthy Steps,” which challenged students and staff to get out and walk. During the program, the school totaled up 1,723 miles -- about the distance from Rome to Denver, Colorado! In addition, 45 students walked at least 10 miles each and earned a plastic toe token.

Classes used their recess time and other free periods to complete laps around the 1/3-mile outdoor walking trail and the 1/3-mile hallway loop marked off inside the school. Bevilacqua also encouraged students and staff to walk after-school, at home, on weekends and with their families to add to the school total.

Bevilacqua initially set a goal of reaching 2,000 miles. But he said he re-ally wanted to teach students life-time fi tness skills and show them that walking is good exercise. He said he walks almost every eve-ning with his own family.

“Outside of P.E., a lot of stu-dents don’t do any exercise. That’s not good – 60 percent of kids are obese,” he said. “You have to do something, and walking is a great form of exercise. Hopefully stu-dents will see that it can be fun, and they’ll be motivated to do it on their own in the future.”

Ridge Mills Steps Up

To Fitness ChallengeThe Top 10 of 2010

Nicholas Brement, ValedictorianPrinceton University

Taylor Rapke, SalutatorianUniversity of Vermont

Erin Bojanek, University of RochesterMargaret Messenger, SUNY BuffaloMirra Campbell, Hamilton College

Kelly Benfey, Northeastern UniversityNikolas Gray, SUNY Albany

Kevin Li, Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteHannah Johnson, Mohawk Valley CC

Maggie Thomas, SUNY Canton

RFA’s graduation will begin at 10 a.m. Satur-day, June 26 in the Athletic Stadium, 500 Tu-rin St. In case of rain, the ceremony will be at RFA, 95 Dart Circle.

The Rome Free Academy Select Choir received the Gold Award from the New York State School Music Association for its choral performance at the Major Performance Groups Festival on May 14 at Holland Patent High School. Gold Award winners have demonstrated an outstanding level of technical and artistic skill in tone, intonation, balance, vocal technique, accuracy, dic-tion and interpretation. RFA’s Select Choir is directed by music teacher Twyla Edwards.

Performing groups sing three songs, two of which must be se-lected from an approved list of repertoire selections. RFA Select Choir chose two Level V pieces from the approved list: “Sleep,” by Eric Whitacre, and a jazz vocal arrangement of “Moon River.” RFA’s third selection was three short vignettes from “Animal Crackers I” – “The Panther,” “The Cow” and “The Firefl y” – with poetry by Ogden Nash and music by Whitacre.

“The choir has received three Gold Awards previously at the NYSSMA solo and ensemble festival where they were only re-quired to prepare one song,” Edwards said. “This year, we took on the challenge of preparing three songs and these students have done an amazing job of preparing for this festival in the limited time we are given for rehearsal.”

Select Choir’s previous Gold Awards were for Level VI perfor-mances. Edwards said the group chose Level V pieces this year because Whitacre is the group’s featured composer and was part of the Level V list.

Members of this year’s Select Choir are: Pilar Padron, Eliza-beth Silver, Chloe Cardwell, Elizabeth Sylvester, all sopranos; Stacy Spindler, Taylor Holst, Amber Jones, Brittany Bartlett, all altos; Antonio Valdes, Jordon Hoffman, Dan Goewey, all tenors; and Zachary Wade, Josh Eichhorn, Trevor Cardwell, all basses.

RFA Choir Earns NYSSMA Gold Award

Spring 2010 • Page Four

Staley Archers Are Tops In New York StateSixth-graders Daniel

McKeown and Hayley Ingleston earned the top scores in the 1st Annual Staley Archery Tournament, part of a multi-site state and national youth archery tournament.

Forty students in fi fth and sixth grade gath-ered in the Staley up-stairs gym after school last week to compete in the event, organized by the Staley physical

education teachers. Several dozen parents also crowded into the gym to watch the event, which had students shoot arrows from 10-meter and 15-meter distances.

Coach Howard Britton spearheaded the tournament as a way to raise interest in archery among students. Staley began teach-ing archery in P.E. classes last year after receiving a grant to purchase the equipment.

The Staley tournament was part of the multi-site National Archery in Schools Program tournament this month. Top stu-dents from each school are compared to school winners from across the state.

Four Staley students placed in the top 5 places statewide: Ingleston, 2nd place; Alexxis Thomas, 4th place; and Taylor Keena, 5th place for girls; and McKeown, 4th place for boys.

Visit www.romecsd.org to read more about Staley’s archery tournament and to see photos.

Next year, Strough will receive another Mac-Book cart, Information Technology Director Pam Mazzaferro said.

In the fall, Carollo said he hopes to begin a podcast library of class lessons and lab demon-strations led by students, a plan that would have multiple benefi ts: students who are absent can catch up; students who had diffi culty with a les-son can go back and review; advanced students can work ahead on their own time; students dem-onstrating the lab can improve their presentation skills and reinforce their own learning; students have a chance to learn from their peers; and teachers can record lessons in advance for days they will be out.

“There are a lot of good ideas out there,” he said. “We just need to think of them and make them work for us.”

Strough Grant Targets Digital Literacy

. . . Continued from Front Page

Spring 2010 • Page FIVE

Stokes, Gansevoort Learn

International Lessons

Third graders at Stokes and Gansevoort elementary schools had exciting projects this year to help them learn about other countries.

At Stokes, two third-grade classes helped purchase water fi ltration units for children in the African nation of Tanzania.

The school received a visit from Gail LaRocco, founder of LifeWaterA-frica, an agency that builds fi ltration units in Tanzania to provide children with clean, safe water for drinking, bathing, working, playing and completing chores.

Students agreed to forego the Christmas gifts they would have ex-changed with each other and instead donated that money to the cause. Stokes raised $200, which purchased, built, and installed two complete fi ltration units and helped 200 children. Teachers George DiFabio and Leslie Blackburn spearheaded the effort, and DiFabio said the project helped students learn about poverty, philanthropy, empathy and good character.

“We did this right before Christmas, and they really saw the big pic-ture and the need that’s out there,” DiFabio said. “This is kids helping other kids.”

Over at Gansevoort, three third grade classes celebrated "Country Days" this spring.

Each class represented a different country – Sheila Smith’s room became Australia, Allison Ingmire’s room became Brazil, and Brigitte Maciewicz’s room became Japan. Students and teachers decorated their rooms to represent their chosen nation. Students took their “pass-ports” with them as they visited the other rooms to see crafts, eat food, and hear songs and stories from the other countries and cultures.

Gansevoort third graders also raised money this year for LifeWat-erAfrica. Ingmire said the class raised about $70, enough to purchase one well.

See more photos of Gansevoort’s “Country Days” event at www.romecsd.org.

Thirteen elementary students were honored for the posters they created during National School Counseling Week.

Counseling Week, held in February, helps focus attention on the contributions of profes-sional school counselors and highlight the effect they have in helping students become successful in school.

Students from each elemen-tary school participated in the poster contest by visually describing the ways in which coun-selors help students determine their abilities, strengths, inter-ests and talents and enhance their social and emotional devel-

opment. Board of Education members and central offi ce employees voted for their favorite posters.

Student winners were: Austin Walk-er, Cynthia Moriarty, and Malachi Wright, all of Gansevoort; and Isaiah Dobson, of Staley. Each received a $25 gift card to WalMart.

Runners up were: Jaiden Coleman and Damon Parmeter, both of Bel-lamy; Isabella Madeira, of Denti; Syo-mi Formikell and Tia Ferebee, both of Gansevoort; Savannah Dote, of Joy;

Elizabeth Gualteri and Nico Mattacola, both of Ridge Mills; and Abigail Sparks, of Stokes. Each received a new bookbag fi lled with school supplies.

Elementary Students Honor Counselors

Spring 2010 • Page Six

Staley Students Make Friends Through LettersFifth-graders from Staley Upper El-

ementary School visited Rome Nursing Home this month to meet some of the pen pals that they have kept in touch with this year. About 50 students made the trip and planted fl owers donated by ACE Hard-ware.

The visit was part of Staley’s “Letters for Literacy” project, funded with a $500 PET grant from the Rome Teacher Cen-ter. Through letters, students were able to connect with residents from the Rome Nursing Home, soldiers recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and 10- and 11-year-old students from the country of Sweden.

Throughout the letter-writing process, Staley students have developed relation-ships with their pen pals, and most im-portantly, developed a love for writing, said Nikki DeBlasiis, Staley’s speech/language pathologist and the project’s coordinator. The project culminated with the visit to the Rome Nursing Home.

“The idea behind ‘Letters for Literacy’ is to encourage students to read and write

for traditional reasons while enhancing community awareness,” DeBlasiis said. “The students were also afforded a won-derful opportunity to meet new and re-markable people.”

Participating students were in Re-becca Vega’s, Beth Reilly’s and Phil Myhr’s classes. While on a recent vaca-tion, Vega met a Swedish teacher and the two exchanged e-mail addresses, paving the way for their students to correspond with each other, DeBlasiis said.

A display of students’ correspon-dences with Swedish students along with new information they have learned about Sweden is located near Staley’s main entrance, and the three participating classrooms have displays up as well.

Students at Ridge Mills Elementary School celebrated friendship and Autism Awareness Month on April 30 by putting together a life-sized puzzle.

Each classroom in grades K-4 decorated large green puzzle pieces with pictures and words about friendship. During the Friendship Gathering, the 14 puzzle pieces were staked outside the front of the school and then car-ried along the school’s walking trail. The pieces are now on display in the school’s main hallway.

Ridge Mills Solves

Friendship Puzzle

Students at Denti Elementary School planted one of the fi rst tree seedlings from the new Ar-bor Day Nursery, a joint venture between the Leatherstocking Re-Leaf Committee and Madison-Oneida BOCES.

Chris Mercurio, community development coordinator in the City of Rome’s Department of Community and Economic Development, visited Denti on April 30 to discuss Arbor Day and explain the new tree plant-ing program. He then helped students plant trees around their new playground.

Denti teacher Mary Sue Gillen said the event helped heighten students’ awareness of the envi-ronment, reinforced their sense of responsibility to the planet

and highlighted the importance of vegetation to our existence.

Three years ago, the ReLeaf Committee and BOCES estab-lished the fi rst Upstate Seedling Development Laboratory for Conservation program students at BOCES. By securing a New York State Urban and Commu-nity Forestry Council grant, the BOCES students were able to pot and grow 1- to 2-year-old seedlings for three years until they were tall enough to plant in the community. Saplings are ex-pected to be available every Ar-bor Day through the nursery.

This is the fi rst year the trees have been tall enough to move into the community. The City of Oneida also received seedlings.

Denti Helps Launch

Arbor Day Nursery

Spring 2010 • Page Seven

Local residents representing 12 differ-ent professions visited Stokes Elementa-ry School and explained their daily work to students in kindergarten through fourth grade during the school’s Career Day last month. It was the fi rst time Stokes hosted a school-wide Career Day. In the past, different classes took fi eld trips during the year to visit lo-cal businesses and learn about various professions.

This year, teachers took their students to visit four career stations, which were set up around the school. The profes-sions represented were: Rome police offi cer with his police dog; state trooper with her K-9 dog; photographer; pottery maker; cartoonist; fi reman; li-brarian from the Jervis Public

Library; Humane Society representatives who brought along a cat and dog; televi-sion meteorologist from Your News Now (Channel 10); local farmer who brought two calves; podiatrist; and cake decorat-ing by Rome CSD Food Service Direc-tor Chris Whitmore.

At the end of the event, the school do-nated to the Humane Society cat and dog food that students and staff contributed.

To see more photos of Career Day, visit www.romecsd.org.

Career Day Helps Highlight Professions

From The Superintendent

No Summers Off in This School District

. . . Continued from Front Page

playgrounds, playing fi elds and school lawns. This summer, we’ll complete the renovation of Bellamy school and begin work on Ridge Mills through the capital project approved in January. We’ll also be planning out the rest of the capital project work that will happen over the

next few years at Joy, Gansevoort, Denti and Clough. A multi-year renovation project at Strough continues this summer as well.

I hope you’ll all join us in congratu-lating this year’s RFA graduates and in helping the seniors in all our buildings

as they transition to their new schools. Graduation is just the start for many of us in the district. Stop in some time and see just how busy school can be without any classes in session.

Just a Reminder...

Parents may register their children for pre-kindergarten all summer. Children who will be 4 years old by De-• cember 1, 2010 may enroll. Call 334-1240. The district’s Parent Portal allows parents and guardians to view their children’s schedules, daily attendance, • discipline records, marking period grades, progress reports, and class information. To request access to your child’s account, visit www.romecsd.org/parentrequest and complete the web form. Any parent or guardian who would like to request that his/her child attend an elementary school other than • the one assigned must complete the district’s Application for Student Transfer by June 30. The district will re-spond to your request by August 1. Visit www.romecsd.org and click on the “For Parents” page for the form.New York State requires school districts to make certain information about the No Child Left Behind Act • and Title 1 regulations available to parents. You can now fi nd this information on our web site, under www.romecsd.org/curriculum.

Board of EducationPatricia S. Riedel, PresidentPaul Hagerty, Vice President

Chris Esposito, Clerk

Amanda Lynn Cortese • Louis Daniello Mary O. Davis • Jennifer Geiger • Joseph Sallustio

AdministrationJeffrey P. Simons, Superintendent

Sherri Walczak, Asst. Superintendent of Curriculum & InstructionAnn McGowan, Director of Business & Finance

Frank Conestabile, Director of Employee RelationsPaul Rabbia, Superintendent of Buildings & Grounds

EDITOR: Sapna Kollali

Non-Profi t Org.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDUtica, N.Y.

Permit No. 566

Rome City School District

409 Bell RoadRome, New York 13440

“The Rome City School District is an equal opportunity employer and an equal educational institution.”Compliance Offi cers for Non-Discrimination: Frank Conestabile: 338-6532, Sherri Walczak: 338-6512

Joy, Denti, Ridge Mills Show science Projects

Joy, Denti and Ridge Mills elementary schools hosted science fairs this spring, giving students a chance to present their projects to classmates and family members. Projects covered a wide range of topics, including volcanoes, fossils, taste tests, aquatic life, dinosaurs, astronomy, electricity and weather. At Joy, the New York State Fish Hatchery brought in a large exhibit of local trout and the Utica Zoo brought in small animals for a demonstration exhibit.

Denti’s science fair was March 12. Ridge Mills’ science fair was March 18. Joy’s science fair was March 27. To see more photos of all three fairs, visit www.romecsd.org.